The History Book

104

I DID NOT TELL HALF

OF WHAT I SAW FOR

I KNEW I WOULD NOT

BE BELIEVED

MARCO POLO REACHES SHANGDU (c.1275)

V

enetian merchant Marco

Polo’s arrival at Shangdu,

the capital of the Great

Khan Kublai, in 1275 marked the

end of a four-year journey. He had

traveled from Italy to the Mongol

capital Shangdu along the length of

the Silk Road, an ancient network

of routes that been carrying precious

goods between China and Europe

for centuries. The Silk Road had

first become a conduit for trade

when the Chinese Han Dynasty

pushed into Central Asia in the late

2nd century bce. From then on,

goods such as jade and silk were

carried west, passed from caravan

to caravan by a series of merchants,

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Rise of international trade

BEFORE

106 bce The first caravan to

travel the full length of the

Silk Road carries Chinese

ambassadors to Parthia.

751 ce Defeat of the Chinese

army at the Talas River

prevents Chinese expansion

west along the Silk Road.

1206 Genghis Khan unites

the Mongol tribes, beginning

Mongol conquest of Central

Asia and China.

AFTER

1340s The Black Death

spreads along the Silk Road,

reaching Europe in 1347.

1370–1405 Timurlane makes

extensive conquests, briefly

reviving the Mongol empire

and the Silk Road.

1453 The Ottoman conquest

of Constantinople blocks

Europeans’ land route to Asia.

European powers seek

alternative maritime

trade routes to the east.

Long-distance trade

from China to the Middle East

is damaged by the collapse

of traditional powers.

Mongols conquer

lands through which the Silk

Road runs, improving the

route’s security.

Trade along the route

increases, attracting

European merchants

including Marco Polo.

The collapse of Mongol

rule and rise of the Ottoman

Empire render the route’s

territory less secure.

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105

See also: Siddartha Gautama preaches Buddhism 40–41 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■

Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

to be met by caravans of furs,

gold, and horses traveling in

the opposite direction. Chinese

inventions ranging from gunpowder

and paper to the magnetic compass

were also brought to the west along

the route, arriving at Constantinople

and the Black Sea ports, the

western end of the route where

Genoa and Venice chiefly traded.

Mongol revival of the route

By the 13th century, empires that

had controlled sections of the Silk

Road had fragmented. This left

the route less secure for travelers,

and so deterred merchants from

using it. However, following Mongol

conquest of the area between 1205

and 1269, the area was controlled—

if loosely—by a single authority, the

Great Khan, so a merchant could

travel from Khanbalik (Beijing) to

Baghdad without leaving Mongol

territory. This renewed stability

encouraged a revival of trade.

At around this time, European

merchants’ horizons were also

expanding. In the early Middle

Ages, traders could work only locally,

and transport their goods to points

where they might connect to longer-

distance trade routes. From the

12th century, Italian city States

such as Pisa, Genoa, and Venice,

pioneered maritime trade across

the eastern Mediterranean, which

enabled merchants to connect

directly with sea routes that linked

West Asia and Egypt to China via

the Indian Ocean.

The profits for merchants taking

advantage of the “Pax Mongolica,”

or Mongol peace, could be huge.

In the late 13th century, the costs

of setting up a caravan might

amount to 3,500 florins, but the

cargo, once sold in China, could

yield seven times that sum, and

by 1326 Genoese traders were a

common sight in the principal

Chinese port of Zaitun.

Decline of land trade

The Silk Road flourished for another

century, but the collapse of the

Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia in 1335,

and the overthrow in 1368 of the

Yuan, the Mongol ruling dynasty

in China, once again left the route

divided between politically weak

powers. It was also blocked to

European traders at the western

end by the growth of the Muslim

Ottoman Empire.

A taste of the profits of long-

distance trade in luxury goods

encouraged European powers

to seek alternatives to the now

defunct Silk Road, this time by

sea. In 1514, Portuguese merchants

arrived off the coast of China, near

Guangzhou, eager to take up the

direct trading links with China that

had been pioneered two and a half

centuries earlier by their illustrious

predecessor, Marco Polo. ■

Marco Polo

At just 17 years old, Marco

Polo (1254–1324) set off from

Venice to the court of the

Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan.

He traveled with his father

and uncle, who had previously

visited China and been

entrusted by Kublai with a

message for the pope. Polo

was received with great favor

at the Mongol court and

stayed in China for 17 years.

He traveled extensively

throughout the country in the

Khan’s service, leaving for

home at last in around 1291.

During a naval battle in

1298, Polo was captured and

imprisoned by the Genoese.

The stories he told of his

sojourn in the lands of the

Great Khan attracted the

attention of his cell mate,

Rustichello, who wrote them

down, embellishing them as

he went along. The resulting

book was translated into

many languages and includes

much invaluable information

about late-13th-century

China. After his release, Polo

returned to Venice, where he

lived for the rest of his life.

All the rare things that

come from India are brought

to Cambaluc—precious stones

and pearls, and other kinds

of rarities... a thousand

cart-loads of silk enter

Ca m b a luc da i ly.

Marco Polo, c.1300

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