1260: My father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, were jewel merchants. They left Venice to travel to the Black Sea, moving onwards to central Asia and joining a diplomatic mission to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China. Khan asked them to return to Europe and persuade the Pope to send scholars to explain Christianity to him.
1269: My father and uncle arrived back in Venice .
1271: They set off again, but this time was accompanied by me and two other missionaries.
1275: We reached Khan's summer court.
1276-1291: We lived in the Emperor's lands. Little is known of these years but I was obviously popular with the Mongol ruler and was sent on various diplomatic missions which gave me the opportunity to see many parts of China.
1292-1295: We were offered to accompany a Mongol princess who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan in Persia. The party sailed from a southern Chinese port via Sumatra, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), southern India, and the Persian Gulf. After leaving the princess in Iran, the Polos travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, arriving home.
1298:I became involved in a naval conflict between Venice and Genoa and was captured by the Genoese. In prison, my stories attracted the attention of a writer from Pisa, Rustichello, who began to write them down, frequently embellishing them as he went. The resulting book was extremely popular and was translated into many languages under a number of titles, including 'The Million' and the 'Travels of Marco Polo'.
After Marco Polo was released he returned to Venice, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died on 8 January 1324.
the great travellers blogged @ 8:48 PM
