A scientist who traveled around Asia for 24 years. European travelers in Asia in the 8th–15th centuries. Test your knowledge

One of the first geographical maps compiled by the ancient Greek scientist Hecataeus (VI-V centuries BC). How different it was from modern cards! Europe, Asia and Africa (it was then called Libya) looked completely different on it, and there were no other continents and parts of the world at all. In those distant times, people still did not know much about the appearance of the Earth.

It took humanity centuries to find out what our planet really looks like. These centuries were marked by a series of remarkable geographical discoveries. We will talk about those of them, thanks to which new continents and parts of the world appeared on the map.

Discovery of America

This part of the world was discovered, one might say, by mistake. In the 15th century Many European travelers were attracted to the distant countries of Asia, primarily India and China, famous for their untold riches. But the journey to Asia was very long - it was necessary to sail around Africa. The Italian from Genoa, Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506), decided to find a shorter route. He was sure that the Earth was spherical and therefore Asia could be reached by sailing from Europe to the west. On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew (about 100 people) sailed from Spain on three ships. And on October 12, 1492, a sailor of one of the ships saw land. Soon Columbus landed on shore. He believed that he had reached India, and therefore named those he met here local residents Indians. The discovered land turned out to be a small island.

Columbus continued his journey and discovered several more islands, including Cuba. In the spring of 1493 he returned to Spain, and in subsequent years he made three more trips to the same places. However, until the end of my days great navigator I never found out that I had not reached Asia, but had discovered a new part of the world - America. The day of the discovery of America is considered to be October 12, 1492.

Discovery of Australia

For many centuries it was believed that there was a huge continent far to the south, inhabited by people and rich in gold, diamonds and pearls. And although no one had ever seen this continent, it was put on maps and called the Unknown Southern Land. Many sailors were busy searching for the legendary continent. And when in the 16th century. managed to open New Guinea, geographers considered this huge island ledge of the Unknown Southern Land. On modern map It is clearly visible that Australia is just a stone's throw from New Guinea. The first to reach this continent was the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. He not only landed on the mainland, but also explored its coast for 350 km. At the same time, Janszon thought that he had only visited New Guinea. Like Columbus, he did not learn until the end of his life that he had become the discoverer of a new continent. After Janszoon, other Dutch navigators discovered large areas of the northern, western and south coast Australia.

It is curious that at the same time one of the Dutch captains first discovered and described a kangaroo - an amazing animal with a tiny baby in its pouch. Open lands were called New Holland and were considered part of the Unknown Southern Land. And only after in the 18th century. The great English traveler James Cook discovered and carefully explored the eastern coast of Australia, it became clear that it was an independent continent. It was called Australia, which, as you remember, means “southern.”

Discovery of Antarctica

In 1820, Russian navigators Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev sailing ships"Vostok" and "Mirny" discovered the sixth continent - Antarctica. Their heroic voyage lasted 751 days. During this time, they came close to the shores of Antarctica 9 times, but the ice did not allow them to land on the mainland.

It was only in 1894 that people first set foot on Antarctica. These were the Norwegians, captain L. Christensen and sailor K. Borchgrevink, who managed to get through the ice to the shore in a boat.

Ten Great Travelers

Robert Peary (1856-1920)
USA. Polar explorer. In 1909 he was the first to reach the North Pole.

Marco Polo (1254-1324)
Venice. For 24 years he traveled throughout Asia. From his book, Europeans learned about amazing nature and the unprecedented wealth of these countries.

Ferdinand Magellan (circa 1480-1521)
Portugal. At the head of the Spanish naval expedition he made the first trip around the world. This journey proved the sphericity of our planet and the unity of the World Ocean.

Vasco da Gama (circa 1469-1524)
Portugal. He was the first to pave the sea route to India, sailing his ships around Africa.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888)
Russia. Explored remote areas of Asia. He mapped more than 20 mountain ranges and a number of lakes and rivers.

David Livingston (1813-1873)
England. He explored remote areas of Africa and discovered one of the largest waterfalls - Victoria.

Afanasy Nikitin
Russia. Merchant from Tver. In the 15th century traveled to India, crossing the Caspian, Arabian and Black Sea. He outlined his impressions in the book “Walking across Three Seas.”

Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)
Norway. Polar explorer. In 1911 he was the first to reach the South Pole.

Vitus Bering(1680-1741)
Russia. Explored the northern and eastern shores our country. Opened the strait between Asia and America (Bering Strait).

Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern (1770-1846)
Russia. Headed the first Russian circumnavigation (1803-1806).

Test your knowledge

What parts of the world and continents were known to ancient Greek scientists?
How was America discovered?
How was Australia discovered?
How was Antarctica discovered?

Think!

Trace the routes of four expeditions of X. Columbus on the map. During which of these expeditions did he visit only the islands, and during which did he visit the American continents?

Ancient Greek scientists were aware of Europe, Asia, and Africa (it was called Libya), although their outlines on the maps of that time were still very far from authentic. America was discovered in 1492 by X. Columbus, who was trying to find a shortcut to Asia. The discoverer of Australia was the Dutch navigator V. Janszoon, who set foot on this continent in 1606. Antarctica was discovered in 1820 by Russian navigators F. F. Bellingshausen and M. P. Lazarev.

Since the First Crusade, significant groups of Western European Christians have come into contact with the Muslim-Christian Levant (Middle East). There the crusaders encountered Christians belonging to various eastern churches. Of course, in the eyes of the crusaders, they were heretics who were persecuted and exterminated en masse in Western Europe. But here in the Middle East they seemed, and often actually were, allies of the Catholics against the Muslims. Therefore the same

popes

, who called for the organization of crusades against European heretics and blessed their massacres, ordered the leaders of the crusaders in Syria and Palestine to spare the Christians there - followers of heretical beliefs.

The main distributors of Christianity in the countries of Central and East Asia and informants of Western Europeans about these countries were the Nestorians, mainly Syrian traders, who in the 7th century. appeared already in Northern China. Groups of Nestorians in the Middle Ages lived in the cities and oases of Central Asia, and by the 12th century. Nestorian Christianity also spread among at least two numerous Mongol nomadic tribes: the Naiman in the west and the Kereit in the east. The presence of Christian communities in Asia began to be regarded by Catholic Europe as an important military-political factor when Muslim peoples - the Seljuk Turks and Egyptians - went on the offensive against the Catholic states founded by the crusaders in the Eastern Mediterranean.

It was then, in the middle of the 12th century, that the legend of the powerful Christian Tsar Ivan (“Priest John” of medieval chroniclers) arose in Western Europe. The reason for the emergence of this legend was the defeat of the Kara Khitai Karakitai are part of the eastern Khitan Mongols who went to Turkestan in 1125 after the defeat of the Khitan state of Liao. in 1141 by the troops of the Turkaseljuk Sultan Sanjar north of Samarkand.

In the 13th century. The legend of Tsar-Pope Ivan spread widely in Catholic Europe.

Everything that was done in Asian countries in favor of Christians or against Muslims was attributed to his power and influence with incredible exaggeration. The fact is that as a result of the Mongol campaigns of conquest, strong Muslim states in Central and Western Asia were defeated. And along with the news of this defeat, which was attributed to “that same priest Ivan, about whose great power the whole world speaks” (Marco Polo), information penetrated into Western Europe that there were Christians among the Mongol khans, that the khans willingly accepted Christians into the service, and some brutally persecute Muslims. And indeed, among the Mongols there were many Nestorian Christians; there were some in the family of Genghis Khan himself, and very influential ones at that. On the other hand, the crusaders themselves saw Christian Ethiopians in the “holy places” of Palestine and heard from them and their Asian co-religionists about the Christian East African country (Ethiopia). In Western Europe it also began to be considered the country of Tsar-Priest Ivan. The legend of the Tsar-Pope in the XIII–XIV centuries. greatly influenced the organization of embassies and missions to the countries of Central and South Asia, and in the 15th century. played a prominent role in the history of Portuguese geographical discoveries.

P Embassy of Carpini and Rubruk ri Genghis Khan and his successors, the great khans of Ogedei and Mongke , the early military-feudal Mongol Empire reached proportions unheard of in human history. As a result of a series of predatory campaigns, the Mongolian nobility, who led squads of their military servants - nukers, by the middle of the 13th century. conquered northern China South China was conquered by the Mongols later, in 1275–1280.

Driven into the Eastern Mediterranean by victorious Muslim armies, the Christian rulers of the ephemeral feudal states founded by the crusaders in the Middle East turned to their Western European patrons - the pope and Catholic kings - for help. And they considered the Mongols as their probable allies in the fight against Muslims. Therefore, in the 40s and 50s. XIII century from Western Europe Missions were sent to the Mongol khans, and the ambassadors were assigned, in addition to diplomatic and religious assignments, also special intelligence tasks. Dad Innocent IV used for this purpose the most educated mendicant monks of the recently organized orders - Dominican and Franciscan.

Franciscans sent by the Pope Giovanni del Plano Carpini And Benedikt Polyak(from Wroclaw) went to the Mongol capital Karakorum The city of Khara-Khorin was founded by Genghis Khan on the upper Orkhon the northern route. They left Lyon (France) in 1245, crossed Central Europe, Russian lands, at that time already captured by the Mongols of the Kipchak (Golden) Horde, the Caspian steppes and part of Central Asia. They came to Karakorum in 1246, when from all the regions of Asia conquered by the Mongols, the newly elected Great Khan Guyuk delegations arrived from conquered settled peoples and nomadic tribes. About 4 thousand gathered envoys took an oath of allegiance to their ruler. Plano Carpini and his companions used this extremely favorable circumstance to collect information about the Mongol Empire and the peoples inhabiting it. Here the papal ambassadors first became acquainted with the Chinese and the art of Chinese artisans. At the headquarters of Guyuk Khan Plano, Carpini met a group of Russians, including the Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich(who was soon poisoned), father of Alexander Nevsky. In the spring of 1247, the Franciscans went back along the same northern road and returned safely to Lyon. Plano Carpini presented to the pope a “Historical Review” (in Russian translation “History of the Mongols”) about the morals of the Mongols, their life, religion and state structure. His review is supplemented and clarified by data recorded at the court of the pope from the words of his companion Benedict the Polyak: “The order from the supreme pontiff,” writes Plano Carpini in the introduction, “was carried out with care both by us and ... by brother Benedict, who was a participant in our disasters and interpreter."

Soon after Carpini, in 1249, Karakorum was visited by an ambassador from the French crusader king Louis IX Saint Dominican friar André Longjumeau. The report on his journey has not been preserved, and there are only rare mentions of him in the stories of his contemporaries, in particular in Rubruk. Longjumeau traveled to Karakorum through Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Trans-Caspian deserts.

Important geographical information was collected by another (Franciscan) mission to the Karakorum - the Flemish Guillaume (Willema) Rubruk. She was sent from Akka (Northern Palestine) by Louis IX the Saint after an unsuccessful campaign in Egypt. The king hoped to find an ally against the Muslims in the Great Khan. In the winter of 1252 - 1253. Rubruk crossed the Black Sea and landed at the Crimean port of Soldaya (now Sudak). From here he moved east in May 1253. and two months later he reached the lower reaches of the Volga on oxen.

Rubruk confirms that it flows into the closed Caspian Sea, and not into the bay of the Northern Ocean, as almost all ancient geographers believed, except Herodotus and Ptolemy: “Brother Andrei [Lonjumeau] personally circled two sides of it, namely the southern and eastern ones, while I others two, namely northern [and]... western.” Rubruk indicates that the mountains rise in the west (Caucasus), in the south (Elburz) and in the east of the Caspian Sea, probably by the eastern mountains a clearly defined cliff is meant - the Western Chink of Ustyurt, crossed by Longjumeau. In mid-September the Franciscan moved east again. He made the further journey from the Caspian Sea on horseback. From Rubruk's report it is possible to determine his route only in the most general terms. He was traveling east a little north Aral Sea and Syrdarya. After a long journey through the endless steppes, where only occasionally woody vegetation was found near the rivers, he reached the mountains (Karatau), and having crossed them, he found himself in the valley of the river. Chu. Then the path went through the mountains (Trans-Ili Alatau) to the river valley. Or, "current to big lake "(Balkhash), and along the northern foot of the Dzhungar Alatau to Lake Alakol. From there the monk probably penetrated through the Dzungarian Gate into the Black Irtysh valley. Further, the road passed through a semi-desert and the traveler encountered only Mongols stationed along the large highway., two mosques and one Christian (Nestorian) church - proof of the religious tolerance of the Mongols, incomprehensible to the day of medieval Catholics.

Mongke Khan gave the ambassador a letter to the French king. In this letter he called himself the ruler of the world and demanded an oath of allegiance from the French if they wanted to live in peace with him. Rubruk's companion, the Italian monk Bartolomeo (from Cremona), remained with the local christian church. Rubruk went back in the summer of 1254. This time he traveled to the lower Volga by a northern route, so that Balkhash remained south of him. In the fall, he moved south along the western shore of the Caspian Sea through the Caspian Gate, crossed the Armenian Highlands, crossed the Eastern Taurus and, reaching the Mediterranean Sea, arrived in Lebanon at his monastery in mid-August 1255.

Rubruk was the first in European literature to point out one of the main features of the relief of Central Asia - the presence of the Central Asian Highlands. This conclusion was made from observations of the direction of the flow of Asian roars encountered along the way: “On the whole journey I noted only one thing, which was told to me in Constantinople... Baldwin de Gano who was there: ...he went up all the way... and never came down. For all the rivers flowed from east to west, either straight or not straight, that is, with an inclination to the south or to the north.” Rubruk also described, of course in general terms, based on questioning, a number of countries in Central and East Asia. He pointed out that Cathay (Northern China) is adjacent to the ocean in the east. He was the first European to correctly assume that the Sers of ancient geography and the Cathayans were one and the same people. He collected, albeit scanty and sometimes incorrect, information about the Manchus, Koreans and some peoples of North Asia.

In the history of the acquaintance of Western Europe with Asia by the mission of the 13th century. still played not a very large role, especially in the study of the geography of the mainland. True, the records of the Franciscan ambassadors about the life of the inhabitants of the countries they visited, about the religion and military organization of the Mongols, etc. are still of great interest and are important historical documents. But the powers of observation of these robed diplomats and spies were limited by their scholastic Catholic education.

Marco Polo and his "Book"

Western European merchants heading to Asia usually received special diplomatic or espionage assignments from their governments or from the Roman Church. But for merchants, the interests of buying and selling came first: what valuable goods could be bought with the greatest profit for themselves in this or that Asian country, where and to whom they could sell more profitably. And closely related to these trading interests were issues of financial order (taxes and duties) and monitoring of routes and means of communication, trading points, etc. In a word, merchants were primarily interested in “trade practices.” This is how it was named in the 14th century. famous Italian reference book - a guide to Asian countries, compiled by a Florentine Francesco Balducci Pegolotti. And it is characteristic that this practical guide for a traveling merchant also has a different name - “The Book of Descriptions of Countries.” From such reference books, the branch of geography later developed, which in the 19th century. in Western European countries it was called “commercial geography”, or “trade geography”, or “economic geography”, as it is still understood by many bourgeois scientists.

Medieval Arab (more precisely, Arabic-speaking) geographers began to compile such manuals long before the 13th century. But according to its main content, the first Western European works of this type should include the book of the Venetian traveler to China Marco Polo, which in the earliest version, dictated in 1298 in a Genoese prison, was called “The Book of the Diversity of the World.” However, the “Book” of Marco Polo differs sharply from later dry compilations in that it is mainly compiled from personal observations, and otherwise, with minor exceptions, from the stories of his father Niccolo, uncles Maffeo(senior Polos) and people they meet, and not based on literary materials. This difference is also explained by the prison environment in which the “Book” was created: it was written down by another prisoner - a Pisan Rusticiano like a chain of living stories addressed to direct listeners. Hence the style of Marco Polo, characteristic of the “Book,” and the diversity of its content. The description of the journey, in the truest sense of the word, is only a short “Prologue” and a few of the chapters of the “Book”. It is mainly filled with characteristics of Asian countries, localities, cities, the customs and way of life of their inhabitants, the court of the Great Khan of the Mongols and the Chinese Emperor Kublai. In this geographical material, which is of the greatest interest, historical chapters are inserted into several legend stories.

The older Polos crossed Asia not once, like Marco himself, but three times, twice from west to east and once to reverse direction, during the first trip. Niccolò and Maffeo left Venice around 1254 and, after a six-year stay in Constantinople, left for trading purposes in Southern Crimea, then moved to the Volga in 1261. From middle Volga The Polo brothers moved southeast through the lands of the Golden Horde, crossed the Trans-Caspian steppes, and then crossed the Ustyurt plateau to Khorezm, to the city of Urgench. Their further route ran in the same south-eastern direction, up the Amu Darya valley to the lower reaches of Zarafshan and up along it to Bukhara. There they met with the ambassador of the conqueror of Iran, Ilkhan Hulagu, who was heading to the Great Khan Kublai, and the ambassador invited the Venetians to join his caravan. With him they walked “north and northeast” for a whole year. They ascended along the Zarafshan valley to Samarkand, crossed into the Syrdarya valley and descended along it to the city of Otrar. From here their path lay along the foothills of the Western Tien Shan to the river. Or. Further east they walked either up the Ili valley, or through the Dzhungar Gate, past Lake Alakol (east of Balkhash). They then advanced along the foothills of the Eastern Tien Shan and reached the Hami Oasis, an important stage on the northern branch of the Great Silk Road from China to Central Asia. From Hami they turned south, into the valley of the river. Sulehe. And further east, to the court of the Great Khan, they walked along the same path that they took later with Marco. Their return route is not clear. They returned to Venice in 1269.

In 1271, the Polo merchants, together with Marco, who was then 17 years old, left for Palestine, to Akka. In the fall of 1271, they crossed from there to Ayas (near Iskenderon Bay), then crossed the central part of Asia Minor and the Armenian Highlands, turned south to Kurdistan, and descended along the Tigris to Basra. Then, most likely, the Venetians went north to Tabriz, and then crossed Iran in a southeast direction through Kerman to Hormuz, hoping to reach China by sea (via India). But the ships in Hormuz seemed very unreliable to them - they returned to Kerman and made a difficult journey straight north through the Dasht-Lut desert to the city of Kayen. From there they reached Balkh by an unclear route. Moving east, along the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush, the travelers entered the high mountainous Afghan Badakhshan and reached the outskirts of the Pamirs. In his "Book" Marco Polo gives a brief but remarkable exact description Pamir and Alai Valley.

Turning to the northeast, the Venetians descended into the Kashgar oasis, and then circled the Taklamakan desert from the south, moving along the northwestern foothills of Tibet, from oasis to oasis to the lower reaches of the river. Cherchen. Through the Kumtag sands from well to well they walked into the river valley.

Sulehe, and from there through the country of the Tanguts (northeastern Tibetans) to the city of Ganzhou (Zhanye). The Venetians lived there for a whole year for an unclear reason - “on a matter not worth talking about.” It is possible that it was at this time that Marco Polo visited the city of Karakorum, the northernmost point where he visited. (Everything that Marco says about Northern Asia is based not on personal observations, but on questioning information.) From Ganzhou, the Venetians moved further to the southeast through the “Tangut large region, where there are many kingdoms,” to the city of Xining. And the last part of their journey - from the city of Xining to the temporary headquarters of the great khan - Clemenfu, which was located north of Khanbalyk (Beijing) - ran first along the valley of the middle Yellow River, and then through the steppe. crossed Eastern China. Traveling around China did not present any difficulties at that time, especially for the messengers of Kublai Kublai, who organized an excellent communication service - horse and foot (high-speed) mail. According to the “Book” of Marco Polo, only two of his main routes across China can be determined relatively accurately, both from Khanbalyk. One route - the eastern one - led along the coastal strip directly south through the countries of Cathay (Northern China) and Manzi (Central and Southern China) to the cities of Qingsai (Hangzhou) and Zeitun (Quanzhou). Another route led to the southwest, to Eastern Tibet and its border areas.

Glorified by the Venetian under the distorted name Kinsai, the city of Hangzhou, lying south of the mouth of the great Chinese river, was one of the largest cities China.

But the overly exaggerated description of Quinsay with its “12 thousand stone bridges” naturally aroused the distrust of some contemporaries towards the enthusiastic Million (Million) - this is what the Venetians called their fellow countryman, probably for his passion for exaggeration (real and imaginary).

Having spent many years in the service of Kublai Kublai, the Venetians returned to their homeland by sea - around South Asia and through Iran: they accompanied, on behalf of the Great Khan, two princesses - Chinese and Mongolian, who were married to the Ilkhan (the Mongolian ruler of Iran) and his heir, to the capital of the Ilkhans Tabriz. In 1292, the Chinese flotilla moved from Zeytun to the southwest, across the Chin (South China) Sea. During this passage, Marco heard about Indonesia - about the “7448 islands” scattered in the Chin Sea, but he only visited Sumatra, where the travelers spent five months. From Sumatra the flotilla moved to Fr. Sri Lanka past the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. Marco incorrectly classifies Sri Lanka (like Java) as one of the “largest islands in the world,” but truthfully describes the life of the Sri Lankans, deposits of precious stones and the famous pearl fishing in the Palk Strait. Abasia (Abyssinia, i.e. Ethiopia), about the flare of the equator and in the southern hemisphere the islands “Zangibar” and “Madeigascar”.

But he confuses Zanzibar with Madagascar, and both islands with the coastal region of East Africa, and therefore gives a lot of incorrect information about them. Yet Marco was the first European to report on Madagascar. After a three-year voyage, the Venetians brought the princesses to Iran (around 1264), and in 1295 they arrived home. According to some reports, Marco took part in the war with Genoa and around 1297, during a naval battle, he was captured by the Genoese. In prison in 1298, he dictated the “Book”, and in 1299 he was released and returned to his homeland.

Almost all the information given by biographers about his subsequent life in Venice is based on stories, some of which even date back to the 16th century. Documents from the 14th century. Very little has reached our time about Marco himself and his family. It has been proven, however, that he lived out his life as a wealthy, but far from wealthy, Venetian citizen. He died in 1344.

Fragment "Il Millione"

Paolo Novaresio, The Explorers, White Star, Italy, 2002

In the XIV–XV centuries. The “Book” of Marco Polo served as one of the guides for cartographers. Its geographical nomenclature is largely repeated on many maps, including such famous world maps as the Catalan map of 1375 and the Fra Mauro circular map of 1459. But, of course, cartographers also used other sources, often much less reliable than the Book of "In general, a truthful Venetian. The “Book” of Marco Polo played a very important role in the history of great discoveries. Not only that, the organizers and leaders of the Portuguese and first Spanish expeditions of the 15th-16th centuries. they used maps compiled under the strong influence of Polo, but his work itself was a reference book for outstanding cosmographers and navigators, including Columbus.

“The Book” of Marco Polo is one of the rare medieval works - literary works and scientific works that are read and reread today. It has entered the golden fund of world literature, translated into many languages, published and republished in many countries around the world. was sent by the pope to Tabriz. Two years later, he set off from Hormuz by sea to the Coromandel coast of Hindustan and arrived there among the local Christians (Thomists) for more than a year. In his reporting letters, Montecorvino gave good description South India, the life of its population, trade and navigation in the monsoon climate. From there he moved by sea to China in 1293 and lived mainly in Northern China for about 35 years.

However, his letters from China are less interesting from a geographical point of view than those from India. A motley mixture of truth and fiction is the description of a 12-year journey through Asia (1318–1330) by a Franciscan Odorico of Pordenone . From Hormuz he reached the Indian region by sea around 1322. Thana (in the area where Bombay later grew up), visited both coasts of South India and Sri Lanka. From there, around 1324, he arrived on the northwestern coast of the island. Sumatra (Odoriko writes "Sumoltra", but refers this name only to the kingdom in the southern part of the island). Odoriko characterizes Java, to which he then moved, as the most abundant and prosperous region. In those days it was ruled by one supreme sovereign; he had seven kings in vassalage. From Java, Odoriko was the first European to arrive on the island. Kalimantan was the first to note that in the seas South-East Asia there are “a good 24 thousand islands” - according to modern data, about 20 thousand, and with reefs much more. He visited South Vietnam and South China, reached Hangzhou, and from there Khanbalik, where he lived for three years. On the way back, Odoriko crossed into

westward all of Asia. From Khanbalyk and the middle Yellow River basin he passed to the Red River Basin. The Yangtze, penetrated into Tibet, described the capital of the country, Lhasa, where, according to him, he lived for a long time (some historians legitimately doubt this). At this description his travels end. It is only known that Odorico returned to his homeland in 1330 and died on January 14, 1331, without finishing his book. It is a rambling account of the various countries and cities of Asia, its peoples and wonders. In Europe at the turn of the XIV–XV centuries. it became known that all the Muslim states of Western Asia and Northern India were conquered by the Mongol ruler Central Asia Tamerlane(the name is so distorted by Europeans Timur-leng. That is why the Castilian king is especially interested in this Enrique III sent at the beginning of the 15th century. two embassies to Timur in his capital Samarkand. At the head of one was Ruy Gonzalez Clavijo, who during a three-year journey (1403–1406) kept a detailed diary, first published in 1582 under the title “The History of the Great Tamerlane.” Being a very important primary source for studying the state of the Middle East and Central Asia at the beginning of the 15th century, Clavijo’s “History” also provides new geographical material that supplements the news of Marco Polo mainly in Central Asia and the neighboring regions of Northern Iran. His information from personal observations is, as a rule, truthful and accurate;

Some interrogatory data are erroneous, in particular the reports that the Amu Darya “flows into the Baku Sea,” i.e., into the Caspian Sea. The Merchant of Venice Niccolo Conti from 1419 he lived in Damascus (Syria), studied Arabic there. In 1424, he began his travels for trading purposes in Asia. From Damascus, Conti traveled to Hormuz and moved by sea to North-West India, to the port of Cambay. Having visited several cities in this area, he sailed south along the entire western coast of Hindustan, visited Sri Lanka, and then sailed along the entire eastern coast of India to the mouth of the Ganges. From Bengal he headed east by land, crossed the deserted mountains separating India from Northwestern Indochina, reached a wide plain, and reached “very big river- Dawa" (Irrawaddy). Having descended along it to the mouth, Conti returned to Cambay by sea, from there he headed further west, visited the island. Socotra, in Aden, in one of the northern Ethiopian ports, in the Arabian harbor of Jeddah (port of Mecca) and through Egypt and Tripoli returned to Italy in 1444. Pope Evgeniy IV

became so interested in Conti’s wanderings that he even absolved him of such a grave sin as renouncing his faith, and ordered his secretary, a famous humanist, Poggio Bracciolini. In July, near Astrakhan, the Tatars attacked the caravan and plundered it. At the same time, the Russians lost their ships and almost all their property.

Some of them reached the Shirvan possessions in different ways and asked to be returned to their homeland under protection, but the Shah refused, citing the fact that there were too many of them. “And we, weeping, went our separate ways,” says Nikitin in his notes “Walking across the Three Seas,” “whoever had something in Rus' went to Rus', and whoever owed it there went wherever they looked... » Nikitin, as shown L. S. Semenov , did not “owe”, that is, he did not borrow goods, but he lost all his property and therefore decided to sell in foreign countries. From Baku, “where the fire is unquenchable,” in September 1468 Nikitin sailed to the Caspian, Iranian region of Mazanderan. He stayed there for more than eight months, and then, having passed the Elborz Mountains, he moved south. Afanasy traveled slowly, sometimes living for a month at a certain point, engaged in trade. In one of the southern Iranian cities, he heard about how expensive thoroughbred horses are in India and how cheap valuable goods are for Rus'. He purchased a stallion, deciding to visit India, and headed to Persian Gulf , however, more than once turning off the direct path to Gurmyz (Ormuz). After more than two years of stay in Iran, on April 23, 1471, Nikitin boarded a ship heading to the Indian port of Chaul, at 18°30" N. But he was unable to sell his horse profitably there, and in June he set off through the Western Ghats to inland, 200 miles from the sea, to the east, to a small town in the upper reaches of the Sina (Krishna basin), and from there to the northwest, to Junnar, at 74° E. He spent two months there and in September, although the rainy period did not end, he led the stallion even further, 400 versts, to Bidar, at 18 ° N, the capital of the Besermen (Muslim) state of Bahmani, which then owned almost the entire Deccan to the Krishna River in the south, “a large city, crowded." Then he visited three. and returned to Bidar in November. He managed to sell the horse only in December 1471. Nikitin describes the magnificent trips of the local sultan, his courtyard, surrounded by walls with seven gates. He sees terrible poverty around, which other European travelers did not pay attention to: “... the rural people are very poor, and the boyars are rich and luxurious; they carry them on a silver stretcher...” Nikitin notes the discord between Hindus and Muslims (“they don’t eat or drink with the Besermen”), the caste division of Hindus (“there are 84 faiths in India”), and the differences in the life and food of individual castes. In 1472, from Bidar, Athanasius completed the route to the sacred city of Parvat, on the right bank of the Krishna. He left Bidar in April 1473, lived for five months in one of the cities of the “diamond” region of Raichur and decided to return “to Rus'.”

Route of A. Nikitin

Nikitin was disappointed with the results of the trip: “I was deceived by the infidel dogs: they talked about a lot of goods, but it turned out that there was nothing for our land... Pepper and paint were cheap. Some transport goods by sea, while others do not pay duties for them. But they won’t let us transport it without duty. But the duty is high, and there are many robbers at sea.”

Exhausted in India, Nikitin at the end of 1473 set off on the return journey, which he described very briefly. He boarded the ship at Dabhol (Dabul) in January 1474, paying two gold pieces for the passage to Hormuz. “And I sailed... on the sea for a month and saw nothing, only the next month I saw the Ethiopian mountains... and I was in that Ethiopian land for five days. By the grace of God, evil did not happen; we distributed a lot of rice, pepper, and bread to the Ethiopians, and they did not plunder the ships.”

The “Ethiopian Mountains” refers to the northern high coast of the Somali Peninsula. The ship reached Muscat, having traveled about 2000 km against the wind and current and spending much more time on this journey than noted in the text of “Walking...”

After almost three months of sailing, Athanasius landed in Hormuz, where he stayed for 20 days. Then he moved northwest through the mountainous regions of Iran and, trading spices, went to Tabriz, visited the main headquarters of the nomadic “white sheep” Turkmen, and then crossed the Armenian Plateau and reached the Black Sea near Trebizond by the beginning of October 1474. For his gold they undertook to transport it to the Genoese Cafa (Feodosia), but “due to a strong and angry wind” the ship reached it only on November 5. Nikitin kept no further notes. Here he spent the winter of 1474–1475. and probably put his observations in order. In the spring of 1475, together with several merchants, Afanasy moved north, most likely along the Dnieper. From the brief introduction to his “Walk...”, included in the “Lvov Chronicle” in 1475, it is clear that he “before reaching Smolensk, died [at the end of 1474 - beginning of 1475], and wrote the scripture with his own hand , and his handwritten notebooks were brought by guests [merchants] to Moscow...", which he depicted simply, realistically, efficiently, without embellishment. With his feat, he convincingly proves that in the second half of the 15th century, 30 years before the Portuguese “discovery” of India, even a lonely and poor, but energetic person could make a trip to this country from Europe at his own peril and risk, despite a number of exceptional circumstances. unfavorable conditions. Indeed, Nikitin did not have the support of the secular sovereign, like the Portuguese Covilha, who traveled shortly after him. Nor did he have powerful church power behind him, like his predecessors, the monks Montecorvino and Odorico of Pordenone. He did not renounce his faith, like the Venetian Conti. The only Orthodox Christian among Muslims and Hindus, Nikitin did not receive help and hospitality everywhere, like Arab merchants and travelers among their fellow believers.

Afanasy Nikitin was completely alone, very homesick and longed to return home. “And may God save the Russian land... There is no country like it in this world, although the beglyari [princely governors] of the Russian land are unjust. Let the Russian land be well-maintained, for there is little justice in it.”

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A scientist who traveled throughout Asia for 24 years.

Norwegian explorer who was the first to reach the South Pole.

The name of the famous Italian scientist and discoverer of America.

Russian explorer who discovered the strait between Asia and America, which was later named after him.

This man led the first Russian circumnavigation.

One of the Russian navigators who discovered Antarctica.

The name of the Portuguese navigator who was the first to circumnavigate Africa and sail to India.

An ancient Greek scientist who compiled one of the first geographical maps.

English traveler who discovered Victoria Falls.

Russian traveler - explorer of Asia.

Merchant-traveler who made the Sea Route to India.

Portuguese man who made the first trip around the world.

One of the Norwegian navigators who first set foot in Antarctica.

Russian navigator who discovered in 1820.

Antarctica.

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, famous traveler, and writer who wrote the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World,” in which he told the story of his travels through Asian countries. Not all researchers agree with the reliability of the facts presented in the book, but to this day it remains one of the important sources of knowledge on the history, ethnography and geography of Asian states of the Middle Ages.

The book was used by sailors, cartographers, explorers, writers, travelers and discoverers. She traveled with Christopher Columbus on his famous voyage to America. Marco Polo was the first European to set off on a risky journey through unknown countries.

Childhood and family

Documents about Marco’s birth have not been preserved, so information about this period of his biography is inaccurate. It is believed that he was a nobleman, belonged to the Venetian nobility, and had a coat of arms. Born in 1254, on September 15, in the family of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo, who traded in jewelry and spices. He did not know his mother, since she died during childbirth. The boy's father and aunt raised him.

Alleged coats of arms of the Marco Polo family

Homeland famous traveler there could also be Poland and Croatia, which dispute this right, citing as evidence certain facts confirming both versions. The Poles claim that the Polo surname is of Polish origin; Croatian researchers are confident that the first evidence of the life of the famous traveler is on their land.

Whether Marco Polo was educated is not known for certain. The question of his literacy is also controversial, since the famous book was written under dictation by his cellmate, the Pisan Rusticiano, with whom he was held captive in a Genoese prison. At the same time, in one of the chapters of the book it is written that during his travels he made notes in his notebook, tried to be attentive to what was happening and write down everything new and unusual that he encountered. Later, traveling around the world, he learned several languages.

Travel and discovery

The father of the future navigator traveled a lot due to his profession. While traveling around the world, he discovered new trade routes. It was the father who instilled in his son a love of travel, talking about his travels and adventures. In 1271, his first journey took place, on which he went with his father. His final destination was Jerusalem.

In the same year, a new Pope was elected, who appointed the Polo family (father, brother Morpheo and son Marco) as official envoys to China, where the Mongol Khan ruled the country at that time. First stop on the coast Mediterranean Sea there was the port of Layas - a place where goods were brought from Asia, where merchants from Venice and Genoa bought them. Their path then passed through Asia Minor, Armenia, Mesopotamia, where they visited Mosul and Baghdad.

Then travelers go to Persian Tabriz, where at that time there was a rich pearl market. In Persia, part of their escort was killed by robbers who attacked the caravan. The Polo family miraculously survived. Suffering from thirst in the sultry desert, on the verge of life and death, they reached the Afghan city of Balkh and found salvation in it.

The eastern lands where they found themselves as they continued their journey abounded in fruit and game. In Badakhshan, the next region, numerous slaves mined precious stones. According to one version, they stopped in these places for a year due to Marco’s illness. Then, overcoming the forts of the Pamirs, they went to Kashmir. Polo was surprised by the local sorcerers who influenced the weather, as well as the beauty of the local women.

After this, the Italians were the first Europeans to find themselves in the Southern Tien Shan. Next, the caravan headed northeast through the oases of the Taklamakan Desert. The first Chinese city on their way was Shangzhou, followed by Guangzhou and Lanzhou. Polo was greatly impressed by the local rituals and customs, flora and fauna of this country. It was a wonderful time of his amazing travels and discoveries.

The Polo family lived with Kublai Khan for 15 years. The khan liked young Marco for his independence, fearlessness and good memory. He became a close associate of the Chinese ruler, participated in government life, made important decisions, helped recruit an army, suggested the use of military catapults, and much more.

Carrying out the most difficult diplomatic assignments, Marco visited many Chinese cities, studied the language and never ceased to be amazed at the achievements and discoveries of this people. He described all this in his book. Shortly before returning home, he was appointed ruler of the Chinese provinces of Jiangnan.

Kublai did not want to let his assistant and favorite go, but in 1291 he sent him and all the Polos to accompany the Mongol princess who had married a ruler from Persia. The route passed through Ceylon and Sumatra. In 1294, while still traveling, they received news that Kublai Khan had died.

The Polos decide to return home. Path through Indian Ocean was very dangerous, only a few managed to overcome it. Marco Polo returned to his homeland after 24 years of wandering in the winter of 1295.

On native soil

Two years after his return, the war between Genoa and Venice begins, in which Polo also participates. He is captured and spends several months in prison. Here, based on his stories about the journey, the famous book was written.

There are 140 versions of it, written in 12 languages. Despite some speculation, from it Europeans learned about paper money, coal, the sago palm, places where spices were grown, and much more.

Personal life

Marco's father remarried and had three more brothers. After captivity, everything is going well in Mark’s personal life: he married a noble and wealthy Venetian Donata, bought a house, gave birth to three daughters and receives the nickname Mr. Million. The townspeople consider him an eccentric liar, not trusting stories about distant travels. Mark lives a prosperous life, but yearns for travel, especially China.

The only joy they bring him is Venetian carnivals, as they resemble magnificent Chinese palaces and luxurious khan outfits. After returning from Asia, Mark Polo lived another 25 years. At home he is engaged in trade. The book written while in prison made him famous during his lifetime.

Polo died in 1324 at the age of 70 in Venice. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo, destroyed in the 19th century. His luxurious house burned down in a fire at the end of the 14th century. Many exciting films and TV series have been shot about Mark Polo, his life and travels, arousing genuine interest among our contemporaries.

The struggle for the right to be called the birthplace of Marco Polo between Italy, Poland and Croatia.
He wrote a book about his travels, which made him famous.
IN last years During his life, he reveals stinginess, which leads him to legal proceedings with his own family.
Marco Polo freed one of his slaves and bequeathed part of his inheritance. In this regard, many speculations have arisen about the reasons for such generosity.
The Marco Polo butterfly was named after the great traveler in 1888.

Ten great travelers Completed the work Anastasia Kraevaya and Maria Smirnova, 8th grade, 2014-2015 school year. year

Marco Polo (1254-1324) Marco Polo (Venice). For 24 years he traveled throughout Asia. From his book, Europeans learned about the amazing nature and unprecedented wealth of these countries.

Ferdinand Magellan (1480 - 1521) Ferdinand Magellan (Portugal). At the head of the Spanish naval expedition he made the first trip around the world. This journey proved the sphericity of our planet and the unity of the World Ocean.

Robert Peary (1856-1920) Robert Peary (USA). Polar explorer. In 1909 he was the first to reach the North Pole.

Vasco da Gama (circa 1469-1524) Vasco da Gama (Portugal). He was the first to pave the sea route to India, sailing his ships around Africa.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (Russia). Explored remote areas of Asia. He mapped more than 20 mountain ranges and a number of lakes and rivers.

David Livingston (1813-1873) David Livingston (England). Explored inaccessible areas of Africa, discovered one of the largest waterfalls - Victoria.

Afanasy Nikitin. Afanasy Nikitin (Russia). Merchant from Tver. In the 15th century traveled to India, crossing the Caspian, Arabian and Black Seas on the way there and back. He outlined his impressions in the book “Walking across Three Seas.”

Vitus Bering (1680-1741) Vitus Bering (Russia). Explored the northern and eastern shores of our country. Opened the strait between Asia and America (Bering Strait)

Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (1770-1846) Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (Russia). Led the first Russian circumnavigation of the world (1803-1806)

Roald Amundsen (1872-19280) Roald Amundsen (Norway). Polar explorer. In 1911 he was the first to reach the South Pole.

Thank you for your attention!

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