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Marco Polo

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During his travels during the 1200’s, Marco Polo traveled from China to India via the China Sea. Marco Polo describes the China Sea as having 7,448 islands that for the most part are inhabited. These islands have trees that give off a wonderful fragrance and the islands are filled with spices. When ships from Zaiton or Kinsai visit the islands, they have great profit margins but it takes a full year too sail to these islands and back home. This paper examines the major islands that Marco Polo visited during his travels through the China Sea.
The first island Marco Polo discussed was Japan. Japan is a large island, east of China by about 1,500 miles. Marco Polo described the Japanese people as fair-complexioned, good-looking, and well-mannered. They were also idolaters who were independent and had no other nation to govern. Japan was also blessed with a large amount of gold, partly because no one exported any gold off of the island. I believe Marco Polo was amazed at the amount of gold found on the island since he went into great detail about how the emperor’s palace was roofed entirely of gold, floored with gold in all of the rooms, and about how the halls and windows were embellished with gold. A custom of the Japanese people that Marco Polo mentioned was that their dead is either cremated or buried. If a person is buried, then a red pearl is placed in their mouth. However, Marco Polo dose not elaborated on why a pearl is placed in the deceased’s mouth. (Latham 1958)
Chamba is islands that has its own king, speaks its own language, and are idolaters. The Great Khan receives a yearly tribute of elephants and aloe wood from the king of Chamba, ever since the Great Khan launched an invasion of Chamba in 1278. During the invasion, towns and cities of Chamba were safe due to a stout defense; however, the county side lay in ruins. Seeing that the country side was ravaged, the king of Chamba sent word to the Great Khan that he was a man of great age and ruled the kingdom in peace for many years. Therefore, the king offered to my tribute to the Great Khan if he would leave Chamba. (Latham 1958)
In Chamba, no girl can marry without being inspected by the king. If the king is pleased by the girl then he takes her to be his wife. If the king is not pleased by the girl then his pays her a sum of money and then she may marry another husband. Marco Polo made it a point to state that in 1285 the king had 326 children, male and female, and 150 male children that were of age to bear arms. Also of note, the kingdom produced a large amount of elephants, aloe wood, and had many groves of ebony wood. The ebony wood was very black and used for making both chess-men and pen-cases. (Latham 1958)
Next is the island of Lesser Java. Within a 2,000 mile circumference lays eight kingdoms and eight crowned kings. The people of each kingdom speak their own language and are all idolaters. The island is full of aloe wood, brazil, ebony, spikenard, and other spices. Marco Polo also details a few of the eight kingdoms, first is Ferlec. The people of Ferlec were idolaters at one point but now the people of the city are followers of Mahomet and the people of the mountains warship the first thing they see when they wake up in the morning. (Latham 1958) Marco Polo leaves Ferlec and enters Basman. The people of Basman have no laws and are described as having feet like elephants, hair like a buffalo, and a black horn in the middle of their forehead. The next kingdom is called Sumatra. The people of this kingdom are idolaters and savages who will kill man for food. These people are ruled by a wealthy and powerful king who is loyal to the Great Khan. Marco Polo had to dig a trench around his encampment during his time in this kingdom because he was afraid of the nasty inhabitants but trading did occur during this period. (Latham 1958)
Dagroian is the next kingdom Marco Polo details for us. The people of this kingdom profess allegiance to the Great Khan and are both idolaters and savages according to Marco Polo. He bases label of “savages” off of the kingdom’s custom regarding their sick. When a person falls sick, the family will summon a magician to see if the ill person will live or die. If the person is to die, men come around and suffocate the ill person. The body is then cooked and the family eats all of the body except bone. The family does this so that worms to not grow and eat the body because if worms do grow, then the dead’s soul will be tormented. (Latham 1958)
The next kingdom visited by Marco Polo is Lambri. In Lambri the people are idolaters and profess the allegiance to the Great Khan. This kingdom produces a great amount of brazil, camphor, and other spices. The most interesting information given about this kingdom is that some men have tails that are about a palm in length. Lastly is the kingdom of Fansur. The people of Fansur are idolaters with a king who professes his allegiance to the Great Khan. This kingdom is a producer of world class camphor and has trees that produce flour. This flour is used for making cakes and various paste dishes. The remaining kingdoms were not visited by Marco Polo so were there forth not discussed. (Latham 1958)

Bibliography
Latham, Ronald. Marco Polo. London: Penguin Books, 1958, pages 243-259

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