Marco Polo (c.1254 - 1324)

Marco Polo was born into a wealthy Venetian mercantile family, who travelled wherever business led them - he did not meet his father until the latter`s return from Xanadu in 1269. While there, his father had become friendly with Kublai Khan and had returned to Europe as his ambassador to the pope, who had died recently. Bored waiting for a new one to be appointed, they set off again, taking the young Marco Polo with them. They travelled to Acre and, from there, to the Khorasan region in what is now eastern Iran. Turning to the northeast, they reached Badakhshan in Afghanistan, where they stayed for a year. Off again, the Polos reached Kashgar in what is now China. By now they were on the main Silk Road, which they followed to the Chinese borders. By 1275, they were back at the Mongol court, presenting sacred oil from Jerusalem and papal letters to Kublai Khan.

For the next 17 years the Polos lived in the Emperor`s dominions. Little is known of these years; Marco Polo`s book, Il milione, gives only vague details, so what the Polos actually did has been the subject of inconclusive speculation for centuries. Marco Polo himself was popular with Kublai Khan, who sent him on fact-finding missions across the empire. His knowledge of the salt monopoly also suggests that he may have held some responsibility in this area.

Around 1292, the Polos offered to accompany a Mongol princess, who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan in Persia. They sailed to Hormuz, via the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Ceylon. They then proceeded to Khorasan, handing over the Princess to Arghun`s successor, Mahmud Ghazan.

The Polos eventually departed for Europe and reached Venice in 1295, where they met their family, who had long given them up for dead. Shortly afterwards, however, Marco was taken prisoner of war by the Genoese. In jail, he met another prisoner, a writer of romances and chivalry. Marco began to tell his story and, slowly, his book was compiled. Upon eventual publication, it was an instant success. Polo was freed and returned to Venice, where he seems to have led a quiet life before dying at the age of 70.