Marco Polo and The Silk Road

Marco Polo born in Venice, Italy

Sep 15, 1254

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo leave Constantinople for the east

Jan 1, 1259

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo leave Constantinople and transfer their trading business to Soldaia, a city in Crimea controlled by the Mongol empire. Searching for better profits, the Polos move east to Bukhara (in modern-day Uzbekistan) where they trade for three years.

The Polo brothers join an embassy sent by Hulagu Khan

Jan 1, 1264

The Polo brothers join an embassy sent by Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate empire in present-day Iran, Iraq and most of the former Soviet republics, to his brother Kublai Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire in present-day Mongolia, North China and much of Western China.

Polo brothers arrive at the court of Kublai Khan

Jan 1, 1266

The Polo brothers arrive at the court of Kublai Khan in Dadu (present-day Beijing) China. Kublai Khan sends the Polos back to Venice with a letter to the Pope, requesting 100 educated missionaries to teach Christianity and Western customs to his people, and oil from the lamp in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the reputed resting place of Jesus Christ). The letter also includes a golden tablet that authorizes the Polos to receive food and lodging throughout Kublai Khan’s domain.

Marco Polo's first voyage at age 17

Jan 1, 1271

Marco Polo accompanies his father and uncle on a journey through the Holy Land, Persia and Tartary and to the Empire of China

Polo family arrives in a Chinese city

Jan 1, 1274

The Polos give the Pope’s gifts to Kublai Khan. The Polos spend the next seventeen years in China. Kublai Khan takes a liking to young Marco Polo, and dispatches him on diplomatic missions throughout the empire. Marco later claims that Kublai Khan made him the governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years.

Kulbia Khan sends the Polos the escort a Mongol princess to Persia

Period: Jan 1, 1291 to Jan 1, 1294

Kublai Khan sends the Polos to escort a Mongol princess to her betrothed in the Ilkhanate in Persia. The Polos travel by sea from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou to Sumatra, Sri Lanka, India and finally to Persia.

Polos return to Venice

Jan 1, 1295

The Polos return to Venice and tell their stories of the East to doubting Venetians.

Marco Polo captured and imprisoned

Jan 1, 1298

Marco Polo is captured during a civil war between Venice and Genoa. During his imprisonment, he dictates a detailed account of his travels to a fellow prisoner. The resulting book (known alternately as “Il Milione,” “The Description of the World” or “The Travels of Marco Polo”) becomes a huge success in Europe, 200 years before the invention of the printing press.

Polos return to Venice

Jan 1, 1298

The Polos return to Venice and tell their stories of the East to doubting Venetians.

Marco Polo released from prison

Jan 1, 1300

Marco Polo is released from prison, marries, and has three children. He never leaves Venice again.

Death of Marco Polo

Jan 15, 1324

Marco Polo dies in Venice at age 69.