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On the Road with Marco Polo: Sea Voyage to India
After spending 17 years in China, Marco Polo and his father and uncle finally had an opportunity to return home. Kublai Khan asked them to lead an expedition to deliver a Mongol princess to Persia, where she was to be married. From Persia they would continue on to Venice.
Student Activity:
The Polos began their homeward journey by traveling south to a port (Amoy) in southern China. There their large party, which included government officials and servants as well as crewmen, boarded a fleet of 40 ships. Their sea route took them along the coast of Annam (modern Vietnam), past the Malaya Peninsula (Malaysia), and into the islands of Indonesia.
They spent five months on the island of Sumatra, waiting for the monsoon rains to end. While they were stranded there, Marco noticed that the North Star had dipped behind the horizon (he was now in the southern hemisphere).
For hundreds of years, Indonesia and other islands off the coast of Southeast Asia have been known as the “spice islands.” Before the days of refrigeration, spices were in great demand in Europe, because they gave taste to dull (and rancid!) food.
- Access The lure of spice available through Xpeditions. Read the text on this page, then view the following linked pages: The Spices of Antiquity, Spices, an Arab Monopoly, and Spices in the Middle Ages.
Guiding Questions for Discussion:
- What route did the Polos follow from China to Indonesia?
- What are the geography and climate of Sumatra?
- What are some of the important products of Indonesia?
- What religions are represented in the art and architecture of modern Indonesia?
- Why were spices so widely sought after by European merchants in medieval times?
Finally, the weather improved and the Polo expedition set sail again. They crossed the Indian Ocean and stopped at the island of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon), just off the southeastern tip of India.
Student Activity:
Learn about the island of Sri Lanka by visiting the following sites:
Guiding Questions for Discussion:
- Where is Sri Lanka?
- How would you describe the geography and climate of the island?
- What are some of the products of modern Sri Lanka? Which might have been important products in the days of Marco Polo?
From Sri Lanka, the Polos sailed along the southern and western coast of India, stopping in several places.
Student Activity:
Learn more about the geography, culture, and economy of southern India by visiting these sites:
Guiding Questions for Discussion:
- What are the geography and climate of southern India?
- What are some of the main products of southern India?
- What is the major religion in this region?
Assessment:
Distribute copies of the Map of the Indian Ocean Area, which you downloaded while preparing this lesson. Instruct the students to draw a line on the map to indicate the route of Marco Polo from China to Hormuz. Then have them indicate (with words or pictures) on the map some of the important products associated with the three major regions he visited—Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and southern India.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Ask Asia
Internet Public Library
- Sri Lanka
[http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3As/sri_lanka]
- Hinduism
[http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Ah/hinduism]
Xpeditions
- The lure of
spice
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_trade]
- Group
Effort
[http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/programs/splat/cgi-bin/splat.pl?URL_TRANSLATE=%2Fngm%2Fdata%2F2001%2F07%2
F01%2Fhtml%2Fzm_20010701.2.2.html&DB_USER=splat_ngm&DB_
PASS=splat_ngm&DB_NUM_PARAMS=3&TEMPLATE_NAME
=/ngm/templates/output/zoom.tmpl&DB_PAR]
SARAI
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