POLO, MARCO, the celebrated traveler, was born of a noble family of Dalmatian origin, at Venice, about 1250. His father, Nicolo Polo, and his uncle, Matte° Polo, both eri• nent merchants, had, previous to his birth, set out on a mercantile expedition, visiting Constantinople, Soldaya or Soudach (on the Euxine), and Bulgar (on the Volga), the capital of Barkiti, the khan of Keptchak. Thence they traveled rour i the north side of the Caspian sea to Bokhara, where they remained three years, studying the .'.11ongol language and trading; but in 1261, some ambassadors from the Perso-Mogul khan to the grand khan of the Mongols, happening to pass through Bokhara, the brothers Polo resolved to accompany them to Kemenfu, the summer residence of the khagth. They were well received by finial, who was very inquisitive concerning the peoples and mode of government in Europe, and commissioned them to act as his envoys to the pope, bearing a written request for 100 Europeans, well learned in the sciences and arts, to act as instructors to the Mongols. They reached Venice in 1269; but find-. ing it impossible to discharge the mission wills which they had been intrusted, they set out on their return in 1271, taking with them young Marco, and arrived again at the court of Kilblai khan in 1215. Their second reception was still more honorable than the first, and the khagan took special notice of Marco, from the rapidity with which he learned the customs and language of the Mongols. His wisdom and the nobility of his demeanor also recommended him as a fit envoy to the various neighboring rulers; and during his residence al their several courts, Polo was in the habit of closely observing the manners and customs of the country, and delivering on his return a detailed report to the khagan. These reports were the groundwork of the hook which informs its regard ing the state of central and eastern Asia in the end of the 13ta century. Polo's first mission was to the court of Annam or Tonquin (1271), and during hi: residence there, he acquired much information, both from Isis own observation and from report, concern ing Thibet, Yunnan, Bengal, Mien (or Pegu), and the south of China; he was next employed to aid in making an inventory of the .archives belonging to the court of the Song dynasty; and soon afterward was appointed governor of the town of Yang-tchow, in the province of Kiang-si, in eastern China, a post he held for three years. He also accompanied a Mongol army to the attack of the kingdom of Pegu; and closed the list of services rendered to Kfiblai by accepting the embassy to Tsiampa, the south part of Coehin-China. Having thus passed 17 years in the service of the Mongol khan, and
visited the chief countries and cities in eastern Asia, traveling through kingdoms (as China) which no European had ever seen before, and acquiring much knowledge of other kingdoms (as Japan, called by Polo Zipangu), the existence of which was not even suspected, he succeeded in obtaining permission to join the escort of a Mongol princess, who was traveling to the court of Persia. Tiv.3 three Polos accordingly set out. in 1291, traveling through China, and thence, by sailing through the Chinese sea and Indian o:ean, finally arrived at Teheran, where they stayed for some time; but learning that labial khan was now dead, they continued their journey. and arrived at Venice in 1293, bringing with them much wealth and many precious objects, the fruits of their trading. Marco, in the following year. fought his own galley in the great battle off Curzola, in which the Venetians, under Dandolo, were defeated by the Genoese under Doria, and was taken prisoner and immured in a dungeon at Genoa. Here he dictated, with the aid of the memoranda he had made during his travels, an account of his journey through the east, which was subsequently revised with care. After his liberation he returned to Venice, where lie was appointed member of the grand council, and died in eleven years after his father. His work is variously entitled, but the best edition is It Malone di, Messer Marco Polo Veneziano, edited by count Baldelli (Florence, 4 vols. 41o, 1827), and accompanied with a map, notes, and illustrations. Polo's narrative created an immense sensation among the learned public, and many did not hesitate to affirm that it was a pure fiction; but the Catholic missionaries and subsequent Venetian travelers into these remote regions,verified many of Polo's statements, and then came a reaction of public opin ion ; Polo's wonderful minuteness, extensive research, and accuracy being the theme of universal admiration. His work was of inestimable value as a stimulant and guide in geo graphical research; itencouraged the Portuguese to find the way to Hindustan round the cape of Good Hope; and it roused the passion for discovery in the breast of Columbus, thus leading to the two greatest of modern geographical discoveries. The first edition of Po.o's " Voyages" was published by Ranmsio in his Raccolta di Navigazioni 'e Viaggi (Venice, 1550-59). English translations have been published in Edinburgh (1844), and in London (1854 and 1871-75). There is also a German one by Burck, with notes by Neumann (1846).