Moughan 1
Moughan 2
Randy Moughan
Yongguang Hu
HIST 101
4/10/18
Marco Polo
Sure, we all know and love the name Marco Polo from, our childhood, but most people don’t know how much of an impact that Polo had on the world. He was born in Venice and was raised in Italy, he was born into a family of wealth and notoriety and lived his early life being educated in the Catholic beliefs, major authors, as well as multiple languages and nosiness courses. He first began to travel when his brothers began to take him on trade routes through the Mongol Empire to the Capital of China. Polo traveled far and wide as an explorer to map and delegate over various regions and lands but did most of his travels in far east Asia, India, the Pacific, as well as the middle east. The Polo family was known to keep contact between outer countries and their patron, Kublai Khan.
Polo documented many of his travels in great detail and would often be able to describe a place to you in such detail it was almost as if you could really see it. One of the major cities that Marco Polo surveyed was the “Great city of Kinsay”, which was the capital of the country Manzi at the time. Polo said that Kinsay was a “City of Heaven” and that the place was far more superior than its neighboring countries. The country was said to have 12 Guilds, with 12,000 houses per guild, with 12-40 men, and would supply most the other cities with supplies, goods, and services. This made the elite men of the houses, rich beyond their wildest dreams, and brought great wealth and economic flourish to the city. The city was said to be filled with men and women, who most commonly wore silk garments, and were fair looking, but were known to eat animals that were not routinely eaten during those times. Polo stated that the roads were made of stone and brick, and that if this country had not done so, it would have made road travel unbearable since the land was flat and prone to flood.
The people of Kinsay seemed to be a highly intelligent city that was aware of their high status and lavish living. Kinsay was said to have a large and powerful army that would come from across the country to fight for the Great Kaan, and each garrison was said to hold a minimum of 1,000 men but could have reached number well beyond thirty thousand. This shows a great diplomatic system for the city and the city would continue to flourish under the guard of the Army of the Great Kaan.
A kind of birth certificate system was also set up among the people of the city. The people thought that it was with great importance that they keep detailed records of when people are bo...
