Unrest detained them there for three years, until envoys bound for Kublai-Great Khan of all the Mongols, whose domains stretched from Korea to Poland-passed through Bukhara. Prevented by war from returning home, they headed east, likely on horseback, to the great commercial city of Bukhara, now in Uzbekistan. Business went well, and they doubled their assets. In about 1260 they liquidated their property in the area, invested in jewels, and made for the capital of the western khanate of the Mongol Empire, Sarai, on the Volga River. Among them were Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, Marco’s father and uncle.
In the 13th century, many Venetian merchants settled in Constantinople, now Istanbul, and made fortunes there. Why did he make the journey? And can all that he claimed to have seen and done be believed? Marco Polo is probably the most famous Westerner ever to have traveled on the Silk Road to China. His book was copied by hand for two centuries and since 1477, it has continually been in print in many languages. Within 25 years of Marco’s return, manuscript versions were current in Franco-Italian, French, Latin, Tuscan, Venetian, and likely German-an unparalleled success for the Middle Ages. His book exerted an enormous influence on popular imagination. Marco’s memoirs-originally entitled Description of the World and later, Travels of Marco Polo-told of unknown civilizations of huge wealth, abounding in goods avidly sought by Western merchants.
THE Polos’ stories of a journey to distant Cathay, now China, seemed incredible to their contemporaries.
Dressed in ragged robes of once fine silk, in the Mongol style, they had, says one source, “a certain indescribable smack of the Tartar both in air and accent, having indeed all but forgotten their Venetian tongue.” The travelers are Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle. Their homecoming after 24 years abroad would have passed unnoticed had their bizarre appearance not made them stand out. Three men step off a galley at a quay in Venice. Marco Polo Travels the Silk Road to China
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