TheFra Mauro map, completed around 1459, is a map of the then-known world. Following the standard practice at that time, south is at the top. The map was said byGiovanni Battista Ramusio to have been partially based on the one brought fromCathay byMarco Polo.
This is achronology of the early European exploration of Asia.[1]
41 – 54 AD: Roman Mediterranean tax collectorAnnius Plocamus, facilitated direct trade and first contact between Sri Lanka and the Roman Empire. The Romans already knew about Sri Lanka under the name ofTaprobane, the Greek name for the island. It is according toPliny as said inNatural History that the two civilizations met after the landing of Plocamus.
~550: Byzantine traveler and authorCosmas Indicopleustes completes his workChristian Topography describing geographical features gleaned from his own travels to Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, and Sri Lanka.
~552: Two Persian monks (or perhaps emissaries disguised as monks), at the behest of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) emperorJustinian I, travel to China andsmuggle silkworms back to the Eastern Roman Empire, thus enabling silk production in Europe and Asia Minor.
13th century:Silk Road trade reaches its height during the height of thePax Mongolica, the relative peace in Asia during the widespread unification under theMongol Empire.
1271–1295: Second trip ofNiccolò and Maffeo Polo to China. This time withMarco, Niccolo's son, who would pass downa colourful account of their experiences traveling throughout Asia. The details of this account are currently debated.
~1318–1329: Travels of the Franciscan friars, the ItalianOdoric of Pordenone andJames of Ireland via India, Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula to China where they stayed inDadu (present dayBeijing) for approximately three years before returning to Italy overland through Central Asia.
~1321–1330/1338(?): The FrenchDominican missionaryJordanus, made bishop over the wholeIndian subcontinent in 1329, wrote down his travels through India and the Middle East in his bookMirabilia.
1322:The Travels ofSir John Mandeville. Mandeville was said to be a knight from St. Albans in England. Although the book is real, it is widely believed that "Sir John Mandeville" was not. The book describes the travels of Mandeville going through Turkey (Asia Minor and Cilicia), Persia, Tartary, Syria, Arabia, India and many countries around India (including Sri Lanka).
1583–1591: The English merchantRalph Fitch, together with John Newberry and John Eldred, a jeweller named William Leedes and a painter, James Story, travelled via theLevant andMesopotamia toIndia andPortuguese Malacca (in modern Malaysia). Eldred stayed in Basra, Iraq; Story joined the Jesuits in Goa; Leedes stayed in Agra to work for Akbar and Newberry decided to begin his return journey. Fitch went by himself to Burma and Malacca (today in Malaysia). He returned to London in 1591.
The ships which were used by Vasco da Gama on his first voyage. (Illustration from 1558).TheCantino planisphere (or Cantino World Map) of 1502 is the earliest surviving map showing Portuguese Discoveries in the east and west.
1488:Bartolomeu Dias reaches theCape of Good Hope in South Africa. This was an important milestone because this allowed future sailors likeVasco da Gama to sail to India and Southeast Asia.
1492:Christopher Columbus sets sail fromSpain in search of a western route to Asia, eventually landing in the Americas. Though unsuccessful in reaching Asia his successes propelled eventual European expansion, including Asia.
1505:Francisco de Almeida is appointed as the first viceroy ofPortuguese India (Estado da Índia). He leaves Lisbon at the command of theseventh Portuguese India Armada, with 22 ships, including 14 carracks and 6 caravels carrying a crew of 1,000 and 1,500 soldiers. His son,Lourenço de Almeida, explores the southern coast and reaches the modern island of Sri Lanka.
1507–1513: In 1507, Afonso de Albuquerquecaptures the kingdom of Ormus in the Persian Gulf. He is then appointed second viceroy of India in 1508. In 1510 heconquers Goa, soon to become the most flourishing of the Portuguese settlements in India.
1511:Albuquerque conquers Malacca discovered byDiogo Lopes de Sequeira in 1509. Malacca becomes a strategic base for Portuguese expansion in theEast Indies. In November of that year, after having secured Malacca and learning of the "Spice islands" (Banda Islands) location, inMaluku Albuquerque sent an expedition of three vessels led byAntónio de Abreu to find them. In 1511,Siam receives a diplomatic mission from the Portuguese. In 1516, Siam and Portugal concluded a treaty granting the Portuguese trading rights in the country.
1512:Malay pilots guided the Portuguese via Java, theLesser Sundas andAmbon to Banda, arriving in early 1512.[3] The first Europeans to reach theBanda Islands, the expedition remained in Banda for about one month, purchasing nutmeg and mace, andcloves in which Banda had a thrivingentrepôt trade.[4] D'Abreu sailed throughAmbon while his second in commandFrancisco Serrão went ahead towards Maluku islands, was shipwrecked and ended up inTernate.[5]Francisco Serrão establishes a fort onTernate Island.
1513:Albuquerque laid siege toAden in 1513, but was repulsed. He then led a voyage into theRed Sea, the first ever made by a European fleet.
1519–1522: Leaving Spain with five ships and 270 men in 1519, the PortugueseFerdinand Magellan is the first to reach Asia from the East. In 1520, he discovers what is now known as theStrait of Magellan. In 1521 he reaches theMarianas and then theisland of Homonhon in the Philippines. Some time after, Magellan is killed in what is known as theBattle of Mactan. The rest of the crew sails toPalawan (Philippines), and then toBrunei andBorneo. They then reachTidore in the Maluku Islands avoiding the Portuguese. Only one ship, commanded byJuan Sebastián Elcano, returns to Spain in 1522 with 18 men remaining, accomplishing the firstWorld circumnavigation in History.
1542:António da Mota is thrown by a storm to the island ofTanegashima, establishing the first European contact with Japan.
1549:Saint Francis Xavier arrives in Japan accompanied by FatherCosme de Torrès, BrotherJuan Fernández, the JapaneseAnjiro, two baptized Japanese named Antonio and Joane, a Chinese named Manuel, and an Indian named Amador. The captain of the ship is named Avan aka "The Pirate".
1556: The DominicanGaspar da Cruz is the first modern missionary to go in China. He traveled toGuangzhou in 1556 and wrote the first complete book on China and theMing Dynasty that was published in Europe; it included information on its geography, provinces, royalty, official class, bureaucracy, shipping, architecture, farming, craftsmanship, merchant affairs, clothing, religious and social customs, music and instruments, writing, education, and justice. (See alsoJesuit China missions)
1583–91: The EnglishmanRalph Fitch becomes one of the earliest English explorers to visit Mesopotamia, India, and Southeast Asia (Burma,Lan Na, Malacca).
1595: The DutchmanJan Huyghen van Linschoten published hisReys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten ("Travel Accounts of Portuguese Navigation in the Orient") which was translated into English and German in 1598. It gave access to secret Portuguese information, including the nautical maps which had been well guarded for over a century. The book thus broke the Portuguese monopoly on the sea trade with Asia.
~118 BCE:Eudoxus of Cyzicus was a Greek navigator from the Asian-Greek city ofCyzicus who explored the Arabian Sea for Ptolemy VIII, king of the HellenisticPtolemaic dynasty in Egypt.
1154: Although not known for his travels,Muhammad al-Idrisi was significant for the European exploration of Asia when he made theTabula Rogeriana, a map of the whole known world, in 1154 for theNorman KingRoger II of Sicily, based on his knowledge of the Arab trade routes.
