Niccolò de' Conti | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1395 |
| Died | 1469 (agedc. 74) |
| Occupations | Merchant, explorer, writer |
| Known for | Travels in India, Southeast Asia |
| Children | 4 |
Niccolò de' Conti (c. 1395 – 1469)[1] was aVenetian merchant, explorer, and writer. Born inChioggia, he traveled to India and Southeast Asia, and possibly to Southern China, during the early 15th century. He was one of the sources used to create the 1450Fra Mauro map, which indicated that there was a sea route from Europe around Africa to India.[2]
De' Conti departed fromVenice around 1419 and established himself inDamascus, Syria, where he studied Arabic. Over a period of 25 years, his familiarity with the languages and cultures of the Islamic world enabled him to travel to many places on ships owned by Islamic merchants.
De' Conti's travels followed the period ofTimurid relations with Europe.[3] They also occurred around the same time and in the same places as theChinese expeditions of AdmiralZheng He. His accounts are contemporary, and fairly consistent with those of the Chinese writers who were on Zheng He's ships, such asMa Huan (writing in 1433) andFei Xin (writing in about 1436).
After the return ofMarco Polo in 1295, there is no record of Italian traders returning from China until the return of de' Conti by sea in 1439.[4] The only exception are the travel accounts by Franciscan friarOdoricus Mattiuzzi (1286-1331) from Friuli, who in 1310 visited Armenia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Sumatra, Java, Cambodia, Champa and China.[5]
De' Conti first crossed the desert to reachBaghdad and from there sailed down theTigris toBasra. He then sailed through thePersian Gulf and went to Iran where he learntPersian.
He then crossed theArabian sea toCambay, inGujarat. He travelled in India to "Pacamuria", "Helly" andVijayanagar, capital of theDeccan before 1420, perhaps during the reign ofDeva Raya II.[6] It was in India that he coined the phrase 'Italian of the East' to refer to theTelugu language, which he found had words ending with vowels, similar to Italian.[7] He went to "Maliapur" on the east coast of India (probably modern-dayMylapore, inChennai), where he visited the tomb ofSt. Thomas, who in Christian tradition is recorded to have founded a Christian community there. He apparently married an Indian woman.[8]
Around 1421, de' Conti crossed to "Pedir" in northernSumatra, where he spent a year, gaining local knowledge, particularly on the gold andspice trade. (This was the period of fairly intensive contact between Sumatra and China, thanks in particular to the voyages ofZheng He.) He then continued after sailing 16 days toTenasserim on theMalay Peninsula. He then sailed to the mouth of theGanges, visitedSonargaon andChittagong (in modernBangladesh) and then went overland toArakan (nowRakhine State,Burma).[9] After traveling through Burma, he left forJava where he spent nine months, before going toChampa (in modernVietnam).
De' Conti described South-East Asia as "exceeding all other regions in wealth, culture and magnificence, and abreast of Italy in civilization".[2]
In the 1430s he sailed back to India (Quilon,Kochi,Calicut, Cambay) and then to the Middle-East (Socotra,Aden,Berbera in Somalia,Jidda in theHejaz), from where he travelled overland viaMount Sinai, where the Spanish travellerPedro Tafur encountered him in 1436 and reported some of Niccolò's marvels, including detailed accounts ofPrester John,[10] and thence, in company with Pedro, toCairo.
Throughout his travels, he was accompanied by his family. However his wife, whom he had met in India, and two of his four children died in Egypt during an epidemic. He continued to Italy with his remaining children. de' Conti returned to Venice in 1444, where he remained as a respected merchant.
Poggio Bracciolini's record of de' Conti's account, made in 1444, constitutes one of the best accounts of the East by a 15th-century traveler. It was included in the Book IV of his "De varietate fortunae" ("On the Vicissitudes of Fortune").[11]
Accounts of Niccolò de' Conti's travels, which first circulated inmanuscript form, are said to have profoundly influenced the European geographical understanding of the areas around the Indian Ocean during the middle of the 15th century. They were the first accounts to detail theSunda Islands andSpice Islands since the accounts ofMarco Polo. His accounts probably encouraged theEuropean travels of exploration of the end of the century.
de' Conti also influenced 15th century cartography, as can be seen on theGenoese map (1447–1457). And there is reason to believe that some of the new information on mapmakerFra Mauro's map was gleaned from conversation with Niccolò.[13] The influentialFra Mauro map (1450) offered one of the clearest depiction of theOld World. In these two maps, many new location names, and several verbatim descriptions, were taken directly from de Conti's account. The "trustworthy source" whom Fra Mauro quoted in writing is thought to have been de' Conti himself. Mauro's map discusses the travels of aZoncho de India, a "junk from India" (likely referring toChina or kingdoms in theNusantara archipelago, as both was often referred to as India during this period),[14] beyond theCape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean around 1420, confirming that it was possible to sail around Africa through the south. In his descriptions of East Asia, de' Conti describes huge junks of about 1,000 tons (some translations have 2,000 tons*), larger than the typical 16th century Western galleons and equal to the large Manilagalleons:
They build some ships much larger than ours, capable of containing 2,000 butts in size, with five sails and as many masts. The lower part is constructed of three planks, in order to withstand the force of the tempests to which they are much exposed. But some ships are built in compartments, that should one part be shattered, the other portion remains intact to accomplish the voyage.[15]
Some translations have 2000 butts (Hakluyt Society), which is around 1,000 tons, while other translations of de' Conti have 2,000 tons (Needham). The translation above is from the Hakluyt Society's translation. A butt was unit of volume that was half a ton.[16]
The man "fromCathay" whomPaolo Toscanelli, in a 1474 letter toChristopher Columbus, described as visitingPope Eugenius IV (1431–1447) might have been de' Conti, who, after returning from the east, did meet Pope Eugenius in 1444:[17]
Also in the time of Eugenius one of them [of Cathay] came to Eugenius, who affirmed their great kindness towards Christians, and I had a long conversation with him on many subjects, about the magnitude of their rivers in length and breath, and on the multitude of cities on the banks of rivers. He said that on one river there were near 200 cities with marble bridges great in length and breadth, and everywhere adorned with columns. This country is worth seeking by the Latins, not only because great wealth may be obtained from it, gold and silver, all sorts of gems, and spices, which never reach us; but also on account of its learned men, philosophers, and expert astrologers, and by what skill and art so powerful and magnificent a province is governed, as well as how their wars are conducted.
De' Conti's book was used by several explorers and travel writers, such asLudovico di Varthema (1510), andAntonio Pigafetta, who travelled around the world withMagellan's expedition.Alfred Russel Wallace cited de' Conti's account of the peoples ofJava andSumatra in his 1869 bookThe Malay Archipelago.[20]
The first printed edition of de' Conti's account was made in 1492 in the originalLatin byCristoforo da Bollate and dedicated toPietro Cara, who was going on a journey to India. Various translations followed, intoPortuguese (1502) and Spanish (1503). The first Italian-language edition appears to have been translated from the Portuguese edition, and was made a part of the collection of travellers' accounts published in 1550 byGiovanni Battista Ramusio. The first English edition was translated from the Spanish, and printed in 1579 byJohn Frampton, using a combination of Marco Polo's and de Conti's narrations.
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