Ma Huan Joins Zheng He's Fleet
1405
A Chinese Muslim scholar signed on as translator for the third treasure voyage. His later book, the Yingya Shenglan, described everything from Calicut's spice markets to the brothels of Mogadishu. It is the closest thing we have to a ship's purser's diary from the age of Chinese global reach. His meticulous observations provide the only surviving Chinese-language account of the medieval Indian Ocean world at its commercial peak.
In context
Also in 1405 (3 other events on record)
- Timur Dies at Otrar · Central Asia · Politics
- Zheng He's First Treasure Voyage Departs · East Asia · Exploration
- Shah Rukh Inherits the Timurid Throne · Central Asia · Politics
Before and after in East Asia
Before and after in Culture
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.