Atlas: Expeditions Through Time

Place

Pamirs

Representative point for the high mountain crossings described between Badakhshan and the Tarim Basin; the precise path is uncertain.

Coordinates38.50, 73.50

Related expeditions

1271–1295

Marco Polo’s Journey to Asia

Marco Polo travelled with his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo from Venice through the eastern Mediterranean, Iran, Central Asia, and the Mongol-ruled Silk Road networks to Kublai Khan’s court. Years later, the Polos accompanied Kököchin’s maritime escort from China toward Persia and continued home to Venice.

399–412

Faxian’s Pilgrimage

The Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian travelled overland through Central Asia into northern India in search of authoritative monastic texts, studied at major Buddhist centres, and returned to China by merchant ships through Sri Lanka and Java.

Sources and further reading

  1. The Silk Route of the Mongols, UNESCO Silk Roads Programme. Reconstruction of the outward corridor through Hormuz, Balkh, the Pamirs, Kashgar, and the southern Tarim Basin route to Shangdu.
  2. The Travels of Marco Polo, Library of Congress. Digitized circa-1350 manuscript and catalogue essay covering the 1271–75 outward journey, years at the Mongol court, 1292–95 return, and the account’s mixture of travel report, hearsay, and legend.
Open in the interactive atlas