Chronology of European exploration of Asia
This is a chronology of the early European exploration of Asia.[1]
First wave of exploration (mainly by land)
Antiquity
- 515 BC: Indus and the sea route across the Indian Ocean to Egypt.
- 330 BC: Alexander the Great conquers parts of Central Asia and parts of northwestern India
- 300 BC: Seleucus Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire, forays into northwestern India but is defeated by Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empire, and they become allies soon after.
- 250 – 120 BC: Punjab (Alexandria on the Indus).
- 180 BC – 10 AD: The Indo-Greek Kingdom was located in areas now part of Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west India.
- 30 BC – 640 AD: With the acquisition of the Romans begin trading with India. The Empire now has a direct connection to the Spice tradeEgypt had established beginning in 118 BC.
- 41 – 54 AD: Roman Mediterranean tax collector Pliny as said in Natural Historythat the two civilizations met after the landing of Plocamus.
- 100 – 166 AD: Kattigara, now identified as Óc Eo in southern Vietnam. The Chinese historical texts describe Roman embassies, from a land they called Daqin.
- 2nd century: Roman traders reach on their way to China.
- 161: An embassy from Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius or his successor Marcus Aurelius reaches Chinese Emperor Huan of Han at Luoyang.
- 226: A Roman diplomat or merchant lands in northern Vietnam and visits Nanjing, China and the court of Sun Quan, ruler of Eastern Wu
Middle Ages
- ~500–1000: The Islamic worlds during the early Middle Ages and travelled as far as Tang-dynastyChina.
- ~550: Byzantine traveler and author Cosmas Indicopleustes completes his work Christian 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) emperor smuggle silkwormsback to the Eastern Roman Empire, thus enabling silk production in Europe and Asia Minor.
- 568: The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) general Western Turkic Kaganate.
- 639–640: The Muslims subjugate Egypt, thus severing most direct Eastern-Roman (and hence European) trade with India and eastern Asia.
- 1160–1173: The Navarrese Jewish Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela visits Syria, Palestine, Baghdad, Persia, and the Arabian Peninsula.
- 1180–1186: Pethahiah of Regensburggoes to Baghdad.
- 13th century: Silk Road trade reaches its height during the height of the Pax Mongolica, the relative peace in Asia during the widespread unification under the Mongol Empire.
- 1245–1247: The Italian Great Khan.
- 1245–1248: The Italian Andrew of Longjumeau go to Armeniaand Persia.
- 1249–1251: Kuyuk Khan. Andrew's brother Guy and several others — John Goderiche, John of Carcassonne, Herbert "Le Sommelier", Gerbert of Sens, Robert (a clerk), a certain William, and an unnamed clerk of Poissy go with him. They reach Talas in northwestern Kyrgyzstan.
- ~1254: The Flemish William of Rubruck reaches Mongolia through Central Asia.
- 1264–c. 1269: First expedition of the Italians Niccolò and Maffeo Polo to China. In 1266 they reach Kublai Khan's seat at Dadu (now known as Beijing) in China.
- 1271–1295: Second trip of Niccolò and Maffeo Polo to China. This time with Marco, Niccolo's son, who would pass down a colourful account of their experiences traveling throughout Asia. The details of this account are currently debated.
- 1275–1289 & 1289–1328: The Italian , and Patriarch of the Orient.
- ~1318–1329: Travels of the Franciscan friars, the Italian Odoric of Pordenone and James of Ireland via India, Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula to China where they stayed in Dadu (present day Beijing) for approximately three years before returning to Italy overland through Central Asia.
- ~1321–1330/1338(?): The French Dominican missionary Jordanus, made bishop over the whole Indian subcontinentin 1329, wrote down his travels through India and the Middle East in his book Mirabilia.
- 1322: The Travels of Sir 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).
- 1338–1353: Expedition of the Italian Peking.
- 1401–1402: Travel of Payo Gómez de Sotomayor, first ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the Timurid Empire.
- 1403–1404: Travel of Ruy González de Clavijo, second ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the Timurid Empire. He passed along the Black Sea coast of Turkey to Trabzon and then overland through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan. He also visited Tehran.
- 1420–1436: Travels of the Italian explorer Niccolò de' Conti to India and Southeast Asia.
- 1436–1439: Travels of Pedro Tafur across Middle East.
- 1453: Constantinople falls to the Muslim Ottoman Turks, breaking the trade links between Christian Europe and Asia.
- 1470: Travels of Afanasy Nikitin, the first Russian to visit India.
- 1471–1479: The Italian Venetian diplomats Persia.
- 1487–1491: Portuguese explorer and spy Pêro da Covilhã travels to the Near East and India under the orders of the King of Portugal to gather information necessary for successfully establishing a sea route between Portugal and India.
- 1557–1572: The English traveler, diplomat and explorer Persia.
- ~1580–1585:The Cossack .
- 1583–1591: The English merchant Ralph Fitch, together with John Newberry and John Eldred, a jeweller named William Leedes and a painter, James Story, travelled via the Levant and Mesopotamia to India and Portuguese 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.
- 1643: Kurbat Ivanov reaches Lake Baikal.
- 1644: Vasily Poyarkov, travelling overland from Siberia, reaches the mouth of the Amuron the Pacific Ocean.
Second wave of exploration (by sea)
- 1488: Bartolomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. This was an important milestone because this allowed future sailors like Vasco da Gama to sail to India and Southeast Asia.
- 1492: Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain 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.
- 1497–1499: The Portuguese Vasco da Gama, accompanied by Nicolau Coelho and Bartolomeu Dias, is the first European to reach India by an all-sea route from Europe.
- 1500–1501: After discovering Brazil, Pêro Vaz de Caminha and the Franciscan father, Frei Henrique de Coimbra.
- 1501–?: João da Nova commands the third Portuguese expedition to India. He discovers Ascension Island (1501) and Saint Helena (1502) along the way.
- 1502–1503: Second trip of Vasco da Gama to India.
- 1503–1504: Kochi, India, during the fifth Portuguese India Armada.
- 1505: Francisco de Almeida is appointed as the first viceroy of Portuguese India (Estado da Índia). He leaves Lisbon at the command of the seventh 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 Albuquerque conquers Goa, soon to become the most flourishing of the Portuguese settlements in India.
- 1511: Albuquerque conquers Malacca discovered by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira in 1509. Malacca becomes a strategic base for Portuguese expansion in the East Indies. In November of that year, after having secured Malacca and learning of the "Spice islands" (Banda Islands) location, in Maluku Albuquerque sent an expedition of three vessels led by António 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: Ternate Island.
- 1513: Albuquerque laid siege to Aden in 1513, but was repulsed. He then led a voyage into the Red Sea, the first ever made by a European fleet.
- 1513: Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary.
- 1516–1517: Portuguese discoveriesand explorations: first arrival places and dates
- 1517: The Portuguese merchant Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary and then in Canton(Guangzhou).
- 1519–1522: Leaving Spain with five ships and 270 men in 1519, the Portuguese World circumnavigationin History.
- 1524: Third trip of Vasco da Gama to India.
- 1542: António da Mota is thrown by a storm to the island of Tanegashima, establishing the first European contact with Japan.
- 1549: Anjiro, 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 Dominican Jesuit China missions)
Li Zhizao, upon request of Wanli Emperor in Beijing, 1602, the first world map in the Chinese language
- 1582: The Italian knowledge of global geography.
- 1583–91: The Englishman Ralph Fitch becomes one of the earliest English explorers to visit Mesopotamia, India, and Southeast Asia (Burma, Lan Na, Malacca).
- 1595: The Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten published his Reys-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.
Other noteworthy Europeans
- 1579–1619: Thomas Stephens, a Jesuit, was probably the first Englishman to set foot in India where he died in 1619.
- 1599–1614: John Mildenhall, with Richard Newman, reach Agra, India, overland in 1614.
- 1600–1610: shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu.
- 1602–1607: Bento de Góis, first European to travel overland from India to China.
- 160?–1611: Robert Coverte comes back from India by foot after his ship runs aground near Surat.
- 1612–1617: Thomas Coryat travels by foot to India.
- 1615–1618: Thomas Roe is ambassador to the court at Agra, India of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.
- 1624: António de Andrade, first European to reach Tibet.
- 1626–1627: Estêvão Cacella with João Cabral are the first Europeans to reach Bhutan.
- 1631–1668: Jean-Baptiste Tavernier travels six times to Asia, mostly in Persia, India and Java.
- 1656–1669: François Bernier travels to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and then spend eight years at the court of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
- 1664–1680: Jean Chardin travels two times to Persia (as well as its dependencies in the Caucasus such as Georgia) and India.
- 1675–1678: The Moldavian boyar Nicolae Milescutravels to China.
Noteworthy others
- ~118 BCE: Eudoxus of Cyzicus was a Greek navigator from the Asian-Greek city of Cyzicus who explored the Arabian Sea for Ptolemy VIII, king of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt.
- 522–550: Justinian. His Topografia Christianacontained some of the earliest and most famous world maps.
- 1154: Although not known for his travels, Muhammad al-Idrisi was significant for the European exploration of Asia when he made the Tabula Rogeriana, a map of the whole known world, in 1154 for the Norman King Roger II of Sicily, based on his knowledge of the Arab trade routes.
- 1247 and 1254: Hetoum I, king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and ally of the Frankish crusader states, visits the Mongol court in Karakoram in 1254 after first sending his brother Sempadin 1247.
- 1325–1355: Travels of . His Travels would be influential with Europeans starting in the 19th century.
See also
- Silk Road
- List of explorers
- List of Russian explorers
- European exploration of Arabia
- Timeline of European exploration
- Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations
References
- ^ ANCIENT SILK ROAD TRAVELERS
- ^ Vera Lucia Bottrel Tostes, Bravos homens de outrora Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, Camoes - Revista de Latras e Culturas Lusofonas, no. 8, January - March 2000
- ISBN 978-0-340-69676-7.
- ^ Hannard (1991), page 7
- ISBN 0-333-57689-6.