Treasure fleet voyages

Zheng He · 1405 CE – 1433 CE · Earth

Treasure fleet voyages — Zheng He · 1405 CE – 1433 CE · Earth — Recorded expedition route · schematic map

Display Ming power and extend the tribute trade across the Indian Ocean.

Historical context

Ming China projected power across the Indian Ocean with fleets larger than any Europe could build. The voyages were abandoned within a generation, and the ocean passed to other powers.

The voyage, step by step

  1. The fleet assembles

    1405 CE

    From the Yangtze the treasure fleet sets out in 1405 with hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men.

  2. Champa and Java

    1405 CE

    The fleet calls at the ports of Southeast Asia, exchanging silk and porcelain for spices and treasures.

  3. Malacca

    1406 CE

    Malacca becomes a key base for the Ming fleets controlling the strait between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

  4. Calicut

    1407 CE

    On the Malabar coast the fleet meets the Indian Ocean trade that Arab pilots had long dominated.

  5. Hormuz

    1414 CE

    Later voyages reach the Persian Gulf, exchanging envoys with the courts of the region.

  6. Malindi and the giraffe

    1418 CE

    The fleet reaches the Swahili coast of East Africa and returns with a giraffe for the Ming court.

  7. The last voyage

    1433 CE

    The seventh and final voyage returns in 1433; the fleets are then abandoned and China turns inward.

Outcome

Seven voyages reached Arabia and the Swahili coast, then were abandoned.

Zheng He

Ming dynasty admiral who commanded seven treasure fleets across the Indian Ocean as far as Arabia and East Africa.

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Sources

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