M. : FTM Agency, Ltd. , 2013. - Digital book. - ISBN: 978-5-457-07375-3. A 13th-century traveler and merchant, Marco Polo (125425), was born to a Venetian merchant. In 1271 he accompanied his father and uncle, merchants Nicolo and Matteo Polo on their journey to North China by sea to the southeastern shores of Asia Minor, from there by land through the Armenian Highlands, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Highlands, Pamir and Kashgar. In 1275, the merchant caravan reached the capital Khanbalyk, where travelers were welcomed by Kublai Khan. Marco Polo, interested in the country and the study of the Mongolian language, attracted the attention of the Khan and was accepted into his service. He visited various regions of the Mongolian state with the instructions of the Khan, at one time he was the prefect of Yangzhou .. In 1290, Polo wanted to return home, but Khan refused to let him go. He managed to leave China only in 1292: sent to Persia on a diplomatic mission, Polo learned of Kublai’s death and considered himself free from obligations to the Khan. Thus, in 1295, Marco Polo returned to his homeland, and the next year, during the war of Venice with Genoa, he was captured by the Genoese. While in Genoese prison, he told his fellow prisoner, Pisan Rusticiano, about his travels, and he wrote down these stories and then published a book. In 1307, Polo released a new, self-reviewed edition. "The Book of Marco Polo" has long served the European world as the main and only source of information about distant East Asia. Land routes from Europe to the East ran through southern Russia (about Russia and Russian Polo says in the last chapter) Contemporaries looked at Marco Polo as a dreamer, and at his stories as a collection of fictions. The text of his book has been distorted by numerous additions of translators and copyists. It was only later, and especially in the 19th century, that Marco Polo's story was appreciated; many translations of the book into European languages appeared.