In the time of Marco Polo, Peking was a densely populated town. The tradesmen and the citizens of all possible professions had their own quarters. There was a special quarter for about 20,000 prostitutes, who were treated with respect because they were considered persons of social significance in a big city. The body guards of the Great Khan numbered 10, 000 people. Roads lead from the capital to various parts of China. When they got to Kublai Khans empire, he welcomed them into it and didn’t want them to go. It is well known that many foreigners were in the employ of the state, since the Mongol rulers did not trust their Chinese subjects.  Marco was about age 20 when he reached Cathay. Marco describes Kublai Khan as a benevolent dictator. He wished his subjects, of whom the majority were peasants, to live a decent life. If storms, blight or locasts devastated their harvest, he would liberate them from paying taxes and give them corn both for sowing and for food. To secure himself from a period of dearth, he would store big quantities of corn when it was abundant. His officials were distributing thirty five thousand dishes of rice and barley to those who needed it most. The Polo’s felt homesick and asked Kublai Khan to let them go home but he refused, besides why would they want to leave when they were so rich. But Marco entered Kublai Khan’s diplomatic service, acting as his agent on missions to many parts of the empire. His father and uncle served as military advisers to Kublai Khan. Marco was noticed very favourably by Kublai, who took great delight in hearing of strange countries and repeatedly sent him on fact-finding missions to distant parts of the empire. There is ample evidence to show that Polo considered himself an adoptive son of his new country. He discovered coal was called black stone at the time, the compass for finding the direction your going in and paper money with Kublai Khans signature on them which quite confused Marco. He couldn’t understand why rich merchants received paper for their exquisite goods.

Sometime around 1292, a Mongol princess was to be sent to Persia, and the Polos offered to accompany her. Marco wrote that Kublai had been unwilling to let them go but finally granted permission. They were anxious to leave, in part, because Kublai was nearly 80, and his death (and the consequent change in regime) might have been dangerous for a small group of isolated foreigners. Naturally, they also longed to see their native Venice and their families again.

The princess, with some 600 courtiers and sailors, and the Polos boarded 14 ships and sailed southward. The fleet stopped briefly at a number of islands and the Malay Peninsula before settling for five months on the island of Sumatra (“Lesser Giaua”) to avoid monsoon storms. There Polo was much impressed by the fact that the North Star appeared to have dipped below the horizon. The fleet  touched land again in Ceylon, followed the west coast of India and the southern reaches of Persia, and finally anchored at Hormuz. The expedition then proceeded to Khorasan, handing over the princess.

The Polos eventually departed for Europe; possibly they stayed for a few months in Tabriz. Unfortunately, as soon as they left the Mongol dominions and set foot in a Christian country,  in what is now Turkey, they were robbed of most of their hard-won earnings. After further delays, they reached Constantinople and finally Venice (1295).