The Polo Family Returns to the East

Timeline

1. 1269–1271Venice · VeniceNiccolò and Maffeo ended their first eastern journey and returned home, delivering Kublai Khan's letter to the newly elected Pope Gregory X, requesting that a hundred men learned in Christianity and other sciences be sent east, and preparing for another departure.
2. 1271–1275Venice to Dadu · Silk RoadBecause the pope failed to send enough scholars, the Polo brothers set out with Marco, whom they raised after he lost his mother in childhood, crossing again through the Ilkhanate and Central Asia along the traditional trade routes to finally reach Kublai Khan's court and report their mission.