Bright Summaries - The Travels by Marco Polo (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

Chapters 1-19 Prologue

Marco Polo briefly recounts the first voyage of brothers Nicolo and Mafeo Polo in Asia and their meeting with the Great Khan. This part makes up the prologue: here we read that Marco Polo wishes to address a very large audience, from nobility to the middle-class. This prologue serves to pique the readers curiosity.

Chapters 20-75 Book I

From Chapter 20, the descriptions of the different parts of the world seen by Marco Polo begin. The Travels is also known as Description of the World. Marco Polo describes what he has seen in a certain order.

He firstly describes Lesser Armenia, Turkey, Greater Armenia, Georgia and the kingdom of Mosul.

Marco Polo then recounts the capture of Baghdad and the miracle of the mountain of Baghdad: the caliph of Baghdad, who hates Christians and seeks to convert them by force, asks the Christians to perform a miracle to prove the superiority of their faith. He then tells them to move a mountain. The caliph thus wants to discredit them forever. But the miracle happens thanks to the prayers of the Christians and the Muslims, including the caliph, were converted.

He then describes Iraq, Persia, the kingdom of Kerman and the cities of Kamadin and Ormuz, the commercial hub between India and Asia.

Marco Polo then relates the story of the old man of the mountain: in Iran there is a man who had made, around the most beautiful gardens, the most beautiful city that anyone had ever seen, defended by an impenetrable castle. He raised young people there whom he made believe that this place was paradise. Sometimes, he drugged the young people and took them outside the palace. When they woke up, the youths were prepared to do anything to return to their paradise. The old man on the mountain then sent them to kill people. According to Marco Polo, it was Hulegu, Lord of the Tartars of Levant, who put an end to the schemes of the old man on the mountain.

He also describes Afghanistan, its salt mountains and its cave-dwellings, Badakhshan, Kashmir, the city of Samarkand, Turkestan, the Gobi Desert, the province of Tangut and its Buddhist funeral rites, and the city of Guangzhou.

Marco Polo then tells a new story, that of Prester John: it is, in reality, a medieval legend that says that in Asia, a Christian kingdom had existed with Prester John, a descendent of the Three Kings, at its head. He was defeated by Genghis Khan, the first Lord of the Tartars. Marco Polo then talks about the descendants of Genghis.

The writer-traveller then brings up the traditions of the Tartars: he speaks of their nomadism and their marriage customs (the Tartars are polyamorous and have an astonishing tradition allowing them to celebrate marriages posthumously), their religion, their clothing, the organisation of their army (which Marco Polo considers perfect), etc.

In the countries to the east of Guangzhou, Marco Polo reports having seen the oxen of the Tangut as big as elephants, which are in reality yaks, and having discovered the trade of musk, the descendants of Prester John, living in the confines of the known world and the city of North Chagan. He then describes the palace of Shangdu, the capital of the kingdom of the Great Khan, and mentions some strange customs of the Great Khans scholars.

Chapters 76-158 Book II

Marco Polo begins by talking about the Great Khan, Khubilai, and his rise to power. He then describes him and the splendour of his palace, which is situated in the town of Cambaluc, now Peking. The traveller then mentions the two greatest celebrations that set the tempo for life in the palace: the Great Khans birthday all the Tartars come together to pray and offer gifts to their leader and the New Year. He also recounts the Great Khans hunting expeditions and describes all of his administration.

Marco Polo then takes to the road once again towards the west and arrives in the Kingdom of Xian, then Tibet and Yunnan, a kingdom governed by the son of the Great Khan. He describes, with a little exaggeration, the truly monstrous serpents that he finds in this province.

To the west of Yunnan, Marco Polo discovers the curious birth rituals of the Zardandan province, when the women, after having given birth, quickly get back to their daily work while their husbands take their place in bed and are visited by family and friends.

The author then recounts the Great Khans conquest of Burma and Bengal and introduces the reader to Burma. Marco Polo then crosses the region of Yibin, which is very dangerous as it is infested with lions, before reaching Cangzhou, which is said to live off salt.

The stories of the Great Khans conquests of Dongping, the Mangi province and Siang Yang follow. Marco Polo then describes the town of Hangzhou, the capital of Mangi, which is called the City of Heaven. After describing the magnificence of this city, he tells us about the superstitions of the residents, the kings palace and the organisation of the city. It is with the horrible custom of the Kingdom of Fuzhou, a cannibal country, that the second book of The Travels ends.

Chapters 159-234

In these chapters, Marco Polo speaks about India which, at the time, referred to the islands in the Indian Ocean.