Cameron DeVries

Blog Post #5

The Travels of Marco Polo: India

November 13, 2025

For my final blog post, I am looking at Marco Polo’s time in India, which makes up one of the final chapters of the book and is one of the larger sections dedicated to one place. Marco Polo’s descriptions of India are far more in depth in comparison to some other sections like the islands between China and India in the last section, both due to the larger amount of time Marco Polo spends in India, and India’s established place in the world of “civilization” and economy.

Here, he jumps right into the marvels and wonders of India and what he encounters there. One of the first things he mentions is the dress of the people in the kingdom of Maabar, which does not leave much to the imagination. He notes how everyone walks around stark naked except sometimes for a simple loincloth type covering, and even the king goes mostly naked. He maintains his matter of factness about this, which is interesting considering how he would have seen the same thing in the previous section and called the people savages. This is similar to when he mentions the Brahmans, or the guys that use enchantments and incantations to protect the pearl divers from dangerous sea creatures. Marco Polo has been wary of magic in other sections, but kind of just mentions the Brahmans in a matter of fact way here. Later in the chapter he even talks about how the Brahmans may be cleaner and live longer than any others because of their lifestyle, and how they have great connection to birds and beasts.

Another immediate point of interest here are the great signs of wealth, which I can connect to the points I have already mentioned. The king, who is mostly naked like his people, is differentiated by the absurd amount of gems and jewels he wears on himself as a sign of his great wealth. Marco Polo also talks about the natural wealth through pearls, which are collected from oysters by the pearl divers along the shore, who are protected by the aforementioned Brahmans. All across India, he marvels at the gems and shows of wealth he sees, as well as spices such as pepper and ginger, which he sees an abundance of. This makes sense as India would have been a central location for trade and the flow of luxury goods during this time. Like many of the other places he visits, he also makes note of the interesting wildlife, such as exotic birds, big cats, monkeys, and elephants that are used for warfare.  He also talks about cows, and how they do not eat them here.

This goes into the religion, and how Marco Polo still holds strong to his Christian faith and does not believe those who worship other religions are exactly on the right track. He sees how the Hindus do not eat cows, and sees the different deities they worship, and once again just labels everyone as idolators. Still, even when seeming confused by the temples and religious customs such as those of the Yogis and their nakedness, he is not super harsh or judgmental here and seems like a curious observer, reporting back to the Khan and recording all he finds. Some other customs he encountered was he culture of loyalty, where when a husband died their wives would burn themselves alive alongside him. The king was also allowed to choose anyone to be his wife with no argument, and he even married the wife of his brother.

As per usual, he does not talk much about his own living situation, but mentions how hot it was in India, and how the climate could be harsh. He also warns against certain places where traveling upstream would lead to pirates that were known for taking all your goods. This is a large chapter, and there is a lot to cover here, but he generally keeps his same attitude of curiosity and level headedness, while also maintaining his position as a Christian. At the end of the day, he is also an important merchant, so while the customs may confuse him, something he understands very well is how to report back for the purpose of trade. He always lists the spices, animal products, gems, and other goods that may be valuable and where they can be found, as well as potential dangers to traders such as pirates.