Who sent Marco Polo to explore?

Answer 1

No one did. His father and uncle were Venetian merchants who had already completed a trip to China and met Kublai Khan. Seventeen-year-old Marco accompanied them on their next journey in 1271, which led to the three of them spending more than 24 years in the Orient, primarily as guests of the khan, who only released them because he wanted more knowledge about Europe.

Marco Polo was born in a merchant family in Venice in 1254. His father and uncle often traded into the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. On one fortuitous occasion, they went to China and met with Kublai Khan, an emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. When they returned, he joined them on their next trip to East Asia. Once they were there, Kublai Khan was reluctant to let his valuable trading partners leave China.

Marco's goal was to help his father and uncle fulfill the task that Kublai Khan gave them, of bringing back some Christian priests and holy oil. But he became embroiled in an Italian war. He lost most of the fortune he made from Chinese trade, but dictated the stories of his travel while a prisoner of rival city-state Genoa.