Expeditions

Abel Tasman: the Dutch voyage that found Tasmania and New Zealand Afanasy Nikitin: the Russian merchant who travelled to India Ahmad ibn Majid: master navigator of the Indian Ocean Al-Biruni measured the Earth from Nandana hill and wrote Kitab al-Hind Al-Idrisi and the Nuzhat al-Mushtaq: the world map made at a Sicilian court Al-Masudi, the travelling historian of Meadows of Gold, in Multan and Mansura Amerigo Vespucci: the man who gave the "New World" its name Balboa: first European sighting of the Pacific Ocean Bartolomeu Dias: the voyage round the Cape of Good Hope Carpini and Rubruck: two European friars at the Mongol court Christopher Columbus: the first voyage across the Atlantic Evliya Çelebi and his Book of Travels Faxian's journey on foot from China to Swat, Peshawar and Taxila Francis Drake: the second voyage around the world Hanno: the Carthaginian admiral who sailed down Africa's west coast Harkhuf: four caravans from Aswan to the land of Yam and a young guest Hasan al-Wazzan, Leo Africanus: the man who described Africa for Europe Herodotus, the father of history, who travelled to ask questions himself Ibn Battuta: the Tangier traveller in Sehwan, Multan and Delhi Ibn Fadlan: the caliph's envoy from Baghdad to the Volga Ibn Jubayr's travelogue: Granada to Mecca and back, through storms at sea Jacques Cartier and the St Lawrence: ice, scurvy and the name Canada James Cook: three voyages across the Pacific John Cabot: the voyage that reached the North American coast in 1497 La Pérouse: the French expedition that vanished in the Pacific Land of Punt: Egypt's sea voyages and Queen Hatshepsut's fleet Leif Erikson and Vinland: Viking landing in America 500 years before Columbus Magellan and Elcano: the first voyage round the world Marco Polo: the Venetian merchant, the Pamir plateau and Kech Makran Mirza Abu Taleb Khan: from Lucknow to London Mungo Park: the Scottish surgeon who found the direction of the Niger Nasir Khusraw's Safarnama: seven years from Merv to Cairo and Mecca Nearchus's fleet: from the Indus delta along the Makran coast to the Persian Gulf Orellana: the first voyage down the Amazon Pedro Álvares Cabral: Brazil Phoenician sailors circled Africa on Pharaoh Necho II's orders, Herodotus wrote Piri Reis map: the 1513 chart that may carry traces of Columbus Portuguese sailor Gil Eanes rounds Cape Bojador in 1434 Pytheas: from the Mediterranean to Thule, where the sun does not set Rabban Bar Sauma: the Beijing monk who travelled to Rome and Paris Scylax: Darius's sailor from the Indus to the Red Sea Seydi Ali Reis: the Ottoman admiral who came home via Gwadar, Sindh and Central Asia Sulayman the Merchant: the ninth-century sea route from Siraf to Canton The monsoon secret and the Periplus: when Roman-era ships anchored at the Indus mouth Vasco da Gama: the sea route from Europe to India Vitus Bering: the Danish navigator who found the strait between Asia and America Willem Barentsz: a winter in the Arctic ice Xuanzang: the Chinese monk who saw Gandhara, Swat, Taxila and Sindh Zhang Qian: the 13-year journey that opened the Silk Road Zheng He: the seven voyages of a Muslim admiral