Age of Exploration · event 3 of 7

1405

Zheng He’s treasure fleets sail. The Ming admiral commands seven expeditions across the Indian Ocean to Arabia and East Africa with fleets of over 300 ships. China abandons the voyages after 1433 and turns inward, decades before the European expansion begins.

The Age of Exploration era

  1. 1271
  2. 1325
  3. 1405
  4. 1492
  5. 1497
  6. 1519
  7. 1768

See the full timeline or read the short history of travel.