This is a chronology of the early European exploration of Asia.
[1]
The
Fra Mauro map
, completed around 1459, is a map of the then-known world. Following the standard practice at that time, south is at the top. The map was said by
Giovanni Battista Ramusio
to have been partially based on the one brought from
Cathay
by
Marco Polo
.
Trade routes in Eurasia and north Africa c. 870 CE
The ships which were used by Vasco da Gama on his first voyage. (Illustration from 1558).
The
Cantino planisphere
(or Cantino World Map) of 1502 is the earliest surviving map showing Portuguese Discoveries in the east and west.
