Zheng He did not navigate one single unknown nautical mile. Yes, his ships were impressively large, but he merely visited places, established diplomatic relations, and exchanged exotic goods. He was an eunuch.

Ibn Battuta, likewise, was not an explorer, but a traveler who visited, from 1325 to 1354, the known world of North Africa, the Middle East, East Africa, Central and South Asia, the Iberian Peninsula, and West Africa.

In stark contrast, the Vikings, between the eighth and eleventh centuries:

i) established settlements in large areas of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France;

ii) stormed eastwards through the Baltic down into the Black Sea and imposed a ruling dynasty in Kiev from which the name “Russia” derives;

iii) created Normandy from which point William the Conqueror took over the whole of England after the famous Battle of Hastings (1066);

iv) created the Kingdom of Sicily that lasted hundreds of years.

v) They also discovered Iceland, not accidentally, since this land had been described before, though never explored, as “Thule” in various writings, creating a nation with about 30,000 by 930.

vi) And they discovered and colonized Greenland, 200 miles away, starting in 978, followed by a well-planned expedition of 25 ships and several hundred prospective settlers.

vii) And, amazingly, they discovered and established a colony in America 5 centuries before Columbus, which they called “Vinland”. It was at first a chance sighting by Bjarni Herjolfsson, soon followed by planned exploration led by Eirik the Red, and then planned settlement by Thorfinn Karlsefni.

Now, it needs to be added, as contemporary historians of the Vikings have explained, that Icelandic geographers of the early Middle Ages “showed an astonishing sophistication in their image of the northern world”.

Continue reading “Viking/Norsemen explorations, on their own, surpass the explorations of non-Europeans, including the much touted voyages of Zheng between 1405 and 1433 to Southeast Asia, India, and the Horn of Africa — Ricardo Duchesne” →