Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c11.42

v2.c11.42

4-5. Ying-yai Sheng-lan by Ma Huan and Hsing-Cha Sheng-lan by Fei Hsin. Both Ma Huan and Fei Hsin accompanied the famous eunuch Cheng Ho in some of his voyages. These voyages were undertaken at the command of the Emperor with a view to exploring foreign lands for commercial purposes and demonstrating to them the might and prestige of the Chinese Empire¹. Some idea of these voyages may be obtained from the fact that in one of them Cheng Ho is said to have taken forty-eight vessels and 27,000 Imperial troops with him. Cheng Ho made altogether seven voyages between 1405 and 1433 A.D., and visited thirty-six (or thirty-seven) countries, in Malayasia, India, Arabia, and Africa.