From 1405 until 1433, Zheng He led 7 great maritime expeditions. He crossed the great oceans and seas several times. From the South China Sea to the east coast of Africa, passing through the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. He visited more than 30 Asian and African countries and learned a lot about their cultures and beliefs. It is possible that during one of his expeditions he completed his pilgrimage to Makkah. Zheng He was not the only Muslim on those expeditions. Advisors and translators who traveled with him, like Ma Huan were just like him, Chinese Muslims.

The first fleet Zheng He commanded included 27.870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, doctors and meteorologists. He was on his way to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Java and Sumatra. The ships that Zengh He commanded were up to 440 feet (137.2 m) long and 186 across, capable of carrying more than thousand passengers as well as a massive amount of cargo with products like porcelain, gold and silverware, cotton, copper and silk goods. Those ships were many times the size of Columbus’s ships that passed across the Atlantic and several times larger than any other wooden ship ever recorded in history.

The most spectacular and important voyage of Zheng He was his 4th one with his 30.000 men, which was to Arabia (through Hormuz, Aden and the Red Sea).  When he arrived in Arabia, 19 countries sent ambassadors to board Zheng He’s ships with gifts for Emperor Zhu Di.

After his trip to Arabia, he travelled to the east coast of Africa and possibly reached Mozambique.

After the death of Emperor Zhu Di in 1424, the new Emperor (Hongxi), ceased immediately all the maritime expeditions. China became a self-isolated country during the coming 100 years. Zheng He was appointed as port commander in Nanking and received orders to disband his army. Zheng He chose with the support of Xuande, who had succeeded Hongxi, to bring life again to his expeditions.

On his 7th and last travel in 1433 (when he became 60 years old) , Zheng He revisited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Africa and died in India on his way back.

It is also proven that Zheng He discovered America and Australia in one of his trips before Columbus did. And he also reached the east coast of Africa and sailed from the Cape of Good Hope to the Cape Verde Islands before Marco Polo did.

Every time Zheng He reached a country, he sailed back to China with exotic products such as ivory, camels, gold and other goods.

All those expeditions sent one message to the world: China is an economic and political superpower. But Zheng He added another important thing in his travels: calling people to Islam. With his muslim advisors, Zheng He invited the local people to embrace islam wherever they traveled to. In the Indonesian islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and others, small Muslim communities were already installed before they met Zheng He. The spread of the Islamic message in Southeast Asia began a few 100 years earlier thanks to the Arab and Indian merchants. Zheng He actively supported the continuous growth of Islam in these areas.

To facilitate the spread of Islam quickly in Southeast Asia, Zheng He established Chinese Muslim communities in Palembang, Java, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. Their task was to spread islam around the area to build mosques  and to provide other social services the local Muslim community would need.

After his death, the Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia continued Zheng He’s work in different ways. This brought more people to Islam in Southeast Asia and strengthened the growing Muslim community in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and this complete Southeastern Asian area.

Conclusion: Zheng He, China’s greatest maritime explorer, is not only the pride of the Chinese history, but also a very unique hero in the history of our Islamic civilization.

We must not forget our heroes!

http://300035.dotdothktrade.tech/en/artical/22496/Muslim-Admiral-Zheng-He-discovered-America-before-Columbus-2-2