The Ming and maritime trade 1368–1644

The Ming, the Timurids, Zheng He's voyages and the arrival of Europeans.

Map of Asia in 1500, during the The Ming and maritime trade — Border map for 1500. See the world in 1500.

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Border maps in this era

Timeline

Year	Event	Where
1405	Zheng He's first voyage	Nanjing
1449	The Tumu Crisis	Battle of Tumu Fortress
1498	Vasco da Gama reaches India	Calicut
1511	Portugal takes Malacca	Malacca
1526	Battle of Panipat: the Mughal Empire is founded	Battle of Panipat
1557	The Portuguese settle in Macau	Macau
1592	The Imjin War: Battle of Hansando	Battle of Hansando
1597	Battle of Myeongnyang	Battle of Myeongnyang
1600	Battle of Sekigahara	Battle of Sekigahara

Battles and sites

← The Mongol Age Gunpowder empires and the High Qing →

Notable people of the Ming and maritime trade

Lived	Person
c. 1315 – 1390	Hafez	Poet
1328 – 1398	Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor)	Founder of the Ming dynasty
1336 – 1405	Timur (Tamerlane)	Founder of the Timurid Empire
1360 – 1424	Zhu Di (Yongle Emperor)	Ming emperor
1371 – 1433	Zheng He	Admiral and explorer
1394 – 1449	Ulugh Beg	Astronomer and ruler
1397 – 1450	Sejong the Great	King of Joseon
1483 – 1530	Babur	Founder of the Mughal Empire
1534 – 1582	Oda Nobunaga	Warlord
1537 – 1598	Toyotomi Hideyoshi	Unifier of Japan
1542 – 1605	Akbar	Mughal emperor
1543 – 1616	Tokugawa Ieyasu	First Tokugawa shogun
1545 – 1598	Yi Sun-sin	Korean admiral
1592 – 1666	Shah Jahan	Mughal emperor

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.