Sindbad the Sailor

Sindbad the Sailor (is also spelled "Sinbad", from Persian ??????—As-Sindibad, 三保 "Sānbǎo", from Chinese ) is the name of a legendary sailor who has numerous fantastic adventures during his voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia. The collection of travel-romances which make up the Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor found in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (1001 Nights) are based partly on real experiences of Oriental and Chinese sailors, partly on ancient poetry such as Homer's Mediterranean-based Odyssey, and partly upon Indian and Persian collections of mirabilia.

Related Topics:
Persian - Chinese - Sailor - Africa - Asia - The Book of One Thousand and One Nights - Oriental - Homer - Mediterranean - Odyssey - Indian - Persian - Mirabilia

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The character Sindbad were inspired by the culmulative tales of many seafarers that had followed, traded and worked in various support ships as part of the armada of Chinese Ming Imperial Treasure Fleets. The fleets of Emperor Zhu Di (朱棣) were led by the Chinese-Muslim Admiral Zheng He (Traditional: 鄭和; Simplified: 郑和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho; Birth name: 马三宝; pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Iranian name: Hajji Mahmud Shams) whose surname "Mǎ" (derived from Mahmud ) and name "Sanbao" (derived from Shams). He was the sixth generation descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar.

Related Topics:
Zhu Di - Zheng He

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Ma belonged to the Semur minority, who are originally from Central Asia, but he grew up in Yunnan in China. His popular official title known as "Wang Sanbao" was the short form of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" (三保太監下西洋) of which the colloquil "Sānbǎo" was derived. The seven imperial voyages ruled the open seas of the Far East to East Coast of Africa in the early 15th centuries.

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Zheng He oversaw the building of a total of 1622 ships and made at least 7 major voyages between 1405 AD and 1430 AD, reaching Western Africa, Indonesia, East Africa, the Middle East, and recently suggested but disputed - America. In each excursion, a total of 27,800 people set-off on more than 300 ships, of which close to 60 major ships were deployed measuring about 475 ft long and 193 ft wide.

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