Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Zheng He - 15th Century Mariners: Crash Course World History #21

[@mattjw16]

00:01 Intro 01:22 Zheng He 04:24 Vasco Dagama 06:31 Christopher Columbus 07:21 Open Letter 08:16 Columbus Continued 09:29 Outro 10:00 Credits

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

I love how even though Australia is left out we still at least get a mention of being left out. New Zealand is left out of even that

[@thespyfromtf2133]

becouse australia best australia

[@brianteo6795]

poor kiwis

[@rebekahlockhart648]

The 'kiwi' history is just, if not more interesting than the Australian history, especially when you look at the treatment of the natives. The introduction and conversion to christianity for the Maori is an extremely complex historical topic. Well worth a video

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

Rebekah Lockhart yeah, I agree.

[@General12th]

New Zealand doesn't exist, so...

[@Twitboy3000]

I'd rather be like Zheng He. To coin a phrase: "I'd rather be remembered as smart by a few, than remembered by all for being a fool."

[@user-uz3fk8zq3u]

but his balls got cut off

[@luciuspaullus1948]

Yeah, but Columbus’ voyage is legendary and no one outside of China really knows about Zheng He.

[@justbirdie4830]

@@luciuspaullus1948 lmao we knew him, i'm Indonesian just about mispelling we knew him as Cheng ho

[@Nova-mp5ow]

oh, the irony

[@luciuspaullus1948]

Columbus wasn’t a fool. That’s a myth

[@jdog14976]

Zheng He based his work on an extensive knowledge of the trading routes and a prowess of governance, travelled the world as a means not to conquer, but to connect. Sure he wasn't innovative, at least not in the way de Gama and Columbus were, but he expanded and reconciled the ways in which we view the world in a way that I have the most respect for.

[@lloydbautista2055]

“In reality, Zheng’s seven expeditions between 1405 and 1433 included use of military force in what are present-day Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India to install friendly rulers and control strategic chokepoints of the Indian Ocean. He intervened in dynastic politics of Sri Lanka and Indonesia and brought back prisoners to Nanjing, the Ming capital. Ming Emperor Yongle originally dispatched Zheng to the Western seas to look for his nephew whom he had deposed from the throne and to promote the virtues of the Chinese civilization. In the course of these expeditions, Zheng brought back many kings and princes to kowtow to the emperor and exchange gifts. The voyages were abandoned when it turned out to be too expensive and gave excessive power, in the view of the Confucian court officials, to eunuchs such as Zheng He,” Prof Sen, University of Pennsylvania.

[@keffinsg]

Jkla Alkj ... Zheng He did not conquer a single puny state nor set up a single colony even though he had a force of 27000. Now compare that with the European experience.

[@azzzanadra]

@@lloydbautista2055 sounds like the US during the cold war. installing dictators in south america to prevent communism from spreading.

[@lloydbautista2055]

@@keffinsg ​ keff Who ever mentioned anything about Europeans? A wrong is not made right by someone else doing a worse wrong. Kind of like saying "oh well sure he's a rapist, but at least he's not a murderer". He never conquered anything because that wasn't the goal; it was political coercion. Or are you one to believe anyone would carry out such a financially inefficient trade enterprise in the 15th century out of purely humanitarian concerns?

[@whkwole6842]

Jonathon Walker: But Zheng He might not have any naval fleet to go with him. He might have gone abroad on his own, he never had any huge ships.

[@shirleywang8994]

what i love is Zheng He did not bring disaster to the places he visited, just political visit, trade, and so on ! He brought giraffe back to China! how cool it was!

[@dshim4731]

dang. "Indian" meaning from East Indies, Indonesia, blew my mind. almost everyone thinks it comes from, well, India.

[@lighthousecreature2841]

Columbus knew he didn't land in India because Spain was well aware of China, and South East Asia so he knew he would have to go through them to get to India, and if he had landed in India he would've been met with people who knew of Spain and probably just wanted to trade instead of curious natives who knew nothing about him

[@jokerofmorocco]

And Indonesians kinda look like Native Americans

[@AmblerSan]

Ugh, shitty school education really gets to me. Was always told he landed in India.

[@Strav9]

daniel shim maybe in English In Portuguese for example, the word Índio, means the same as "Indian" as in native, because when Portuguese arrived on Brazil he though he was in India

[@PraecoLumieres]

...Where do you think Indonesia gets its name?

[@LaserPigeon]

Columbus may not have been a lucky idiot, but I'm going to have to be one to get a good score on the test today.

[@trihermawan9553]

@Abhi Prakash it's been 3 years, what you have to be asking it now?

[@BrianJordanAlvarez]

I LOVE THIS SHOW

[@es3125]

Brian Jordan Alvarez Are you actually kidding me I love you I can't get over this comment

[@quigli]

I think it's worth mentioning that Columbus wasn't even the first European to discover the Americas... The Norse explorer, Lief Erikson, is generally accepted as the first European to discover North America when he was blown off course on his way to Greenland (Although there are some written records about it that predate even this event). He discovered Newfoundland 500 years before Columbus ever set sail, and established a small settlement called "Vinland," now known as, "L'anse aux Meadows"

[@SpadaccinoLuciano]

Yes, but it didn't have a lasting impact. Even without the Vikings, there's lots of evidence that non-Americans "discovered" the continent, strange scripts, coins, and even a possible Roman statue in Mexico and set of Roman ships in Brazil.

[@Gatzlocke]

Yep! However, he mysteriously stopped colonizing it. So it wasn't totally successful.

[@nobody.8196]

This is true, but Columbus was the first to make the Americas widely known.

[@warhater4627]

What surprises me is that the Vikings got kicked out by the Natives so fast........not really, I think they might've done something to anger the natives, which is never a good thing when you are setting up a colony a third of the world away from your homeland and you can't get messages from people in less than a year across that distance.

[@Kalilionaire]

Gatzlocke I read somewhere (I believe in "100 Mistakes that Changed History") of a belief that due to a land-dispute conflict between his hot-headed sister Freydis Eiriksdottir and some of his other men (wherein she ends up murdering them and their families), a lot of legal issues arise and administration of the colony fell into disarray and the colonists returned to Greenland/Iceland. That is a gross over-simplification though, so someone please correct me and/or verify that.

[@madelynstellpflug1906]

Halfway done cramming for AP World

[@samuelkim7595]

yassss

[@maximusdizon7267]

HAHAHAHAHAH SAME yeessss...high-five bro

[@sydneysanz550]

HAHA yeah same...........

[@lucassanchez9050]

Extreme π Nerd Yeah. Cramming 6 months in advance

[@sydneysanz550]

The Holocron Chambers was for a unit test...

[@atlastheprotogen9141]

Who else is here for online quarantine school?

[@kyleg4453]

God bless

[@olivercohen443]

Yup

[@mmendoza3094]

🙋‍♂️

[@sandsibyl1755]

Same

[@surfshannegains4227]

Fr

[@okthx4urdad]

I had to watch this for school... *this is the first time I have enjoyed a school assigned video*

[@Tfleckk]

So, the rulers of the world were basically: 16st = Portugal/China 17st = Spain 18 and 19st = UK 20st = US/USSR 21st = Elon musk

[@qtadosol]

Elon Musk, eh eh, good one...

[@keremtopalismailoglu933]

Ruler of mars to be precise

[@PaganShagger]

Haha it's TRUE. Now the US is collapsing and all their nefarious organizations like NATO and the EU are collapsing. I love seeing empire's get what they deserve.

[@herobrinetnt3]

X D and 100% Minecraft

[@lastnamefirstname5295]

@@PaganShagger they aren't empires though

[@Theturtleowl]

Da Gamo had a beard, obvious winner!

[@Eu-Abreu]

Theturtleowl Da Gama ,my friend... Da Gama. Portuguese = To massive mustache or great beard.

[@Theturtleowl]

Rafael Abreu Sorry Portugal, I am but a silly Dutch person with no knowledge of your language

[@Eu-Abreu]

Theturtleowl dont say that, believe in your self. YOU CAN DO IT

[@Theturtleowl]

Rafael Abreu Okay, Da Gama. I did it! My first step.

[@cloudlyx]

And he died having testicles

[@anastasiavazquezdemiguel5734]

I would like to be Zheng He because of his knowledge and how he was able to lead over 300 treasure ships at that time.

[@williamli0722]

@denise baber so did your dog.. (if you have one). Plus, that is just how cultures are in different countries.

[@davidagostinho1807]

It was in Portugal Colombus knew of land in the american continent. He was born in Italy, came to study to Portugal, were got his Nautical Permit/License, and later married a Portuguese. Portugal already knew of existence of land in that part of the world due to maps compiled from the otoman empire, in modern day turkey. Portugal fished that north american/canada area for cod fish. And don't forget also the portuguese, you may want the check the roots of the name newfoundland and labrador (modern day canada). In 1499 and 1500, Portuguese explorers João Fernandes Lavrador and Pêro de Barcelos mapped the coast of Labrador, thus naming the land "Labrador" on topographical maps of the period. European settlement was largely concentrated in coastal communities, particularly those south of St. Lewis and Cape Charles, and are among Canada's oldest European settlements. The name Newfoundland is derived from English as "New Found Land" (a translation from the Portuguese Terra Nova, still reflected in the province's French language name, "Terre-Neuve"). The origin of Labrador is credited to João Fernandes Lavrador, the Portuguese navigator who explored the region.

[@CertimR]

+David Agostinho vikings were there first #burn

[@davidagostinho1807]

+Certim nobody denies that

[@kunatosftw]

+David Agostinho Sorry to tell you but recently there was found proff that Columbus actually was born in Alentejo. A region in portugal.

[@andregeo13]

+David Agostinho Columbus was portuguese.

[@davidagostinho1807]

andregeo13 no, columbus was italian, from florence, to be exact. he lived in portugal for a few years, where he married a portuguese.

[@MegaChocoManiac]

I'd prefer to be Zheng He

[@MegaChocoManiac]

***** a good whack on the head might do... or kill me...

[@danielbakergill]

+MegaChocoManiac Sign me up for castration! Eunuchs were well trusted, well paid and you'd probably pass out instantly from the excruciating pain.

[@流量不够]

+Ironzealot7531 Actually, Hua Tuo invented anesthetics, in three kingdoms of han dynasty.

[@changtomy2229]

+Ironzealot7531 read wikiipedia hua tuo. But the procces of castrated doesnt involve anasthesia it involve with not eating for 3 days, only eat boiled yellow egg, and a very sharp knife, a good antiseptic methode. For the record 75 percent castrated person lives.

[@Yrenne]

+MegaChocoManiac Sounds like a badass.

[@ThePrincessOfSkyworld]

Am I the only one that loves his humor...? He always puts a fun side to learning History that I enjoy.

[@robert_wigh]

2:29 For anyone wondering, 400 ft is 121.92 metres. I still can’t understand why Americans and British use these weird units of length but they do, so I though I might as well learn it.

[@luiscarlosqg]

Oh, thank you. What a useful comment, I myself had guessed it was around 100 m.

[@canalope981]

the English use the metric system

[@robert_wigh]

Carmen Diaz The Americans use the US standard units, they are taught both the US units and the metric system in school but they often have no use of the metric system and thus forget it. The British use both. The only _official_ units of measurements are metric units are metric units (except for beer and some other products) but the people often use both the metric system and the imperial system in their everyday lives, although I think the imperial system is preferred. The imperial system and the US standard units are very similar, only some measurements for fluid volume differ, e.g. pint, gallon etc.

[@Amalvyr]

+Robert Andersson We mainly use the metric system for science and professional purposes, but then for talking about weight we often use stones and pounds instead of kg, in terms of height we talk of feet and inches instead of cm (nobody's ever told me they're 180cm tall but plenty say they're 6ft), but at least we don't use Fahrenheit anymore 😂

[@robert_wigh]

Craig Watson Yes, that’s a piece of good news. 😊

[@CaptAviator]

One final point, Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese on their second voyage to India after Vasco da Gama's initial voyage. Brazil is also part of the Americas and was discovered independently of Columbus' voyage. With all that said. da Gama had a much more profound and direct influence on the global economy. The Spanish discoveries didn't pay off until decades later when they "discovered" Mexico and later on Peru.

[@TheDarkBrethren]

Definitely Zheng He. No matter how great/lasting the legacy is, if it is based on a negative outcome it's just not as fulfilling. Decency is always better :)

[@Daniel-fj8eu]

zheng he was a Muslim, something i didn't know

[@syampribadias]

here in indonesia we call him "Cheng Ho", and yes, he was a muslim, and a lot of mosques here named after him

[@nightknight1826]

"Zheng He was born into a Muslim family. His religious beliefs may have become all-embracing and eclectic in his adulthood" according to Wikipedia.

[@leoli6116]

He was a war prisoner( or a slave or whatever) brought to China when he was ten.

[@kintheknigh80]

well sence we are almost all chinese i want to say dat he was a prisioner of a war,he was brought t chine because his tribe o something lose aginst Ming so he was broght to china and from the troditions he have to get his u know..... cut off.

[@dogedoge4062]

he is also a buddhism ,taoist and shenist.

[@KingNoCap]

Zheng He was the most impressive, followed by Vasco de Gama. However, Christopher Columbus had the largest impact, followed by Vasco de Gama.

[@TheEliadventure]

The best part of this comments section is all of the Portuguese getting salty because John called them scrappy lmao

[@TheEliadventure]

Found another one

[@lunanoche4128]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCCCCHHHHHHH,!!!

[@WW2GM]

Spartanburg pretty sure calling a country "scrappy", when it was the 1st country in europe, to abolish slavery, and one of the 1st to abolish death penalty... and the 1st european country that actually went exploring the world...

[@westonlitz]

WW2GM you know scrappy is considered a positive trait among English speakers right? He's not calling you crappy, that's different

[@WW2GM]

Weston Litz english dictionary says something else...

[@olicarpenter345]

When we learned about Zheng He in school, my teacher pronounced it "Jong Hur" and we all started shouting "You know nothing Zheng He" xD

[@alvin4100]

+Oliver Carpenter You know nothing Jon Snow

[@marcusaureli0s95]

+Oliver Carpenter lol i wish i went to your school

[@chana7032]

I start watching this to study for history midterms realize halfway thru tht it doesnt have all the info i need yet continue watching it cuz its interesting and awesome. 😀

[@johnthai3796]

Final tmr !!! gosh

[@impalabeeper]

Hi CrashCourse I am wondering, you should make social history videos. I think it's important how people lived in the past. Yes it's boring compared to history of warfare and general human world history but you have a great sense of humour to make it interesting. Also I believe that it's important to understand how people think in the past and what their norms are. Knowing our ancestors lived differently it would be interesting to see and compare on how they lived in the past and how we live today. Maybe mentioned how technologies improved our daily lives? Thank you. Regards, Kenneth

[@oaesiir5676]

IMO De Gama was a baller. A seriously underrated admiral who's campaigns honestly are the stuff of legend. The victories he managed to pull off with the resources he had against ginormous empires with endless resources are amazing to me.

[@emilie6466]

This was actually the first good crash course history video, that wasn’t historically skewed. Congratulations!

[@takarifan]

Actually this video is favorable towards the Spanish and bias against the Portuguese. I would not call this an accurate neutral view of history lesson, but there are some truth in it when it comes to which admiral discovered what places. But I really don't think calling the Portuguese explorers and empire with terms like "scrappy" or "glorified pirates" is a good idea for John to put into this video.

[@KahokoHino14439]

What about Pedro Álvares Cabral and Fernão Magalhães????

[@BonesofGoldSkateboarding]

Vasco da Gama ! man get your Portuguese right John Green !! xD

[@Icedpyro21]

I want to know about the Scandinavians who possibly landed in the Americas 200 years before Columbus. but that's just me

[@kered13]

+zaxex21 It was actually about 500 years before Columbus. Look up Leif Erikson, Vinland, and L'Anse aux Meadows on Wikipedia.

[@Icedpyro21]

kered13 i thought it was in the 1200-1300 was leif erikson

[@kered13]

Nope, it was around 1000.

[@smokedoutpositivesquad1738]

Actually even more. 500 years before, oh and the Natives 20,000 years before

[@TheAnthraxBiology]

+zaxex21 Or St. Brendan...or shit tons of other people XD

[@kattenelvis1778]

But the vikings was the first to european to discover americas 500 years before coloumbus C:

[@stallonedude40]

The impact wasn't as great as Colombus' "discovery"

[@MrDeadeye619]

Its difficult to discover a continent where people already live.

[@FeederForLife]

***** Crucially, the natives that live in American now DID NOT kill the first two waves of immigration. Sins of the father are not sins of the son. History is full of people from certain groups killing people from other groups. That doesn't mean that everyone from every group should be killed in retaliation or karma, or literally everyone would have to die. Not the greatest system, if you ask me.

[@FeederForLife]

***** No one you were responding to said that Native Americans were truly the first people to live in America or to discover America. They just said that Columbus didn't discover it. That's totally compatible with the idea that Native Americans didn't discover it either, which neither me nor anyone else here ever actually disputed. The problem I had with what you said was that you accused a group of people of the crimes committed by their ancestors rather than by them. And it is true that you didn't say we should kill them all, but neither did I say you said that, and you did seem to say that the genocides done to Native Americans were "the karma that was coming to them". Also, taxpayers do not pay reparations. I do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for things done by white people before I was born, or even things done by white people during my lifetime if they weren't actually done due to me in some way. That is simply because those things are not my responsibility, which I'm sure you agree with. I didn't do it. It wasn't me. It was someone else who happens to be of my race. However, I still think that some degree of social programs, paid for by citizens with large incomes more than by citizens with small incomes, are very beneficial to society overall, and increase happiness. Consider that I didn't actually earn parents who had the ability to pay for my education. I just got them. And people whose parents can't pay for their educations didn't do anything to deserve less than I deserved. They just got less. So it seems to make sense from a fairness perspective to have at least some degree of support for people who have been disadvantaged through no fault of their own. This often has to do with racial inequalities, but it applies just as well to, for example, white people who were born into low-income or abusive families. But that's not even really the key reason for those sorts of programs. One key reason is that a better educated and healthier population is better for everyone. Another is that someone struggling to get by can generally get significantly more happiness out of a given sum of money than could someone who's already very wealthy. Let's imagine a case where $100 can be given to either a person with $2,000,000 in the bank or to someone who's working two jobs but still struggling to pay the rent on their small apartment; it seems pretty clear that the second person will benefit more from that money. But obviously KZbin's comments section isn't really the best of places to have a debate on morality, philosophy, and/or policy, as evidenced by your incredibly irrelevant and unfounded final sentence (I don't actually play GTA - which is a fact that has an amazing amount of nothing at all to do with what we were talking about), so I think I'll just leave this here.

[@shirehorse91]

Caribaney Chatoyer Where in Canada did this happen? You had nothing and lived a short miserable life, permanently at war with each other, and in squaller.

[@rabbitazteca23]

I never knew about Zheng He... but hearing and knowing about him now. He may just be my favorite explorer. Dude sailed with THREE HUNDRED ships and 27k people lmaooo that's like game of thrones level voyages on steroids! Dude was certified rizz!

[@Wakeywakeycornflakey]

Crash Course so good, that my funny World History teacher assigned us to watch this episode for Homework.

[@avaben-david549]

Honestly thank you so much John Green, these videos are the epitome of cramming information before the AP exam.

[@rylantuers6702]

I believe vasco was the best explorer due to the knowledge of the world, seas, maps, ships, and exploring. and his major trading post in India.

[@paulamanuelvieira]

As a portuguese I feel obligated to choose Vasco da Gama. Not only was he a great navigator, he has also been imortalized in one of our greatest literary works!

[@davidmb1595]

+Paula Vieira Which literary work is that? I am interested on it.

[@paulamanuelvieira]

+Rarity Sparkle It's called "Os Lusíadas". It is a series of poems that tells the story of our country and our people through the telling of the journey

[@davidmb1595]

Paula Vieira Thank you.

[@Guizambaldi]

As armas e os barões assinalados que da ocidental praia lusitana para mares nunca d'antes navegados passaram para além da Taprobana

[@Nanix1991]

so China was the most advanced country in the 15th century!!!

[@tcsl6603]

yes

[@Infamous_man]

not really a country back then

[@崔莱]

I wouldn't agree on the blood thirsty part. For one we didn't have a 50% child mortality rate, and second we valued education and knowledge.

[@崔莱]

Ok i'll respond to that point by point, but first I want you to think how you define "blood thirsty"? I was simply pointing out that we have had better lives for the most times than almost all the world, and that bloodthirsty or not, we are a great nation. The wars we fought were neccessary, we're not the ones who attacked North Korea, we are not the ones who invaded VietNam, and we certainly didn't invade China. If bloodthirsty means having your own people killed in war, then the Jews are by far the most bloodthirsty group, so I ask you to reconsider your definition of "bloodthirsty". You say that Mao Zedong's mistakes lead to 45 million deaths, but first, he's not purposefully killing all those people for fun, and second, he's just ONE person, and could hardly represent the entire nation. Saying that China is blood thirsty because of what few people did is just a large blanket statement covering 1/7 of the world. And the last part, you don't become the most powerful country by being peaceful either, and that applies not only to China. Neccessary violence ≠ Blood thirsty *****

[@崔莱]

the flow of your logic is a bit messy... I think i managed to extract at least some of what you are trying to say, and I'm pretty sure you didn't answer my question: How do you define "bloodthirsty"? Every part of your argument depends on it. *****

[@Cookie-bd1xz]

Is anyone also awesome because he is John Green??,-John if you are reading this ,I love your books you are so incredible!!!!

[@Emily-ce7hd]

So turns out Columbus first went to the Portuguese for funding but because of their superior mathematics from the Muslims, they actually knew the size of the earth and knew getting from Europe to Asia would be impossible with their technology at the time so they said no.

[@BotonBangBoyz]

true

[@Grort]

+Emily Neuendorf Actually, the Portuguese did consider trying the western route, but they didn't want to fund Columbus, because the school of experts in Portugal found that the source Columbus used was full of inaccuracies and that these accuracies had been further compounded by Columbus himself. But when Columbus claimed to have found an island just east of Japan, the Portuguese sent a few caravels west, though they achieves nothing (must be also noted that the Portuguese accidentally found Brazil while rounding the bottom of the African coast and that the Spanish only circumnavigated the world after stealing priceless information from the Portuguese.)

[@adamweishaupt3733]

+Emily Neuendorf They also went to Venice and Venice looked at their vast hordes of gold and were like "Yeah, about that gold thing... We're good."

[@kittykattzee]

+Emily Neuendorf it wasnt impossible during that time as magellan circumnavigated the earth just a mere 30 or so years after using pretty much the same technology the previous mariners used, with pretty much similar sized ships! although much more expensive and riskier facing the "unknown" beyond the atlantic :D

[@Factulicious4Ever]

Emily I

[@thegreathx6128]

Zheng He is the best! P.S. I'm pretty sure he thought the giraffes were unicorns! (Yes, I honestly do.)

[@joepool2246]

I would definitely want to be Zheng He. He was, as John said, a smart administrator with excellent sailing skills.

[@sidoniewittman9987]

I’m watching this instead of studying my notes bc honestly it’s more helpful

[@audhorakmusic]

Hi! I'm a student and my class, teacher and I really enjoy watching CrashCourse! You guys are awesome all the time! You guys make history fun... not that history is not fun because I love history! :-)

[@SOcrispyproductions]

this channel is the only the reason why i'm passing ap world history .

[@the_original_Bilb_Ono]

im 22, work 50-68 hours a week, is it too late for me to go to college? i have so much passion for learning, but didnt have all the opportunity some people had.

[@jamesnubz]

it's never too late

[@fridgeking6014]

I'm in college right now and there are a couple of people well into their fifties with me in class. It's never too late. I'd say 22 is actually a below average age for university students (at least at the university of Amsterdam)

[@soroosha]

of course its not late. if you find an area that interests you (specially if you can make decent money with it) then I'd say go for it!

[@TheAlrightOK]

It's never too late to go to college. It's never too late to do whatever you want to do (unless it violates the rights of others of course). All people are different and there shouldn't be the standard scheme: Day care - School - College - Work - Marriage - Children - Grandchildren. Different ppl prefer different things and at different periods of their lives. It's important to choose your own happiness over fitting into stereotypes. I'm 22 myself and have decided to put off pursuing a Master's degree to indefenite future, because I'm sure I'll enjoy it more then. I hope you find an opportunity to go to college and have the time of your life there :) Good luck!

[@崔莱]

Go for it!!!

[@yea_mark]

I come for the history, but stay for the burns of John from the past.

[@happy-9421]

Zheng he is 1000x better then Columbus! And you know it but you keep denying :)

[@happy-9421]

Because he still had the balls to risk it! There's a joke in there somewhere:)

[@ericconnor8251]

+Bajan_Other_Canadian He was 1000x better at what? Zheng He basically set out on tributary gathering missions for the Ming Chinese court that conducted relations and trade with empires and countries that the Chinese had been familiar with for quite some time before the 15th century. Chinese merchants of the Tang Dynasty had sailed back and forth to Egypt seven centuries before Zheng He, for instance. On the other hand, Vasco de Gama and Columbus were not just traders, they were proper explorers. They set out to find and discover lands that Europe had no idea existed. Vasco de Gama came armed and prepared for conflict (albeit not as much as Zheng He when he invaded Sri Lanka), but Columbus didn't have a very large conquering force and braved unknown waters and potentially hostile territories nonetheless.

[@TheLykkeAK]

+Eric Connor well i mean columbus wasn't really out for new lands, he was trying to find a new way to get to india. he didn't know that he was going to land in america; he kinda assumed he was in india at the time.

[@Lancaster604]

@@ericconnor8251 better at not being a genocidal maniac that murdered the native population enmass probably. History is full of Europeans contacting a technologically less advanced population, and then proceed to just bully them.

[@You-pk6jh]

The weak should fear the strong

[@joyouknow5385]

I'd want Zheng Ha By miles... speaking from a perspective that I'm a descendant of the people that currently has to live under the monstrous legacy of Columbus. A legacy that still treats my demographic as a "lesser evolved other" & left millions dead or murdered in Columbus's wake... basically things were relatively peaceful for 100's of years until the Portuguese & Spaniards. History is a damn hard lesson... that should never be sugar coated for anyone.

[@aidansturma7102]

I Feel that Zheng he is the greatest mariner of the 15th century because had more power in his ships and used his trips for trading purposes

[@ricardokai4111]

John as a Portuguese student I spent all my 8th year learning about de gama

[@absinthe_apostle]

Well Zheng He is such a beast, so I would pick him. He could fit like all of Vasco de Gama's ship onto the deck of a single ship!

[@OpiZoid]

LOOK! I'M IN CRASH COURSE!

[@smokedoutpositivesquad1738]

Fucking sunnova

[@MessyMondanoGaming]

+Zoidberg Jesus where

[@samantha-tw3jl]

where

[@MessyMondanoGaming]

Sammy Gaming when he says columbus was not an idiot

[@samantha-tw3jl]

Messy Mondano i know

[@AutoBifanas]

"Which meant that christian crusading spirit was quite strong there presumably because muslims had brought so much stability and prosperity to the region". Only if you don't take into account that the capture of Ceuta in Morocco in 1415 was in part meant to fight Granadine and North African pirates who in some cases plundered the Iberian coastline all the way till northern Spain ever since the start of the Reconquista. For this reason Portugal has in fact the oldest operating navy in the world. "Vasco da Gama was the first of Henry's protégés to make it around Africa and into the Indian Ocean". Prince Henry died in 1460 and Vasco da Gama was born in 1469.

[@jesseafleming]

Jflem and the WHAPstars would like to be like Columbus because we want to have a lasting impact on the world. We watch your videos all the time. Keep up the good work, John!

[@TheRachaelLefler]

I'd totally have been Zheng He, proving once and for all that testicles are not tied to courage.

[@thomascote8812]

or to you

[@mig5l]

They are , however, connected to FUN and virility. Lesbians continue to ignore male humans biologic ....advantages.

[@anotherkidonyoutube4788]

mig5l thats true

[@tessacarstairs5998]

+mig5l lol that's not what my ap bio book says

[@miguelxavier7612]

Portugal had already an empire in Africa in fact it is rather well known that Portugal was the first colonial empire in the world Love ur channel btw A Portuguese guy🇵🇹

[@BolinForever]

3:01, I would just like to point out the master sword (LoZ) in the pile with all the other swordy stuff.

[@marinarosario8855]

Portuguese girl over here! Thanks Mr. Green teaching me that portuguesa were just glorified Pirates (they Never teach us that), Please don't call us stinky, I shower every day, finally rejoice! Every singela portuguese word you said was mist pronunced (and the catellan onde too). Ps: it's like the 5th the I'm watching the series, I'm a bit addicted to crash course

[@estherbaby5621]

Lol halfway done cramming for the AP world history exam!

[@eelambert18]

+Forever Esther XXI SAME

[@yukariide1118]

two years later and i'm in your place now lol

[@carolinechubb6468]

what did you get?@@yukariide1118

[@stephaniekelly872]

same i wanna die

[@raz3905]

Zheng He way more awesome

[@ThisOldHat]

-9999999 points for misspelling Vasco da Gama's surname.

[@ScareSans]

-99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 from you because MISSPELING AND MISSPRONUNCIATION IS THEIR THING! =_=

[@WildBillCox13]

Funny, informative, AND topical. You have exceeded every single ruler in history for entertainment value.

[@ImperatorRom]

Plot Twist: Conspiracy Theory, Columbus was Portuguese and the whole idea was to tie up Spain in fruitless endeavour to economically weaken it. Kinda worked at first, but the whole Inca and Aztec gold kinda screw up the plan. And why do they say this, because the Portuguese king D. João II kept pushing the line further west, way beyond the needs to successfully do the wind turn around of south Atlantic, so supposedly he knew about a continent or at least a big island around that area. Plot twist: Columbus was Spanish, and due to some dubious family history and secrecy changed his name and did all this for fame and fortune, also possibly a spy in Portugal at the service of Spain. Or a double spy, sources disagree. :P Plot Twist: I don't know!! History is murky :SS P.S.: This is just teasing and conspiracy theories, not backed up, yet...! :P

[@amongdrip2635]

i had to watch this for a school assignment and the part about zheng he being a eunuch was cut out lmao

[@jumpinthefire23]

What does he mean by "Scrappy little Portugal"?

[@redpuds]

I think it's sarcasm because Portugal is be overlooked by many (I'm reading a history book that mentions how Portugal and Danmark's importance are often overlooked)

[@filipesampaioaraujo2247]

Portugal and Spain were both basically backwater countries. France and England were both pretty well established as countries by that time; Portugal and Spain only started to become important once they started navigating. Also, as Greene notes, Portugal was poor in resources and had to rely on trade to survive.

[@iPsilocybin]

Scrappy: having an aggressive spirit; inclined to fight or strive.

[@NoobaruKun]

***** If you think portuguese are inclined towards violence then you are definitely ignorant and stupid.

[@NoobaruKun]

.

[@americanstorytime382]

Great Video. All of your videos are great!

[@zupergozer]

Gotta love playing the Ming in Europa Universalis 4

[@joshcohen2313]

Too bad they got horrendously nerfed in the last update. Even with inward perfection, they were still fun, but now it's nearly impossible

[@zupergozer]

Joshua Cohen I know right, grrr

[@Tytoalba777]

Eh, I prefer playing as Spain or Portugal

[@zupergozer]

James A Clouder Nah, Netherlands ftw!

[@joshcohen2313]

zupergozer Russia4life

[@Jack92UCB]

Zheng he lived during ming dynasty, not yuan dynasty, so china was not ruled by the mongols.

[@shangyedavid]

Watch closely, he meant China was ruled by Mongols and that's why people shouldn't be surprised with Zheng He is a muslim.

[@noirneko9697]

Zheng He of course! Feels like a great dude

[@cornellwaters9089]

Thank You ⚓

[@mitchellhile2821]

my soul dies a little when we have to watch one of your videos in class

[@TheMrBrian26]

I appreciate the Master Sword at 3:00

[@novathemagus3740]

You smart. You loyal. I appreciate you.

[@novathemagus3740]

Anotha one.

[@forcadelta5]

Simple Vasco da Gama the creator of the modern trade, besides the Spanish, British, French and Dutch, always came after the pioneer nation of discoveries, Portugal.

[@forcadelta5]

XZDrake Portugal create actually seven countries in four continents and regions all over the world. and first multinational world global trade if you think is not enough, well there are many European countries that don`t have this in their history. Germany for example.

[@forcadelta5]

XZDrake Angola and Mozambique have resources to be one of the most advanced countries in Africa, the problem is their sold governments to the biggest interested, oil and other energetic. The major patrimonial legacy of UNESCO in the world belong to a same country is from Portugal, actually you can see Portuguese patrimonial legacy in all over the world, that is cultural power, similar to the roman or Greek empire.

[@forcadelta5]

XZDrake Not all Africans countries have resources, oil and natural gas for example.

[@taighe6461]

+forcadelta5 i feel like the dutch and the portugeese and the dutch had alot in common with colinies and trade

[@forcadelta5]

Queen Elizabeth The II The Dutch came after the Portuguese in the world trade.

[@tryharddiehard4709]

He makes history interesting and fun. He's one of the reasons I actually enjoy social studies a little bit now. (Well, mainly because of my no nonsense, funny and cool teacher).

[@00Linares00]

Vasco da Gama's travel had a profit of 3000%, yep

[@Eban11235]

If he hadn't hit the Caribbean his crew would have died. Since he underestimated the size of the world (which is odd because it was known already) he didn't have enough supplies on board.

[@VoicesFromPortugal]

Hey John could you answer me a question? I will be quick about it. (You wont even read this but were we go). So Portugal is a "scrappy, little country", well tell me what do you think about this facts: 1--Portugal explored more area than all you scrappy big country all together; 2--Vasco Da Gama (yeah that's how you write it) hasn't the only greatest sailors that were portuguese, have you ever heard of Fernão de Magalhães, well you know, he wasn't that important he was just the captain of the 1st ship that crossed the Strait that has his name, and you know where was he from? Well he was from "scrappy, little Portugal"; 3--"Scrappy, little Portugal" was one of the 1st countries to have it's borders defined with a treaty with Spain on September 12, 1297 (well you know just 479 years before you were even independent, oh i forgot you only got recognized has a free country seven years later (1783) ) 4--"Scrappy, little Portuga" was the FIRST country to abolish Death Penalty, while you, well i guess you never abolished it totally did you? 5--And just to end this because i could go on for another 10 hours, but i don't really need because you have so much to do on your BIG country that you can't even read a damn comment that it has the objective of doing a constructive critic about your videos, which I personally think that are awesome, so please if you could answer me do so and if you can't, well i will kepp writing these until you change your vocabulary, just like we did with Pepsi.

[@VoicesFromPortugal]

And we established a lot of trading posts called "feitorias" no, there is no translation besides trading post, but that's to light because what most people don't know is the portuguese created most of their own cities, like full fortresses along the african and indian coast, so now tell me are the portuguese that crappy? And besides that we did controlled the Indian Ocean trade for about 20 years (after conquering some coastal fortresses built by arabics and ensuring the safety of all the people that crossed the Cape trade route (another thing that you forgot to mention). And well, i think this is enough to show people that Portugal isn't "crappy and little" because we did more than big countries like Germany, France (that just copied us, the spanish and the british) and the big country where you live, and im not decreasing your importance (i'm just saying how many miles of land did you discovered (not even comparing because there's the years problem but you know....), i'm just saying that you shouldn't let appearances fool you.

[@12318529]

VoicesFromPortugal Usually I don’t like to participate in “my country/race/religon is better than yours” debate. But allow me to comment on your statements: 1 - I’m not so sure about the area Portugal explored (without aid of local populations and sailors)… 2 - Magalhães made his famous voyage at the service of the Castilian crown. The same way Asians, Africans and other Europeans were employed in the Portuguese explorations. 3 - The “defined borders” of Portugal are quite recent. Brazil was part of Portugal like the “Ultramar”, Macau, etc. These borders are gone now. If we are just talking about the European part of the country…well Portugal lost some territory to Spain in the 19th century. The defined borders of the 13th century aren’t the defined borders of 21st century. 4 - Portugal was ONE of the first countries to abolish capital punishment in the modern age. Not THE FIRST.

[@VoicesFromPortugal]

Miguel Santos let me rephrase: 1- If you are not sure you should read more history books, you know like "Breve História dos Descobrimentos e Expansão de Portugal" (im not going to write it in english because it is a portuguese book and you are portuguese). And by reading those books you will find out that not only Portugal discovered most of it's colonial (well, including another places) territory with the help of only portuguese people (of course they used some guides, so did the english, the spanish etc..etc...). And you can go toa map and see that it's quite obvious the the trade routes and colonies all together are bigger than the USA. 2 - I was talking about Magalhães nationality and tell me...Was he spanish? I don't think so. Well and of course he did that trip with spanish support for 2 reasons, 1st because the land he travel to was considerated to be spanish because of the Tordesilhas Treatry (im refering to the strait itself) and second because he thought that he would be better served by serving under the spanish flag, yes they were already spanish not Castillian (but most of he's career was done at the service of the portuguese crown like when he enlisted himself, at the age of 24 for the Indian armada that would later take Goa and other hindu (culture, part of the Mughal Empire, a remaing land owned in the by......wait.......THE MONGOLS) cities and there form portuguese colonies. 3 - Yes I know that Portugal lost it's colonies and that they had to change their borders, in that you are right, but 1st im talking about the oficial establishment of borders, and I wasn't saying that they didn't change them later, i was talking of D.Dinis reign when the portuguese borders were established, long before the USA were even a dream. 4 - And by saying it was the first country to abolish Capital Punishment aka death penalty i meant that it was the 1st european country to abolish it (and yes i know that it was abolished in China between 747 and 751 (but look at how good they are now) and in Japan for a short period too, and in Venezuela, Porto Rico etc, etc...) And I wasn't saying that my race (nor my religion, nor my country) was better than the USA one, I was just saying that this video is supposed to be for everyone right? So it isn't right to call Portugal a "scrappy, little country" if you are just talking about historic facts and not your own opinion because he is supposed to be impartial and not the opposite. And that we should respect each other.

[@12318529]

VoicesFromPortugal 1 - The reason why I am not sure is because I read a lot of History books. And I think it is completely irrelevant to compare an area of exploration with the size of another country… 2 - “Spain” as the name of a nation is a complex thing. It isn’t just the union of Castile and Aragon. Portuguese of that age also referred themselves as inhabitants of Spain, also called “Spains”. It would be correct for a Portuguese to say “I am from Spain” but in that age it didn’t mean he was a Castilian. Things changed with Philip II, though. 3 - I don’t see the point in saying “my country is older than yours” in order to get some respect. 4 - Portugal wasn’t the first country in Europe to abolish Capital Punishment. I think it was San Marino. “Scrappy little country” may mean “a small fragmented country” or a “small country with fighting spirit”( And I think that’s what he meant). I can’t see why you find this offensive. These both meanings can be correctly applied (to some degree) to the 16th century Portugal.

[@limester3789]

VoicesFromPortugal I couldn't agree more with you. To me Vasco Da Gama and Fernão de Magalhães were two of the biggest sailors that ever existed, and Vasco Da Gama might have tried to pirate but most of the sailors did that at the time. But I still consider that Columbus was another great sailor because he arrived to my home continent ;) (but he didn't discover it).

[@offbrandplanb]

We watched this in school, but I was really tired and forgot to take notes for the last part so here I am at 9 pm doing homework.

[@pgingao]

What do you mean by Scrappy little Portugal? It is one of the oldest countries in Europe - Having the same defined borders since 1139, almost 900 years ago. It was a pioneer of the age of Discoveries, flourishing in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, with voyages to India, the Orient, the Americas, and Africa. It was one of the first European powers to begin building a colonial empire.

[@mkd2839]

+Paulo Gingão First to build a colonial empire, Yes European powers, In your dream.

[@Grort]

The fact that when the Portuguese arrived in India, the Muslim merchants questioned how/why it was Portugal that had managed this, and not France, England, Spain or the Italian merchant states does go a long, long way to show that Portugal was never considered a significant power in Europe until it achieved the mercantile strength it did from Indian trade that allowed it to compete with Venice. Even then, it was still not that militarily strong: it had to rely on cannon for most of it's successes, and when it didn't (due to reasons of chivalry, honour and spoils) there were disastrous effects. Portugal achieved much in the beginning on the age of European exploration, but by no means was it an expected achievement for a poor, isolated and small naval Kingdom.

[@mkd2839]

For a naval-base nation like Portugal, it's understandable

[@pgingao]

+Grort Guys, nor need to take this further, but it's not scrappy at all, and small is a relative concept. Have a look at the discoveries age map: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_Portuguese_Empire

[@MarceloCardoso-bj5cw]

+Paulo Gingão Our history is seriously misrepresented her.

[@moriscengic]

De Gama and the Zheng He didn't do anything that anybody else has not done before. They only followed the coast. Columbus did something new, he dare to sail on the open ocean. This was unknown and unexplored. Not many people would do that. I is a gigantic acomplishment.

[@AndreFreitas91250]

Vasco da Gama also travelled in open sea. In the first voyage of Vasco da Gama they passed relatively near of todays Brasil. You should search for a more precise route, than a presented in this video. Here's a more precise map: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama#/media/File:Map_of_Portuguese_Carreira_da_India.gif Besides that most of people at that time (in Europe) thought the world was flat, and if they were to the seas in Atlantic Ocean (far from europe) they could fall in the end of the world, even if they were near to the coast of Africa.

[@moriscengic]

I don´t think any smart people in Europe thought that world was flat. Maybe some really stupid people but the most of the scientists and even in church knew the world was round. There were much of the jewish and muslim litterature copied and distributed in Europe, and many maps of turkish Piri Reis and other explorers like Ibn Batuta, so the world knew what is the truth but the problem was they couldn't say it publicly, and they didn't know about the details, how big the world was...the proportions of the sea and land.

[@AndreFreitas91250]

JEBIVJETAR PRCOJEVIC Piri Reis map only was useful to Columbus because it shows america localization, that has nothing to do with Vasco da Gama route. None of those ancient maps had shown a connection between atlantic ocean and indian ocean. The route followed for Vasco da Gama was based on previous exploration on africa coast. The Portuguese started to explore the atlantic ocean in early 14 century (somewhere between 1325 and 1345) and after a lot of exploring near to africa they got the information that was a connection between oceans. Vasco Da gama was the first to survive by passing the Cape of Good Hope, in south Africa. Alot of previous explorers tried and failed paying with their lives. Muslim knowledge was important, because it taught to the portuguese about new techniques of sailing, orientation and cartography, but didn't teach them about any secret route to india. You're right about the belief of round earth.

[@keffinsg]

He also killed lots of natives.

[@77fili77]

John, I love you. Uh not in a creepy way though... Haha... But I really liked what you said about if you're not an expert on a topic, don't act like you are. Also, although it wasn't the main purpose of this video, I felt that you explained why some the most "industrialized" civilizations at the time (like china, japan, Scandinavia, etc.) didn't explore and conquer. You hinted at how, mostly due to resources, some civilizations (like west-Europe) DID conquer many places but others like China didn't because although trade helped them even more, China had much more resources than much of Western Europe.

[@saint_matthias]

scandinavia? why scandinavia?

[@77fili77]

because many people picture all of Europe as being one big powerhouse of imperialism, so i wanted to point out that not all parts of Europe (east europe, scandinavia...) were like that.

[@wx9038]

Big Nutjob might not be the most advance but better off than the western part of Europe mainly due to trade (remember before sea trade, there was silk road) plus eastern part of Europe did not get hit as hard by the black death compare to the western part. And due to Muslims influence, eastern part was more educated than the western part.

[@wx9038]

MrJotaieb As regarding to Chinese empire have long bloody civil war. Well China has exited for a long ass time. Of course over the time there will be civil war. Some due to bad government, some due to natural disaster lead to lack of food, which lead to civil war. Some due to power struggle between sons of king. Same goes for any empire that holds enormous power and existed for large amount of time.

[@77fili77]

Jotaieb, I'm well-aware of the 30-years-war. I never said Scandinavia was peaceful, I said that they weren't as empire-hungry as central/western Europe. Scandinavia didnt conquer any of africa, asia, or the americas (unless you count the brief period that the vikings lived in Canada ahaha)

[@studentactivistsallies8470]

We love you John Green

[@ishrat3891]

Zheng He: 1:23 Vaco de Gama: 4:27 Columbus: 6:30

[@kffinn]

Isn't it even harder to hit islands than a continent

[@ProfessorSyndicateFranklai]

He aimed for the continent and got a new continent.

[@mattbenz99]

@@RoniiNN He aimed for India.

[@LaloRacer1]

Thanks! =3

[@firhanmahendra8851]

great explanation mr green

[@ninhodeamo]

Saying that Portugal did´t do nothing in the Indian Ocean Is wrong, Portugal actually had a Strong line of comercial trade with India that was weakened by the English pirates that were by the order of the British Crown!!!!Portugal had territories from India Goa for exemple until the twentieth century !!!

[@RaghunandanReddyC]

***** indians in portugal?? lol. they account for not more than 75000 people in total. Portugal didnt leave india untill 1962. you should say that. #hypocrite.

[@RaghunandanReddyC]

***** whatever.. i dont have to explain anything to actual thieves..

[@matacornos]

Raghunandan Reddy C Care to explain what barbarism?

[@justusloy4546]

the portugesse are salty

[@JayceeChax]

India thanks neither Portugal nor Britain for that

[@owen5505]

2012 BRUH MY TEACHER IS MAKING ME WATCH THS NOW!!!

[@sirpoet3282]

"We'll just keep it, if it's all the same to you" lol

[@victormurphy3511]

I like the way you say that he loose both testicles, like they where a toy car, that one would bring to the beach, on holiday when one was maybe 5/6/7 years of age at the time, and suddenly, being a child, you would go off to explore and realizes that you left the toy down without thinking and now it is gone. Honestly I love the videos. Keep up the good work.

[@Nitrodrakon]

I would prefer to be a capable administrator and brilliant sailor, although I would still prefer to be a. Christian(Episcopalian specifically), and b. non-castrated. By the way thank you John Green for your awesome and interesting videos. I admire the way you are able to so effectively teach history in spans of ten minutes and find your episodes intriguing, amusing, and most of all enjoyable. Thank you for being awesome.

[@Bwolber]

Master Sword from Legend of Zelda at 3:00

[@futuredirector999]

Wasn't North America discovered by the Vikings before Columbus, lead by Leif Erikson?

[@ArcanicFire]

Yea and thousands of years before that it was discovered by Mongolians following herds of animals for food because they were nomads. These people would become the natives. I am sure not all of them were Mongolians but as I far as my learning goes, most were from what is now today Mongolia.

[@lucasbuvinic240]

ArcanicFire nope. Polinesia is what you are talking about. A lot of time before the Mongol Empire even existed various native trives from the polinesia sailed to the Americas. There are various theories of how they got there. One says that they went straight foward. Another one says that they crossed the South Pole. And another one says that siverians were the ones that went to the Americas first by passing trough siveria and alaska (in the time in wich these two were conected)

[@ArcanicFire]

Lucas Buvinic Well I never said the Mongol Empire and they were not called Mongols then I know that much. I was trying to say they were from the area. And yea the rest is pretty much it. The Alaska Siberia theory is the one I most commonly hear. It makes sense considering that was a time of Ice age when the North was frozen over. Or just a time of really cold weather, I doubt it necessarily has to be an ice age although part of the theory is that the ice would have been a kilometer thick at the time if they were following herds.

[@b-nardy141]

The best teacher ever thank you!

[@miguelsomething]

The fact that the only Crash Course World History that talks about the Portuguese says they we're some "glorified pirates" makes me sad. Could've talked about Portuguese Venetian sugar and spice rivalry, Feitorias and more explorers, but nope. Let's just neglect a 15th-16th century major power and call them pirates...

[@MizanQistina]

Portuguese are pirates who burn and destroy Melaka in 1511AD, before that burn and destroy Goa...

[@miguelsomething]

Nizaris1 there's a difference between conquering and destroying. I do agree the Portuguese did many atrocities, to Malayans included, but saying the Portuguese destroyed major trade centers is a bit inaccurate, specially due to Portugal using Goa and Malaka to monopolise maritime supply lines. Besides, Portugal didn't have the funds to destroy and rebuild a town.

[@miguelsomething]

+TheMaster100 Well, there was a war between Portugal and the Ottomans, where Portugal allied with the Ethiopians and the Ottomans with the Somalis and it is true the war brought further decline to the Saffavid dinasty (correct me if I'm wrong) in Ethiophia. However the Portuguese only used 500 Harquebusiers as an army and just those 500 wrecked over 5000 Somalis and Ottomans, some records even elevating the number to 7000-8000. Portugal ended up getting what they wanted, which was a 'mare clausum'. So, although Portugal lost that war, saying they got their asses kicked might be a bit dubious.

[@miguelsomething]

***** well thanks! I need to dig a bit more into that then. Do you have any links that talk about that war?

[@miguelsomething]

***** But I still think CC ought to make a video on the Portuguese Empire...

[@tigerofepicness]

Just wandering, for an alternate history experiment.... what if Zheng He discovered Australia?

[@Eu-Abreu]

tigerofepicness Portuguese explorers landed in Australia between 1475 and 1525 before Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon have

[@SD78]

It would be HIGHLY unlikely since Zhang's voyage only covered existing trade routes and the fleet would be completely incapable of operating more than a few weeks away from an established port.

[@benz1803cp]

SD78 you are half wrong, since up there australia continent (indonesia), there a lot of kingdom doing trades with merchants around the world, and it just not far away from closest island called timor leste now.

[@SD78]

benz1803cp Were there any Indonesians trading with Australia at the time? No. Did they even realise that Australia existed? Probably not.

[@SD78]

***** The coins in question were almost certainly the result of a shipwreck and were found along with Dutch coins of a much later mintage. The only evidence of Indonesian trade barely even pre-dates Cook claiming Australia for the Crown.

[@Leldy22]

What about Yi-Sun Sin?

[@TheSkimzRealm]

he wasn't an explorer, he was a naval general

[@Leldy22]

+Skim's Realm He totally deserves something on the show at least.

[@TheSkimzRealm]

Leldy22 He does, but sadly I don't think he's too recognized outside of the Korean peninsula :(

[@Leldy22]

Skim's Realm Touché