Zheng He

Born Ma He into a Muslim family in 1371, he was taken as a eunuch into imperial service and became a trusted ally of the Yongle Emperor, helping him seize the throne in 1402. Renamed Zheng He, he rose to command the southern capital at Nanjing and was given an extraordinary commission: between 1405 and 1433, he led seven treasure voyages across Asia under two emperors, projecting Ming military power into the Indian Ocean and anchoring state-controlled trade networks that stretched from China to the Swahili coast of Africa. His largest ships, according to legend, were almost twice as long as an…