He, an extraordinary 15th-century Imperialfleet commander who completed seven long ocean voyages, including beyond the Indian subcontinent, reached the Horn of Africa and what is now Tanzania and Kenya.
The compass was also invented in China, and records exist of how a great fleet was sent under the command of Admiral Zheng He in the early 15th century to show the Chinese imperial flag in the ports of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, a fleet said to be the largest seen in the world up to that time.