Map of Asia and Oceania c.1550 India and Ceylon This knowledge was transmitted by travelers, geographers, pilgrims, merchants and politicians returning home after long trips. In the fifteenth century, Prester John was identified with the king of Ethiopia after a few contacts the Portuguese needed to know how to get to Ethiopia, although they had little information about that empire.
The name Prester John seems to derive from zan hoy (my master), an Ethiopian term used by the population designating its king. Here, according to an old legend, lived a Christian emperor, wealthy and powerful, known as Prester John. The inaccuracy of geographical knowledge before the discoveries led people to believe that Asia lay at the beginning of the Nile River and not the Red Sea, allowing the inclusion of Ethiopia in Asia and the extension of the word India to incorporate these and other parts of Eastern Africa. Then came the much valued spices, luxury products like ivory, precious stones and dyestuffs. 2 Timeline of ships, voyages and contactsĪsia has always exerted a fascination on the Portuguese.
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