The names of European sailing ships from the Age of Discovery are well known in modern popular culture. But what about the exploration ships from other cultures? Are there many primary sources detailing ships e.g. from Zheng He's fleet, or ships commanded by a Magellean-esque figure from Arabia?

by NervousEnergy

Earlier, I was thinking about the various sailing ships that are famous for their achievements in exploration. Cook's HMS Endevour, Resolution, and Adventure; Columbus' Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria, Magellan's Victoria and Trinidad.. but these are all European ships. It makes sense: I'm European and so my history lessons were naturally biased towards European ships.. but surely there are just as famous, just as accomplished, vessels from other cultures. I know that the Islamic Golden Age had it's own little Age of Discovery; with voyages to China and India.. but what about the ships they used?

So, is there any reference to these unknown non-European ships out there? What were they?

xingfenzhen

From the unoffical record 前闻记 the following ships are noted to be in Zheng He's fleet. (清和 (Qinghe)、惠康(Huikang)、长宁(Changning)、安济(Anji)、清远(Qingyuan)) However, no history of individual ships are written, only about the collective trrasure fleet. (Which has 80 to 300 ships of various sizes and functions for each voyage)

Since the Official records was destroyed, there aren't of detail. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_voyages#Literature