Kozhikode, KERALA :

Kozhikode :

Two Chinese have come to the land of Zamorin to find the final resting place of the Chinese explorer who conquered seas through willpower.

The goal of these researchers is to find the grave and the trading points of Zheng He, the explorer who landed in Kozhikode seven times on ships .

They are professor Haiyun Ma, a Chinese descendant who teaches history at Frostburg State University in the US, and Dr Shaojin Chai, a senior researcher at the UAE’s culture ministry .

Zheng He is a hero in China, where students learn about his adventures. They only know that he died  in Kozhikode due to sudden illness. Chinese researchers have come to find out if there is  anything in Kozhikode that reminds of him .

A Chinese had been buried at Cheenedath mosque in Valiyangadi. Though the team visited the mosque,  they could not find anything specific. Haiyun Ma and Shaojin came to Kozhikode with the  help of Abbas Panakkal, a fellow at Griffith University, Australia.

The man who brought Ma Huan

Zheng He, born in 1371, began his travel at the age of 28. He landed in Kozhikode in 1430 with Chinese silk, vessels, jars and fishing nets. He was received by the Zamorin. He returned to China with spices and other goods many times. Over the period, he brought 2,800 Chinese to Kozhikode. One among them was Ma Huan, a historian.  It is said that Zheng He even took elephants and horses from here. It is not clear  whether Zheng He, a Muslim, was buried on land or at sea .

source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Kerala / by Lenin Chandran / Saturday – January 09th, 2015