India for Marco(Memo)

Laurence Bergreen Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu*1から；

Marco, like other Western wayfarers of the era, remained vague about what he meant by “India.” Europeans often referred to “the Three India” or to a “Greater” and a “Lesser” India―all rather flexible terms. Each writer or traveler reconfigured “India” to suit his purpose or preconceptions, and Marco was no exception. In any case, India was for him a byword for escape more than an actual place on the map. (p.267)