ABSTRACT
In the early decades of the fifteenth century the Indian Ocean was the scene of a remarkable case of maritime power projection. From 1405 to 1433 the Ming emperors of China sent seven large fleets into this area. Some of them carried almost 30,000 men and the major ships of the fleets were at least as big as the largest cargo carriers of Europe of that time, the Genoese and Venetian carracks. The aim of these huge expeditions was neither territorial conquest, nor mercantile hegemony. The fleets suppressed piracy, negotiated treaties with local rulers who were induced to pay tribute, they brought emissaries to the emperor and they promoted trade between China, South and Southeast Asia, Arabia and Africa. The presence of the mighty fleets must have given foreign rulers and seafarers a visible proof of the power of Imperial China. But the Chinese did not acquire any naval bases outside metropolitan China, nor did they permanently deploy any warships in the Indian Ocean. Armed force and the ability to send large fleets far from their bases were not transformed into commercial profit or a Chinese maritime empire.
