In 399 AD, Faxian, a 62-year old Chinese monk set out for India. His goal was to find and copy sacred Buddhist scripts that were missing or falling apart in his homeland. The result would be an epic 13-year journey through 30 kingdoms. Faxian's account of his journey is one of the earliest and most complete of India in this time period.

Check out History Dispatches at HistoryDispatches.com

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is an ad-free, bonus episode from History Dispatches. Sidi Mubarak Bombay grew up a slave - taken from his home in Africa to India. But that didn't stop him from being one of the most accomplished explorers and travelers of Central Africa. Over a period of 20 years, Bombay traveled with some of the most famous African explorers, including Richard Francis Burton, Henry Morton Stanley, David Livingston, and Richard Speke. This a look at his extraordinary his life.

This episode does not replace the regular schedule of Explorers Podcast episodes. A new regular episode will be out next week.

History Dispatches is a new daily history show hosted by Explorers Podcast creator Matt Breen and his son, McKinley Breen. The show covers people, places, events and even objects from throughout history. The show offers short, fun and easily digestible bits of history goodness. History Dispatches comes out every weekday.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final chapter in our series on William Adams, we details the opening of Japan to the Dutch and English, as well as the final years of the man's remarkable life.

Check out History Dispatches at HistoryDispatches.com

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

English mariner William Adams continues to rise in prominence in the court of the new Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. He will be so successful, he will become the first European to ever be granted the title of Hatamoto - or bannerman

Check out History Dispatches at www.HistoryDispatches.com

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is an Episode from History Dispatches, a new daily history show hosted by Explorers Podcast creator Matt Breen and his son, McKinley Breen. The show covers people, places, events and even objects from throughout history. The show offers short, fun and easily digestible bits of history goodness. History Dispatches comes out every weekday.

Drake's Brass Plate - Relic or Hoax?

In 1933, a small brass plate was discovered near San Francisco - not far from where famed English privateer Francis Drake had supposedly landed back in 1579. It fit the description of a plate reportedly left by Drake - making it potentially one of the great relics of North American Exploration.

https://historydispatches.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

English pilot William Adams has led his ship to Japan. But in this episode, he and his men - wracked by starvation and scurvy - must now negotiate the various powers of this exotic land. There are the Japanese warlords, the Portuguese, and the Jesuits, who all would like nothing more than to see Adams and his comrades executed. But there are other elements who have interest in the strangers - including the land's most powerful lord - Tokugawa Ieyasu. It will fall on Adams to find a way out of the dangerous situation he and his fellow crewmen face. And if that means going to war - so be it.

Check out History Dispatches at HistoryDispatches.com

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1598, a fleet of five ships from the Dutch East India Company sailed to South America with the intention of plundering Spanish treasure ships on the western coast of the New World - before heading across the Pacific to Asia. One of those ships - with 24 men (out of nearly 500) - reached Japan nearly two years later, led by an English Pilot named William Adams. It is the unlikely start of a journey that will see Adams become the first European to be granted the status of Samurai. Adams' story has been popularized with the novel Shogun and two television series of the same name.

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we have a conversation with Norwegian Polar Explorer Erling Kagge. Kagge is best known for being the first person to complete the Three Poles Challenge on foot. This means he reach the North Pole, South Pole and the top of Mount Everest without any assistance. Kagge has conducted numerous other expeditions, and is a writer and publisher. His new book, After the North Pole, is out now.

After the North Pole: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/after-the-north-pole-erling-kagge?variant=42656777502754

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

Head to acorns.com/explorers or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today!

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Image credit: Simon Skreddernes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final episode in our series on Amundsen, the last viking sets out on one final polar adventure - an attempt to rescue a man he hated - Umberto Nobile - after his dirigible crashed in the Arctic. Amundsen would not return from the flight.

Sponsor: Go to www.amazfit.com/EXPLORERS to save 10%.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1926, Roald Amundsen makes another attempt to cross the Arctic - this time in a dirigible - the Norge. The crossing will begin a rivalry with Italian airship designer Umberto Nobile - who designed the Norge and will serve as the ship's pilot for the legendary flight.

The Explorers Podcast is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

Interested in advertising on the Explorers Podcast? Email us at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices