Zheng He's Fleet Reaches East Africa

During the fifth voyage of the Ming treasure fleet, Admiral Zheng He dispatched ships to the East African coast, reaching Mogadishu, Brava, and Malindi. The expedition escorted seventeen foreign envoys returning home and collected tribute including giraffes, zebras, and ostriches. Chinese ships reached Aden by January 1419 before continuing south along the Somali and Kenyan coasts. The voyage demonstrated Ming China's naval reach across the Indian Ocean and established direct contact between Chinese and Swahili coastal trading networks.