The Chinese Muslim, Zheng He.

    http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=218

      Sixty years before Columbus discovered the New World , a naval superpower was at work, the Chinese. With bigger and better ships, the Chinese were technologically ahead of their time. They had finished their naval expeditions before the Portuguese had even begun to send explorers along the West Coast of Africa.

      With a mission to bring the world under Confucian Harmony, Chinese admiral Zheng He set out to show the world the might of China . Land travel and trade was expensive because it takes a lot of people to carry goods and caravans were heavily taxed. The world of land trading was also dangerous because caravans were frequently raided, especially by the Turks that ruled many of the trade routes. Sea travel is the solution to these problems and Zheng He connected countries to China and in turn boosted trade for a short time.

      A Chinese Muslim and a eunuch, a man whose testicles have been removed, Zheng He was taken to be a servant for the Emperor during the Ming Dynasty. In two years, he was assigned to the Duke Yan. Zheng He helped Duke Yan overthrow the emperor and to become Emperor Yong Le and for this, he was made admiral of the navy.

      From 1405-1433, Zheng he visited more than 30 countries. Wherever he went, Zheng He met with rulers and gave them valuable gifts as well as brought goods home to China, such as animals. Zheng He was a good choice for an ambassador of China because he was a Muslim and had grown up learning about other cultures and their customs. His fleet traveled through the Philippines, to India, and the East Coast of Africa and brought back tribute from the regions.

Zheng He's route throughout his seven voyages.

http://planet.time.net.my/CentralMarket/melaka101/chengho.htm

         When a ship from the West is compared to one of Zheng He's super junks, it looks like a mouse in front of a monster. At 430 feet long and 200 feet wide, Zheng He's flagship was huge and had a crew of 1,000 men. Columbus 's flagship, the Santa Maria was a measly 85 feet long. The Chinese behemoth had watertight compartments in its hull, which could be flooded separately and used as baths or fish pools. This technique wasn't seen in the west until the early 1900s in the Titanic. The decks of Zheng He's ships had gardens that provided fresh vegetables and many animals were kept onboard. Zheng He's fleet consisted of 28,000 men and 317 ships. Chinese ships were the first to use rudders, instead of oars, to steer. This allowed much tighter maneuvering and required less manpower than European oars.

Zheng He's flagship (430 feet long) next to Columbus's flagship, the Santa Maria (85 feet long).

http://www.chinapage.com/zhenghe.html

        After Emperor Yong Le died, his successor decided that China didn't need or want contact with the rest of the world.  This decison was made by the new emperor and his advisors purely because they thought they were better than the rest of the world.  He shut down the Silk Road , which was a network of trade routes across Asia , and the navy was closed as well. Zheng He fell from favor and was forgotten until the 1930's when a pillar that our hero had placed in a temple was found. Although Emperor Yong Le had failed in bringing the world under Confucian Harmony, his admiral, Zheng He, certainly had made an impression on the countries he visited. The explorer had further connected the Indian Ocean to China with his gargantuan navy.