FOREIGN TRAVELERS IN INDIA
- They have always been attracted to ample opportunities for our country provided and have been interested in its diverse culture, religions, and traditions.
- Most of these came to India wrote their own accounts that deal with its unique focus areas.
- Some travelers wrote about the affairs of the court while some focused on contemporary style architecture and monuments or depicted the social and economic life.
- Every such account presents a veracious picture of then Indian Civilisation.
- In the ancient and medieval periods, many prominent travelers visited India and recorded their observations and declarations.
Brief description of some of the most important Travelers:
(1.) Megasthenes, Time period: 302 - 298 BC.
- Born- 350 BC.
- Greek Historian, Diplomat, Explorer, Ambassador of Greek Warrior Seleucus I Nikator.
- Indian Dynasty- Maurya dynasty.
- Ruler: Chandragupta Maurya = Founder of the Maurya dynasty.
- He visited the Maurya capital Patliputra.
- The book- Indica/Indika.
Indica-
- Indica described the sub-continent as a quadrilateral shaped country, bounded by the ocean on the Southern & Eastern side.
- It also gives us the details of soils, rivers, plants, animals, administration & the social and religious life of India.
- The book also communicated that Indians worshiped Lord Krishna during that time and there existed seven castes in India.
- He founded two major caste system - 1.) Endogamy, 2.) Hereditary occupation.
- He was influenced by the Herodotus classification of Egyptian society.
(2.) Fa - Hien, Time Period: 405 - 411 AD.
- Chinese Buddhist monk and translator.
- First Chinese pilgrim to visit India.
- He studied the Sanskrit language in Patliputra.
- Indian dynasty - Gupta dynasty.
- Ruler- Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya).
- He visited Peshawar, Taxila, Mathura, Kannauj, Sravasti, Kapilvastu, Sarnath, and many other places.
- Books - Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms.
- His Religious & Social life of Indians at that time.
(3.) Hiuen Tsang, Time Period: 630 - 645 AD.
- The Chinese traveler, Buddhist scholar-monk, and translator.
- Known as - Xuanzang, Prince of Pilgrims.
- Ruler - Harshavardhana (Pushyabhuti).
- He spent five years at the Nalanda University and studied under Acharya Shilabhadra.
- He visited Kashmir, Punjab, Kapilvastu, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Decca, Odisha, Bengal.
- Book: Si-Yu-Ki = Buddhist Record of The Western World.
- Chinese traveler.
- He visited India in connection with Buddhism.
- Contributions - work on Biographies of eminent monks, which provides information about the social, religious & cultural life of the country.
(5.) Al - Masudi, Time Period: 956 AD.
- Arab historian, geographer, author, and explorer.
- Known as - Herodotus of the Arabs.
- Book - Muruj-ul-Zehab.
- He combined world history with scientific geography, social contemporary, and biography as is published in English named "The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems".
(6.) Al-Biruni (Abu Rehman Muhammad), Time Period: 1024 - 1030 AD.
- Scholar well versed in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Sanskrit.
- He came to India along with Mahmud of Ghazni and traveled all over India.
- Books - 1.) Kitab-ul-Hind, 2.) Tahqiq-i-Hind.
- The books dealt with social, religious, and political conditions in India.
(7.) Marco Polo, Time Period: 1292 - 1294 AD.
- Italian merchant, adventurer, writer.
- He visited South India during the reign of the Pandyan ruler of Madurai, Madverman, Kulshekhara.
- Books - 1.) The Travels of Marco Polo, 2.) The Book of Sir Marco Polo = this book is inspired, Christopher Columbus.
(8.) Ibn Batuta, Time Period: 1333 - 1347 AD.
- Moroccan traveler.
- Throughout his life, he traveled in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman, and few trading ports on the coast of East Africa.
- India visit- during the reign of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, who appointed him as "Qazi" or Judge of Delhi.
- Book - Rihla (in Arabic)
- The book is highly meticulous where deep observations about new cultures, people, beliefs, and values.
- He also mentions - postal systems.
The route he took is shown diagrammatically below:
- Italian merchnat & traveler.
- He traveled to the Vijayanagara kingdom.
- Ruler - Devaraya I.
- In Mylapore (Chennai), he founded the tomb of St. Thomas.
- He confirmed the gold and spice trade amongst India, Sumatra, China.
- He referred to the Telugu language as "Italian of the East".
- Book - Cristofordo da Bollate.
(10.) Abdur Razzaq, Time Period: 1443 - 1444 AD.
- Persian, Timurid chronicler, scholar.
- He traveled to the Vijayanagara kingdom.
- Ruler - Devaraya II.
- Book: Malta-us-Sadain was Majma-ul-Bahrain.
(11.) Domingo Paes, Time Period: 1520 - 1522 AD.
- Portuguese merchant, writer, explorer.
- Indian dynasty- Tuluva dynasty (Vijayanagara empire)
- Ruler - Krishnadeva Raya.
- Book - Chronica dos reis de Bisnaga.
He reported the following features about the empire:
- Advanced irrigation technology - that allowed the present to high yielding crops.
- wide variety of cultures where shown in crops & vegetation.
- the busy market of precious stones.
- the city was prospering and its size was comparable to Rome, which abundant vegetation, aqueducts, and artificial lakes.
(12.) William Hawkins, Time Period: 1608 - 1611 AD.
- The representative of English East India Company and ambassador of the British King James-I.
- Traveled to Agra in the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
- He came to negotiate for the establishment of a factory at Surat.
- Favor by Jahangir enabled him to overcome all difficulties and this permission was the first distinct recognition of English commerce in the East.
(13.) Sir Thomas Roe, Time Period: 1615 - 1619 AD.
- English diplomats, members of the House of Commons, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
- He stayed at the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
- The main objective of his mission was to get the protection of the factory of British East India Company at Surat.
- Book - 1.) The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul, 2.) Journal of the Mission to the Mughal Empire.
(14.) Jean-Baptise Tavernier, Time Period: 1638 - 1643 AD.
- French gem (diamond) merchant, traveler.
- He came to ti India and traveled as far as Agra and from there to the Kingdom of Golconda.
- He also visited the court of Shahjahan.
- In his book, he has discussed diamond and the diamond mines of India.
- Frenchman, doctor, political philosopher, historian.
- Indian Dynasty - Timurid dynasty.
- Ruler - Dara Sikhoh
- He stayed here for 12 years in the Mughal Empire.
- He compared Mughal India with contemporary Europe.
- He wrote in his book about the prevalent social and economic life.
- He described Mughal cities as 'Camp Towns' because towns owned their existence on the imperial camps.
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