Traveller |
Year of visit to India |
Nationality |
Name of the Book |
Traveller’s Occupation and Remarks |
Fahien |
401-410 |
Chinese |
|
The first known traveler to India during the reign of Vikramaditya [Chandra Gupta II] |
Hiouen Tsang |
629-645 |
Chinese |
Si-yu-ki |
Among the most well known traveler to India, who visited in the reign of King Harshvardhan and the first foreigner to give the written account of Kumbh Mela in his time. |
Sulayman Tajir [d 916] |
851 |
Arab |
Akhbar Al-Sin Wa'l-Hind |
Was a merchant by profession and fortunately wrote the observations and experiences in his book. Went on to become the first writer to give indepth information of India. |
Al- Masudi [Death 895 - 956] |
|
Arab |
Muruju`z-zahab [The Meadows of Gold] |
Was a genuine traveler, wrote two monumental works with several volumes in each of them. Unfortunately only 2 volumes of his work are left as of today |
Al-Beruni [973 – 1050] |
1001-1025 years of Ghazni’s 17 attacks |
Khwarzam [Now in Kazakhstan] |
|
Gave the world a monumental work. he visited India along with the Afghan king Mahmud Ghaznavi, who plundered India seventeen times, |
Abu Abdallah Mohammed Edrisi[1100 - 1166] |
|
Moroccan but stayed at Palermo, Spain |
Kitab Nuzhat al-Mushtaq / Kitab Rujar [The Book of Roger] translated only in 1619 |
Sharif wrote his book on the orders of his master, the Norman King of Sicily, Roger II. It was because of this reason that Sharif’s book is also called Kitab Rujar which means “The Book of Roger”. The primary source of both the writers was Al-Beruni’s work. They both also relied on the tales, experiences and accounts related by the merchants, traders and sailors who visited India and passed from their country. |
Shihabuddin-al-Umari [Death 1348] |
|
Syrian |
Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar – 22 volumes |
|
Al-Qalaqashandi [Death 1418] |
|
Egyptian |
Subhul-A’sha |
He relied on Shihabuddin’s work and the tales and accounts given by the merchants and traders who visited India. |
Ibn-Batuta [1304 –1368] |
12 Sept 1333 to 1342 |
Moroccan |
Rehla [Travelogue] |
This Moorish traveler stayed in India for nearly nine years and is probably one of the few early travelers who traveled the length and breadth of India and gave a vivid account of the places he visited. His book is written in 1357, four years after completing his travels in 1353, when he reached his native homeland. Interestingly, he left Delhi as the ambassador of the Sultan Mohammed – Bin – Tughluq to China. He was the most traveled person of his time, traveling an estimated 75,000 miles. |
Kamaluddin Abdur Razzaq |
1441-1444 |
Afghan or Central Asian origin |
Matla`I-Sa`dain |
Was sent by Timur’s son Shah Rukh and returned to Herat in 1444 |
Marco Polo [1254-1324] |
Circa 1293-94 |
Italian |
"The Travels of Marco Polo", first published in French |
He left Venice in 1271. When he was 17, he went to China with his father and left in 1292. From Sumatra via a ship he came to South India and then came overland later leaving for Tabriz, Iran. When on his death bed, he said "I didn't tell half of what I saw, because no one would have believed me." |
Nicolo de’Conti |
1419-1444 |
Venetian |
|
A citizen of Venice, he started his travels in 1419 and came to Indian via Damascus. In 1444 he related his adventures to the secretary of Pope Eugene IV. He gave the account of the Hindu Kingdom of Vijaynagar and also of their war with the Muslim Bahamani Kings of Deccan |
Athanasius Niketin |
Circa 1468 |
Russian |
|
He came from the town of Tver in Russia. On his arrival in Gujarat he stayed in the town of Bidar for four years. He has given a vivid account of the Bahaman empire. |
Ludovico Di Varthema |
1503-08 |
Italian |
|
|
Magellan |
1511-12 |
Italian |
A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of the Sixteenth Century |
Both the travelers were Italian and are famous of their adventures in India, but with regard to the authorship of the books there are counter claims. Though it is generally believed, that the book was written by Barbossa. |
Bivro de Durate Barbossa |
1516-17 |
Italian |
||
John Huyghen Van Linschoten |
1583-89 |
Dutch |
|
Travelled widely in India, but has not received attention for his writings. Also because his work was restricted to the Dutch only. |
Ralph Fitch |
1583-91 |
English |
|
The first serious traveler from England to have written accounts about India. Credit goes to him for creating interest among the English to start trade with India. |
John Sanderson |
1584-1602 |
English |
|
Not much is known about him and spoken of with regard to his travels, but it is accepted that he followed Fitch to India. |
John Mildenhall |
1599-1606 |
English |
|
A commercial minded traveler who seriously tried to get trade concessions from Mughal Emperor Akbar for the English merchants. Probably the first English to marry an Indian woman and have children, a girl and a boy from this union. His grave is in Agra. |
John Jourdain |
1608-17 |
English |
|
A traveler with commercial and missionary interests. His observations and interactions have played an important role in starting a serious attempt to start trade with Mughals. |
Francois Pyrard de Laval |
1608-09 |
French |
|
French traveler to India. Not much is known about his work. |
Peter Florisze |
1611-15 |
Dutch |
|
Dutch traveler to India. |
Nicholas Withington |
1612-16 |
English |
|
English traveler with commercial interests who joined East India Company for traveling as well as making money. Unfortunately he is famous for his arrests and subsequent deportation to England where he died of penury. |
1615-17 |
English |
|
The famed leg stretcher who walked all the way to India, and breathed his last in Surat. |
|
Edward Terry |
1616-19 |
English |
|
Companion of Thomas Coryate, and Chaplain to first English ambassador to Mughal’s, he wrote his account forty years after he returned home, and so is a tad unreliable. But has a whole wealth of information otherwise regarding the Mughal India. [Note: A copy of the first edition
of 1653 and the 1777 reprint is with the Univeristy of Bombay] |
Francisco Pelsaert |
1620-26 |
Dutch |
Remonstrantie |
Has given one of the most detailed and vivid account of India. Referred by majority of historians and scholars on Mughal India. |
Pietro Della Valle |
1623-24 |
Italian |
|
Enjoys the same status as Pelsaert |
Peter Mundy |
1628-34 |
English |
|
===========do========== |
Fray Sebastian Manrique |
1629-43 |
Italian |
|
===========do========== |
Joannes De Laet |
1631 |
Dutch |
De Imperio Magni Mogulis |
Wrote a magnum opus on Shahjahan |
John Albert De Mandelslo |
1638 |
German |
|
Monumental work, especially on Western India. |
J.B.Tavernier |
1641-67 |
French |
Six Voyages |
Came on his second voyage to India and in 1640 for a brief period, but stayed for nearly three years since 1645-48, and till his sixth voyage always came to India. A Diamond merchant by business, he has written one of the most thorough accounts. He had also met F.Bernier, with whom he went uptill Bengal. Fellow travelers, Thevenot and Bernier have ignored him in their works but Careri and Charadin have abused him. |
Johan Van Twist |
1648 |
Dutch |
|
Much is not written about him. Probably because his work was in Dutch and also his French and Italian counterparts have written better accounts about their travels. |
Niccolai Manucci |
1653-1708 or by other accounts death is in 1717 |
Venetian |
Storia do Mogor |
Ran away from Venice at age 14, and at age 16 arrived in Surat. Joined Dara Sukhokh as an artillery man and accompanied him to Multan and Bhakkar. Post Dara’s execution by Aurangzeb, he became a quack doctor, artillery captain, an ambassador and finally foreign correspondent and interpreter for his English masters. Died in Madras in 1717. His book is written in a mixture of Italian, French and Portuguese |
F.Bernier |
1656-68 |
French |
|
A physician, he was patronized by a Mughal Noble, for whom he worked for many years. Stayed in India for 12 years, and couldn’t do much headway as he was involved in petty politics of the time. |
Joan De Thevenot |
1666-67 |
French |
|
He came to Surat in 1666 and left for Iran in 1667, where he breathed his last in a small town. One of the biggest monumental work of Mughal India, including minute details of people and culture was reported by him. India owes him a lot to him as far as the accounts of social history are concerned. |
Abbe Carre |
1672-74 |
French |
|
Not much is written about him. Though his accounts are helpful for studies in history. |
Dr. John Fryer |
1672-81 |
English |
|
Visited India and Iran in his nine years of travels. Has given vivid details of the city of Bombay and Surat. |
Streynsham Master |
1675-80 |
English |
|
His Diaries have proved of immense help in learning about India during Aurangzeb |
Alexander Hamilton |
1688-1723 |
English |
|
|
John Ovington |
1689 |
English |
|
|
Abraham Duequesne |
1690-91 |
French |
|
|
Gemelli Careri |
1695 |
Italian |
|
Landed at Daman and visited ruins of Bijapur. |
Walter Shouten |
Post 1690ies |
Dutch |
|
Have provided with much discussion on the Mughal administration of Bengal and European Commercial activity. |
Nicholas de Graaf |
Dutch |
|
||
Sir William Hedges |
English |
|
Besides the travelers list that has been provided on the top,
the following missionaries, ambassadors, Ship Captains and Adventurers have
provided a wealth of information about India, its people, culture, society, and
whole array of life in general aspects, in their letters, personal diaries and
other notations. They are:
Sir Thomas Roe, The First English Ambassador to India from King James I Court.
Father Monserrate, The Dutch Jesuit leader who enjoyed a good rapport with Emperor Akbar
Samuel Purchas,
William Hawkins
Sir Nicholas Downton,
William Finch and many such sailors and adventurers who came and settled in India. And reported extensively about this new country to their family and friends in Europe.
Marco Polo talking about Guzzerat [Gujarat] - Guzzerat is a great kingdom,
bounded in the western side by the Indian sea is governed by its own king and
are tributary to none. The people are idolators and have a peculiar language.
The people
are the most desperate pirates in existence and one of the their atrocious
practices is this. When they have taken a merchant vessel they force the
merchants to swallow a stuff called tamarind mixed in sea water, which produces
a violent purging. This is done in case the merchants, on seeing their danger,
should have swallowed their pearls and jewels. And in this way the pirates
secure the whole.
Coverlets
for beds are made of red and blue leather, extremely delicate and soft and
stitched with gold and silver thread...Cushions also, ornamented with gold wire
in the form of birds and beasts are manufactured at this place. And in some
instances their value is so high as six marks of silver. Embroidery is here
performed with more delicacy then in any other part of the world.
Al-Beruni on matrimony - 1] Every nation has particular customs of marriage and especially
those who claim to have a religion and law of divine origin. The Hindus marry
at a very young age; therefore the parents arrange the marriage for their sons.
On that occasion the Brahmins perform the rites of sacrifice, and they as well
as others receive alms...The man gives only a present to the wife, as he thinks
fit, and a marriage gift in advance, which he has no right to claim back, but
the wife may give it back to him of her own will.
2] A man
may marry one to four wives. He his not allowed to take more then four; but if
one of his wives die, he may take another one to complete the legitimate
number. However, he must not go beyond it. Some Hindus think that the number of
the wives depends upon the caste; that, accordingly, a Brahman may take four, a
Kshatriya three, a Vaisya two wives and a Sudra one.
3] The
child belongs to the caste of the mother, not to that of the father.
John Albert De Mandelslo talking about Ahmedabad - There are so many other gardens
about Ahmedabad, and the whole city is so full of trees, that a man may say it
makes all but one garden; for, as he comes to the city, he sees such abundance
of them, that he may well think he is going into a forest.
Tavernier's observations in the Diamond fields of Rammalakota
near Kurnool -
A] In this country one pays no attention to dress, and a person who has but a
miserable ell of calico about his loins may sometimes have a good parcel of
diamonds concealed.
B] Talking
about the children of diamond merchant's
1] It is
very pleasant to see the young children of these merchants and of other people
of the country, from the age of ten years up to the age of fifteen or sixteen, assemble
every morning under a tree which is in the town square.
2] Young
as they are, they know the value of all the stones so well that if one of them
is bought a stone and is willing to lose a half percent; another gives him cash
for it. You can seldom show them a parcel of dozen stones, among which they
will not discover four or five with some flaw, point or defect at the angles.
Thevenot talking about Ajmer - This town lies at the foot of a
very high and almost inaccessible mountain. There is on top of it, an
extraordinary strong castle; to mount to which, one must go turning and winding
for a league; and this fort gives a great deal of reputation to the province.
The own hath stone walls, and a good ditch; without the walls of it, there are
several Ruins of Fair Buildings, which shew great antiquity...Azmer is a town
of an indifferent bigness, but when the Great Mogol comes there, there is not
room to stir in it, especially when there is any festival...and some disorder
always happens.
Pietro Della Valle's observations when he entered Cambay [Now
Khambhat] -
The day of our arrival we were taken to see a famous bird-hospital where sick,
lame and companionless birds are tended with care by men supported by charity.
It was full of birds of all kinds - cockerels, hens, pigeons, peacocks, ducks,
and small birds which were lame, sick and mateless. When they are cured, the
wild birds are freed and the domestic ones given to some pious person who keeps
them in house. The most curious things that I saw were little orphaned mice
which had been brought to the hospital. A venerable old man with a white beard
and spectacles on his nose kept them in a box padded with cotton and tended
them lovingly, giving them milk on the tip of a feather because they were too small
to take any other food.
Varthema talking about - 1] A crocodile in Kerala - There is found in this Calicut a kind
of serpent which is as large as a great pig, and which has a head much larger
than that of a pig, and it has four feet, and is four braza long. These
serpents are produced in certain marshes. The people of the country say they
have no venom but that they are evil animals, and do injury to people by means
of their teeth.
2] The
King of Calicut's customs on the death of his relatives - When one of his
relation dies as soon as the year of mourning is accomplished, he sends an
invitation to all the principal Brahmins who are in his own kingdom, and he
also invites some of other countries. And when they are arrived, they make
great feastings for three days. There food consists of rice dressed in various
ways, the flesh of wild hogs, and a great deal of venison, for they are great
hunters. At the end of three days, the said king gives to each of the principal
Brahmin three, four and five pardai [Local currency], and everyone returns to
his house. And all the people of the kingdom of the king shave their beards for
joy.
Duarte Barbosa's observations in Bengal - 1] Much good sugar is also made
here from canes, but they know not how to compress it and make it into loaves;
so they wrap it as powder in parcels of untanned leather, well sewn. Great
store of this is taken in cargoes and carried for sale to many lands, for it is
a principal article of trade.
2] The
respectable Moors clad in white cotton smocks, very thin, which comes down to
their ankles, beneath these they have got girdles of cloth, and over them, silk
scarves, they carry in their girdles daggers garnished with silver and gold,
according to the rank of the person who carries them; on their fingers many
rings set with rich jewels and cotton turbans on their heads. They are
luxurious, eat well and spend freely...they bathe often in great tanks which
they have in their houses. Everyone has three or four wives or as many as he
can maintain. They keep them carefully shut up, and treat them very well,
giving them great store of gold, silver and apparel of fine silk.