FOREIGN TRAVELLERS’ ACCOUNT AS A

SOURCE

Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 2
AIM AND OBJECTIVE ....................................................................................... 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.......................................................................... 3
RESEARCH QUESTION ..................................................................................... 3
LITERARY ACCOUNT OF FOREIGNERS PROVED EXTREMELY USEFUL
IN WRITING THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA ........................................ 3
CHINESE TRAVELLERS ................................................................................... 4
ARAB OR GREEK TRAVELLERS .................................................................... 5
INDIA'S CULTURE AND ECONOMY BECAME POPULAR IN OTHER
COUNTRIES THROUGH THE TRAVELLERS WHO VISITED HERE. ........ 8
SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL LIFE OF MEDIEVAL INDIA
DURING 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY AS DEPICTED IN THE ACCOUNTS OF
FOREIGN TRAVELLERS ................................................................................... 9
PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FOREIGN TRAVELLERS IN WRITING
HISTORY ........................................................................................................... 10
ASSESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ACCOUNTS OF THE CHINESE AND
ARAB TRAVELLERS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HISTORY OF
INDIA ................................................................................................................. 11
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 12
INTRODUCTION

A planed route or travelogue is a travel writing of literary value. It generally records the
experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. In post-classical times
Muslims and Chinese dominated in travel writing but Europeans took the central stage in travel
and travel writing during the early modern era (from 1500-1800 A.D.). Europeans went to the
faraway people in the world. Thousands of travel accounts describing foreign countries and
peoples were shackled by European printing press.1

Over the centuries India has always been the object of foreign interest which has led scholars,
conquerors missionaries, journalists and travellers to venture descriptions and classifications.2
Foreign attempts at depicting the sub-continent have greatly influenced people imaginaries,
causing the birth of a stereotypical vision of the country which somehow has survived until
today, both in the west where those accounts were produced and in India itself.

India’s classical image was established by traveller from outside -those remarkable people who
ventured to remote lands in the grab of merchants, ambassadors, rulers, chaplains, pioneers,
administrators, soldiers, artists, writer, poets, philosophers, missionaries, mariners, scholars,
conquerors, journalists, physician, jeweller etc. and recorded the company events,
circumstances and conditions -political, social, economic, cultural and administrative,
topographical details, ideas and concepts, trade, flora and fauna, behaviour and etiquette and
many other aspects of life in India which are valuable for understanding the socio cultural as
well as economic life of the time.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The aim and objective behind writing this research paper is to know how foreign travellers’
account help us know what others think about our country, where our country is lacking and to
know about the way people lived in our country. Here our discussion needs to focus on
highlighting the account of foreigners and how they enabled us to understand in detail the
society, polity, economy etc of the Indian economy. Attempts to explore those elements of

1
Barna Bijay Basumatary, importance of travel writing in literature, volume 4, issue 5
2
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/63666/8/08_introduction.pdf
Medieval India's socio-economic and cultural life, which have either been not focussed or not
given the formal or Persian classification due significance. Thus, the main intention is to find
out the answer of these questions by studying their different aspects and regards.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The nature of research used in the project is doctrinal research i.e. research used by the
information given by various credible sources which makes the data of the research admissible
to an extent. The project is made with the method of analytical research methodology. The
project uses all the secondary sources available. It uses the internet sources and the various
books available to understand the concept.

RESEARCH QUESTION

1. How did the literary account of foreigners proved extremely useful in writing the history?

2. How did it help in popularizing the India’s culture and economy?

3. Accounts of important foreign travellers in ancient India.

4. “Socio-Economic and Cultural Life of Medieval India during 16th and 17th Century as
depicted in the accounts of Foreign Travellers”P

5. What kind of problems was faced by foreign travellers at the time of writing history?

LITERARY ACCOUNT OF FOREIGNERS PROVED EXTREMELY

USEFUL IN WRITING THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA

Literary accounts of foreigners have played a useful role in writing the history of ancient India.
The Indian subcontinent never had an isolated existence. From ancient times people- trademan,
travellers, colonists, scientists and pilgrims who travelled throughout the nation and bought
back with them new items and ideas. Some of those travellers left their stories and chronicled
their stay in India. These written papers constitute an important source of data on the perception
of India in the globe. These descriptions are significant sources for greater precision of certain
historical facts and for the evidence of certain previously unclear occurrences because of the
absence of substantive evidence. Arab and Chinese travellers play a major role in rebuilding
numerous occurrences in Indian history. 3The Chinese travellers who went to India were
Buddhist monk whose main purpose, particularly Vinaya Pitaka whose sutras they wanted to
translate into Chinese, was to gather and to authenticate Buddhist texts. Hieun-Tsang and Fa-
Hien were two of these males.

CHINESE TRAVELLERS

HEUIN TSANG

He was a chinese traveller. He set off on his trip in 629 CE and went on to cover the
subcontinent for the next century.he is known as the chinese “master of law”. It would have
been impossible to recuperate many of the lost Buddhist texts if they hadn't been extensively
translated Chinese copies by Heuin Tsang. In his thorough book The Great Tang Records on
the Western regions he had not only shed light on the social and political norms of locations he
visited. He came during the reign of Harsha Vardhana.4 The history of Harsha remains
incomplete without a reference to Hiuen TSang. In India he wanted to visit all the sacred places
connected with life of budha, as well as to learn of Buddhism through study He had traveled
around Raktamrittika near the village of Karnasubarna (now the village of Morshidabad),
Pundranagara (now in.. Bogra District, Bangladesh), and Tamralypti and Harikela recorded
their account in the archeological history of Bengal. During his travel he covered many more
places and observed keenly the social, religious, political, cultural and economic conditions of
the country5

FA-HEIN

Another Chinese monk who travelled through the desert and rough mountain passes from
Central Asia and Northwest India to Pataliputra before Hieun-Tsang. He toured also Lumbini,

3
https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/02/21/1-literary-account-of-foreigners-proved-extremely-useful-in-
writing-the-history-of-ancient-india-discuss-250-words/

4
S. Priya darshini , hiuen tsang and his importance in harsha’s empire
5
Hiuen tsang a buddhist pilgrim from china, vol 691, publishers Amar Chitra Katha
the birthplace of the Buddha, to gather Buddhist texts and sacred pictures from Buddhism.
During Chandragupta-II's reign he arrived. 6

As his main interest was religion, we know nothing about the political condition of india from
his account. However, his account helps us to know something about the social and religious
condition of that period.

In addition to the information about Pataliputra, Mathura and Kanauj, his travelog Foguoji (A
Record of Buddhist Kingdoms) wrote a description of early buddhism and the geographical
and historical background of several nations along the Silk Road.

He did not even mention the name of Chandra Gupta 2 in whose dominion he must have lived
for more than five years. However, we can deduce something from his records. It is inferred
that the administration of Guptas was liberal, the people enjoyed economic prosperity and the
burden of taxes on them was not heavy.7

There were few quarrels or disputes and the people rarely felt necessity to approach the
judiciary. Mostly, corporal punishment was avoided and usually fines were extracted from the
offenders according to nature of their offence. The account thereby suggests that the
administration of the Guptas was benevolent and successful and the rulers not only maintained
piece and security withi,Bn the empire but also looked after the welfare of their subjects.

He described that places like Bodhgaya, kapilvastu, sravasti, kusinagar etc. were the religious
places of buddhism no longer existed as cities. This suggest that buddhism a=was no more
popular in the “middle kingdom”. Fa-Hein visited malwa as well and praised its climate.

ARAB OR GREEK TRAVELLERS

The 7th century saw the rapid political expansion of Islam. New urban centres emerged like
that of Baghdad. Poets, artists and scholars were given patronage by the Caliphs which had a
far-reaching impact on scientific and technological ideas in Asia and Europe. The Beyt-al-
Hikma or House of Wisdom was established in Baghdad, an academy which was entrusted to
carry out translation projects in which several Greek, Persian and Sanskrit texts on science,

6
Fa-Hein, record of Buddhistic kingdoms by chinese monk, buddha dharma education association inc.
7
Vikram rana, available source material to reconstruct the history of the Gupta age
mathematics and philosophy were translated to Arabic. It was under the patronage of Al-
Mamun, the 9th century Abbasid Caliph. One such Arab scholar was Abu Rihan or Al-Biruni
who hailed from Khwarizm, in modern day Turkmenistan.

AL-BIRUNI

He was one of the best students of the early medieval times and wrote 180 books, only 40 of
which have survived. In order to gather understanding of the country and its people and to
study their ancient language texts, Al-Biruni travelled to India.8 His most popular work is the
Tahqiq-i-Hind which includes a variety of astrological, philosophical, geographical, Indian
script, scientific, customs, religious, festivals, rituals and law subjects. His stories have not only
notable historical value, but have also helped Indian historians to fix some mysteries in Indian
history. Historians, for instance, have put in 319-20 CE the first Gupta year in accordance with
Al-Beruni.

The salient features of Indian society at the time of Delhi sultanate as mentioned by Al-Beruni
in kitab al- hind. He beautifully sums up the theories and practices of Indian caste system. He
discusses the origin of the four varna system namely Brahmana, kshatriya, Vaishya, and
Shudras. Al-Beruni reports that according to Hindu philosophers, moksha is unattainable by all
the castes and by the human race. He takes an important note of the fact that most of the
festivals are celebrated by women and children only.9

KITAB AL-HIND AS A SOURCE OF INDIAN HISTORY: CRITICAL ANALYSIS

It is a valuable source to Indian culture and history. Whereas the compilation date of his work,
namely around 1030 A.D. is known to us. His field of investigation is still subject to doubt. He
rarely makes mention of where his visits took place or when they did. The book itself is lacking

8
https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/02/21/1-literary-account-of-foreigners-proved-extremely-useful-in-
writing-the-history-of-ancient-india-discuss-250-words/

9
Dr.Ganeswar Nayak political and administrative history of medieval India(1526-1707)
in positive evidence. Sometimes difficulty arises in distinguishing the historical events from
the legendary ones.10

IBN-BATUTTAH

During the life of Ibn Battuta, Islamic civilization had spread through much of the known
world. When Ibn Battuta heard about the magnanimous generosity and patronage of Delhi
sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq towards Muslim academics, the choice to come to India was
materialized.11 He had already gain fame and significance by the moment he arrived in India.
With his many gifts and state honours, the traveler was received by the sultan, who lived up to
the expectations of Battutah and had been appointed the great Qadi of Delhi, a position he held
long ago.

Ibn Battutah was a great voyager in a true sense because, before the arrival of the steam engine,
he had spread about 75,000 miles. Almost every Muslim and neighboring non-Muslim country
he visited. His travel journal is significant with respect to the importance of history and
geography even though, as he is widely known, he did not find new lands or provide breaking
data in his book Rihlah.

His accounts are quite precise, and his time differences are very limited. In his book, Battutah
referenced over 2000 people who he knows personally, or whose graves he visited. He
encountered at least 60 rulers, wazirs and officials, and many more. Rihlah records several
elements of a big portion of the Muslim world's social, cultural and political life. His travel
account was a significant source of material proof in many of these locations to trace historical
occurrences.

PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHREAN SEA

India had prosperous western foreign trade. The renowned job Periplus of the erythra sea was
12
one of the most comprehensive and genuine sources of this reality. This work by a Greek
anonymous author settling in Egypt and arriving in India around A.D. He gave us thorough

10
Noemie Verdon, biruni as a source for the study of Indian culture and history
11
Cynthia stokes brown, Ibn Batuta Muslim travelling judge
12
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309750708_The_Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea_A_Network_App
roach
data about India at the moment, both navigational, commercial and even political. We actually
discover in his account even a few of the Satavahana rulers named by name. This brief account
contains numerous precious and otherwise unknown data concerning the financial operations
of ancient India. So, it is not surprise that the historians consider the periplus as ‘worthy of its
importance’.13

INDIA'S CULTURE AND ECONOMY BECAME POPULAR IN OTHER

COUNTRIES THROUGH THE TRAVELLERS WHO VISITED HERE.

Ancient India has hosted many foreign travellers. It was through the records and
writings of these travellers, the world first heard about India and its people. Many of
those travellers have documented the culture and lifestyle prevailing in the various parts
of India then. The most prominent of the travellers are listed in this article.

MEGASTHANESE

The first significant foreign traveller to reach India was Megasthanese. In about 305
BC, he went here to represent Selucus, the then general of the military of Alexander the
Great. He lived at Pataliputra for many days and visited different parts of India.

He noticed that India had a nice climate and the earth was very fertile. He wrote Indica's
book about his country experiences. In his book he comments on the caste system and
the different sports in the country. Through his accounts we get to know of the caste
system prevailing at that time. 14

The book ‘Indica’ is authored by Megasthenese. It depicts administration in Mauryan

Empire, 7-caste system and absence of slavery in India. Although it is lost in its original
form, it has survived in the form of quotations in the text of classical Greek writers such
as Plutarch, Strabo and Arrian.
MARCO POLO

13
Schoff, Wilfred Harvey, the periplus of the erythraean sea: travel and trade in the Indian ocean
14
http://sanjaygarg.wikidot.com/foreign-travellers-accounts
Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254. His first journey was to China at the age of 17.
He visited Kublai Khan and became his minister. He visited India as a diplomat of
China. It was around 1290s. He returned to his country in 1295.

Through his account, we get to know about Jainism. He wrote that Jain monks would
not kill an animal on any account, not even a fly, or a flea, or a louse, or anything in
fact that has life; for they say these have all souls, and it would be sin to do so. They
eat no vegetable in a green state, only such as are dry. And they sleep on the ground
stark naked, without a scrap of clothing on them or under them 15

IBNBATUTA

He was born in Morocco in 1304 in Tangiers. At the age of 22, he began his voyage. During
Muhammed bin Tughluq's reign, he went to India. He used to work as a judge under the moody
and tyrannical sultan of India, Muhammad Tughluq. He described Delhi and Daulatabad as
vast cities, with a great population, the largest in India. 16

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL LIFE OF MEDIEVAL INDIA

DURING 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY AS DEPICTED IN THE ACCOUNTS
OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS

These travelers have taken on almost every aspect of medieval India's socio-economic and
cultural life. While many accusations are made against the travelers, such as that which
17
exaggerated the problem and relied primarily on bazaars, there are still some elements of
Indian history which have emerged as a result of such foreigners as "Anarkali," etc. Because
they were unofficial sources the reigning monarch was not pressured to laud him. In Barbosa,
Pyard Laval, Nuniz, Paes, Fitch, Pelsaert, William Finch, Edward Terrory, Coryat, Pietro Delia
Valle, Peter Mundy, Manrique Mandelso, Tavemier, Bemiier, Manucci, Thevnot, Bowrey,

15
Archana Garodia and Shruti Garodia, The marvels Marco Polo saw in india
16
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/09/30/foreign-contacts-ibn-battutas-accounts october 3,2015
17
https://www.owlgen.com/question/estimate-the-importance-of-accounts-of-foreign-travelers-for-the-study-of-
ancient-india-history
Carre, Careri, Fryer, Marshall, Ovington and Hamilton the most precious data concerning the
modern mode of socio-cultural life during the Middle Ages can be discovered. These voyageurs
reported with significant objectivity facts about Indian social life.
The Pelsaert, Tavemier and other travelers accounts give precious information without any
constraints on India's commerce and economy during the 16"^ and 17 "century.
These overseas visitors took the economic conditions of different parts of society into
consideration.
The records of several trading enterprises operating in India are of enormous importance as the
source material for the social life of 17th century. They include “letter book of east India
company, letter received from its servants and court calendar and the minutes of the company.
Although they are not concerned with society, their data can be taken as real and reliable as
they are formal documents. These give significant light to the country’s financial and
administrative life. The letter contains many personal experiences. The conditions of
craftsmen, workers, traders and brokers have also been covered.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FOREIGN TRAVELLERS IN WRITING

HISTORY

It describes the conditions in your home which brought you to the east. In the manner they
wrote travel accounts their nation and profession played a significant part. An attempt is also
made to explore the history of their family to understand their mind. The significance of their
travel stories relies on the source of their information compilation and on the reality that they
have visited areas in India. The travellers have been handicapped by a lack of knowledge of
the country’s language, customs and institutions. That is why, while accessing the importance
and the volume of their proof, some factors must be considered; the regions of the nation they
visited and the time and duration of their visits; their linguistic facilities, their chances and their
personal experiences. 18

18
Bs shyalaja, records of celestial events by European travellers during medieval times, Indian journal of history
of science,42.1(2007) 101-105
ASSESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ACCOUNTS OF THE CHINESE
AND ARAB TRAVELLERS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
HISTORY OF INDIA

Chinese and Arab travellers have been the most involved in rebuilding many incidents in the
history of India. The buddhist monks who visited India had the main purpose to gather and
authenticate the Buddhists’ texts, in particular the Vinaya Pitaka, whose sutras they wanted to
translate into Chinese.
The accounts of Chinese travellers like Hein-Tsang and Fa-Hein provide us information about
the Buddhism and the nature of Buddhist doctrines and rituals in India. They also provide us
information about the social and political conditions (of the time) of India. We see it is through
the account of Hein-Tsang, we come to know that Harsha was defeated by Pulakesin. Their
accounts also provide us information about the trade relations and cultural exchanges between
India and China.19

Similarly, the account of Arab travellers provides us great information about India. We see the
account of Ibn Battuta tells us about the Courier System in India during medieval times. It also
provides us information about the political and social conditions of India.

19
Dr. Ganeswar Nayak, political and administrative history of medieval india(1526-1707)
CONCLUSION
The Indian subcontinent never had an isolated existence. From the ancient times there was
regular movement of people – traders, travellers, settlers, scholars and pilgrims who travelled
the length and breadth of the country, bringing new items and ideas back with them. A few
such travellers have left their accounts, chronicling their stay in India. These written documents
are a great source of information as far as India’s perception in the world is concerned. These
descriptions act as important sources in order to date some historical facts with better accuracy
and to prove certain events which were earlier ambiguous due to lack of material evidences.

The Chinese and Arab travellers provide a lot and detailed information about the ancient and
medieval history of India which greatly helped in the reconstruction of India's past. Accounts
of foreign travellers gives first-hand information to the historians. Account of foreign travellers
and travelogues are useful to historians because it gives information about our India. Like all
other historical documents, travel accounts are highly problematic.
There are numerous reasons why it is impossible to accept the testimony of travel accounts of
face value. Sometimes these travellers did not notice or were not able to notice, or perhaps
were not even permitted to certain aspects of the societies they visited. Sometimes they were
20
sloppy or did not take the trouble to investigate carefully the society, culture and economy
they visited. Sometimes they felt such a deep commitment to their own societies that they
tendentiously misinterpreted or mispresented the lands they visited. Occasionally they took as
their principle interest the critique of their own societies. So, they exaggerated the virtues of
the lands they visited. To some greater or lesser extent all travel accounts reflect the biases,
prejudices and interests of their author.

20
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/63666/8/08_introduction.pdf
REFERENCE
 Barna Bijay Basumatary, importance of travel writing in literature, volume 4, issue 5
 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/63666/8/08_introduction.pdf

 https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/02/21/1-literary-account-of-foreigners-proved-
extremely-useful-in-writing-the-history-of-ancient-india-discuss-250-words/

 S. Priya darshini , hiuen tsang and his importance in harsha’s empire

 Hiuen tsang a buddhist pilgrim from china, vol 691, publishers Amar Chitra Katha
 Fa-Hein, record of Buddhistic kingdoms by chinese monk, buddha dharma education
association inc.
 Vikram rana, available source material to reconstruct the history of the Gupta age
 https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/02/21/1-literary-account-of-foreigners-proved-
extremely-useful-in-writing-the-history-of-ancient-india-discuss-250-words/

 Noemie Verdon, biruni as a source for the study of Indian culture and history
 Cynthia stokes brown, Ibn Batuta Muslim travelling judge
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309750708_The_Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_S
ea_A_Network_Approach
 Schoff, Wilfred Harvey, the periplus of the erythraean sea: travel and trade in the Indian
ocean
 http://sanjaygarg.wikidot.com/foreign-travellers-accounts

 Archana Garodia and Shruti Garodia, The marvels Marco Polo saw in india
 https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/09/30/foreign-contacts-ibn-battutas-accounts october
3,2015
 https://www.owlgen.com/question/estimate-the-importance-of-accounts-of-foreign-
travelers-for-the-study-of-ancient-india-history

 Bs shyalaja, records of celestial events by European travellers during medieval times,

Indian journal of history of science,42.1(2007) 101-105
 Dr. Ganeswar Nayak, political and administrative history of medieval India (1526-1707)