Foreign travellers in ancient & medieval india

Travellers provide a very valuable source of descriptive historical evidence for study by future
generations.

Some of the most stunning accounts of ancient India is provided by the ancient foreign visitors
to India.

MOST IMPORTANT FOREIGN TRAVELLERS-

NAME COUNTRY PERIOD INFO
MEGASTHENES GREECE AFTER THE
Ambassador of
BATTLE Selucus I of Syria.
BETWEEN
Came to court of
CHANDRAGUPTA Sandrokottes(Chandrag
MAURYA AND upta maurya).
SELUCAS(305 B.C-
Described the social
DEBATABLE). and administrative
conditions under the
mauryas.

Wrote Indica.

In Indica we found the
royal palace Magadha
made by wood.

7 division of Indian cast
system.
PTOLEMY GREECE 130 A.D
Wrote “the geography
of India”-which
describes ancient
Indian geography.
FA-HIEN CHINA 399 A.D-412 A.D
Visited India during
Chandragupta
II(Vikramaditya).

Visited Lumbini, the
birth place of Buddha.

Journey described in
his travelogoue as
“Record of Buddhist
Kingdoms”.

Wrote Fo-Kyo-Ki.
HIUEN TSANG CHINA 629 A.D-645 A.D
Visited the court of
Harshavardhana.

Came through Tashkent
and Swat valley.

His book “Si-yu-ki or
the records of western
world”.
AL BERUNI MIDDLE ASIA 1000A.D-1025A.D
Came along with
Mahmud of Ghajni.

First Muslim scholar to
study India.

Known as founder of
Indology.

Wrote Tarikh al
Hind/kitab-ul-hind.

IBN BATUTA MORROCCO 1333A.D
Was appointed a Qadi

or judge, by Md. Bin
Tughlaq.

Wrote Kitab-ul-rahla.
MARCOPOLO ITALY 1288A.D-1292A.D
Visited Kakatiya state under
Rudrmadevi(pandayas).

Well known European
travellar who visited many
eastern countries.
NICOLO CONTI ITALIAN 1420-1421 A.D
Came during the rule of
Devraya Iof Sangam
dynasty of Vijayanagar
empire.

Has given a graphic
account of
Vijayanagars capital.
ABDUL RAZZAK PERSIAN 1442-1445 A.D
Ambassador of
Shahrukh of Timurid
dynasty.

Came during the rule of
Devraya II of Sangam
dynasty of Vijayanagar
empire.

Given a brief account
of the country side, in
his Matla us saddin wa
majuma ul Baharain.
AFNASY RUSSIA 1469-1472 A.D
A Russian merchant
NIKITIN who documented his
Indian visit in a
narrative”The journey
beyond 3 seas”.

He had visited the
Bahamani sultanate.
DOMINGO PAES PORTUGAL 1520-1522A.D
Came during the rule of
Krishnadevaraya(1509-
1529) of Tuluv dynasty
of Vijayanagar empire.
FERNAO NUNES PORTUGAL 1535-1537 A.D
He was a chronicler and
a horse trder.

Came during the rule of
Achutya
devaraya(1529-
1542A.D) of Tuluv
dynasty of Vijayanagar
empire.

Informs us that a large
number of kings paid
tribute to him.
WILLIAM BRITAIN 1609-1611A.D
He was an ambassador
HAWKINS of King James I.

Visited the court of
Jahangir.
SIR THOMAS BRITAIN 1615A.D
He was the ambassador
ROE of King James I.

Arrived at Jahangirs
court.

By 1618 he obtained 2
farmans confirming
free trade.
(His Journal of the mission to
the Mogul Empire, several
times printed, has been re-
edited, with an introduction
by W Foster, for the Hakluyt
Society (1899). This is a
valuable contribution to the
history of India in the early
17th century. Of his
correspondence)
PIETRO DELLA ITALY 1623-1624A.D
Visited the king of
VALLE Vekatappa nayaka of
Keladi in India.
SIR WILLIAM BRITAIN
He was the companies
NORRIS ambassador to the
- Mughal empire.

Visited during
Auranjeebs reign.
 OTHER FOREIGN TRAVELLERS (OF THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PERIOD)-

NAME PERIOD Significant points(if any)

Unknown greek sailor MID FIRST
Wrote a book
CENTURY named “Periplus
of the erethraean
sea”.-describing
navigation and trading
opportunities from Roman
Egyptian ports like
Berenice along the coast
of the Red Sea, and
others along Northeast
Africa and the Indian
subcontinent
ST.THOMAS 14-15 A.D
An apostle who
spread Christianity
in Kerala.
CHENG-HI 1421-1431A.D
Came during the
reign of
Jalauddin(Bengal)
LUDVICO DE 1502-1508 A.D
Italian merchant
VORTHEMA who visited India
in 1502-1508 A.D
left his memoirs in
Egypt, India, Syria
etc.
BARTOLOMIU- 1503-1508 A.D
Came in Deccan.
DIAS(PORTUGUESE)
In 1488 he sailed
around the tips of
Africa the first
European to have
done so.
EDWARDO 1516-1518A.D
Came during the
BARBOSA reign of
Krishnadevaraya.
ANTHONY 1578-1582A.D
Came during the
MONSERRATE reign of Akbar
RALPH FITCH 1585-1591A.D
Came during the
reign of Akbar.
CAESAR FREIDRICK 16 TH CENTURY
Came to
Vijayanagar.
JOHN LISCONTEN 16TH CENTURY
Came to
Vijayanagar.
LAMA TARANATH 16TH CENTURY
Came to east India.
WILLIAM FITCH 1608-1612A.D
Came during
Jahangir.
JOHN-JOURDIAN 1608-1617A.D
Came during
Jahangir.
NICHOLAS 1608-1615A.D
Came during
DOWNTON Jahangir.
NICHOLAS 1612-1616A.D
Came during
WITHINGTON Jahangir.
THOMAS CORYET 1612-1617A.D
Came during
Jahangir.
EDWARD TERRY 1616-1619A.D
Came during the
rule of Jahangir.
PAUL 1615-1625
Came during the
CANNIN(BRITISH) rule of Jahangir.
FRANSISCO 1620-1627 A.D
Came during
PELASERT Jahangir.
PIETRA 1622-1633A.D
Jahangir.
DELLAVALE
JOHN LAIT 1626-1633A.D
Came during
Shahjahan..
PETER MUNDY 1630-1634A.D
Shahjahan.
MANUCCI 1656-1687A.D
Aurangjeeb.
BERNIER 1658-1668A.D
Aurangjeeb.
JEAN DE 1666-1668A.D
Aurangjeeb.
THEVENOT
GEMELLI CARERI 1695-1699A.D
Came to Bijapur.
 The list of the travelers is much more than the above mentioned ones but significant ones
has been mentioned.
 Add in the list according to the need.

• Personal info-
• BHASKAR SENGUPTA

• REFERENCES-
• I.A.S our dreams website
• Wikipedia-free encyclopedia
• Kiran’s One liner approach general knowledge
• Swadeskatha-Dr.kiranchandra chowdhury
• My own class 10 notes.
• TEACHER PLUS (TRAVELLARS IN HISTORY)