Travellers who visited India

Traveller Year of visit

to India
Nationality Name of the
Book
Travellers 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
Ghaznis 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
Sharifs book is also called Kitab
Rujar which means The Book
of Roger. The primary source of
both the writers was Al-Berunis
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-Asha He relied on Shihabuddins 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 Timurs 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
deConti
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
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,
Bivro de
Durate
Barbossa
1516-17 Italian
the Sixteenth
Century
that the book was written by
Barbossa.
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.
Thomas
Coryate
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 Mughals, 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
Daras 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
couldnt 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.


And here are a few choice quotes by some of these travelers to
India

Fa Hein talking about entering I ndia thru the Himalayas - From this (the travellers) went
westwards towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in
getting across and through the range of the Onion mountains. The snow rests on them both
winter and summer. There are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked,
spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. Not
one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. The people of
the country call the range by the name of "The Snow mountains." When (the travellers) had
got through them, they were in North India, and immediately on entering its borders, found
themselves in a small kingdom called T'o-leih, [Darada, the country of the ancient Dardae,
the region near Dardus; lat. 30d 11s N., lon. 73d 54s] where also there were many monks, all
students of the hinayana.


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.


I bn Batuta Talking about Mangoes - They have many trees none of which are to be found
either in our country or elsewhere. One of them is the ambah [Mango]; it is a tree which
resembles orange trees but is larger in size and more leafy...Its fruit is the size of a large pear.
When the fruit is green and not yet fully ripe, the people gather those of them that fall, put
salt on them and pickle them as lime and lemons are pickled in our country. The Indians
pickle also green ginger and clusters of pepper, which they eat with meat dishes taking after
each mouthful a little of these pickled [Fruits].


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.


J ohn 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.