Question

describe the accounts of foreign travellers

Answer 1

Abdur Razzaq

1. He was a Persian traveller.

2. He was the ambassador of Shah Rukh (the Timurid dynasty ruler of Persia) to Calicut, India.

3. His book entitled 'Matla-us-Sadain wa Majma-ul-Bahrain' described the life and events in Calicut under the Zamorin and also of the Ancient City of Vijayanagara at Hampi.

Al-beruni

1. He was a Persian scholar.

2. He came to India along with Mahmud of Ghazni.

3. He wrote the book 'Tahqiq-i-Hind'.

Francois Bernier

1. He was a French physician and traveller.

2. He was the personal physician of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for around 12 years during his stay in India.

3. He wrote 'Travels in the Mughal Empire', which is mainly about the reigns of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb.

Fa-Hien

1. He was a Chinese Buddhist Monk.

2. He came during the reign of Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya).

3. He visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha to collect Buddhist texts and relics.

Hiuen-Tsang

1. He was a Chinese Traveller.

2. He came during the reign of Harsha Vardhana.

3. He wrote the book 'Si Yu Ki'- Buddhist Records of the Western World, which was later translated by Samuel Beal.

Ibn Batuta

1. He was a traveller from Morocco.

2. He visited India during the reign of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq.

3. He wrote his travelogue 'Rihla' throwing light on geographical, economic and social conditions of that time.

Marco Polo

1. He was a European traveller.

2. He visited South India in 1294 A.D.

3. He wrote the book 'The Book of Sir Marco Polo' which gives an account of the economic history of India.

Megasthenes

1. He was an ambassador of Selecus Nikator, who visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya.

2. He wrote the book 'Indica' which contains detail account of Chandragupta Maurya’s reign.

Nicolo Conti

1. He was a traveller from Italy.

2. He visited India during the reign of Deva Raya I of Vijaynagar Kingdom.

3. His work gives a comprehensive account of the Hindu kingdom of Vijaynagar.

Sir Thomas Roe

1. He was an ambassador of James I, King of England, at the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1615).

2. His work 'Journal of the mission to the Mogul Empire' is a valuable contribution to the history of India in the early 17th century.

William Hawkins He was an ambassador of James I, King of England, at the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1609).