History: Foreign Travelers in Indian History

Foreign Envoys

Facts

Abdul Razak

·       He was a Persian scholar.

·       He was also an ambassador of Persia.

·       He visited India during the rule of Deva Raya II of Vijayanagar.

Alberuni

·       He was a Persian scholar.

·       He accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni and wrote a book titled ‘Tahqiq-i-hind’

·       He was the first Muslim scholar to study India.

·       He is considered as the father of Indology.

Al-Masudi

·       Al-Masudi was An Arab traveller.

·       In his book Muruj-ul-Zehab he has explained about his journey

Captain William Hawkins

·       Captain William Hawkins led the first expedition of the English East India Company to India in1609.

·       He visited India during the reign of Jahangir.

·       He did not succeed in getting Jahangir’s permission to start a factory.

Fa-Hien

·       He was a Chinese Buddhist monk.

·       He visited India during the reign of Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II).

·       He is known for his visit to Lumbini.

·       His voyage is described in his travelogue “Record of Buddhist Kingdoms”.

Francois Bernier

·       He was a French physician and traveller.

·       He was the personal physician of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

·       Travels in the Mughal Empire’ was written by Francois Bernier

·       The book mainly talks about the rules of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb.

Huien Tsang

·       He was a Chinese traveller.

·       He visited India during the supremacy of Harsha Vardhana.

·       Si-yu-ki or ‘The Records of the Western World’ was written by him.

Ibn Batuta

·       He was a Moroccan traveller.

·       He visited India during the rule of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq.

·       Rihla is the book written by Ibn Batuta.

Marco Polo

·       He was a European traveller.

·       He visited Southern India during the reign of Rudramma Devi of the Kakatiyas.

Megasthenes

·       He was the ambassador of Seleucus in the court of Chandragupta Maurya known to the Greek as Sandrocottus.

·       He was also the author of a book 'Indica'.

Thomas Roe

Sir Thomas Roe was an English diplomat who visited the court of Jahangir in 1615 to seek protection for an English factory at Surat.

William Hawkins

·       Captain William Hawkins led the first voyage of the English East India Company to India in 1609 when Jahangir was in power.

·       He had a personal letter from King James I of England 1609, but did not succeed in seeking Jahangir's permission to establish a factory.

Nicolo Conti

Italian merchant who visited India during the period of Deva Raya I of Vijayanagar (1420)

Abdul Razak

He was a Persian scholar and ambassador of the ruler of Persia to Calicut who visited India during the rule of Deva Raya II of Vijayanagar during 1442 to 1445.

St Thomas

He is believed to be the first Christian saint to visit India in 52 A.D.