List of Important Foreign Travellers in India History : Foreign travellers or ambassadors have served the rulers and the entire world with their travelogues from time to time. A travelogue is an expression of the experiences that the travellers have gained during their journey or travel. They provides the information regarding the local traditions, customs, politics and life style during a particular time period.
Below we are providing the complete list of foreign travellers who came to India during the Medieval period. The list will be useful for the aspirants who are preparing for different competitive examinations like SSC, RRB, UPSC, State PSC/PCS, etc. Aspirants must learn them wisely.
Deimachos - Deimachos visited India during the reign of Bindusara (320-273 BC). He was the ambassador of Syrian king Antiochus. The descriptions given by him belongs to the Mauryan Empire.
Megasthenese - Megasthenese was the ambassador of a Greek ruler Seleucus Nicator who visited India in 302 BC. He resided in the court of Chandragupta Maurya for the period of 6 years and wrote an interesting book called 'Indica'. This book provides information about the culture, society and Indian history of the Mauryan era.
Pliny - He came to India in the first century. Pliny wrote a book titled "Natural history". His book contains valuable information about various aspects of India particularly regarding the Indian animals, trees, minerals, etc.
Ptolemy - Ptolemy was Greece traveller and geographer who wrote 'Geography of India'. He travelled India in second century (130 AD). His book reveals a detailed account of the Geographical landscape of Ancient India.
Dionysius - He was the Greek ambassador who came to the court of Emperor Ashoka. He was sent as an envoy by the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philidelphus.
Fa-Hien - He was a Chinese traveller who came to India in 405 AD during the reign of Chandragupta II in the Gupta Empire and stayed in India till 411 AD. He visited the birth place of Gautam Buddha (Lumbini). His original purpose was to obtain information about Indian Buddhist texts.
Fa-hien's famous work is 'Fo-kyo-ki' in which he has given the account of the status of Buddhism in India.
Hiuen-Tsang - He was also a Chinese traveller who visited India during the reign of Harshavardhana. He stayed in India from 629 AD to 645 AD and studied at Nalanda University for 6 years. The travelogue/book of Hiuen-Tsang is known as 'Si-yu-ki'. In his travelogue, there is a mention about the Indian customs, society, religion, education system and politics of Harshavardhana's period.
Sanyugan - He was a Chinese traveller who came to India in 518 AD. During his visit to India, he collected the copies related to the Buddhism.
Itsing - The Chinese traveller visited India at the end of 7th century and lived from 671 AD to 695 AD. He studied Buddhism while staying at Vikramshila and Nalanda University and has described about them in his travelogue (yatra vritanta). Itsing has also written about Buddhist educational institutions and the costumes, food etc. of Indians. His description provides a vital information about the cultural, social and religious life of people in India.
Almasudi - The Arabic traveller came to India during the reign of Pratihara ruler Mahipala I. He stayed in India from 914 AD to 943 AD. A book named 'Muruj-ul-Zahab' was written by him. A book provides an extensive account of India and specifically the imperial expansion at that time.
Alberuni - He came to India along with Mahmud Ghajnavi. His original name was Abu Rehan Mahmud. Alberuni wrote a book titled 'Tahqeeq-e-Hind' or 'Kitab-ul-Hind'. He is also known as founder of Indology.
Alberuni studied Sanskrit language and gave a detailed account of Indian society in his book mainly describing the history, society, customs and politics of Hindus. The time period of his stay in India was from 1024 AD to 1030 AD.
Marco Polo - Marco Polo was a traveller from Venice who came to the court of the Pandyan king. He visited India at the end of 13th century (1292-1294 AD). 'The Book of Sir Marco Polo' written by him gives a vital information about the economic history of India.
Ibn Batuta - Ibn Batuta was a Morrish traveller who visited India during the reign of Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq. He was appointed as the chief qazi by Muhammad bin Tughlaq and sent to China as envoy. Ibn Batuta wrote 'Rahela' which gives information about the governance of Firoz Tughlaq. He stayed in India from 1333 AD to 1347 AD.
Nicolo Conti - A Venice traveller who came to India during the reign of Devaraya I of Sangam Dynasty of Vijayanagar empire. His travel had a shore tenure i.e. from 1420 AD to 1421 AD.
Abdul Razzaq - He was a Persian (Iranian) traveller and Ambassador of Shahrukh of Timurid Dynasty. Abdul came to India during the reign of Devaraya II, the ruler of Vijayanagara between 1443- 1444 AD. In his work 'Matla us Saddin wa Majuma ul Bahrain' , he has given a brief account of landscape of India.
Duarte Barbosa - This Portuguese traveller came to India in 1500 AD and lived till 1516 AD. His travelogue gives an account of the government and the people of Vijayanagar Empire.
William Hawkins - He was an ambassador of James I, king of England. Hawkins came to India during the reign of Jahangir and stayed from 1608 AD to 1613 AD. He made various efforts to get facilities for the East India Company. Interestingly, he was well versed in Persian language. Through him, we get an information about the life of Jahangir and grandeur of Jahangir's court.
Sir Thomas Roe - He was also an ambassador of James I, king of England. Roe came to the court of Jahangir in 1615 AD and lived till 1619 AD. He made an attempt to get the trade facility for Easy India Company from Jahangir.
Peter Mundy - Peter was an Italian traveller who came during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. His descriptions provides the vital information with reference to the living standards of the common people during the Mughal Rule. Peter stayed in India from 1630 to 1634 AD.
Jean Baptiste Tavernier - Tavernier was a French traveller and visited India 6 times during the reign of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb i.e. from 1638 AD to 1663 AD. It is through him only that we get an information about the famous diamond 'Kohinoor' of India.
Nicola Manucci - He was an Italian traveller and got service at the court of Dara Shikoh. A book named 'Storio de Mogor' was written by him which gives description about the Mughal Empire.
Belanger de Laspine - He was a French soldier who came to India in 1672 AD with the sea fleet. He contributed tremendously in the establishment of the city of Pondicherry.
Hope this article provides you the thorough details about the important foreign travellers or envoys and their visits to India.
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