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Theme 5 Through the Eyes of Travellers Perceptions of Society (c tenth…
Theme 5
Through the Eyes of Travellers
Perceptions of Society
(c tenth to seventeenth century)
Al-Biruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind
Born in 973 in Uzbekistan
Travelled through Persia, Arabia, Sind to delhi.
Known Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew
Lived in Punjab for several years
Kitab-Ul-Hind
recorded various aspects (culture, food, wealth, rulers, languages) of India
Translated from Sanskrit to Arabic
Written in simple and lucid way
Ibn Battuta and his Book Rihla
Travelled to Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Omen before coming to India
Born in
Morocco
and came to India in
1332-1333
during
Muhammad bin Tughlaq
period.
Worked with
Muhammad bin Tughlaq
and travelled to
China
Travelled during the period where there are so many obstacles on the way; fell sick then recovered.
When he returned, the local
ruler in Morocco ordered to record
the travel experiences.
Recorded his observations in
Rihla
s
Francois Bernier: A French Traveller and Doctor
A number of Portuguese, Dutch, English and French travellers came to India in the 16th and 17th century. Of them,
Jesuit Roberto Nobili, Duarte Barbosa, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and Manucci
wrote different aspects of Indian society.
French doctor, political philosopher and historian
Francois Bernier
spent
twelve years (1656 to 1668)
in India and was closely associated with the
Mughal court.
Bernier travelled to several parts of India and wrote detailed accounts by
comparing the situation in India with Europe.
His works were published in France in 1670-71, and
translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian
. His writings became extremely popular.
Al-Biruni's View about contemporary India
According to him,
Sanskrit was so different
when compared to Persian or Arabic. And the Ideas could not be translated easily from one language to another.
According to him the
caste system
or the social differences are not only unique for India, He tried to
compare with other societies
.
Mostly he depended on
Vedas, puranas, Bhagavat Gita, Manusmriti
etc.
Sanskrit texts laid down the rules of caste system
from Brahmanas point of view, but in reality it was not so rigid.
Battuta's description of Indian Society
He found
Coconut and Paan
as unusual.
He found the
indian cities
as prosperous, busy and as trading centres. Especially
Delhi
.
He found the
Indian Agriculture
as well maintained with great soil fertility.
Postal System
:
Ulaq
- Horses - 1 in 4 miles.
Dawa
- Foot - 1 in 1/3 mile.
Transportation
in India connected from East and the West.
Bernier's view about Contemporary Indian Society
He was very critical in comparing
India
with the
Western World
, especially
France
.
He was so critical about the
Land ownership
strategy followed by Mughal emporers at that time.
He said he could not see any
middle class
society in India.
He saw the mughal kings as the King of
Beggars and Barbarians
.
In his book
Travels in the Mughal Empire
, he is very critical about comparing India with the western work where he sees in a superior mindset about the latter.
His perception and comparison
influenced
so many other
European travellers
in the later 18th century.
He said that the
Mahajans
were headed by the
Seths
in the villages and
Nagarseths
in the towns.
He saw the indian cities and towns in different ways like, trading towns, manufacturing towns, coastal towns etc.
He saw the plight of craft workers as very sorrowful. As there is no proper incentives been provided for any good work.
Inspite of large amount of metals being imported from the rest of the world, these is poverty in almost all part of the subcontinent.
Travellers about Women
Ibn Battuta
recorded that he had purchased horses, camels and slaves for the
Tughlaq
It is usual that the kings had women slaves and even used them as spies for the nobles.
Fancouis Bernier
was disheartened by seeing the
sati
of a
12 years old widow
. He explained about how the little creature was forcibly put into fire.
Tenth-eleventh centuries:-
973-1048 Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni(from Uzbekistan)
Thirteenth century:-
1254-1323 Marco Polo (from Italy)
Fourteenth century:-
1304-77 Ibn Battuta (from Morocco)
Fifteenth century:-
1413-82 Abd al-Razzaq Kamal al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi(from Samarqand)
1466-72 (years spent in India) Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin (fifteenth century, from Russia)
Sixteenth century:-
1518 (visit to India) Duarte Barbosa, d.1521 (from Portugal)
1562 (year of death) Seydi Ali Reis (from Turkey)
1536-1600 Antonio Monserrate (from Spain)
Seventeenth century:-
1626-31 (years spent in India) Mahmud Wali Balkhi (from Balkh)
1600-67 Peter Mundy (from England)
1605-89 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (from France)
1620-88 François Bernier (from France)