Introduction to Travellers and Traders of India

The history of India has always been an exciting topic for discussions and debates as well as a vast source of knowledge and culture. Today we can know about anything and everything with a click, but back in the day, people had to travel to different regions, countries, and even continents to gather information. Before the network of the internet, travelers and traders had created a network we connect through even today.

Foreign travelers on Indian shore (source: blog.examin)

India is a center of various traditions, cultures, and civilizations, scholars and travelers from the entire world visited the country in various time periods to enrich themselves through her resources and cultures. Most of these travelers came from Europe and the Middle East to explore and understand the ways of this faraway land. They hoped to gather information about the people living on this land, their lives, culture, and customs. They tried to understand the politics between regional kingdoms, admired and learned about the architecture they saw, and exchanged information about their cultures and kingdoms with us.

From the East, particularly China, scholars came tracing back their Buddhist roots to India. Every nation or kingdom was known for some special products or knowledge systems that the travelers traded or distributed across the world. These travelers, scholars, and merchants had been traveling to India since the Indus Valley civilization and even during the period of Chandragupta Maurya in 302 BCE. The books, journals, and reports they wrote helped the world to imagine and understand India – politically, religiously, and geographically. It also helped us to paint the picture of how the subcontinent was back then.

The Indian subcontinent was almost a secluded place in ancient times, with the Himalayas cutting off the eastern world and the Arabian Sea in between the west. Therefore, before the common era (BCE), the news and information about the land of spice were close to nothing for the Europeans. There are records about kings and emperors sending their messengers, travelers, and scholars from their courts to the far east and West because of which traveling routes and trade connections were established between East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, and Central Asia.

Famous for our hospitality now and back then also, we welcomed people from various lands of various professions or fields. From these scholars and travelers to the foreign invaders and rulers to finally the spice traders, eventually India fell to imperialism or colonialism under the Britishers and Portuguese.

Some of the famous travelers of ancient India are –

Hiuen Tsang (China)

A Chinese traveler also known as ‘pilgrim prince’, Hiuen Tsang was one of the earliest and most famous ancient travelers of India. He studied at Nalanda University and traveled to Kashmir, Punjab, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Deccan, Orissa, and Bengal among other places. In search of the Buddhist scriptures, he also learned some new practices here.

Ibn Battuta (Morocco)

Ibn Battuta was a passionate traveler. He visited India during Mohammad bin Tughlaq’s rule. In his journals, he wrote about the structural beauties of the cities he had been to and also about Muslim religious places in the northern parts of India that he found different from his native place. He was the only traveler of his time to have visited the lands of all the Muslim rulers of his time. He was appointed as the ambassador by Mohammad bin Tughlaq.

Marco Polo (Italy)

Marco Polo was probably the most famous ancient traveler in the realms of history. This Venetian traveler visited India in 1288 and 1292. He mostly traveled to the southern parts of India. He recorded the climate of the region, and detailed entries about the life of the people of India can be found in his journal. It was the reign of Rudramma Devi of the Kakatiya Dynasty when Marco Polo visited India.

Abdur Razzaq (Persia)

This Persian scholar and traveler visited India during the Vijayanagara Empire. In his records, he described the capital city Hampi in detail along with the great architectural wonders, the city markets, and other things. He was the ambassador of the Timurid emperor, Shahrukh.

Vasco da Gama (Portugal)

Vasco de Gama was the first European to travel to India by Ocean route. The Portuguese explorer landed on the port of Calicut in 1498. His voyage helped the Portuguese empire establish the infamous ‘spice trade’, followed by other European powers, which led to colonizing of the entire subcontinent.

Traveling was really the elitist thing in the ancient world. Knowledge, money, protection, acknowledgment from the kings, and understanding of the routes are some of the things that were necessary for exploration back then. It was like going into unknown territory in a true sense.

These are some of the people who traveled to the land of spice called India, while the rest of the world listened and told stories about it. They were the pioneers of multiculturalism in the world. And when kingdoms and empires were invading, fighting, ruling, and expanding their borders, these travelers with their passion for exploration and knowledge navigated through those same borders.

Travelers who travel through India (source: bookgeeks)