01 · Explore
Perceptions of Society: The World of Travellers
Between the tenth and seventeenth centuries, various men and women travelled across the Indian subcontinent for trade, pilgrimage, work, or adventure. Their accounts provide a unique perspective on the past, often highlighting details that local writers took for granted.
Travellers often encountered environments, customs, and languages vastly different from their own. While many adapted to these changes, some recorded their observations in detailed accounts. These writings are invaluable to historians as they offer an 'outsider's' view of Indian society, focusing on what was considered unusual or remarkable at the time.
The subject matter of these accounts varies widely. Some travellers focused on the affairs of the royal court, while others were interested in religious practices, architecture, or local folklore. For instance, Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi, a diplomat from Herat, provided a vital description of the city of Vijayanagara in the fifteenth century.
This chapter focuses on three primary figures: Al-Biruni from Uzbekistan (11th century), Ibn Battuta from Morocco (14th century), and François Bernier from France (17th century). Each came from a different cultural background and had distinct objectives for recording their journeys.
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Why are travel accounts considered important sources for historians?
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02 · Explore
Al-Biruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind
Al-Biruni, a scholar from Khwarizm, arrived in Ghazni as a hostage but eventually developed a deep interest in India, leading to the creation of his monumental work, Kitab-ul-Hind.
Born in 973 in Khwarizm (modern-day Uzbekistan), Al-Biruni was a polyglot, well-versed in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. After Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm in 1017, Al-Biruni was taken to Ghazni. It was here that he began studying Indian sciences and philosophy, spending years with Brahmana priests to learn Sanskrit and read religious texts.
His work, Kitab-ul-Hind, is written in simple and lucid Arabic. It is a voluminous text divided into 80 chapters covering subjects like philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, social life, and metrology (the science of measurement). Al-Biruni's writing often followed a geometric structure: starting with a question, providing a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and ending with a comparison to other cultures.
Al-Biruni's objective was to provide a 'repertory of information' for those wishing to associate with or discuss religious questions with Hindus. He was critical of existing translations of Indian texts and sought to improve the accuracy of information available to the Arabic-speaking world.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Language | Arabic |
| Structure | 80 Chapters; Question-Description-Comparison |
| Key Subjects | Religion, Philosophy, Astronomy, Social Life, Laws |
| Sources | Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali, Manusmriti |
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What was the 'geometric' structure Al-Biruni used in his chapters?
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03 · Explore
Overcoming Barriers to Understanding
Al-Biruni was acutely aware of the difficulties in translating and understanding a culture as complex as India's. He identified several 'barriers' that hindered true comprehension.
The first barrier was language. Al-Biruni noted that Sanskrit was so different from Arabic and Persian in terms of words and inflections that concepts could not be easily translated. The second barrier was the difference in religious beliefs and practices. The third was the 'insularity' or self-absorption of the local population, which made them hesitant to share knowledge with outsiders.
Despite these barriers, Al-Biruni relied heavily on Brahmanical texts to explain Indian society. He tried to make the caste system understandable to his readers by finding parallels in other societies, such as ancient Persia, where four social categories (knights, monks, scientists, and peasants) were also recognized.
However, Al-Biruni was critical of the concept of 'pollution' inherent in the caste system. He argued that it was contrary to the laws of nature, stating that everything that becomes impure strives to regain its original state of purity, just as the sun cleanses the air and salt prevents the sea from becoming polluted.
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What were the three barriers to understanding identified by Al-Biruni?
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04 · Explore
Ibn Battuta: An Early Globe-Trotter
Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveller of the fourteenth century, valued experience gained through travel over book-learning. His work, Rihla, provides a vibrant account of the subcontinent.
Born in Tangier into a family of legal experts, Ibn Battuta set out at age 22. Before reaching India in 1333, he had already visited Mecca, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and East Africa. He travelled overland through Central Asia to reach Sind, eventually making his way to Delhi, where Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq appointed him as the qazi (judge).
Ibn Battuta's travels within the subcontinent were extensive. He visited the Malabar coast, the Maldives (where he served as qazi for 18 months), Sri Lanka, Bengal, and Assam before heading to China. He returned to Morocco in 1354, after nearly 30 years of travel.
Travelling in the 14th century was arduous and hazardous. Ibn Battuta meticulously recorded the time taken between cities: it took forty days to travel from Multan to Delhi and about fifty days from Sind to Delhi. The distance from Daulatabad to Delhi was covered in forty days, while that from Gwalior to Delhi took ten days. He was frequently attacked by robbers and suffered from bouts of extreme loneliness and illness, yet his 'overmastering impulse' to explore kept him moving.
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How did Ibn Battuta's view of knowledge differ from his contemporaries?
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05 · Explore
The Excitement of the Unfamiliar
Ibn Battuta used vivid comparisons to describe things that were completely new to his North African and West Asian audience, such as the coconut and the paan.
Ibn Battuta described the coconut as one of the most 'peculiar' trees. He compared the nut to a human head, noting that it had 'eyes' and a 'mouth,' and that the green inside looked like a brain. He also observed the practical uses of coconut fiber, which was used to sew ships together instead of iron nails.
The paan (betel leaf) was another curiosity. He explained that it was grown for its leaves and had no fruit. He detailed the social custom of chewing it: first taking the areca nut (which he compared to a nutmeg), then chewing it with betel leaves and a bit of lime (chalk).
These descriptions were part of a strategy to impress his readers with the 'marvellous things' of distant lands. By using familiar analogies (like grapes for betel or date palms for coconut trees), he made the exotic accessible to his audience.
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What comparison did Ibn Battuta use to describe a coconut to his readers?
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06 · Explore
Indian Cities and the Postal System
Ibn Battuta found Indian cities to be prosperous and densely populated, supported by a highly efficient communication network.
Ibn Battuta described Delhi as a 'vast city' with a massive population and impressive ramparts. The breadth of its wall was eleven cubits, and inside it were houses for the night sentry and gate-keepers. The ramparts also contained store-houses for storing edibles, magazines, ammunition, and siege machines. He also admired Daulatabad in Maharashtra, which he felt rivalled Delhi in size and importance.
The bazaars were not just economic centers but hubs of culture. In Daulatabad, he described 'Tarababad,' a market for singers and musicians, featuring decorated shops and public performances attended by both Hindu and Muslim rulers. He attributed the prosperity of these towns to the fertility of the soil, which allowed for two crops a year, and the high demand for Indian textiles like muslin and silk.
He was particularly amazed by the postal system. There were two types: the horse-post (uluq), with stations every four miles, and the foot-post (dawa), which had three stations per mile. The foot-post was remarkably fast; while a journey from Sind to Delhi took 50 days for a traveller, news reached the Sultan in just five days via this relay system.
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What were the two types of postal systems described by Ibn Battuta?
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Why was the foot-post considered faster than the horse-post?
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07 · Explore
François Bernier: Comparing East and West
François Bernier, a French doctor and philosopher, visited the Mughal Empire in the 17th century. Unlike Ibn Battuta, his focus was on comparing India unfavorably with Europe.
Bernier spent twelve years in India (1656–1668). He was closely associated with the Mughal court, serving as a physician to Prince Dara Shukoh and later as an intellectual and scientist with Danishmand Khan, an Armenian noble. His work, 'Travels in the Mughal Empire,' was dedicated to King Louis XIV of France. He used a model of 'binary opposition,' where India was consistently presented as the inferior inverse of Europe.
A central theme in Bernier's writing was the lack of private property in land. He believed the Mughal Emperor owned all the land, which he argued led to the 'ruination of agriculture' and the oppression of the peasantry. Since landholders could not pass land to their children, they had no incentive to improve it. This, according to Bernier, resulted in a society of 'beggars and barbarians' with no middle class.
Bernier's accounts influenced later European thinkers like Montesquieu, who developed the idea of 'Oriental Despotism,' and Karl Marx, who proposed the 'Asiatic Mode of Production.' However, Mughal records like the 'Ain-i Akbari' suggest that land revenue was a tax for protection, not rent on crown-owned land, and that rural society was actually quite differentiated.
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What did Bernier identify as the fundamental difference between Mughal India and Europe?
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08 · Explore
Women, Slaves, and Social Realities
Travellers' accounts provide glimpses into the lives of women and the practice of slavery, though these observations were often colored by their own cultural biases.
Slavery was a common feature of 14th-century society. Ibn Battuta recorded that slaves were openly sold in markets and given as gifts. Female slaves were used for domestic labor, carrying palanquins, and even spying on nobles for the Sultan. To facilitate this, the Sultan appointed female scavengers who entered houses unannounced, to whom slave girls communicated information.
Bernier provided a 'poignant' description of the practice of sati. He witnessed the forced sacrifice of a young widow, barely twelve years old, at Lahore. He noted that while some women seemed to accept death, many were coerced by Brahmanas and family members. This treatment of women was often used by European writers as a marker of the 'backwardness' of Eastern societies.
Despite these grim accounts, women's lives were not limited to the home. Their labor was essential in both agricultural and artisanal production. Women from merchant families even participated in commercial activities and legal disputes, indicating a more complex social role than travellers often acknowledged.
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How were female slaves utilized in the Sultan's service according to Ibn Battuta?
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What was Bernier's observation regarding the practice of sati?
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