Through the Eyes of Travellers

Written and reviewed by Subhra Gupta, Humanities faculty at UniDrill (M.A. Sociology, University of Delhi · 7 years teaching Humanities). Based on NCERT History Class XII (Themes in Indian History Part II), Chapter 5.

What does a stranger notice that a local never writes down?

Ask someone from your own town how to get to the market and they will not tell you about the coconut seller on the corner. It is too ordinary. A newcomer, though, stops and stares. That is the whole value of this chapter. Travellers who came to India between about the tenth and seventeenth centuries came from very different social and cultural worlds, so they noticed everyday activities that Indian writers took for granted and never thought worth recording.

People travelled as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims or adventurers, or to escape disaster or find work. The accounts that survive differ widely. Some deal with court affairs, some with religion, some with buildings and monuments. One of the most important descriptions of Vijayanagara in the fifteenth century comes from Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi, a diplomat from Herat. Some Mughal administrators even travelled within their own empire and noted popular customs and folklore. One gap to remember: we have practically no travel accounts by women, although women did travel.

The big question to ask of any travel account is: who was this written for, and what was the writer trying to do? The answers differ for each of the three travellers we study.

Al-Biruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind

From Khwarizm to Ghazni. Al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khwarizm, an important centre of learning, and had the best education available. He knew Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. He did not know Greek, but he had read Plato and other Greek philosophers in Arabic translation. In 1017 Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm and took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni. Al-Biruni went as a hostage, grew to like the city, and lived there until his death at the age of 70.

Why Ghazni made him curious about India. Sanskrit works on astronomy, mathematics and medicine had been translated into Arabic since the eighth century. When the Punjab became part of the Ghaznavid empire, contact with the local population created trust and understanding. Al-Biruni spent years with Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit and studying religious and philosophical texts. He translated Patanjali's work on grammar into Arabic, and for his Brahmana friends he translated Euclid into Sanskrit. Travel writing was already an accepted part of Arabic literature by his time. Few people in India would have read him before 1500, but many outside India may have.

The book. Kitab-ul-Hind is written in Arabic, simple and lucid, and voluminous, with 80 chapters on religion and philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures, iconography, laws and metrology (the science of measurement). Generally, though not always, each chapter began with a question, went on to a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and ended with a comparison with other cultures. Some scholars think this almost geometric structure came from his mathematical orientation. He also criticised the way the Sanskrit texts he read were written, and wanted to improve on them.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: the word "Hindu" came from an Old Persian word, used c. sixth to fifth century BCE for the region east of the Sindhu (Indus). Arabs continued the usage and called the region "al-Hind". Later the Turks called the people "Hindu", their land "Hindustan" and their language "Hindavi". In reality: none of these terms originally stated a religious identity. The religious meaning developed much later, so reading a medieval "Hindu" as a religious label can mislead.

How Al-Biruni made sense of an alien world

Al-Biruni named three barriers to understanding India. The first was language: Sanskrit was so different from Arabic and Persian that ideas could not be translated easily. The second was the difference in religious beliefs and practices. The third was the self-absorption and insularity of the local population. Yet, although he knew these problems, he depended almost entirely on the works of Brahmanas, quoting the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali and the Manusmriti.

On caste. He looked for parallels elsewhere. Ancient Persia, he noted, recognised four social categories: knights and princes; monks, fire-priests and lawyers; physicians, astronomers and other scientists; and peasants and artisans. So social divisions were not unique to India. But within Islam, he pointed out, all men were considered equal and differed only in their observance of piety.

On pollution. Although he accepted the Brahmanical account of the varna system, Al-Biruni disapproved of the idea of pollution. Everything that falls into impurity strives to return to purity, he argued: the sun cleanses the air, and the salt in the sea keeps the water from being polluted. If it were not so, life on earth would be impossible. The idea of social pollution, basic to the caste system, was therefore contrary to the laws of nature.

Two views. For the exam: Al-Biruni's account of caste relies on normative Sanskrit texts, which set out the rules from the Brahmanas' point of view. Another reading: in real life the system was not so rigid. The categories called antyaja (literally, born outside the system) were often expected to give cheap labour to peasants and zamindars. Though they suffered social oppression, they were included in economic networks. A text-based account and a lived reality can differ.

Travellers also did not believe everything they were told. When Al-Biruni heard of a wooden idol said to have lasted 216,432 years, he asked how wood could last that long, especially where the air and soil are wet, and added "God knows best!"

Ibn Battuta and the Rihla

An early globe-trotter. Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier, Morocco, into a respected, educated family known for its expertise in Islamic religious law (shari'a). Unlike most of his class, he thought experience gained from travel mattered more than books. Before setting out for India in 1332-33 he had made pilgrimages to Mecca and travelled in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and some trading ports of East Africa.

Travelling overland through Central Asia, he reached Sind in 1333. Attracted by the reputation of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi, as a generous patron of arts and letters, he went on to Delhi through Multan and Uch. The Sultan, impressed by his scholarship, made him qazi (judge) of Delhi. After several years he fell out of favour and was imprisoned. When the misunderstanding was cleared, he was restored, and in 1342 he was ordered to go to China as the Sultan's envoy to the Mongol ruler.

Ibn Battuta returned home in 1354, about 30 years after setting out. The local ruler then instructed that his stories be recorded, and Ibn Juzayy wrote down what he dictated. The result is the Rihla, written in Arabic, praised in its introduction for giving "entertainment to the mind" and a variety of curious particulars. His account is often compared with that of Marco Polo, who visited China (and India) from Venice in the late thirteenth century.

According to Ibn Battuta, the journey from Multan to Delhi took 40 days and from Sind to Delhi about 50 days. Daulatabad to Delhi also took 40 days, and Gwalior to Delhi 10 days. Travel was hazardous. He was attacked by robbers several times, and on the road from Multan to Delhi his caravan was attacked, many companions died, and the survivors, including him, were badly wounded.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: the Rihla is Ibn Battuta's book of travels. In reality: the Arabic word rihla simply means a journey, and it names a whole genre of travel writing that was already well established when he wrote. That is why a ruler thought his adventures worth recording and why readers expected both entertainment and instruction.

The "enjoyment of curiosities"

By the time Ibn Battuta reached Delhi in the fourteenth century, the subcontinent was part of a global network of communication stretching from China in the east to north-west Africa and Europe in the west. In the cosmopolitan cities he visited, people who spoke Arabic, Persian, Turkish and other languages shared stories, and anything unfamiliar was highlighted to impress the listener. So Ibn Battuta's method was to describe what excited him, and he did it by comparing it with what his audience already knew.

Pause and predict: why does Ibn Battuta compare the coconut to a human head instead of just calling it a nut?

Check your answer: his readers had never seen a coconut. A comparison with something they knew (a head with eyes, mouth, brain and hair) let them picture it, and the oddity of the comparison also showed how strange the fruit was, which was exactly the effect he wanted.

Cities. Ibn Battuta found Indian cities densely populated and prosperous apart from occasional disruption by wars and invasions. Delhi was a vast city with a great population, the largest in India. Daulatabad (in Maharashtra) easily rivalled it in size. Streets were crowded and the markets bright and full of goods. Bazaars were centres of social and cultural life as well as trade. Most had a mosque and a temple, and some had spaces for dancers, musicians and singers. In Daulatabad a market for male and female singers was called Tarababad.

Countryside and trade. Historians have used his account to suggest that towns got much of their wealth from surplus drawn from villages. He found agriculture very productive because the soil was fertile, allowing two crops a year. India was well linked to inter-Asian trade, and Indian textiles, particularly cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin, were in great demand in West and Southeast Asia. Certain fine muslins were so costly that only nobles and the very rich could wear them.

The postal system. The state took special steps to encourage merchants, and trade routes had inns and guest houses. Ibn Battuta was amazed by the postal system, which let merchants send information, remit credit over long distances and dispatch goods at short notice. It took 50 days to reach Delhi from Sind, but the news reports of spies reached the Sultan through the post in just five days.

Pause and predict: a letter has to cross a long distance in a hurry. Why might runners every third of a mile beat horses every four miles?

Check your answer: each runner covers only a short stretch at top speed and hands over to a fresh man, who is already waiting and alerted by the bell. A horse has to cover four miles, so it tires, while the relay of fresh runners keeps full speed.

Others who followed in their footsteps

Between 1400 and 1800 visitors to India wrote many Persian travelogues, and Indians who travelled to Central Asia, Iran and the Ottoman empire sometimes wrote too. They had often read Al-Biruni and Ibn Battuta.

Once the Portuguese arrived around 1500, many of them wrote about Indian customs and religion. The Jesuit Roberto Nobili even translated Indian texts into European languages. The Dutch traveller Pelsaert, in the early seventeenth century, was shocked by widespread poverty and held the state responsible.

François Bernier and the "degenerate" East

Bernier was a French doctor, political philosopher and historian who came to the Mughal Empire looking for opportunities. He spent twelve years in India (1656 to 1668), first as physician to Prince Dara Shukoh, eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, and later as an intellectual and scientist with Danishmand Khan, an Armenian noble at the Mughal court.

His Travels in the Mughal Empire is full of detailed observation and critical reflection, and tries to place Mughal history in a universal framework. He dedicated his major writing to Louis XIV of France, and wrote many other pieces as letters to influential officials. He nearly always compared India with Europe and described India as bleak by comparison, hoping to influence policy makers to make what he thought the "right" decisions. His picture of India works as a binary opposition: India is the inverse of Europe, and the differences are ranked so that India appears inferior.

His works were published in France in 1670 to 71 and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian within five years. Between 1670 and 1725 his account was reprinted eight times in French, and by 1684 three times in English. Accounts in Arabic and Persian, in contrast, circulated as manuscripts and were generally not published before 1800. This is why a European's view travelled so much further.

The land argument, step by step. Bernier believed firmly in the virtues of private property and saw the crown's ownership of land as harmful to both state and people. His chain of reasoning ran like this:

He used this picture as a warning to Europe too, saying that kings who followed the Mughal model would end up ruling over deserts, beggars and barbarians.

Two views. For the exam: Bernier said all land belonged to the crown, but none of the Mughal official documents suggests that the state was the sole owner of land. Abu'l Fazl, Akbar's official chronicler, describes land revenue as the "remunerations of sovereignty", a claim the ruler makes on subjects for protection and not rent on land he owns. Another reading: European travellers may have taken the claim for rent because the demands were often very high, but the revenue was actually a tax on the crop. Bernier was also taking part in debates in Europe about state and society, and meant his description as a warning to those who did not see the "merits" of private property.

The long shadow of Bernier. From the eighteenth century, Western thinkers used his account. The French philosopher Montesquieu developed the idea of oriental despotism: rulers in Asia had absolute authority over subjects kept in subjugation and poverty, because all land belonged to the king and private property did not exist. In the nineteenth century Karl Marx developed the concept of the Asiatic mode of production: before colonialism the state took the surplus, leaving a society of many autonomous, internally egalitarian village communities that the imperial court left alone as long as the surplus kept flowing. This was regarded as a stagnant system.

The textbook calls this picture of rural society far from true. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries rural society had considerable social and economic differences, from big zamindars with superior rights in land to "untouchable" landless labourers, with the big peasant who used hired labour and produced for the market and the small peasant barely producing for subsistence in between.

Cities: camp towns or something more? Bernier hinted at a more complex reality in places. He felt artisans had no incentive to improve quality because the state took the profits, so manufactures were in decline, yet he admitted that vast amounts of gold and silver flowed into India in exchange for exports, and he noticed a prosperous merchant community. He also called Mughal cities "camp towns", towns that existed and survived only because of the imperial camp, rising when the court moved in and declining when it left.

Two views. For the exam: Bernier described Mughal cities as camp towns dependent on imperial patronage. Another reading: about 15 per cent of the population lived in towns in the seventeenth century, on average more than in Western Europe at the time. There were manufacturing towns, trading towns, port towns, sacred centres and pilgrimage towns. Their existence shows the prosperity of merchant communities and professional classes, so the camp-town picture is an oversimplification.

Urban society also included merchants organised into caste-cum-occupational bodies called mahajans in western India, each led by a sheth. In cities like Ahmedabad the mahajans were collectively represented by the chief of the merchant community, the nagarsheth. Other urban groups included physicians (hakim or vaid), teachers (pundit or mulla), lawyers (wakil), painters, architects, musicians and calligraphers. Some depended on imperial patronage, but many served other patrons or ordinary people in crowded bazaars.

Karkhanas. Bernier is perhaps the only writer to describe the imperial karkhanas, or workshops, in detail. In large halls, embroiderers, goldsmiths, painters, lacquer varnishers, joiners, turners, tailors and shoemakers, and makers of silk, brocade and fine muslin each worked under a master, coming in the morning and going home in the evening. He pictured a quiet routine in which no one aspired to improve his condition.

Women, slaves and sati

Travellers who left written accounts were generally men, interested in and sometimes intrigued by the position of women, but often accepting social inequalities as natural.

Slavery. Slaves were openly sold in markets like any other commodity and regularly exchanged as gifts. At Sind, Ibn Battuta bought "horses, camels and slaves" as gifts for Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and at Multan he gave the governor a slave and a horse with raisins and almonds. The Sultan, pleased with the sermon of a preacher named Nasiruddin, gave him a hundred thousand tankas and two hundred slaves. There was considerable differentiation among slaves: some female slaves were skilled in music and dance, and Ibn Battuta enjoyed their performance at the wedding of the Sultan's sister. Others were used by the Sultan to watch his nobles. Slaves were mostly used for domestic labour and for carrying women and men on palanquins (dola). The price of slaves, particularly women for household work, was very low, and most families who could afford it kept one or two.

Sati. European writers often took the treatment of women as a key marker of difference between West and East, and Bernier described sati in detail. He noted that some women seemed to go to their death cheerfully while others were forced. His account of a very young widow at Lahore being forced to the pyre is one of the most moving in the chapter.

But the textbook reminds us that women's lives revolved around much more. Their labour was crucial in agricultural and non-agricultural production. Women from merchant families took part in trade and sometimes took business disputes to court, so it is unlikely that they were confined to their homes. Travellers' observations were shaped by the contexts they came from, and they missed much.

Timeline: some travellers who left accounts

Who saw what: comparing the three

Exam traps

60-second revision

Where this chapter connects

• Previous: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings covers the early religious traditions, and Kinship, Caste and Class gives the Brahmanical rules of caste that Al-Biruni read about.
• Next: Bhakti-Sufi Traditions moves from outsiders' accounts to the religious ideas and devotional poetry of the same centuries.
• Look ahead: An Imperial Capital revisits Vijayanagara, which Abdur Razzaq described, and Peasants, Zamindars and the State lets you test Bernier's picture of Mughal landownership against the evidence.