Through the eyes of travellers (10th- 17th century CE)
Many traders, merchants, farmers, priests, soldiers and other men and women travelled from one place to another for various purposes. Some travellers travelled in search of job, some travelled for pilgrimage while others travelled for adventure and to know more about the world.
The place they visited was totally different from their native places. The landscape, language, custom, tradition, religion and many other things were unfamiliar to these early travellers. Many of them wrote their own travel accounts or travelogues but unfortunately, we have no travel accounts left by women.
Some of the early travellers who visited Indian subcontinent, also provided the detailed description of social life were:
- Al- Biruni from Uzbekistan visited India during 11th century CE
- Ibn Battuta from Morocco during 14th century CE
- Francois Bernier from France during 17th century CE
Al-Biruni and the Kitab-Ul-Hind
Al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khwarism (in present day Uzbekistan). Khwarism was an important centre of learning, so he received the best education at that time. He learnt many languages like Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and even Sanskrit.
In 1017, Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarism and he took many poets and scholars including Al- Biruni to his capital, Ghazni. Gradually, he started to like the place and lived there for the rest of his life until he died at theage of 70.
He also started to like India as he was familiar with the Sanskrit works in different fields such as astronomy, mathematics and medicine translated in Arabic language. When Punjab became the part of Ghaznavid Empire, he came in contact with Indians, he especially enjoyed the company of Brahmana priests and scholars.
He started to learn Sanskrit and he even studied the Brahmanical religious and philosophical texts. He travelled in different regions of India and also wrote about it in his account, basically in Arabic language. And that’s why, only few Indians were able to read his account before 1500.
Al-Biruni’s travel account is Kitab-Ul-Hind consists of 80 chapters about religion, philosophy, festivals, mathematics, medication, etc. His pattern of writing was different and unique. In his travel account, he started each chapter with a question, then he tried to answer that question and compared it with other traditions too, then he finally concluded the chapter.
Al-Biruni and the Sanskritic Traditions
Al-Biruni mentioned several barriers or problems he faced while understanding the Indian culture. These were:
- First barrier was language. Sanskrit was totally a new language for him.
- Second barrier he discussed about was religious beliefs and practices of India which were totally different from Arabic traditions he was familiar with.
- Third barrier was the self absorption of Indian people.
Al-Biruni also tried to describe the caste system in his accounts, as he read about it in the Brahmanical texts and even noticed the practice of caste system in the society. He mentioned that the division of society was not unique in India. Even ancient Persia had four social categories:
- Knights and Princes
- Monks, fire priests and lawyers
- Physicians, astronomers and scientists
- And then peasants and artisans
He accepted many norms of Brahmanical texts but he disapproved the notion or idea of pollution. According to him, God made everything and hence there is nothing in the world that can be considered as impure.
Ibn Battuta’s Rihla
Ibn Bttuta was born in Tangier in a respectable and educated family known for their expertise in Islamic religious law (shari’a). He visited India in fourteenth century CE. He completed his education at a young age. He believed that the experience gained through travel is more important than to read about it in books.
Before visiting India, he travelled many other regions too. He made pilgrimage trip to Mecca, then he travelled to Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman, North Africa and then he came to India in 1932-33. He had heard about Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi.
And the Sultan was impressed by his scholarship, so he appointed Ibn Battuta as the qazi or judge in his court. Because of some misunderstanding, Ibn Battuta was imprisoned by the officers of the Sultan but after everything got clear, he was released from the jail.
Sutan ordered him to proceed China as his envoy to Mongol ruler. Ibn Battuta went to Malabar coast and from there he went to Maldives where he stayed for eighteen months. Then he proceeded to Bengal and Assam, and from there he took ship to Sumatra and from Sumatra, he finally took a ship for Chinese port town, Zaytun (present- Quanzhou).
He travelled in far off places of China like Beijing and then he decided to return to his home in 1347. His accounts were often compared with the accounts of Marco Polo (from Venice and he visited India and China in late 13th century CE).
Ibn Battuta recorded his observations in his book, Rihla. He is also known as globe trotter who travelled in the major part of the globe. At that time, it used to take too much time to reach your destination. According to Ibn Battuta, it took fifty days to travel from Sind to Delhi and around fourty days from Multan to Delhi. It took ten days to travel from Gwalior to Delhi while fourty days from Daulatabad to Delhi.
There was the need of security while travelling. Ibn Battuta was attacked by the whole gang of robbers many times. So, he preferred to travel into the groups. Once, travelling from Multan to Delhi, he and his group was attacked by highway robbers and many of his companions lost their lives.
Ibn Battuta travelled in many regions of the world and recorded his observations about different culture, customs and traditions into his book, Rihla. When he went back to Morocco, the local ruler ordered to publish his accounts.
Ibn Battuta and the Unfamiliar Things
There were some things Ibn Battuta was familiar with, like the ruleres which can be both generous and wicked, social divisions and all. But on the other hand, there were many things he was unfamiliar with, for example, coconut and paan. He even described about the coconut in a funny way.
According to him, coconut resembles like a man’s head, with two eyes and a mouth. It also has hairs on it and Indians make ropes frome these fibres. And inside structure of the coconut is more likely look as the human brain.
Ibn Battuta mentioned that India is the centre of opportunities and resources. He described the cities as peaceful, densely populated and prosperous. Disruptions were only caused during wars and invasions. Markets were colourful (it means almost all variety of goods were sell in these markets) and the streets were crowded.
Delhi was the most developed, prosperous and also the most populated city. Daulatabad was the city which could be in the race with Delhi. The bazaars or markets were not only the centre of economic activities but also the hub of social and cultural activities.
Most of the bazaars had a mosque and a temple, some spaces were marked for the public performances like dancing, music and singing. According to Ibn Battuta, Indian soil is the most fertile and productive. Even two crops could be grown at the same time. Indian goods were in great demand in West and Southeast Asia.
Indian textiles like cotton cloth, silk, satin, brocade and fine muslin cloths were in great demand in all over the world. Muslin cloths were so expensive and most probably, worn by nobles and rich people. Almost all trade routes had guest houses.
Postal system was established, which was used to send information and goods from one place to another in short period of time. It took fifty days to travel from Sind to Delhi but reports of spies could be delivered to the same distance in just five days through postal system.
Francois Bernier
Many Portugese arrive in India around 1500 who also wrote about the Indian custom and traditions in their accounts. One of them was Jesuit Roberto Nobili, who even translated Indian texts into European languages. Another Portugese writer was Duarte Barbosa who wrote detailed account about the trade and commerce in South India.
After 1600, many Dutch, English and French travellers visited India. One of the most famous French traveller was a French jeweller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier who visited India atleast six times and he compared India to Iran and Ottoman Empire. Some travellers like Italian doctor Manucci got so much attached to India and never returned back to Europe (he settled in India).
Francois Bernier was a Frenchman, a doctor, a political philosopher and a historian. He visited India (during Mughal Empire) in search of opportunities. He stayed in India for twelve years (1656-1668). He was appointed as a physician of Prince Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Shah Jahan. Later, he became an intellectual and a scientist with Danishmand Khan who was an Armenian noble in Mughal court.
Francois Bernier compared Indian culture with European culture in general and with French culture in particular. In his account, he showed the situation of India as inferior while France as superior. Bernier’s work became so popular just after it was published.
In 1670-71, his works were published in France and it was translated in English, Dutch, German and Italian within next five years. Between 1670 and 1725, his account was reprinted eight times in French language and by 1684, it was reprinted three times in English. Al-Biruni’s and Ibn Battuta’s accounts were not published before 1800. That’s why, only few people were able to read their accounts in the form of manuscripts.
Bernier and the Degenerate East
Ibn Battuta and Al-Biruni wrote their true observations, their curiosities and the fascinated things about India. They also wrote about what thay considered was not good like the caste system. But Francois Bernier didn’t write anything in favour of India, he onlu compared India with France.
According to Bernier, Indian people had no private property. Whole land was owned by the Mughal emperor. This crown ownership proved harmful for the land anf the ordinary people of India. The same perception was found in the other traveller’s accounts too (during 16th- 17th century CE).
Bernier mentioned that if the land granted to someone as a gift, then that person could not pass on the land to his children. After his death, only king could claim over that land again. And because of these oppressions, no middle class could emerge in India.
Bernier saw the Mughal emperor as the king of barbarians and beggars. He mentioned that the Indian cities and towns were full of contaminated or ill air and the Indian fields were full of bushes. The only reason he mentioned was the crown ownership.
Abu’l Fazl, the sixteenth century official chronicler of Akbar described that the reason behind the revenue demand by the ruler was for the security of the subjects. It was not he revenue over land. None of the Mughal documents suggest that the state or the king is the sole owner of the land.
French philosopher Montesquieu used the account of Bernier to develop the idea of “oriental despotism”, according to which the rulers of Asia (the orient or the east) enjoyed the excessive power over their subjects and over the land within their territory which became the reason of poverty.
Karl Marx gave the concept of the Asiatic mode of production in the nineteenth century CE. According to this concept, India before colonialism was more productive because of the egalitarian society where the resources were handled and distributed by the ruler among their subjects.
On the one hand, Francois Bernier mentioned that the artisans and manufacturers were everywhere in loss. And on the other hand, he said that the most precious metals were available in India and manufacturers used to export their goods in exchange of gold and silver.
During seventeenth century CE, about 15% of the Indian population used to live in urban areas which was higher than the percentage of urban people in Western Europe. Bernier described the Mughal toens as the “camp towns”, that means the towns that were depended for their survival on the imperial towns.
On the other hand, he says that there were all kind of towns in India: manufacturing towns, port towns, sacred towns, trading towns, etc. Merchants had strong ties and kins and they used to organise themselves into their own occupational bodies.
In western India, these groups were known as mahajans and their chief was known as the sheth. In some urban centres like Ahmedabad, the mahajans were collectively represented by the chief of the whole merchant community, known as the nagarsheth.
Other urban groups of professionals were physicians (hakim or vaid), teachers (pandit or mulla), lawyers (wakil), painters, artisans and many more. Some of them were depended on royal patronage while others were living an ordinary life.
Women: Slaves, Sati and Labourers
Inequalities are the part of society; some are natural while some were made by human beings. Slaves were openly sold in the markets. When Ibn Battuta reached Sind, he bought some horses, camel and slaves and gave them as a gift to Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. And when he reached Multan, he gifted a slave, a horse and some raisins and almonds to the governor.
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq told Ibn Battuta that he was so happy with a preacher named Nasiruddin and he provided him with tankas or coins and two hundred slaves. Female slaves were hired by the king to spy on their officer’s activities.
Some female slaves were the expert in dancing and singing. Ibn Battuta mentioned that he enjoyed the dance of femal slaves in the wedding of Sultan’s sister. Female slaves were mainly required for domestic works and their price was low as compared to the male slaves. So, almost every family used to hire atleast one female slave.
Not surprisingly, Bernier chose the practice of Sati to write the detailed description in his account. When the husband dies, then his wife was also fired with his death body on his funeral pyre, and this practice was known as Sati. He noticed that some women were cheerfully embracing their death while others were forced to do it.
Women were not only for domestic work. They were also involved in agricultural and non agricultural activities. Some women from merchant families also participated in commercial activities. There were several other inequalities too.
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