RANGANATHAN KONDALA & UNACADEMY

HISTORAMA
2021
SPECIAL HISTORY MAGAZINE
WEEKLY EDITION

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Contents
Tracing Fa-Hien’s Journey Through India (399 CE - 414 CE) ...................................................................................... 2
Everyday India, Through Ibn Battuta’s Eyes ............................................................................................................ 10
India through Manucci’s eyes .................................................................................................................................. 14
The Travels of Niccolao Manucci ............................................................................................................................. 18
Afanasy Nikitin: India Through the Eyes of a Russian Traveller .............................................................................. 22
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Tracing Fa-Hien’s Journey Through India (399 CE - 414 CE)
“In this desert, there are a great many evil spirits and also hot winds; those who encounter them perish to a man.
There are neither birds above nor beasts below. Gazing on all sides as far as the eye can reach in order to mark
the track, no guidance is to be obtained save from the rotting bones of dead men, which point the way.”

That’s an excerpt from the travel writings of Fa-Hien, a Chinese monk who left Chang’an in 399 CE, at the age of
62, and set forth on an expedition through Central Asia to India, and ultimately Sri Lanka. Accompanied by four
others, he was on a mission to visit the land of the Buddha and search for Buddhist texts.

The journey was not easy. Sixteen hundred years ago, the Gobi Desert was still untracked and the mountain passes
of the Himalayas perilous to pass. It took months to get from one place to another. Weather conditions ranged
from scorching heat to sub-zero cold and, with most of the journey done on foot, exposure was a very real threat.
In addition, there were wild animals and bandits lying in wait.

So Fa-Hien’s quest was, quite literally, a legendary one. Centuries later, the travels of this monk, who spent 15
years on the road, would reveal to the world intricate details of life on the subcontinent. For instance, if we know
what Patna looked like at the time and what festivals were celebrated in Sri Lanka, we have largely him to thank.
As he travelled across what is now Pakistan, Nepal, Northern India and eventually to Sri Lanka, he recorded his
observations in a travelogue titled Fo-Kwo-Ki (Travels of Fa-Hien).

Fa Hien’s route

Fa-Hien was one of the earliest Chinese traveller-pilgrim to make his way to India. Not since Indica by
Megasthenes (4th-3rd century BCE) and The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) had there been a
major contemporary account of the subcontinent, by visitors who viewed it – until Fa-Hien’s writings in the 5th
century CE.
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Between the 3rd century BCE and 2nd century CE, the Buddha’s teachings had spread far and wide. While
the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (r. 269 - 232 BCE) sent his missionaries to places like Greece, Mysore and Myanmar
to preach Dhamma, the land trade routes of Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha and the Indian Ocean trade
network too became a conduit.

Under the Kushana Emperor Kanishka (r. 128 – 150 CE), who adopted Buddhism, the religion made its way deep
into Central Asia and China. The Kushanas controlled an area that stretched from present-day Kabul through
northern Pakistan and north-west India, and from the frontiers of China to Mathura and beyond in the Indo-
Gangetic plains. These were also strategically important lands situated along the Silk Road. Along with merchants
and goods, monks and Buddhism too began to make their way out into the world.

Buddhist sculptures along the Gilgit-Baltistan|Wikimedia Commons

Travelling monks left markers along their trails — along the passes of Gilgit-Baltistan, there are still hundreds of
images of Buddha and Boddhisattavs carved into stone.

Fa-Hien was among the first monks to take a reverse route, back along the Silk Road, to the Indian subcontinent.
He began his journey in North-Central China, visiting as many Buddhist shrines as he could. And we know this
because he documented everything. His travelogue, compiled after he returned home at the age of 77, is filled
with invaluable accounts of what life was like, the places he saw and the nature of Buddhism at the turn of the
5th century.

Who Was He?

Fa-Hien was orphaned at an early age and spent most of his adult life in Buddhist monasteries. During a visit to
Chang’an, an ancient capital city, the devout Buddhist was taken aback by the torn and weathered state of
the Books of Discipline (known to us as the Vinaya Pitakas, which contain the monastic code for Buddhist monks
and nuns).

Fa-Hien decided to go to the holy land of the Buddha and obtain a better copy of these texts. He talked four other
monks – Hwuy-king, Tao-ching, Hwuy-ying and Hwuy-wei – into joining him. This group was later joined by another
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group of five monks at the emporium of Chang-yih, further along in their journey. Chang’an (present-day Xi’an)
was in Fa-Hien’s time a part of the Later Qin state ruled by Yao Xing (r. 394-416 CE). It was during his reign that
Buddhism first received official state support in China.

Fa-Hien made his way from Chang’an to the Kingdoms of Loulan and Khotan (in present-day Xinjiang province,
China). In Khotan, a lord of the country lodged Fa-Hien and the other monks comfortably in a Mahayana
monastery called Gomati. While three men from the group set out in advance for their next destination, Fa-Hien
and the others stayed in Khotan for three months to see a chariot-procession that he describes in vivid detail in
his writings:

“At a distance of three or four li [Chinese mile] from the city, they made a four-wheeled image car, more than
thirty cubits high, which looked like the great hall (of a monastery) moving along. The seven precious substances
[i.e., gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rubies, diamonds or emeralds, and agate] were grandly displayed about
it... The (chief) image [presumably Sakyamuni] stood in the middle of the car... When (the car) was a hundred
paces from the gate, the king put off his crown of state... went out at the gate to meet the image…”

This is from the translation of Fa-Hien’s travelogue by Scottish sinologist James Legge, first published in 1887,
titled A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hsien of Travels in India and
Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. It is considered the best English translation
to date, and all excerpts presented here are drawn from it.

When the procession was over, the group moved south and halted in K’eeh-cha (probably Skardu in present-day
Pakistan). Here, the king was holding a pancha parishad religious conference. Fa-Hien writes that this kingdom
had some of the Buddha’s relics, which were in possession of this kingdom.

“There is in the country a spittoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl.
There is also a tooth of Buddha, for which the people have reared a tope (stupa), connected with which there are
more than a thousand monks and their disciples, all students of the hinayana.”

Close-up of Fa-Hien route in India

Fa-Hien made his way towards Northern India, passing through vegetation that was very different from that of
the Land of Han (as Fa-Hien referred to China). The only familiar plants he noted were the bamboo, pomegranate
and sugarcane. Through their travels, via land and sea, Fa-Hien never failed to write of the dangers the group
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confronted, although some of these accounts seem exaggerated. For instance, just before entering the Indian
subcontinent, Fa-Hien writes:

“There are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause
showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. Not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers
escapes with his life.”

Fa-Hien entered the Indian subcontinent via Udyana (an ancient city in the present-day Swat district of Pakistan).
Interestingly, he connects many of the places he visits with stories from the Jatakas, and his account is filled with
references to legends around the life of the Buddha. In Udyana, for instance, he mentions a rock with the footprint
of the Buddha and a place where the Buddha apparently dried his clothes. Near Taxila, he refers to a place where
the Buddha threw down his body to feed a starving tigress.

When the group reached Purushpura (Peshawar), he recollects how the Buddha (571 to 485 BCE) had predicted
the birth of a king named ‘Kanishka’, who would build a magnificent stupa at this place. Clearly, by now, legend
had taken over and there was an attempt to indicate that the Buddha had travelled even more widely than he
actually had. Of Kanishka’s stupa, built in the 2nd century CE in today’s Shaji-ki-Dheri on the outskirts of Peshawar,
Fa-Hien writes:

“Of all the topes and temples which (the travellers) saw in our journeyings, there was not one comparable to this
in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. There is a current saying that this is the finest tope in Jambudvipa.”

1899 engraving showing the remnants of the Kanishka Stupa in Shaji-ki-Dheri |Wikimedia Commons

Just before Fa-Hien crossed the Indus River to go east, he lost one of his companions. The monk Hwuy-king died,
possibly from exhaustion. In his last words, Hwuy-king pleaded with his companions to return home, Fa-Hien
writes, so that not all of them would die the same way. Fa-Hien was filled with grief, but the group continued its
journey.
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An important city that Fa-Hien visited was Mathura. He writes that all to the south of this is named the ‘Majjhima-
desa’ (Middle Kingdom). Writing of life here, he indicates that the city was prosperous, peaceful and that most
people seemed to be teetotalers and vegetarians:

“The people are numerous and happy...The king governs without decapitation or (other) corporal
punishments...Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating
liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chandalas. That is the name for those who are
(held to be) wicked men, and live apart from others. When they enter the gate of a city or a market-place, they
strike a piece of wood to make themselves known, so that men know and avoid them, and do not come into
contact with them.”

While in Mathura, Fa-Hien also writes of how, after the death of the Buddha, the kings of the land extended
patronage to Buddhist priests:

After Buddha attained to parinirvana, the kings of the various countries and the heads of the Vaisyas built viharas
for the priests, and endowed them with fields, houses, gardens, and orchards, along with the resident populations
and their cattle, the grants being engraved on plates of metal, so that afterwards they were handed down from
king to king, without any one daring to annul them, and they remain even to the present time.”

It is worth noting that there is little in Fa-Hien’s writings on general polity or on other faiths. Surprisingly, he
doesn’t even mention the Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II (r. c. 380 – 415 CE), who would have been at the height
of his power during Fa-Hien’s visit.

Ruins in what was once Kapilasvastu|Wikimedia Commons

Fa-Hien writes that he was most excited to visit Kapilavastu (located near India’s border with Nepal, there is more
than one contender for this ancient city). He wanted to see the grandeur of the place where the Buddha was born.
It turned out to be quite a big disappointment. He writes:

“In it there was neither king nor people. All was mound and desolation. Of inhabitants there were only some
monks and a score or two of families of the common people... On the roads people have to be on their guard
against white elephants and lions, and should not travel incautiously.”
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During his travels within India, Pataliputra (present-day Patna) served as a base. Fa-Hien lived here for three years,
witnessed monasteries being built and visited places of significance to the Buddhist faith. Sadly, none of the stupas
or monasteries in Patna that Fa-Hien mentions in his writings survives today.

“By the side of the tope of Asoka, there has been made a mahayana monastery, very grand and beautiful; there
is also a hinayana one; the two together containing six hundred or seven hundred monks. The rules of demeanour
and the scholastic arrangements in them are worthy of observation. Shamans of the highest virtue from all
quarters, and students, inquirers wishing to find out truth and the grounds of it, all resort to these monasteries.”

He further wrote that the cities and towns here were the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom and that the
inhabitants were rich and prosperous, and vied with one another in the practice of benevolence and
righteousness.

While he travelled to many cities associated with the life of the Buddha - Sravasti, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya,
Vaishali, Rajgir and more - Fa-Hien’s main objective in coming to India remained unmet. He had still not found the
original Buddhist texts he sought. Across the various kingdoms of North India, he had found masters transmitting
the rules orally to one another, but there were no transcriptions, no written copies.

Fa Hien at the ruins of Ashoka’s Palace, Pataliputra|Hutchinson’s Story of the Nations

Finally, in Pataliputra, in a Mahayana monastery, he found a copy of the Vinaya Pitaka, containing the
Mahasanghika rules — those laid down in the first Great Council, while the Buddha was still in the world. But it
was in Sanskrit. So Fa-Hien stayed in Patna for three years, learning Sanskrit and writing out the Vinaya rules.

Moving on from Patna, Fa-Hien followed the course of the Ganga eastwards, and reached Champa, and then the
port of Tamralipti (in present-day West Bengal). From here, he boarded a large merchant vessel and, after 14
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days, reached the country of Singhala (Sri Lanka). He writes about the legends surrounding the history of the
island, as he heard them:

“The country originally had no human inhabitants, but was occupied only by spirits and nagas, with which
merchants of various countries carried on a trade. When the trafficking was taking place, the spirits did not show
themselves. They simply set forth their precious commodities, with labels of the price attached to them; while
the merchants made their purchases according to the price; and took the things away.”

In keeping with other legends of the time, Fa-Hien wrote that the Buddha also came to this country in order to
transform the wicked nagas. However, historically, there is no record of the Buddha travelling as far as Sri Lanka.

Fa Hien’s cave in Sri Lanka|Wikimedia Commons

In Singhala, Fa-Hien extolled in detail the richness of the Buddhist influence, as shown in the monasteries, a giant
jade statue of the Buddha and their celebration of the holy tooth relic festival. Fa-Hien spent two years in Sri Lanka
before finally deciding to return, along a precarious sea route, to China. Today, there is a cave in the district of
Kalutara in Sri Lanka named after Fa-Hien. It is believed that he resided there.

Upon his return home at the age of 77, Fa-Hien spent the next decade – the last decade of his life – translating
and editing the many scriptures he had collected, and collating his travelogue. Incidentally, he was helped by an
Indian monk named Buddhabhadra, of whom, sadly, very little is known.

Chinese pilgrims and travellers would follow in Fa-Hien’s footsteps for centuries. The most famous were Hiuen
Tsang (602-664 CE) and I-tsing (635–713 CE), who penned their own travelogues.
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Fa Hien’s statue near Huayan Temple

Today a striking statue dedicated to Fa Hien stands near the Huayan Temple in Dataong, China. Though recently
erected, it is an apt tribute to the courageous monk who undertook an arduous journey. After all, the temple
houses an elaborate library of Buddhist texts, some of which might have been written on the basis of what Fa-
Hien put down in words 1600 years ago!
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Everyday India, Through Ibn Battuta’s Eyes
Samosas were a hot favourite in the Tughlaq court, urad dal and black-eyed beans were popular across North
India and Indians loved mango pickles along with their meal. As mundane as this information might sound, these
nuggets of everyday life chronicled by Muhammad Ibn Battuta give us great insights into the life of the people in
medieval India and are a fascinating read!

Muhammad Ibn Battuta (1304-1377 CE) was a Moroccan traveller and writer, who like Hiuen Tsang (602 - 664 CE)
and Marco Polo (1254-1324 CE) braved danger and uncertainty to travel and write extensively about new lands.

English translation of travels of Ibn battuta|Amazon India

City of Samarkhand|Wikimedia commons

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Born in Tangiers, Morocco in 1304 CE, Batutta is said to have left home at the age of 21 and travelled extensively.
Over the next 30 years, he would visit North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, India, Central
Asia, South-East Asia and China before returning home in 1354 CE. He would chronicle his travels in ‘Tuḥfat an-
Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār’, meaning ‘A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities
and the Marvels of Traveling’.

After travelling across Central Asia and visiting the cities of Bokhara and Samarkhand, Battuta set out to visit the
court of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, then considered to be the wealthiest man in the Islamic world. Battuta is said
to have crossed the Indus river on 12 September 1333 CE and made his way to Delhi.

According to Battuta’s records, he and his companions were received by the Vizier (Prime Minister) as
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq was away in Kannauj. So impressed was Tughlaq when he finally met the visitors that he
is said to have offered Battuta the position as the judge of Delhi with a salary of 12,000 dinars per year. Though
Battuta left the city soon after, he has left a fascinating description of life in India at that time.

Dinar of Muhammad bin Tughlaq|Coin India

It is Battuta’s chronicles which give us an insight into the postal courier system that was operational in India. The
system is said to have employed a horse courier stationed every four miles and a foot courier stationed every
mile. The courier would be handed a box, which he would run with for a mile and pass it along to the next courier.

Ibn Battuta’s account also discusses Jogis, who would perform magic tricks on the streets and notes the practice
of Sati - the burning of widows. He also includes curious snippets about the supply of the pan and betel nut to the
imperial capital, which is said to have come from Chanderi, near Gwalior (now famous for its saris).

His descriptions of trees and fruits are most interesting, with an adoration for the jackfruit, which he termed the
‘Loveliest of all fruits in Hindustan’.

Curiously, he was intrigued by the mango. He’d write:

‘The fruit [mango] is about the size of a large damask prune, which when green and not quite ripe, of those which
happen to fall, they salt and thus preserve them just as lemon is preserved with us. In the same manner, they
preserve ginger when it is green, as also pods of pepper and this they eat with their meals’.
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Battuta would chronicle everyday life, noting that a mango and ginger pickle was an accompaniment to meals. He
also details various pulses (dals) and chicken cooked in ghee. Royal feasts, noted Battuta, ‘began with round
breads (chapattis) followed by roast meat, sambusak (samosas) and chicken served on a bed of rice. Finally,
followed by dessert like halwa and almond pudding.’

Battuta’s descriptions of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq cast the king as an eccentric man, prone to severe fits of temper.

Ibn Battuta also gave a detailed description of how the magnificent city of Delhi was, after Tughlaq compulsorily
moved every resident of Delhi to Daulatabad. Even the blind and the lame were not spared.

‘The Sultan was far too free in shedding blood... [He] used to punish small faults and great, without respect of
persons, whether men of learning or piety or noble descent. Every day there are brought to the audience-hall
hundreds of people, chained, pinioned, and fettered, and are...executed...tortured or...beaten.’

Daulatabad Fort|Wikimedia commons

An opportunity to leave the disturbing court presented itself when the Emperor of China sent a large embassy to
Delhi. Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, sought to send an equally grand mission with valuable gifts to China and
appointed Battuta as the Ambassador to China. However, on the way, the mission was intercepted and looted by
dacoits and Ibn Battuta just about managed to escape and save his life.

Ibn Battuta then decided to travel south. He mentions the magnificent fort of Deogiri, renamed Daulatabad by
Tughlaq, with its massive walls stretching three miles. He makes a mention also of the Marathas living in the
region and describes their food ‘the food of Marathas consists of rice, green vegetables and oil of sesame…they
carefully wash their food’.

From the Deccan, he travelled down south to Malabar, which he described in detail: ‘The whole of the way by
land lies under the shade of trees and at a distance of every half mile is a house made of wood, in which there are
chambers fitted up for comers and goers. To each there is a well out of which they drink… Upon anyone’s arriving
they cook and pour out a drink for him on a leaf of Banana and whatever he happens to leave, is given to the dogs’

Ibn Battuta spoke of the great trade taking place in Malabar through the ports of Calicut and Kollam, where ships
from China and Persia came to trade in pepper. He mentions the fabulous wealth of the merchants there and how
the favorite food of Kerala Muslims was a dish called rasoi made of rice, meats and coconut milk.
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Ibn Battuta stayed in Calicut for three months before he left for China. On the way, like a dedicated traveler, he
took a break in the tropical islands of Maldives calling them ‘one of the wonders of the world’. This is where his
travelogue through India ends.
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India through Manucci’s eyes
Niccolao Manucci, a traveller from Italy lived in India for a significant part of the 17th and 18th centuries. During
this period he wrote a memoir chronicling his journey through and observations of India. These observations give
a fascinating look into medieval India, some of the observations are discussed in this article.

Food and caste are inexorably connected in India and the same was observed by him. The caste system is reflected
by the higher caste’s abstention from eating meat about which Manucci says -

“…..Brahmins, ascetics, monks, nor the learned eat any meat or fish in this country…….I think it as well to state
the food and manner of eating of the other castes. None of those I have hitherto spoken of ever eat cow’s
flesh…but they eat all the other meats consumed in Europe….these people hold it an abomination to eat of the
cow…”

He also had interesting observations about the clothing styles in India, most probably a reference to widows and
religious mendicants or a funeral procession -

“I was much amused when I landed to see the greater number of the inhabitants dressed in white clothes, also
the many different kinds of people, as well men as women”

A Hindu funeral|Wikimedia Commons

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He goes on to say “mostly Hindus, do not conceal the face as in Persia and Turkey, where women go about with
their faces hidden. It is true that the Mahomedan woman do not allow their faces to be seen by anyone…” pointing
out the difference in the way Hindus and Muslims dress.

During his extensive travels, he spend time in the famed Mughal sarais and had the following observation about
them, “Each one of them might hold, more or less, from 800 to 1000 persons, with their horses, camels, carriages;
and some of them are even larger.”

He came to India during tumultuous times when Aurangzeb had imprisoned Shah Jahan and taken over the throne.
Aurangzeb had also executed his brother Dara Shukoh, beloved by all. About this incident, Manucci had the
following observation about Dara’s place in the court which helps one to understand Shahjahan’s preference for
Dara as the successor -

“All those who were present before the king were standing; only one man was seated at the side of the throne,
but his seat was lower, and this was the prince Dara, the king's son”

About the execution of Dara, Manucci narrates the following take -

“During the time that Aurangzeb was in Kashmir his usual diversion was going out to hunt, of which he was always
very fond. It happened once that, tired out, he sat down in the shade of a tree, having with him only one
huntsman, a great favorite, who had formerly served Dara in the same capacity. They held together conversation
on various subjects, and encouraged thereby, the huntsman asked Aurangzeb why he ordered Dara's head to be
cut off. Such a question put the royal person into some fear, and so he answered that it was his (Dara's) ill luck.”

Equestrian Portrait of Aurangzeb|Wikimedia Commons

He spent considerable amount of time in the Mughal court and “The most sumptuous of European courts cannot
compare in richness and magnificence with the lustre beheld in Indian courts” is what he thought about it.
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He observed many Hindu kingdoms in southern India and wasn’t very favourable towards them -

“It is quite normal amongst the Rajas of this Empire to conclude their wars through money, and the one who is
the weakest is frequently the one who gains the greatest advantage, and money alone is what they love, for so
far as men are concerned, none of the natives of these lands has any love, either for grandeur or for secrets”

This may be factual but also shows his disaffection towards the locals as well as the influence of Catholic
missionaries which whom he spend his last years in Pondicherry and Madras.

He observed many rituals, festivities and festivals while in India, one of the most remarkable being Holi -

“their merry-making or carnival, on which occasion Mahomedans also resort to pranks and filthy sports.... It is
their custom to disport themselves by throwing on each other's clothes scented oils and odoriferous dust, if they
are personages of position, or dirty water and other stinking things if they are low people. They run about in all
directions, just as with us in Europe is done at carnival time, with noisy cries and obscene words”

Holi being played in the courtyard, ca. 1795 painting|Wikimedia Commons

The Mango is a fruit which has fascinated visitors since time immemorial and this is what Manucci had to say
about it -

“The mango is a little bit heating and laxative, and how much you may eat them, you still desire to eat more and
they do you no harm...they also make the fruit into preserves which are exported to various places...”

In his estimation the best mangoes were grown in Goa.

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Ameeri Mango|Wikimedia Commons

Despite being in their service for a long period of time, he wasn’t very kind in describing the Portuguese -

“I have noticed with this nation [the Portuguese] that if anyone gives them good advice, they are suspicious, and
betray their feeling that there was no necessity for it. Sometimes they do the very contrary to what has been
suggested, in order not to admit that advice has been received.”

He was much kinder to the English and remarked that the people of Madras were the best disposed of any city he
had encountered.

The memoirs are a fascinating mix of history and gossip and need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Many of the
observations in his texts have been refuted by scholars as being inaccurate and one can also see that his own
prejudices and perceptions also come in the way of presenting an unbiased view of the world. Having said that,
there are many peeks into medieval India that his work provides and makes for a fascinating read.
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The Travels of Niccolao Manucci
It’s an instinct that’s as old as man himself – the drive to leave home, see what else is out there, perhaps
somewhere better to settle than the place you call home. Many a traveller has pushed geographical boundaries,
to trade, spread religions, extend political influence and build ties with neighbouring countries.

Often, the accounts they left behind were riveting – telling us as much about what they saw as the prism through
which they saw the new lands they reached and the people they encountered. But more than just engrossing
reading, their accounts are also a valuable repository of history because they took down tiny details that no Indian
would bother to write about, everyday activities, habits and customs that might otherwise have been lost to time.

Storia Do Mogor|Wikimedia Commons

Details like these, including some entertaining insights, form the memoirs of Niccolao Manucci, a fascinating and
versatile traveller, whose adventures in India are fit for a work of fiction. Born in Venice in 1638, Manucci spent
almost all his adult life in India and breathed his last in Chennai c. 1720. He arrived in Surat as a 17-year-old in
1656 and never went back.

He was in India for over more than 60 years!

Manucci’s life itself was full of twists and turns. Being Italian, he wasn’t a part of a particular European imperial
presence and could thus choose his loyalties. He travelled the length and breadth of the country and had many
allegiances. Over more than 60 years in India, he worked for the Mughals, Portuguese, British and at times was a
free agent.
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For a long time, Manucci’s life was shrouded in mystery till UCLA scholar Sanjay Subrahmanyam pieced it together
and gave us a timeline of his life. On first arriving in Surat in 1656, he joined the Mughal army under Dara Shukoh
as an artilleryman. In his first decade in India and after Dara’s execution, he travelled to Patna, Bengal, Agra and
Delhi, eventually joining the service of Raja Jai Singh. ‘The most sumptuous of European courts cannot compare
in richness and magnificence with the lustre beheld in Indian courts’ is what he said about the Mughal court.

Dara Shukoh with philosophers, painted by Bichitr|Wikimedia Commons

In 1666, Manucci left Mughal service, and attempt to try his luck in the Portuguese settlements of Bassein
(present-day Vasai) and Goa. During this time, he had reinvented himself as a doctor with the help of books sent
by his relatives as well as local vaids and hakims, and attached himself to Mughal princes as a ‘physician’.

But that game plan didn’t last long as Manucci returned to Daman and Bandra with the Portuguese. Despite being
in their service for a long time, he had great contempt for them.

He served the Mughals as a physician to Prince Shah Alam in the Deccan

However, this move to Portuguese territories didn’t last long as in 1678, Manucci suffered losses in a shipwreck
and returned to Mughal service as a physician to Prince Shah Alam in the Deccan. From 1682 to 1686, he again
see-sawed between the Mughals and the Portuguese, distrusted by the former and having altercations with the
latter, before settling in Chennai and marrying a English Catholic widow, Elizabeth Hartley Clarke, in October 1686.

Manucci occasionally served the East India Company and the Mughal administration in Arcot and enjoyed good
relations with some of the British governors. From this point, he lived primarily in Madras, focusing on writing and
getting his memoirs published.
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Plan of Fort St George and the city of Madras, 1726|Wikimedia Commons

He was complimentary towards the English, particularly those whom he met in Madras and also had a preference
for the French. When it came to natives of the land, his contempt was blatant. He recommended against life in
India for all Europeans and is meant for all natives, although he preferred life with the Mughals as opposed to life
with the Gentiles (Hindus)!

He preferred life with the Mughals as opposed to life with the Hindus

In 1700, Manucci sent his memoirs to Paris, where they ended up in the hands of the Jesuits. In 1705, François
Catrou (1659–1737), a monk suppressed the memoirs and wrote a distorted version of the text as ‘Histoire
générale de l’empire du Mogol depuis sa fondation, sur les mémoires portugais de M. Manouchi’ (Paris, 1705).
This made Manucci livid, and although he made
efforts to have his memoirs published for the
rest of his life, the first proper translation
somewhat true to his original would appear
only in 1907.

In 1706, after the death of his wife, Manucci

sold his house in Madras and divided his time
between Pondicherry and Madras, interestingly
territories under the control of the French and
British, respectively. He died in 1720, which is
known because his will was deposited in
Pondicherry in August 1720 by a Capuchin
monk, Father Thomas.
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Manucci and his work had fallen into obscurity till it was translated into English by William Irvine of the Bengal
Civil Services in the early 1900s and published in 1907 as Storia do Mogor or Mogul India; 1653 - 1708. The text,
written in Portuguese by an Italian living in India, was first popularised by a French adaptation and finally an
English translation!

Traveller, hustler, observer, ‘doctor’, emissary and soldier, Manucci wore many hats during his time in India. But
one thing is certain, he lived in exciting times!
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Afanasy Nikitin: India Through the Eyes of a Russian Traveller
Like all globe-trotters, Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin packed everything he needed for an extended overseas
trip, but he didn’t travel light. The Russian merchant, who journeyed all the way from Tver in Russia to India via
land and sea, took with him an unusual piece of cargo – a horse.

Nikitin was a canny merchant and he had heard that India did not breed good horses. So he figured he would get
a good price for it. These were medieval times and a trip like Nikitin’s was fraught with uncertainty, so carrying
valuables was not an option. Besides, there was a good chance he would be attacked and robbed by pirates. And
indeed he was. The horse would be his only insurance in a foreign land.

The reason Nikitin was prepared to risk so much was the reputation India had acquired. To the medieval world,
India was a land of wonder and many foreign travellers journeyed here in search of spices, silk, precious stones
and even religion. We are familiar with the names Megasthenes from Greece, Hiuen Tsang from China, Al Biruni
from Persia, Ibn Batuta from Morocco and Marco Polo from Italy, whose accounts have been referred to
throughout history.

Nikitin arrived in India in the 15th century CE, and his travelogue gives us vital clues to Indian society of those
times. It also tells us about 500-year-old links between India and Russia.

Monument of Afanasy Nikitin in Tver, Russia|Wikimedia Commons

A Long, Long Journey

Afanasy Nikitin was born in the Russian principality of Tver, a prosperous trading centre. Merchants from far and
wide flocked to Tver, bringing news of various commodities, and India featured prominently in their stories. This
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was a time when India was ruled by the Bahmani Sultanate (1347 - 1518), which was actively trading with Persia.
On hearing these stories, Nikitin decided to try his luck.

He, along with this precious horse, travelled along the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea into Iran and Oman, and to
the harbour of Hormuz in the Middle East. From here, he started his voyage across the Arabian Sea to India,
making several prolonged stops along the way and documenting everything in his journal, which he called Journey
Beyond Three Seas.

Chaul Harbour|Kurush Dalal

Nikitin reached the west coast of India in 1469, and landed at the port of Cambay (Khambhat) in present-day
Gujarat. He purchased some indigo here and continued towards Maharashtra, where his final destination was the
village of Chaul, in Raigad district. When he landed in Chaul, he wondered why the people were near-naked, their
heads and chests bare, and showing round bellies. He adds that they wore jewellery and ornaments. Just as they
were a source of wonder to him, so was he to them, for they ran after him, staring.

At that time, the local ruler was a subordinate of Bahmani Sultan Muhammad Shah III (1463-1482). Since the
Sultan was only a child when he ascended the throne, the powerful Mahmud Gawan acted as his vizier or Prime
Minister. He held the title of Malik et-Tuzzar. In his account, Nikitin calls him ‘Tuzzar’. Bidar served as the capital
city of the Bahmanis and Nikitin decided to visit it.

He wrote in his book that in Bidar, horses, brocade silk and “black people” were sold in the market. Nikitin’s hunch
had paid off. He sold his thoroughbred horse here at a good price and used the money on the rest of his tour. He
says the palace at Bidar had seven gates with a “hundred” armed guards at each gate. A “hundred” scribes
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registered the names of entrants. The palace was beautifully decorated with golden designs. He describes
elephants being used to carry “castles” (howdas or a seat with a canopy) which at times carried 12 men.

Fort of Bidar|LHI

Nikitin provides a picturesque description of the royal procession during Ulu Bayram (‘great feast’ or Eid). He
witnessed the pompous outing of the Sultan and of his dignitaries, with 300 elephants and men armed with
muskets. Horses in golden harnesses, trumpeters and dancers, and harem wives accompanied the train. A trained
elephant clad in rich fabric with a big iron chain in its mouth struck at people and horses to keep them away from
the Sultan. His journal also mentions the wars between the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire (1336
– 1646), which were vying for power in the Deccan.

Monument to Nikitin in Chaul|https://russinfo.in/

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However, Nikitin was not impressed by everything he saw. He observed that the upper castes wore silk but most
of the others wore little. He wrote that he was misled by accounts of Muslim merchants that India was a land of
abundance. Nothing of interest could be bought which was useful for his countrymen! Though pepper and indigo
were cheap, the duties were high for foreigners and transportation across the seas too dangerous due to pirates,
he wrote.

As for eating habits, Nikitin noted that men ate mutton, fowl, eggs and pork but not beef. Common food was
rice, khichri (a preparation of rice and lentils), vegetables, ghee and milk, and wine was made from coconuts. He
wrote that “from the excrement of the oxen, they baked bread and cooked meals, and with its ashes, they painted
their faces, foreheads and bodies”.

Nikitin also writes that he went to the holy town of Parvat and admired the great temple there (possibly
Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga in Andhra Pradesh). He said the temple complex was about half the size of that of his
hometown, Tver! Pilgrims here came in thousands, on foot and in oxen carts.

The wide-eyed Russian was fascinated by the devotion he saw in the people. He observed, “Altogether, there are
84 faiths in India and everyone believes in God. People worshipped different buths (idols) of different shapes, and
Elephant-man (Ganesh) and Monkey-human (Hanuman) forms. People of different faiths do not eat or drink
together, nor do they intermarry.”

Nikitin also visited the diamond mines around Raichur (in present-day Karnataka) and Golconda (in present-day
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), where the cut diamonds had a world market. He wrote about their prices and
quality. He also wrote about Calicut and Ceylon but scholars doubt he actually visited these places. Of Calicut
(Kozhikode), he mentions that it was the centre of all trade across the Indian Ocean. Pepper, dyes, nuts, camphor,
cinnamon, ginger and all kinds of spices grew around Calicut and were sold abroad. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was famous
for gems and fine elephants.
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Movie on Nikitin|Wikimedia Commons

After all this time in India, Nikitin had grown homesick. He notes that it was the “fourth time that Easter had gone
by” since he left home, and on this day, “his eyes sought consolation in the stars”. Though he was a devout
Christian, there were times when he was forced to convert to Islam but he “evaded them all”, as noted in his
book. But he also wrote that he adopted the Muslim name ‘Khoja Yusuf Khorasani’ in India.

After staying in India for three long years, Nikitin started his long journey home. He sailed from Dabhol (in Ratnagiri
district in Maharashtra) to Ethiopia, and then onwards to Muscat and further to Russia. Since his book ends
abruptly, it has been assumed that Nikitin died near Smolensk in Russia in 1472, just 400 km from his home in
Tver.

While he was no philosopher or scholar, Nikitin’s writings display a keen sense of observation. He studied India’s
social system, economy, religion, lifestyles and much more, and is a valuable source of information even today.
His fascinating glimpse of Indian life was, in 1957, made into a movie, in both Hindi and in Russian. The Hindi
version was named Pardesi, with Prithviraj Kapoor playing the role of Mahmud Gawan. The plot tells us about the
journey of Afanasy Nikitin (played by Russian actor Oleg Strizhenov), who travelled to India and falls in love with
a native girl, Champa (played by Nargis Dutt).