Perceptions of Society (c. tenth to seventeenth century)
Women and men have travelled in search of work, to escape from natural disasters, as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims, or driven by a sense of adventure. Those who visit or come to stay in a new land invariably encounter a world that is different: in terms of the landscape or physical environment as well as customs, languages, beliefs and practices of people. Many of them try to adapt to these differences; others, somewhat exceptional, note them carefully in accounts, generally recording what they find unusual or remarkable. Unfortunately, we have practically no accounts of travel left by women, though we know that they travelled.
The accounts that survive are often varied in terms of their subject matter. Some deal with affairs of the court, while others are mainly focused on religious issues, or architectural features and monuments. For example, one of the most important descriptions of the city of Vijayanagara in the fifteenth century comes from Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi, a diplomat who came visiting from Herat.
In a few cases, travellers did not go to distant lands. For example, in the Mughal Empire, administrators sometimes travelled within the empire and recorded their observations. Some of them were interested in looking at popular customs and the folklore and traditions of their own land.
Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan. Khwarizm was an important centre of learning, and Al-Biruni received the best education available at the time. He was well versed in several languages: Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. Although he did not know Greek, he was familiar with the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers, having read them in Arabic translations. In 1017, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni; Al-Biruni was one of them. He arrived in Ghazni as a hostage, but gradually developed a liking for the city, where he spent the rest of his life until his death at the age of 70.
It was in Ghazni that Al-Biruni developed an interest in India. This was not unusual. Sanskrit works on astronomy, mathematics and medicine had been translated into Arabic from the eighth century onwards. When the Punjab became a part of the Ghaznavid empire, contacts with the local population helped create an environment of mutual trust and understanding. Al-Biruni spent years in the company of Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit, and studying religious and philosophical texts. While his itinerary is not clear, it is likely that he travelled widely in the Punjab and parts of northern India.
Source 1: Al-Biruni’s objectives
"a help to those who want to discuss religious questions with them (the Hindus), and as a repertory of information to those who want to associate with them."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Al-Biruni's approach was distinct from casual chroniclers; he sought to create an objective, reference-grade manual of Indian systems to facilitate reasoned dialog and structural understanding for Arabic-speaking scholars.
Al-Biruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is a voluminous text divided into 80 chapters covering religion, philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners, weights, iconography, laws, and metrology (the science of measurement).
Ibn Battuta’s book of travels, called Rihla, written in Arabic, provides rich details about subcontinental life in the fourteenth century. Born in Tangier into an educated family of Islamic legal scholars (shari‘a experts), he prioritized travel-acquired experiential knowledge over textual training.
Source 2: The bird leaves its nest
"My departure from Tangier, my birthplace, took place on Thursday ... I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveller ... nor caravan whose party I might join... So I braced my resolution to quit all my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests ... My age at that time was twenty-two years."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Illustrates the profound personal resolve required by 14th-century individual travellers, whose exploratory paths laid the foundations for inter-continental cultural mapping.
Upon his eventual return to Morocco in 1354, the local sovereign commissioned the formal documentation of his observations.
Source 3: Education and entertainment
"A gracious direction was transmitted that he should dictate an account of the cities which he had seen... a narrative which gave entertainment to the mind and delight to the ears and eyes, with a variety of curious particulars..." — Ibn Juzayy
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Confirms that royal courts valued travel logs as vital intellectual assets, mixing strategic geopolitical details with narrative accounts.
Following the Portuguese arrival c. 1500, numbers of Western observers—including Jesuit translator Roberto Nobili and commercial chronicler Duarte Barbosa—began recording local customs. French jeweler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and Italian physician Manucci followed after 1600.
François Bernier, a French political philosopher and doctor, lived inside the Mughal domains for twelve years (1656 to 1668), serving as physician to Prince Dara Shukoh and collaborating with the noble Danishmand Khan.
Source 4: Travelling with the Mughal army
"I am expected to keep two good Turkoman horses, and I also take with me a powerful Persian camel... I am also provided with every useful article, such as a tent of moderate size, a carpet, a portable bed made of four very strong but light canes... excellent rice for five or six days’ consumption... nothing being considered so refreshing in this country as lemonade and dahi."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Highlights the domestic logistical footprints required by court intellectuals accompanying imperial military movements, confirming specialized, adaptive desert marching protocols.
Al-Biruni identified three foundational barriers that obstructed foreign understanding of the subcontinent:
To overcome these, he relied on normative Brahmana texts, citing the Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, and the Manusmriti.
Al-Biruni sought cross-cultural parallels by comparing the Indian social layout to ancient Persia, which divided populations into knights, monks, scientists, and artisans, proving that social hierarchy was not unique to India.
Source 5: The system of varnas
"The highest caste are the Brahmana, of whom the books of the Hindus tell us that they were created from the head of Brahman... The next caste are the Kshatriya... After them follow the Vaishya... The Shudra, who were created from his feet... Much, however, as these classes differ from each other, they live together in the same towns and villages..."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Demonstrates that Al-Biruni's data models were derived from normative texts, though real-world settlements required close residential proximity and shared economic spaces.
Ibn Battuta used vivid descriptive analogies to communicate completely unfamiliar botanical produce to his North African readers:
Ibn Battuta characterized subcontinental cities as dense, highly vibrant centers of opportunity, featuring crowded streets and colorful markets filled with commodities.
Source 8: Dehli
"The city of Dehli covers a wide area... The rampart round the city is without parallel. The breadth of its wall is eleven cubits; and inside it are houses for the night sentry... store-houses for storing edibles... The grains that are stored can last for a long time... It has twenty eight gates... and of these, the Budaun darwaza is the greatest..."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Confirms that Delhi was built as a heavily fortified military compound, integrating massive resource storage units to withstand long siege warfare operations.
To encourage long-distance enterprise, the state maintained an efficient, dual-tier communication network:
Bernier argued that the primary difference between India and Europe was the total absence of private property in land within the Mughal domains. He asserted that crown landownership caused disastrous economic consequences:
Source 11: The poor peasant
"...Even a considerable portion of the good land remains untilled for want of labourers; many of whom perish in consequence of the bad treatment they experience from Governors... driven to despair by so excessive a tyranny, abandon the country."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: This critique was structured to participate in European political debates, using a bleak image of Mughal crown lands to warn Western monarchies against consolidating private assets.
Despite labeling Mughal centers as dependent "camp towns," Bernier's records reveal a complex commercial sector where roughly 15% of the population lived in urban communities—a proportion higher than contemporary Western Europe.
Source 14: The imperial karkhanas
"Large halls are seen at many places, called karkhanas or workshops for the artisans. In one hall, embroiderers are busily employed... In another, you see the goldsmiths; in a third, painters; in a fourth, varnishers... the artisans come every morning to their karkhanas where they remain employed the whole day..."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Provides direct evidence of a highly organized, state-directed manufacturing sector where the imperial court brought artisans together under centralized workshops to ensure high-quality production for elite trade.
Slaves were openly commodified, sold in urban markets, and regularly exchanged as diplomatic gifts across elite administrative tiers. Ibn Battuta purchased horses, camels, and slaves as tribute for the Sultan.
European writers highlighted the treatment of women as a key marker of cultural difference between East and West, with Bernier focusing his descriptions on the practice of sati.
Source 16: The child sati
"At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age... forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away..."
Analytical Historical Context & Interpretation: Documents the horrific social enforcement of sati, using poignant descriptions to highlight institutionalized gender oppression within certain segments of early modern society.
| Century Era | Lifespan / Period | Traveller Identity & Geographic Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 10th-11th Century | 973-1048 | Al-Biruni (from Uzbekistan) |
| 13th Century | 1254-1323 | Marco Polo (from Italy) |
| 14th Century | 1304-1377 | Ibn Battuta (from Morocco) |
| 15th Century | 1413-1482 | Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi (from Samarqand) |
| 15th Century | 1466-1472 | Afanasii Nikitin (from Russia) |
| 16th Century | Visit c. 1518 | Duarte Barbosa (from Portugal) |
| 16th Century | d. 1562 | Seydi Ali Reis (from Turkey) |
| 16th Century | 1536-1600 | Antonio Monserrate (from Spain) |
| 17th Century | 1626-1631 | Mahmud Wali Balkhi (from Balkh) |
| 17th Century | 1600-1667 | Peter Mundy (from England) |
| 17th Century | 1605-1689 | Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (from France) |
| 17th Century | 1620-1688 | François Bernier (from France) |