THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS

Fa-Hien Huan Sang Who are travelers ? Why do people travel ? ? ? Man and Women who travel from one place to another are called travelers. They travel in search of work, to escape from natural disasters, as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims or driven by a sense of adventure. Many of them try to adapt to various differences (customs, languages, beliefs and practices) others note them carefully and write accounts, generally recording what they find unusual or remarkable. Unfortunately we have no accounts of travel left by women

Accounts Accounts are the carefully written records of the travelers, what they found unusual or remarkable. Are all accounts same ? No, the accounts that survive are often varied in terms of their subject matter. (a) Some deal with affairs of courts. (b) While others mainly focus on religious issues. (c) Some give importance to the architectural features and monuments for example Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi who came from Herat describes the city of Vijayanagara. (d) Some of them were interested in looking at popular customs and folk lore and traditions.

Why are accounts interesting ? The authors came from vastly different social and cultural environments, they were often more attentive to every day activities and practices. They wrote in detail about some of the routine maters as well, which local writers did not considered worthy of being recorded. Therefore in the above perspective their accounts become interesting.

In this chapter we will focus on the accounts of three men and do TRAVELLERS In this chapter we will focus on the accounts of three men and do their comparative study.

AL – BIRUNI Al- Biruni’s traliterature is known as Kitab –ul-Hind IBN – BATTUTA’S Ibn Battuta’s book of travels is RIHLA Francois Bernier A Doctor with a difference

AL-Biruni Ibn Battuta Francois Bernier Uzbekistan Morocco France TRAVELLERS AL-Biruni Ibn Battuta Francois Bernier Uzbekistan Morocco France 11 th century 14 th century 17 th century Kitab-ul-Hind Rihla Account on India Explain caste Explain Islamic Explain Mugal system in India religious laws court Account

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