Foreign Travellers’ Writings: Windows into Ancient and Medieval India

     Foreign travellers have played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of India’s rich and diverse past. Their accounts, spanning from ancient Greek historians to medieval Arab scholars and Chinese pilgrims, offer invaluable insights into the subcontinent’s society, culture, economy, and religion.

Greek and Roman Accounts

     The earliest references to India in Greek literature appear as early as the 5th century BCE, growing in frequency and detail over the centuries. Among the most renowned works is the Indica by Megasthenes, the ambassador of Seleucus Nikator to the court of Chandragupta Maurya. Although the original text is lost, later Greek writers preserved paraphrases and summaries of its contents, providing glimpses into the Mauryan administration and society.

    From the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE, numerous Greek and Roman texts referenced India, including the works of Arrian, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and the anonymous author of the Periplus Maris Erythraei (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea). These sources are particularly significant for understanding the history of Indian Ocean trade, highlighting India’s role as a vibrant hub of commerce and cultural exchange.

Chinese Pilgrims and Buddhist Heritage

    Driven by a quest for authentic Buddhist scriptures and spiritual enlightenment, several Chinese monks undertook arduous journeys to India. Their detailed travelogues shed light on religious practices, educational institutions, and daily life in ancient India.

• • Faxian (Fa Hien) traveled from 399 to 414 CE, focusing his explorations in northern India. His writings provide valuable information on Buddhist monastic life and pilgrimage sites.
  • Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) embarked on his journey in 629 CE, spending over a decade traversing the length and breadth of India. His comprehensive accounts remain critical sources for understanding Indian society, religion, and education during the 7th century.
  • Yijing, another eminent Chinese traveller of the 7th century, resided for ten years at the renowned Nalanda monastery, documenting the scholastic and spiritual pursuits of the era.

These pilgrims’ narratives are indispensable for reconstructing the history of Buddhism and the broader cultural landscape of their time.

Arab and Persian Scholars

     The rapid expansion of the Arab world, coupled with the rise of Islam and the patronage of the Caliphs, spurred a new wave of intellectual curiosity about India. While early Arab scholars often relied on Greek sources, figures such as Jaihani, Gardizi, and Al-Biruni developed independent and critical perspectives.

• • Al-Biruni (Abu Rihan), one of the greatest intellectuals of the early medieval period, journeyed to India to deepen his understanding of its people, languages, and traditions. His magnum opus, Tahqiq-i-Hind, covers a vast array of topics, including Indian scripts, sciences, geography, astronomy, philosophy, literature, beliefs, customs, religions, festivals, rituals, social organization, and laws.
  • Al-Biruni’s meticulous observations not only provide a detailed snapshot of 11th-century India but also assist modern historians in dating key historical events, such as the beginning of the Gupta era in 319–320 CE.

Other notable Arab and Persian travellers who chronicled their impressions of India include Suleiman, Al-Masudi, and Ibn Battuta. Literary works such as Firdausi’s Shahnama and Saadi’s Gulistan also contain incidental references to Indian trade and society.

      The writings of these foreign travellers remain invaluable historical sources, offering unique, first-hand perspectives on India’s evolving civilization. Their observations continue to enrich our understanding of the country’s ancient and medieval heritage, bridging cultures and centuries through the power of the written word.

Archaeological Sources

    Archaeology—the study of the human past through material remains—is closely connected with history. Material remains range from vestiges of grand palaces and temples to the small, discarded products of everyday human activity such as pieces of broken pottery. They include different things such as structures, artefacts, bones, seeds, pollen, seals, coins, sculptures, and inscriptions. Archaeologists increasingly rely on various scientific techniques in order to obtain precise information about the lives of past communities. These are especially useful in dating archaeological material. Many dating methods are based directly or indirectly on the principle of radioactive decay. Carbon-14 or radiocarbon dating is the best-known of these, but others include thermo luminescence, potassium-argon, electron spin resonance, uranium series, and fission-track dating.

     The credit for excavating the Pre-Aryan past goes to Sir William Jones of the Asiatic Bengal Society. James Prinsep, the Secretary of ABS succeeded for the first time in deciphering the Brahmi script. Sir Alexander Cunningham, the father of Indian archaeology, arrived in India in 1831. He judged the ruins of ancient sites of pre-Aryan civilization. He also identified the ruins of the ancient side of pre- Aryan culture. Later on, in 1901, Lord Curzon revived this work and John Marshall was appointed as its director general and he discovered the cities Harappa and Mohenjodara. Rakhal Das Banerji, in 1922, found seals at Mohenjodaro. It was the remains of pre-Aryan civilization. Later, the sites were excavated under the direction of Marshall from 1924 to 1931. Sir R.E. Mortimer Wheeler made important discoveries at Harappa after the Second World War. Indian epigraphists such as Bhanu Daji, Bhagavanlal Indraji, Rajendralal Mitra and R.G. Bahndarkar contributed to the excavations of new sites.

    The study of coins is called numismatics. Important historical facts are obtained through it. Samudragupta’s Aswameda coins and lion slayer coins reflect his ambitions and love of hunting. He has been seen playing on a lyre in a coin which gives an idea of his love of music. The Punch Mark Coins (of silver and copper) are the earliest coins of India.

     The Kushanas issued gold coins depicting many deities on their coins. The coins of Vima Kadphises bear the figure of Lord Shiva. Thus, coins help discover ideas about the complementary economic condition and provide facts with date that help us in fixing chronology. In Panini’s Astadhyayee, Brahmin literature and Upanishads we find the descriptions of Vedic coins or currency named Nishka, Shatman, Suvarna, and Panishka. The Gold coins of Gupta’s period are quite important in this context. Inscriptions are the words cut on stone or metals. The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy.

     Inscriptions are the most reliable evidence and are free from interpolations. Ashokas’s rock-cut edicts, pillar edicts, inscriptions of Kharvela and Allahabad Prasasti by Harisena and the inscriptions found at Khalimpur and Bhagalpur of the Gupta Age are important evidence.

     Monuments and buildings reflect the growth of material prosperity and the development of culture. The ancient monuments of Taxshila provide information about the Kushanas and its sculpture imparts the knowledge of Gandhar Kala. The Mauryan history is known by the Stupas, Chaityas and Vihars.

      Ancient history forms a vital foundation for understanding our land and its evolution over thousands of years. Exploring ancient details allows us to visualize how regions once were, offering a window into the distant past. The most reliable and valuable means of uncovering this knowledge is through the study of traditional literature written during those times. These literary sources vividly portray the economic structures, religious beliefs, systems of governance, cultural practices, and social norms of early and ancient India, helping us reconstruct and appreciate the richness of our heritage