Important Foreign Travellers / Envoys

• Megasthenes (302-298 BC) : An ambassador of Selecus Nikator, who visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya and wrote an interesting book ‘Indica’ in which he gave a vivid account of Chandragupta Maurya’s reign.
• Fa-Hien (405-411 AD) : He came to India during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. He was the first Chinese pilgrim to visit India to collect Buddhist texts and relics
• Hiuen-Tsang (630-645 AD) : He visited India during the reign of Harshavardhana.
• I-tsing (671-695 AD) : A Chinese traveller, he visited India in connection with Buddhism.
• Al-Masudi (957 AD) : An Arab traveller, he has given an extensive account of India in his work ‘Muruj-ul-Zehab’.
• Al-beruni (1024-1030 AD) : He came to India along with Mahmud of Ghazni during one of his Indian raids. He travelled all over India and wrote a book ‘Tahqiq-i-Hind’.
• Macro Polo (1292-1294 AD) : A Venetian traveller, visited South India in 1294 A.D. His work ‘The Book of Sir Marco Polo’ gives an account of the economic history of India.
• Ibn Batuta (1333-1347 AD) : A Morrish traveller, his book ‘Rehla’ (the Travelogue) throws a lot of light on the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq and the geographical, economic and social conditions of that time.
• Shihabuddin al-Umari (1348 AD) : He came from Damascus and he gives a vivid account of India in his book, ‘Masalik albsar fi-mamalik al-amsar’.
• Nicolo Conti (1420-1421 AD) : A Venetian traveller, gives a comprehensive account of the Hindu kingdom of Vijaynagar.
• Abdur Razzaq (1443-1444 AD) : He was a Persian traveller, came to India and stayed at the court of the Zamorin at Calicut. He has given a vivid account of the Vijaynagar empire.
• Athanasius Nikitin (1470-1474 AD) : He was a Russian merchant, describes the condition of the Bahmani kingdom under Muhammad III (1463-82).
• Durate Barbosa (1500-1516 AD) : He was a Portuguese traveller, has given a valuable narrative of the government and the people of the Vijaynagar empire.
• Dominigo Paes (1520-1522 AD) : He was Portuguese traveller, visited the court of Krishnadeva Raya of the Vijaynagar Empire.
• Fernao Nuniz (1535-1537 AD) : A Portuguese merchant, He wrote the history of the empire from its earliest times of the closing years of Achyutdeva Raya’s reign.
• John Hughen Von Linschotten (1583 AD) : He was a Dutch traveller, has given a valuable account of the social and economic life of South India.
• William Hawkins (1608-1611 AD) : He was an English ambassador of British King James I to the court of Jahangir (1609).
• Sir Thomas Roe (1615-1619 AD) : He was an ambassador of James I, King of England, at the court of Jahangir, (the Mughal Emperor).
• Fransciso Palsaert (1620-1627 AD) : He was a Dutch traveller, stayed at Agra and gave a vivid account of flourishing trade at Surat, Ahmedabad, Broach Cambay, Lahore, Multan, etc.
• Peter Mundy (1630-34 AD) : He was an Italian traveller to the Mughal empire in the reign of Shahjahan, he gives valuable information about the living standard of the common people in the Mughal Empire.
• John Albert de Mandesto (1638 AD) : He was German traveller, who reached Surat in 1638.
• Jeen Baptiste Travernier (1638-1663 AD) : He was a French traveller, his account covers the reign of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.
• Nicolao Manucci (1653-1708 AD) : He was an Italian traveller, got service at the court of Dara Shikoh.
• Francois Bernier (1656-1717 AD) : He was French physician and philosopher. Danishamand Khan, a noble of Aurangzeb, was his patron.
• Jean de Thevenot (1666 AD) : He was French traveller, has given a good account of cities like Ahmedabad, Cambay, Aurangabad and Goloconda.
• John Fryer (1672-1681 AD) : He was an English traveller, has given a vivid account of Surat and Bombay.
• Gemelli Careri (1693 AD) : He was an Italian traveller, his remarks on the Mughal emperor’s military organisation and administration are important.