[History] Foreign Travellers in Ancient & Medieval India

Most Important Foreign Travellers in Ancient & Medieval India:

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NAME	COUNTRY	PERIOD	INFO
MEGASTHENES	GREECE	AFTER THE BATTLE BETWEEN CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA AND SELUCAS(305 B.C-DEBATABLE).	Ambassador  of  Selucus I of Syria. Came to court of Sandrokottes(Chandragupta maurya). Described the social and administrative conditions under the  mauryas. Wrote Indica. In Indica we found  the royal palace Magadha made by wood. 7 division of Indian cast system.
PTOLEMY	GREECE	130 A.D	Wrote “the geography of India”-which describes  ancient Indian geography.
FA-HIEN	CHINA	399 A.D-412 A.D	Visited India during Chandragupta II(Vikramaditya). Visited Lumbini, the birth place of  Buddha. Journey described in his travelogoue as “Record of Buddhist Kingdoms”. Wrote Fo-Kyo-Ki.
HIUEN TSANG	CHINA	629 A.D-645 A.D	Visited the court of Harshavardhana. Came through Tashkent and Swat valley. His book “Si-yu-ki or the records of        western world”.
AL BERUNI	MIDDLE ASIA	1000A.D-1025A.D	Came along with Mahmud of Ghajni. First Muslim scholar to study India. Known as founder of Indology. Wrote Tarikh al Hind/kitab-ul-hind.
IBN BATUTA	MORROCCO	1333A.D	Was appointed a Qadi or judge, by Md. Bin Tughlaq. Wrote Kitab-ul-rahla.
MARCOPOLO	ITALY	1288A.D-1292A.D	Visited Kakatiya state under Rudrmadevi(pandayas). Well known European travellar who visited many eastern countries.
NICOLO CONTI	ITALIAN	1420-1421 A.D	Came during the rule of Devraya Iof Sangam dynasty of Vijayanagar empire. Has given a graphic account of Vijayanagars capital.
ABDUL RAZZAK	PERSIAN	1442-1445 A.D	Ambassador of Shahrukh of Timurid dynasty. Came during the rule of Devraya II of Sangam dynasty of Vijayanagar empire. Given a brief account of the country side, in his Matla us saddin wa majuma ul Baharain.
AFNASY NIKITIN	RUSSIA	1469-1472 A.D	A Russian merchant who documented his Indian visit   in a narrative”The journey beyond 3 seas”. He had visited the Bahamani sultanate.
DOMINGO PAES	PORTUGAL	1520-1522A.D	Came during the rule of Krishnadevaraya(1509-1529) of Tuluv dynasty of Vijayanagar empire.
FERNAO NUNES	PORTUGAL	1535-1537 A.D	He was a chronicler and a horse trder. Came during the rule of Achutya devaraya(1529-1542A.D) of Tuluv dynasty of Vijayanagar empire. Informs us that a large number of kings paid tribute to him.
WILLIAM HAWKINS	BRITAIN	1609-1611A.D	He was an ambassador of King James I. Visited the court of Jahangir.
SIR THOMAS ROE	BRITAIN	1615A.D	He was the ambassador of King James I. Arrived at Jahangirs court. By 1618 he obtained 2 farmans confirming free trade. (His Journal of the mission to the Mogul Empire, several times printed, has been re-edited, with an introduction by W Foster, for the Hakluyt Society (1899). This is a valuable contribution to the history of India in the early 17thcentury. Of his correspondence)
PIETRO DELLA VALLE	ITALY	1623-1624A.D	Visited the  king of Vekatappa nayaka of  Keladi in India.
SIR WILLIAM NORRIS	BRITAIN	-	He was the companies  ambassador to the Mughal empire. Visited during Auranjeebs reign.

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Other Foreign Travelers  (Of The Ancient and Medieval Period) : 

NAME	PERIOD	Significant points(if any)
Unknown greek sailor	MID FIRST CENTURY	Wrote a book named “Periplus of the erethraean sea”.-describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Indian subcontinent
ST.THOMAS	14-15 A.D	An apostle who spread Christianity in Kerala.
CHENG-HI	1421-1431A.D	Came during the reign of Jalauddin(Bengal)
LUDVICO DE VORTHEMA	1502-1508 A.D	Italian merchant who visited India in 1502-1508 A.D left his memoirs in Egypt,        India, Syria etc.
BARTOLOMIU-DIAS(PORTUGUESE)	1503-1508 A.D	Came in Deccan. In 1488 he sailed around the tips of Africa the first European to have done so.
EDWARDO BARBOSA	1516-1518A.D	Came during the reign of Krishnadevaraya.
ANTHONY MONSERRATE	1578-1582A.D	Came during the reign of Akbar
RALPH FITCH	1585-1591A.D	Came during the reign of Akbar.
CAESAR FREIDRICK	16 TH CENTURY	Came to Vijayanagar.
JOHN LISCONTEN	16TH CENTURY	Came to Vijayanagar.
LAMA TARANATH	16TH CENTURY	Came to east India.
WILLIAM FITCH	1608-1612A.D	Came during Jahangir.
JOHN-JOURDIAN	1608-1617A.D	Came during Jahangir.
NICHOLAS DOWNTON	1608-1615A.D	Came during Jahangir.
NICHOLAS WITHINGTON	1612-1616A.D	Came during Jahangir.
THOMAS CORYET	1612-1617A.D	Came during Jahangir.
EDWARD TERRY	1616-1619A.D	Came during the rule of Jahangir.
PAUL CANNIN(BRITISH)	1615-1625	Came during the  rule of  Jahangir.
FRANSISCO PELASERT	1620-1627 A.D	Came during Jahangir.
PIETRA DELLAVALE	1622-1633A.D	Jahangir.
JOHN LAIT	1626-1633A.D	Came during Shahjahan..
PETER MUNDY	1630-1634A.D	Shahjahan.
MANUCCI	1656-1687A.D	Aurangjeeb.
BERNIER	1658-1668A.D	Aurangjeeb.
JEAN DE THEVENOT	1666-1668A.D	Aurangjeeb.
GEMELLI CARERI	1695-1699A.D	Came to Bijapur.

*The list of the travelers is much more than the above mentioned ones but  significant ones has been mentioned.