India Through Foreign Eyes

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Page Last Updated: December 07, 2024

Continuing our exercises in reconstruction of Indian history, we are providing some accounts of contemporary India through the writings of foreign travelers. The foreign accounts, while lacking native  understanding of the complex culture of ancient Indians, do provide valuable objective documentation as also confirm some of the glories claimed in Indian inscriptions. - Ed.

 
Fa-Hien's India
Excerpts from the Chinese scholar's notes of Indian travel in A.D. 399-414
Alberuni's India
Is it ironic that some of the the most comprehensive study of Hindu India of the middle ages is performed by an Islamic scholar?
Father of Indology
Krishnanand Kamat pays tribute to William Jones, who restarted the study of India in the 18th century.
Hiun-Tsiang
Hiun-Tsiang's travels in India in search of Buddhist texts & wisdom
Eye Witness Sati
Sleeman's Eye Witness Account of a Voluntary Suicide Ritual
Sati at Ikkeri
Pietro Della Valle's 16th Century Account of Sati.
Queen Abbakka of Ullal
Italian traveler Pietro Della Valle's account of Abbakka, a 16th century ruler of a small province in India.

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