Foreign Travellers Who Visited India — Complete List with Rulers

Foreign travellers is one of the highest-return topics in history. The questions never change form — a traveller's name is given and you have to supply the ruler he visited, the country he came from, or the book he wrote. Nothing about the list is ever revised, so one well-made table keeps earning marks for years. This post arranges every traveller exams ask about, period by period, with the ruler and the book, followed by previous year questions.

1. Ancient period travellers

Two distinctions are worth fixing because papers exploit them. Megasthenes was a diplomat, sent by Seleucus Nicator to the Mauryan court, and his Indica survives only through quotations in later Greek writers. Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang were both Buddhist pilgrims, but they are separated by about two centuries and by the ruler they describe — Fa-Hien with the Guptas, Hiuen Tsang with Harsha. Hiuen Tsang is the one titled the Prince of Pilgrims, and he is also the source for the Kannauj assembly and the Prayag assembly held by Harsha.

2. Arab and medieval travellers

Al-Biruni is the standard answer whenever a question mentions a scholar who learnt Sanskrit and studied Indian philosophy, astronomy and social customs. He accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni's campaigns rather than travelling independently.

Ibn Battuta is the most asked medieval traveller. Remember three things about him — Morocco, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, and the fact that the Sultan made him Qazi of Delhi and later sent him as an envoy to China. His account Rehla is a major source for the Tughlaq period.

3. Travellers to Vijayanagara and the Bahmani kingdom

This block is asked as a set, because four different foreigners described the same empire under four different rulers.

The pairing examiners like most is Domingo Paes with Krishnadevaraya, since Paes left the fullest description of the capital city at its height. Abdur Razzaq is the Persian one; Nikitin is the Russian one and the only traveller in the list associated with the Bahmani kingdom rather than Vijayanagara.

4. Travellers to the Mughal court

Three traps live in this table. First, Hawkins and Thomas Roe both came to Jahangir, and papers ask which of them was the formal ambassador — that is Roe. Second, Bernier and Tavernier were both French and both spanned Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb; Bernier was the physician and the political observer, Tavernier the jeweller and merchant. Third, Manucci was Italian, not French, and his Storia do Mogor is the account most associated with the war of succession.

5. Books and their travellers

Book-to-author questions are asked separately from ruler questions, so keep this short list on its own.

6. How to revise this topic

Revise by ruler, not by traveller. A question almost always gives you one of the two and asks for the other, and rulers are the shorter list. Fix Chandragupta Maurya with Megasthenes, Chandragupta II with Fa-Hien, Harsha with Hiuen Tsang, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq with Ibn Battuta, Krishnadevaraya with Domingo Paes, and Jahangir with Hawkins and Roe. Those six pairs cover the large majority of what is asked.

Then add the country column, since nationality is the second most common form of the question. Group them mentally: two Chinese pilgrims, one Moroccan, one Russian, three Portuguese, two French, one Italian at the Mughal court and one at Vijayanagara, and the English cluster around Jahangir.

Finally, the books. Only eight titles matter, and six of them belong to travellers you have already fixed by ruler. Reading the table twice a week for a month puts it away permanently, which is exactly the kind of return that makes this topic worth doing early rather than late.

7. Previous year questions

1. Who wrote Indica? — Megasthenes
2. Megasthenes was the ambassador of which ruler? — Seleucus Nicator
3. Fa-Hien visited India during the reign of which king? — Chandragupta II
4. Which Chinese traveller is known as the Prince of Pilgrims? — Hiuen Tsang
5. Hiuen Tsang visited the court of which ruler? — Harshavardhana
6. Who wrote Tahqiq-i-Hind? — Al-Biruni
7. Al-Biruni came to India with which invader? — Mahmud of Ghazni
8. Ibn Battuta visited India during the reign of which Sultan? — Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq
9. What post was given to Ibn Battuta in Delhi? — Qazi
10. Which traveller wrote Rehla? — Ibn Battuta
11. Abdur Razzaq visited the court of which Vijayanagara ruler? — Dev Raya II
12. Domingo Paes visited India during the reign of which ruler? — Krishnadevaraya
13. Which Russian traveller visited the Bahmani kingdom? — Athanasius Nikitin
14. Sir Thomas Roe was the ambassador of which English king? — James I
15. Who wrote Storia do Mogor? — Niccolao Manucci

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Which foreign traveller is asked most often in exams?

Ibn Battuta and Hiuen Tsang, followed by Megasthenes. For Ibn Battuta the expected facts are Morocco, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, the post of Qazi of Delhi, and the book Rehla. For Hiuen Tsang they are China, Harshavardhana, Nalanda and Si-Yu-Ki.

What is the difference between Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang?

Both were Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, but roughly two centuries apart. Fa-Hien came during Chandragupta II of the Gupta dynasty; Hiuen Tsang came during Harshavardhana and studied at Nalanda. Their books are Fo-Kuo-Ki and Si-Yu-Ki respectively.

Were Bernier and Tavernier the same person?

No, though both were French and both wrote about the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Francois Bernier was a physician and wrote Travels in the Mogul Empire; Jean-Baptiste Tavernier was a jeweller and merchant who made several journeys to India.

Who was the first English ambassador to the Mughal court?

Sir Thomas Roe, sent by James I to Jahangir. William Hawkins came earlier and also carried a letter from James I, but Roe is the one described as the formal ambassador and the one who obtained trading concessions.

Which travellers described the Vijayanagara Empire?

Nicolo Conti during Dev Raya I, Abdur Razzaq during Dev Raya II, Domingo Paes during Krishnadevaraya and Fernao Nuniz during Achyuta Deva Raya. Athanasius Nikitin, often listed alongside them, wrote about the Bahmani kingdom instead.

For more History topics in simple language, see our Gupta Empire and Delhi Sultanate posts, or browse the History section. Preparing for a specific exam? Start with the SSC CGL guide or join the 100 Hour GS Course.