Through the Eyes of Travellers

Al-Biruni was born in 973 CE in Khwarizm (modern-day Uzbekistan), an eminent polymath educated in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy:

• In 1017, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Khwarizm and brought Al-Biruni to his capital Ghazni. When Mahmud invaded northwestern India, Al-Biruni spent years in the Punjab, learning Sanskrit, reading the Vedas, Upanishads, and Patanjali's Yogasutras.
• The Kitab-ul-Hind (Written in Arabic): An encyclopedic masterwork of 80 chapters covering Indian religion, philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, caste rules, weights, and legal systems. It follows a rigorous geometric structure: starting with a question, following with a Sanskrit-based analysis, and concluding with a comparison with Greek and Persian cultures.

Al-Biruni's "Three Barriers" to Understanding India:

1. The Sanskrit Language: Sanskrit was so grammatically complex and vast in vocabulary that ideas could not easily be translated into Arabic or Persian.
2. Religious & Philosophical Isolation: Deep divergence in religious dogmas, beliefs, and practices.
3. Insularity and Pride of the Brahmins: The self-absorption and intellectual isolation of native Brahmins, who believed no other nation possessed knowledge equal to theirs.

Al-Biruni's Critique of the Caste System:

While Al-Biruni documented the four Varnas, he rejected the Brahmanical notion of hereditary ritual pollution. He stated that according to the universal law of nature, "everything that becomes impure strives to regain its pristine state of purity" (the sun cleanses air, salt purifies the sea). He argued that if ritual pollution were permanent, biological human survival would be impossible!

Ibn Battuta (born 1304 in Tangier, Morocco) was an adventurous scholar trained in Islamic jurisprudence (*Sharia*). Over 30 years, he traveled 73,000 miles across North Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and China:

A. In the Service of Muhammad bin Tughlaq:

Arriving in Delhi in 1333, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq was impressed by his Islamic scholarship and appointed him as the Qazi (Judge) of Delhi with a lavish salary. Later imprisoned after falling under suspicion, he was restored to favor and sent as the Sultan's official royal imperial ambassador to the Mongol Emperor of China in 1342.

B. Observations in the "Rihla" (Travelogue):

• Vibrant Indian Cities: Described Delhi as an enormous, magnificent metropolis with fortified multi-gate walls. Described Daulatabad (in Maharashtra) as rivaling Delhi in commercial grandeur, boasting specialized bazaars like Tarababad (Market of Singers) with elaborately decorated performance pavilions.
• Curiosities: The Coconut and Paan: Expressed amazement at the Coconut (likening it to a human head with two eyes and hair, producing oil and fiber) and the Betel leaf (Paan) (chewed with areca nut and lime for pleasure and breath freshening).
• Slaves in Trade: Slaves were openly traded in markets as domestic servants, palanquin carriers, and palace spies. Female slaves skilled in music and dance were presented to the Sultan.

Ibn Battuta was astonished by the incredible speed and efficiency of the medieval Indian postal communication network, which enabled the state to maintain centralized rule across distant provinces:

The Dual Postal System:

1. 1. The Horse Post (Uluq):
   • Operated using royal horses stationed at post stations established every four miles (called a Kharit).
   • Horses were galloping relays carrying urgent royal dispatches and precious state shipments.
2. 2. The Foot Post (Dawa):
   • Stationed every one-third of a mile (each mile was divided into three stations called Dawa).
   • At each station, men sat ready with their loins girded. A courier took the letters in one hand and a wooden rod fitted with brass bells in the other. Hearing the ringing bells, the next courier stood ready; as soon as the first arrived, the second seized the dispatch and sprinted like lightning to the next station!
   • Incredible Speed: While an ordinary merchant caravan took 50 days to march from Sindh to Delhi, the foot-post delivered royal intelligence reports and fresh Ganga drinking water in just five days!

François Bernier was a French physician, philosopher, and political theorist who lived in Mughal India for 12 years (1656–1668), serving as physician to Prince Dara Shukoh and later Emperor Aurangzeb:

A. The Theory of Crown Ownership of Land:

Bernier dedicated his treatise Travels in the Mogul Empire to French King Louis XIV. He argued that the fundamental difference between prosperous Europe and impoverished Asia was the absence of private property in land in Mughal India:

• Bernier claimed the Mughal Emperor was the sole owner of all land in the empire, leasing it temporarily to nobles (jagirdars).
• Because nobles could not pass land to their children, they had zero incentive to invest long-term capital into agricultural improvements (canals, wells). Instead, they ruthlessly squeezed peasants for taxes.
• Bernier's Bleak Picture: He claimed India had no middle class; it was divided between a tyrannical monarch surrounded by corrupt courtiers and a starving mass of impoverished beggars. Modern historians have proven Bernier was wrong: private peasant land rights and hereditary zamindari sales existed across the Mughal Empire!
• Bernier's flawed theory influenced European thinkers like Montesquieu (Oriental Despotism) and Karl Marx (Asiatic Mode of Production).

B. "Camp Towns" & Eyewitness of Sati:

• Camp Towns: Bernier characterized Mughal cities as parasitic "Camp Towns" that depended entirely on the imperial royal court's presence, claiming they would collapse if the Emperor marched away with his army.
• The Practice of Sati: Left a harrowing eyewitness account of an involuntary Sati at Lahore: a helpless 12-year-old widow who wept bitterly was tied with ropes to a burning wooden pyre by screaming relatives to prevent her escape, exposing brutal gender violence.