Q: What inspired you to explore the journeys of European travellers to India, specifically from the 13th century onward?

A: My inspiration came from the idea of seeing India through the eyes of those who journeyed across continents to reach it. All these travellers looked at India from diverse points of view. Moreover, they were separated from each other by centuries, came from different regions of Europe, and were sufficiently remote, both in time and space, to convey a historical significance to their respective observations. Their eyes and ears were untrained, and they came here as independent persons, not as messengers from their respective rulers, barring William Hawkins, imparting even more worthiness to their accounts. They wrote as they saw.

European travellers during the medieval era embarked on remarkable journeys to India that authentically chronicled the course of Indian history. These courageous explorers, often driven by a thirst for knowledge, trade opportunities, or just wanderlust, left their homelands, sometimes even without the consent of their parents, to explore the rich, exotic, and distant land of India. These travellers faced dangerous journeys, with obstacles ranging from marauding gangs, harsh climates and unknown diseases to treacherous terrain and cultural differences. Nonetheless, their desire to explore India's exotic and distant lands propelled them forward.

 

Q: In researching these historical figures, what were some of the most surprising or unexpected insights you uncovered about their journeys?

A: Researching these travellers’ journeys was a fascinating dive into history, full of surprising insights. One of the most unexpected discoveries was that their anti-Hindu feelings, running all through their books, derive from their Christian background, as they were not used to seeing a deity with four arms and ten heads. The Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam have trained their adherents to treat the rest of the people as pagan, heathen, and kafir, meant only to be obliterated from the face of the earth. Yet, almost all of them were asked to convert to Islam. In contrast, they found Hindus comfortable with diverse religions.

However, some, especially women travellers in the early 20th century like Annie Besant, Freda Bedi, Margret Noble, and Sykes Marjorie, wrote to admire, empower, and inspire Indians. While a few others, like Fanny Parkes, wrote to erode, mock, and undermine all that was Hindu. Most of the travelling females diagnosed that it was the women who were the bulwark of Hindu society and they had to be tackled first if the British wanted to have a fair chance of culturally subjugating India.

The travellers of my book came during the Mughal heydays, and they remained struck by Muslim depravity and Hindu poverty. These travellers felt at home in Mughal darbar and partook in their sprawling hospitality, as Indians were enamoured with white skin even in those days.

 

Q: Each European traveller had unique motivations for coming to India—how did their different backgrounds and objectives shape their experiences and observations?

A: Indeed, the motivations and backgrounds of each European traveller deeply coloured how they experienced and recorded India. For example, missionaries like Francis Xavier were driven by a religious mission, so their observations often focused on religious practices, seeking ways, often brutal, to convert Hindus to Christianity. In contrast, traders like Jan Huygen van Linschoten and Tavernier were fixated on commercial landscapes, mapping trade routes, and studying market dynamics with a keen eye on the resources and wealth India offered. Tavernier took tons of Golconda diamonds, including the biggest ones, to France.

 

Q: The travellers documented a “dispassionate history” of India, capturing unfiltered and diverse perspectives. What do these accounts reveal about India during their respective eras that might be absent in traditional historical texts?

A:These travellers' accounts offer invaluable snapshots of India, often capturing details traditional historical texts overlook. Unlike standard chronicles, which focused on battles, rulers, or statecraft, these records bring out daily life, social structures, trade customs, and the incredible diversity of India's regions with rich, unfiltered observations.  In those, we also realise the achievements and mistakes committed by our ancestors.

Travellers like Ibn Battuta or François Bernier documented India as they saw it—its bustling marketplaces, religious practices, and street life. Italian explorer Nicolo Conti, who travelled to India in the fifteenth century, stated that the Vijayanagar king extracted tribute even from far-off countries like Ceylon, Pegu (Myanmar) and Tenasserim (Myanmar). He noted that even gold, silver & diamonds were sold on the streets of Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagar. Law and order was excellent & people from all over the world came to trade there.

What stands out in their accounts is the fluidity and vibrancy of Indian society—its adaptability to visitors and influences, yet its resilience in preserving its core identity. 

 

Q: In Crossing Continents, you highlight contradictions within India—how did the travellers navigate these complexities, such as the coexistence of spiritual practices and vibrant commerce?

A: European travellers often arrived with a sense of wonder—and sometimes confusion—encountering the unique blend of religiosity and commerce that defined much of Indian society. They were captivated by the intricate religious systems alongside bustling markets and thriving trade networks. Temples, for example, were not only places of worship but also the thriving centres of trade, education, health and local governance.

Francois Bernier, a French physician in the darbar of Aurangzeb, thought that India was the final destination of all the money in the world, even in the late Mughal period. The gold and silver, after circulating in every other quarter of the globe, came at length to be absorbed in Hindostan.

Manucci recorded that merchants, pilgrims, and saints frequently shared the same routes and accommodations. Mark Twain commented on thousands of pilgrims in the prosperous city of Banaras and went to the extent of calling the city as Idolville or Lingamburg, as he saw so many Lingams there. In India, spirituality and commerce complemented each other as there was no dichotomy between the two.

 

Q: Figures like Niccolao Manucci and Fanny Parkes are not widely known today. What contributions do you feel their narratives make to our understanding of both India and the global history of travel?

A: Manucci, as an Italian adventurer, was closely involved in Mughal politics and churned out its fascinating account. He also talked about the brutality of the Goa Inquisition, unleashed by Portuguese Christians, in which lakhs of Hindus were tortured to death over three centuries.

Fanny Parkes, a British woman with a deep curiosity for Indian life beyond the colonial sphere, provides distinct voices that reveal the complex and sad realities of Indian life. She wrote extensively about the contrast between the depraved lives of the British and the famine-stricken, starving natives. Yet, she often fell into the stereotyped European narratives of Sati, thuggee and castes while condemning them to no end. She conveniently forgot the menace of witch-hunting and highway robbery back home. All along, she remained partial to Muslims and barely devoted a chapter in her book to the Hindus. She noted that Muslims were being exploited and put up a strong resistance when the British tried to sell the Taj Mahal to Hindus.

 

Q: How did the various eras in which these travellers arrived influence their experiences and interactions with Indian society, culture, and politics?

A:Travellers in the 13th and 14th centuries encountered a flourishing medieval India with robust trade networks and complex Hindu and Islamic governance systems. Marco Polo marvelled at India’s wealth, and that laid the foundation of hysteria of European search for a sea route to partake in some of the portion of booming India’s trade. By contrast, travellers arriving in the late Mughal era or early colonial period witnessed a nation in flux, marked by the weakening of Mughals and Marathas and the growing influence of European companies, especially the British, French and Dutch.

A few scholars, such as William Jones, made significant contributions to studying Sanskrit and translating ancient Indian texts, leading to a greater understanding of Indian civilization in Europe.

However, the most influenced travellers were ancient ones, mainly Chinese, who, in turn, swayed their home countries so much that it enabled India to rule culturally all over Asia without shedding a single drop of blood for millennia. In that parameter, these medieval European travellers fail miserably.

 

Q: If you could sit down with one of these travellers, what questions would you most like to ask them about their time in India, and why?

A: If I could sit down with one of these travellers, I would be particularly drawn to Niccolo Manucci, whose life in India spanned over five decades in the 17th century. He witnessed the Mughal Empire's height and then gradual decline, interacting with key figures like Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb. I'd want to ask him about his impressions of the Mughal court and its inner workings. How did he perceive the balance of power, diplomacy, and intrigue within the empire? How were the Hindus treated by Muslims? What went behind the curtains of Mughal harems as he was the only one to have access? Why didn’t he do anything to prevent the Goa Inquisition?

I'd also be interested in his understanding of Hindu spirituality, given his fascination with yogis and ascetics and how he compared that world to his own Catholic beliefs. One will be surprised to know that Manucci drew hundreds of illustrations of Hindu festivals and published them in a separate book.

 

The book is peppered with such interesting anecdotes. May check it out at:

https://www.amazon.in/dp/9365478200/