Arrange the following foreign travellers to India in chronological order, beginning with the earliest: 1. Peter Mundy 2. Antonio Monserrate 3. Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin 4. Ibn Battuta Select the answer using the code given below:
- (a)2 – 1 – 4 – 3
- (b)2 – 3 – 4 – 1
- (c)4 – 3 – 2 – 1
- (d)3 – 4 – 1 – 2
Correct — C, the order is 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, reached India in the 1330s during Muhammad bin Tughlaq's reign; Afanasy Nikitin, the Russian merchant, travelled to the Deccan around 1470; Antonio Monserrate, the Jesuit priest, was at Akbar's court about 1580; and Peter Mundy, the English trader, visited during Shah Jahan's reign in the 1630s. Earliest to latest therefore runs 4 (Ibn Battuta), 3 (Nikitin), 2 (Monserrate), 1 (Mundy).
- (a)2 – 1 – 4 – 3 — It starts with the sixteenth-century Monserrate and ends with the fifteenth-century Nikitin, placing several travellers well out of order.
- (b)2 – 3 – 4 – 1 — It begins with Monserrate (c. 1580) before Ibn Battuta (1330s), reversing the two earliest and latest figures.
- (d)3 – 4 – 1 – 2 — It puts Nikitin first and Monserrate last, whereas Ibn Battuta is the earliest and Peter Mundy the latest of the four.
Foreign travellers left valuable accounts of India across the medieval and early-modern centuries. Dating each by the Indian ruler he describes — Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Bahmani Deccan, Akbar and Shah Jahan — reliably fixes the chronology of these four.
The safe method for a sequence question is to attach each name to a dynasty or ruler rather than to memorise exact years. That anchoring places the four at roughly the 1330s, 1470s, 1580s and 1630s, giving the order at a glance.
- Ibn Battuta, from Morocco, served as qazi of Delhi under Muhammad bin Tughlaq and recorded his travels in the Rihla (1330s).
- Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian merchant, visited the Bahmani Deccan around 1469-1474 and wrote 'A Journey Beyond the Three Seas'.
- Antonio Monserrate, a Jesuit priest, came with the first Jesuit mission to Akbar's court around 1580.
- Peter Mundy, an English trader, travelled in India under Shah Jahan in the 1630s and noted famine and prices.
- 1330s — Ibn Battuta, under Muhammad bin Tughlaq (item 4)
- c. 1470 — Afanasy Nikitin, in the Bahmani Deccan (item 3)
- c. 1580 — Antonio Monserrate, at Akbar's court (item 2)
- 1630s — Peter Mundy, under Shah Jahan (item 1)
Earliest to latest gives 4 – 3 – 2 – 1, the sequence in option (c).
- Guessing years instead of anchoring each traveller to a known ruler or dynasty.
- Confusing the early European Jesuit Monserrate with the later merchant-travellers of the seventeenth century.
Asked as a chronological-ordering question or as a match between a traveller and the ruler or period he visited.
Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India?
- (a) Francois Bernier
- (b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
- (c) Jean de Thevenot
- (d) Abbe Barthelemy Carre
Answer(b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Same theme of foreign travellers to India and their accounts. There you identify the traveller who described India's diamond mines (Tavernier); here you order four such travellers, from Ibn Battuta to Peter Mundy, by their period.
Which of the following were features of the postal system of India as described by Ibn Battuta ? 1. The foot post carries a ringing bell in one hand. 2. The horse post is called uluq, stationed at a distance of every four miles. 3. The foot post or dawa has one station at every four kos of distance. 4. The foot post is quicker than horse post. Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- (a) 1, 2 and 4
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 3 and 4
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 4
Same foreign-traveller source — Ibn Battuta, the earliest of the four in this question. There his account of the Delhi Sultanate's postal system is tested; here he heads the chronological order of travellers to India.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which foreign traveller visited India during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq?
- (a)Ibn Battuta
- (b)Afanasy Nikitin
- (c)Francois Bernier
- (d)Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Answer(a) Ibn Battuta — the Moroccan traveller who served as qazi of Delhi under Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Afanasy Nikitin, who wrote 'A Journey Beyond the Three Seas', came from which country?
- (a)Russia
- (b)France
- (c)Portugal
- (d)Morocco
Answer(a) Russia — Nikitin was a Russian merchant who visited the Deccan in the fifteenth century.