Description
Manohar Publishers & Distributors European Travellers in India by E F Oaten
India, during the medieval period, witnessed the arrival of European visitors and companies which served the needs of their respective empires. They have left behind numerous accounts of their experiences, which, in turn, served as an important source for understanding and reconstructing India’s past by British officials and modern historians. This small-volume covers the profiles of various European travellers who came to India during the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. Most of the European visitors came from powerful nations, such as Portugal, Italy, France, and England, and formed colonies in substantial parts of Asia, America, and Africa. This book covers the Christian missionary accounts active in parts of Goa and south India. It also covers the travelogue writers and other accounts written during the reign of Vijayanagar, Deccani Sultanates, Malabari, and other south Indian kingdoms in the above said period besides the arrival of English travellers during the reign of Mughal emperors, Jahangir (r.1605-1627), Shah Jahan (r.1628-1658), and Aurangzeb (r.1658-1707), as the English East India Company was founded in 1600 to serve English interests. There are also separate sections on famous travellers, such as Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Francois Bernier, Niccolao Manucci, and miscellaneous travellers who came during the Mughal era. About the Author E.F. Oaten (1884-1973) was a professor of History at the Presidency College, Calcutta. He was a member of the Indian Educational Service and served from 1909 to 1928. He is the author of My Memories of India; The Evidence Afforded by Them with Respect to Indian Social Institutions and the Nature and Influence of Indian Governments; and A Sketch of Anglo-Indian Literature.