Chapter 5 — Through the Eyes of Travellers

The chapter focuses on Al-Biruni, who came from Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan (eleventh century); Ibn Battuta, who came from Tangier in Morocco, northwestern Africa (fourteenth century); and François Bernier, a Frenchman (seventeenth century).

Kitab-ul-Hind is Al-Biruni's book written in Arabic. It is a voluminous text divided into 80 chapters covering subjects such as religion and philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures, iconography, laws and metrology. Al-Biruni generally structured each chapter by beginning with a question, following with a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and concluding with a comparison with other cultures.

Al-Biruni knew Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. Although he did not know Greek, he was familiar with the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers through Arabic translations. He translated Patanjali's work on grammar into Arabic, and for his Brahmana friends, he translated the works of Euclid into Sanskrit.

Al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khwarizm. In 1017, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni; Al-Biruni was one of them. He arrived in Ghazni as a hostage but gradually developed a liking for the city and spent the rest of his life there, dying at the age of 70. It was in Ghazni that he developed his interest in India and spent years in the company of Brahmana priests and scholars learning Sanskrit.

Al-Biruni identified three barriers. The first was language: Sanskrit was so different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and concepts could not be easily translated. The second was the difference in religious beliefs and practices. The third was the self-absorption and consequent insularity of the local population. Despite identifying these barriers, Al-Biruni depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali and the Manusmriti.

The Rihla is Ibn Battuta's book of travels, written in Arabic. It provides rich details about social and cultural life in the subcontinent in the fourteenth century. When Ibn Battuta returned home in 1354, the local ruler issued instructions that his stories be recorded. Ibn Battuta dictated his account and Ibn Juzayy was deputed to write it down.

Before reaching India, Ibn Battuta had already travelled in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and East Africa. He reached Sind in 1333, travelling overland through Central Asia. Lured by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq's reputation as a generous patron of arts and letters, he set off for Delhi through Multan and Uch. The Sultan, impressed by his scholarship, appointed him the qazi (judge) of Delhi. He remained in that position for several years before falling out of favour and being imprisoned. After the misunderstanding was cleared, he was ordered in 1342 to proceed to China as the Sultan's envoy to the Mongol ruler.

Ibn Battuta was amazed by the efficiency of the postal system. It was of two kinds: the horse-post (uluq), run by royal horses stationed every four miles; and the foot-post (dawa), with three stations per mile. Couriers carried letters with copper-belled rods, running at full speed between stations. While normal travel from Sind to Delhi took fifty days, news reports of spies could reach the Sultan through the postal system in just five days. The foot-post was quicker than the horse-post and was often used to transport fruits of Khurasan.

Al-Biruni tried to explain the caste system by looking for parallels in other societies. He noted that in ancient Persia four social categories were recognised: knights and princes; monks, fire-priests and lawyers; physicians, astronomers and scientists; and peasants and artisans. He pointed out that social divisions were not unique to India, and that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in their observance of piety. While he accepted the Brahmanical description of the caste system, Al-Biruni disapproved of the notion of pollution, arguing it was contrary to the laws of nature.

Bernier argued that the Mughal emperor owned all the land and distributed it among his nobles. He believed that landholders, unable to pass land to their children, had no incentive for long-term investment in production. According to him, this crown ownership led to the uniform ruination of agriculture, excessive oppression of the peasantry and a continuous decline in living standards for all except the ruling aristocracy. However, Mughal official documents — such as Abu'l Fazl's description of land revenue as 'remunerations of sovereignty' rather than rent — do not support Bernier's claim that the state was the sole owner of land.

Bernier's works were published in France in 1670–71 and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian within the next five years. Between 1670 and 1725, his account was reprinted eight times in French, and by 1684 it had been reprinted three times in English. The French philosopher Montesquieu used Bernier's account to develop the idea of oriental despotism — the notion that Asian rulers enjoyed absolute authority over subjects kept in subjugation and poverty. Karl Marx in the nineteenth century further developed this as the concept of the Asiatic mode of production.

Ibn Battuta recorded that slaves were openly sold in markets like any other commodity. When he reached Sind, he purchased 'horses, camels and slaves' as gifts for Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq. When he reached Multan, he presented the governor with 'a slave and horse together with raisins and almonds'. The Sultan gave a preacher 'a hundred thousand tankas and two hundred slaves'. Female slaves in the Sultan's service were experts in music and dance; others were employed to keep watch on nobles. The price of female slaves for domestic labour was very low, and most families who could afford to do so kept one or two.

Bernier chose the practice of sati for detailed description, noting that while some women seemed to embrace death cheerfully, others were forced to die. At Lahore, he described seeing a young widow, who appeared to be about twelve years of age, being burnt alive while trembling and weeping bitterly, forced toward the fire by Brahmanas and an old woman.

Ibn Battuta found cities in the subcontinent densely populated and prosperous. He described Delhi as a vast city with a great population, the largest in India, noting its ramparts, twenty-eight gates and crowded bazaars. Daulatabad rivalled Delhi in size. Indian agriculture was very productive — farmers could cultivate two crops a year due to the fertility of the soil. Indian textiles, particularly cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin, were in great demand in West Asia and Southeast Asia, and certain varieties of fine muslin could only be worn by nobles and the very rich.

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