Explain giving examples how the accounts of foreign travellers help in reconstructing the history of India from the 10th to 17th Century?

(i) Most of the foreign travellers had come from diverse social environment. The local writers remained indifferent towards them. They compared the Indian environment and social scenario with outside world.

(ii) Their descriptions throw light on the contemporary proceedings of the royal court, religious beliefs and the features of architecture and scrulpture. It helps in the writing of history.
Some of the important Foreign Travellers:
(a) Bernier : (i) Bernier wrote a book entitled, “Travels in Mughal Empire.

(ii) Like the books of Al-Biruni and Ibn-Battuta, the books of Bernier is a gist of his experiences.

(iii) He especially compared the condtion of India with that of Europe. He found the life of the people of India as wrost in comparison to the life found in Europe.

(iv) In all descriptions, he criticises the control of state over all the land. He considers it responsible for the miserable condition of the Indian agriculture and the farmers.

(b) Ibn-Battuta : (i) IbOnBattuta wrote a book entitled ‘Rihala’. In this book, he declineated a beautiful picture of his experiences that he had gathered during his various visits and travels. From his book, we come to know a lot about various aspects of social values and new culture.

(ii) Ibn-Battuta found paan and coconut very strange. So he made a special mention of them.

(iii) He also wrote about the cities of India and an efficient postal system.

(c) Al-Biruni : (i) The detailed description by Al-Biruni is found in his “Kitab-ul-Hind' which provides important about the contemporary religion, philosophy and science. His description is very simple and straight-forward.

(ii) Al-Biruni explained that the caste system was not only the characteristic of the Indian society but also of many other societies of the world. In other words, the caste system was prevalent in many countries of the world.