through the eyes of the travellers is a chapter in class 12 histroy book part 2. its about the al biruni the traveller

1. THROUGHS THE EYES
OF THE
TRAVELLERS
PREPARED BY RAHUL
CHAUDHARY
CLASS 12th C

2. Al Biruni and the
Kitab-ul-hind.
• Al biruni was born in 973 in present day
Uzbekistan.
• He was well knowledgeable in various
languages.
• He was captivated and taken to ghazni and died
there at the age of 70 .
• He spent years in the company with the
local of Punjab and the Brahman priest.
• He studied Sanskrit and religious and
philosophical texts.

3. Al- Biruni

5. The kitab-ul-hind
• It is written in Arabic. It is simple, lucid and
voluminous. It talks about various subjects in
India.
• The book has a district structure, it begins
with a question, the description based on
sanskritic tradition, and the conclusion
with a comparison with other cultures.
• He translated text from sanskrit, pali and
prakrit into arabic.
• He was Critical about the way text was
written and wanted to approve them.

6. Ibn-battuta‟s
Rihala
• Origin: morocco, born in tangier and educated in sharia
law
• The book „Rihal‟is written in Arabic, it is rich in detail
of social and cultural like in the sub continent in the
14th century.
• He left his family and friends behind to travel. He
reached sind in 1333.
• Muhammad bin tughlaq appointed as a qazi or a judge at
delhi.
• He remained in this position for many years, then
due to a misunderstanding he was imprisoned.

7. The„enjoyment ofcuriosities‟
• Several year travelling through north
Africa, west Africa, west Asia and
central Asia.
• India and china.
• His stories were recorded.

8. IBN BATTUTA
AND THE
EXCITEMENTOF
THE
UNFAMILIAR.
DONE BY Rahul
chaudhary.

9. • India part of the global
network of
communication in the 14
century.
• Spend much of his time
with learned men and
enjoyed the cosmopolitan
culture.
• Interaction between
various multi-linguists.
• Highlighted anything
which he found
unfamiliar to impress his
readers.
DID YOU KNOW?
Ibn Battuta travelled
75,000 miles for
about 29 years and
visited around 60
rulers.

10. The coconut and paan- One of the
best examples of Ibn Battuta‟s
representation.

11. IbnBattuta and Indian Cities.
Cities full of
exciting
opportunities.
Densely
populated and
prosperous.
Crowded streets
with bright and
colourful
markets.
Bazaars-hub of
social and
cultural
activities.Had
mosque and
temples.Public
Performances.
Hefound Indian
agriculture very
productive.
India- well integratedwith
Inter Asian networks of
trade andcommerce.
Richin
textiles, silk, muslin,satin
and were in demand.

12. SYSTEM OF
COMMUNICATION.
• State evidently took
measures to
encourage
merchants.
• Trade routes supplied withinns and guest
houses.• Amazed by the efficiency of
the postal system.
• Allowed merchants to send
information and also remit
credit across long
distance.
DID YOU KNOW?
The postal system
was so efficient
that the news
reports of the
spies would reach
in 5 days from
Delhi to Sind.

13. BERNIER AND THE
“DEGENERATE” EAST.
• Francois Bernier belonged
to a different intellectual
tradition.
• Preoccupied with comparing
and contrasting what he saw
in India in particular to that of
europe.
• His aim was to influence
the policy-makers to ensure
that they made the right
decisions.

14. BERNIERS TRAVELS INTHE
MUGHALEMPIRE.
Marked by detailed observations,critical
insights and reflection.
His account contains discussions trying to
place the history of the Mughals within
the same sort of a universal framework.
Representation
works on the model
of binary opposition.
India presented as
the universe of
Europe.
Compared Mughal
India to that of
Europe.
India appeared to be
inferior in the
Western World.

15. The question of landownership.
• Fundamental differences- lack of
private property among Indians
compared to Europe.
• Firm believer of the virtues of
private property.
• Crown ownership- harmful to
society.
• This perception not unique to
Bernier.
• Land could not be inherited-
crown ownership.
• Averse to long- term investments.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bernier, a son of a
farmer was an
orphan at a very
young age and he
wad cared by
his uncle.

16. • Absence of property in land denied the
emergence of “improving” landlords to
maintain or improve lands.
• Uniform ruination of agriculture and
excessive oppression of peasantry.
• Decline in the living standards.
• Bernier on India- undifferentiated
masses of impoverished people
subjugated by a small minority of rich.
• Confidently asserted, “ there is no middle
state in India.”

17. Bernier described the Mughal
Empire as:
Its king was the king of “beggars
and barbarians”; it‟s cities and
towns were ruined and
contaminated with “ill air”; and its
fields, “ overspread with bushes”
and full of pestilential marshes.

18. • Abul Fazl, the Mughal
chronicler described the land
revenue as „remunerations of
sovereignty‟.
• Possible that European
Travelers regarded such
claims as rent because land
revenue demands was very
high.
• This was actually a rent on
the crop.

19. • Berniers description
influenced Western
th
theorists from the 18
century.
• French
Philosopher, Montesquie
u- oriental despotism.
• Asiatic mode of
production- Karl Marx.
• Rural society
characterized by social
and economic
differentiation.
BIG
ZAMINDARS
BIG
PEASANTS
UNTOUCHABLE
LANDLESS
LABOURERS
SPECTRUM- RURAL SOCIETY.

20. A more complex rural society.
• Berniers preoccupation hint at a
complex reality.
• Artisans had no incentives to improve
the life of their manufactures.
• Manufactures were already in decline.
• Precious metals flowed into India.
• Also noted the existence of a
prosperous merchant community
engaged in trade.

21. Cities and towns
• 15 of the population lived in towns
compared to that of proportion in Europe.
• Mughal cities – “camp towns”.
• All kinds of towns- port towns, trading
towns, pilgrimage towns etc. Their
existence- index of prosperity of merchant
communities.
• Merchants- strong community organised
into caste-cum occupational bodies.

22. URBANGROUP
Physicians( hakim
or vaid)
Teachers(punditor
mulla)
Lawyers(wakil)
Painters, architects. Calligraphers.

23. Women- Slaves, Sati and
Labourers.
• Travelers interested in the condition
of women in the subcontinent.
• Took inequities as a „natural state of
affairs‟.
• Women openly sold in the markets
like any other commodity even
exchanged as gifts.
• Differentiation among slaves.
• Slaves generallly used for domestic
labour.

24. Differentiation among slaves.
SLAVES
• Female slaves in service ofsultans.
• Experts in dance andmusic.
SLAVES
• Slaves also employed as spies to keepwatch on the nobles.
• Ibn battuta found their service indispensible forcarrying
men or woman onDola’s.
SLAVES
• Price of slaves especially women for domestic laborwere
very low.
• Affordable by mostfamilies.

25. A palanquin or a Dola.

26. SATI

27. PRACTICE OF SATI
• Bernier has provided a detailed description of sati in
his account.
• He mentioned that while some women seemed to
embrace death cheerfully, others were forced to
death.
• He also noticed the child satin which a twelve year
old young widow sacrificed.

28. CONCLUSIO
N• Contemporary European travelers and
writers often highlighted the treatment of
women as a crucial marker of difference
between Western and Eastern societies.
• Women's lives not only revolved around
sati. They were also crucial in both
agricultural and non-agricultural
production.
• They even participated in commercial
activities.

29. THANK
YOU