Tanvi, a student of history, is preparing a project on journeys made between the tenth and seventeenth centuries. She begins with a map of the routes that linked Central Asia, Persia, Africa and Europe with the subcontinent. Then she imagines a young man from a distant country arriving at a busy port on the western coast and spending his first months there. She wants to know what such visitors chose to write about, and whose voices are present or missing in the records that have come down to us. Finally, she makes a list of travel accounts to look for in the library.
On Tanvi's list is one of the most important descriptions of the city of Vijayanagara in the fifteenth century. In what role had its author come to the subcontinent?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → As a diplomat coming from Herat
Option (1) As a diplomat coming from Herat — Correct. The description comes from Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi, who was a diplomat who came visiting from Herat. Travellers came for many reasons, and his was a diplomatic visit.
Option (2) As a horse trader coming from Herat — Incorrect. Herat is right, but he did not come to trade. Horse traders, such as Arab dealers, came for business.
Option (3) As a pilgrim coming from Samarqand — Incorrect. His name Samarqandi points to Samarqand, but he came from Herat, and his visit was a diplomatic one.
Option (4) As a physician coming from Uzbekistan — Incorrect. Uzbekistan is the homeland of Al-Biruni (eleventh century), a scholar. A physician at a court fits Bernier, who served Dara Shukoh.
NCERT (2026-27): “Perceptions of Society FIVE (c. tenth to seventeenth century) … |