Meera, a history student in Delhi, is preparing a project on an eleventh-century scholar from Central Asia. She learns that he was brought as a hostage to the capital of a Sultan who had invaded his homeland, and that he later came to like that city. He studied the languages and texts of the subcontinent, spent years with its learned men, and wrote a long account of its people in Arabic. Her teacher tells her that accounts written by such outsiders are of special value to historians.
Why would accounts by authors like this scholar be of special interest to historians?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → They noticed everyday practices that local writers took for granted as routine matters
Option (1) They had access to royal archives that local writers were not allowed to consult — Incorrect. Travellers from far lands came as outsiders. Their value lies in what they saw with fresh eyes, and royal archives play no part in it.
Option (2) They noticed everyday practices that local writers took for granted as routine matters — Correct. Coming from a different social and cultural background, travellers noticed everyday activities and practices that local writers saw as routine and did not record. This difference in perspective makes their accounts interesting.
Option (3) They wrote on the orders of local rulers and so recorded court life in great detail — Incorrect. These travellers were outsiders who wrote for their own readers. Their worth lies in the fresh eye they brought to daily life.
Option (4) They depended on older local chronicles, which they translated into their own languages — Incorrect. Their accounts matter because of what they observed for themselves. Copying and translating older local chronicles gives no such fresh view.
NCERT (2026-27): “Perceptions of Society FIVE (c. tenth to seventeenth century) … |