Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Question:

Which traveller gives a description on 'widespread poverty' of the early decades in 17th-century?

Options:

Pelsaert

Peter Mundy

Seydi Ali Reis

Mahmud Wali Balkhi

Correct Answer:

Pelsaert

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (1) → Pelsaert

Pelsaert, a Dutch traveller, visited the subcontinent during the early decades of the seventeenth century. Like Bernier, he was shocked to see the widespread poverty, “poverty so great and miserable that the life of the people can be depicted or accurately described only as the home of stark want and the dwelling place of bitter woe”. Holding the state responsible, he says: “So much is wrung from the peasants that even dry bread is scarcely left to fill their stomachs.”