HistoryMedieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

The observations of foreign travellers about life in the subcontinent…

The observations of foreign travellers about life in the subcontinent were often shaped by which of the following?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → The contexts from which the travellers came

Option (1) The reports of the guides who led them — Incorrect. Guides and interpreters helped travellers move about, but the shaping influence on what they wrote was the society they came from.

Option (2) The wishes of the rulers who hosted them — Incorrect. Travellers did visit courts and receive favours. Still, what they wrote was shaped mainly by the society they came from.

Option (3) The contexts from which the travellers came — Correct. Each traveller saw India through the lens of his own home society. What he noticed, praised or criticised depended on the context he came from.

Option (4) The beliefs of the pilgrims they travelled with — Incorrect. Some travellers moved with pilgrims. Their judgements, however, came from their own home society.

NCERT (2026-27): “7. Women …
You may have noticed that travellers’ accounts provide us with a tantalising glimpse of the lives of men and women during these centuries. However, their observations were often shaped by the contexts from which they came. At the same time, there were many aspects of social life that these travellers did not notice.”