Through the Eyes of Travellers
François Bernier and European travellers
Explain why Bernier's writings became so popular in Europe.
After 1500, many Europeans came to India and wrote about it. First the Portuguese: Duarte Barbosa wrote about trade and society in south India, and the Jesuit Roberto Nobili studied Indian texts. Then came Dutch, English and French travellers.
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French jeweller, came to India at least six times, attracted by its trading opportunities. Manucci, an Italian doctor, never went back to Europe and settled in India.
François Bernier, a French doctor, political philosopher and historian, was in India from 1656 to 1668. He was physician to Prince Dara Shukoh, Shah Jahan's eldest son, and later attached to Danishmand Khan, an Armenian noble at the Mughal court.
Bernier constantly compared India with Europe (especially France), and almost always found India bleak in comparison. He dedicated his major work to the French king, Louis XIV.
His writings were printed, translated into several European languages, and reprinted many times; they became very influential in Europe. By contrast, accounts in Persian and Arabic (like Al-Biruni's or Ibn Battuta's) circulated mostly as handwritten manuscripts, and were read far less widely. Print made Bernier's India famous.
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