Duarte Barbosa: Traveller to Vijayanagar Kingdom

Duarte Barbosa, a cousin of Magellan, was a Portuguese official in India, who worked as an interpreter of Francisco Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor of Goa in India. He served the Portuguese government in India from 1500 to 1516. During the period he visited the mighty Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in South India.

He has left a detailed account of the VIjayanagar rulers, economic and social life of the empire which has its capital at Hampi. 

His travel compilation ‘Book of Duarte Barbosa’ was completed in 1516 and is a valuable source of the history of the medieval South India.

Ibn Batuta, Arab Traveller to India

The Arab traveller Ibn Batuta's record of his visit to India in 1333 is one of the important sources of account describing the rulers and life in India during that period. 

A native of Morocco, Ibn Battutah was born in Tangier in 1304. He arrived at Multan in 1333 during the rule of second Tughlaq ruler Muhammad bid Tughluq. After serving for eight years as the Qazi (judge) of Delhi, he was dismissed from the post by the Tughlaq Sultan.

Ibn Battutah visited the Sultanate of Madurai in 1344. He was the son-in-law of Jalal-ud-din Ahsan Shah, founder of the short-lived Maudrai Sultanate. 

He returned to Morocco in 1353. He gave his account of the travel memoirs to Ibn Juzay, a young writer commissioned by the Sultan of Morocco to compile the accounts. The resultant work was named Rehla (Travelogue).

Al Masudi, Arab Traveller and Historian

Born in Baghdad, Al Masudi was a famous Arab traveler and historian who came to Malabar on the Western coast of India in 915-16 in the course of his visit to several countries and regions in the world. He compiled his travel account and geographical notes in his historical compendium Muruj-al-Zahab wa al-Ma-adin al-Jawahir (Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious Stones).

Masudi is aptly known as 'Herodotus of the Arabs'.

We can get a fair amount of information about Western India from his work.

Chirag-i-Delhi: Chisti Sufi Saint of Delhi

Shaikh Nasiruddin Muhamud, better known as Chirag-i-Delhi (the lamp of Delhi), was a famous Sufi saint of Chisti silsilah, the most popular of the orders into which Sufis were organized. 


Last of the great Chisti saints at Delhi, Nasiruddin Muhamud was the disciple and successor of Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia, the most prominent Sufi saint of the aforesaid order.

Chirag-i-Delhi’s famous disciple was Gesudaraz Syed Muhamad Husayni who is credited with the spread of Chisti order in South India.

When Muhammad Bin Tughlaq died in Sindh in 1351 during a military expedition, he was with the Sultan’s army. Firuz Shah Tughluq, the successor Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, held him in great respect as he had helped him ascend the Delhi throne.    

Tarikh-i-Firishtah

Tarikh-i-Firishtah is a general history of India with special emphasis on the Deccan from the beginning of the Muslim rule in India to 1607. It was written by Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astrabadi, popularly known as Firishtah or Firishta who was in the army of Sultan Murtaza Nizam Shah (1565-88) of Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1565-88). After Murtaza Nizam Shah was murdered by his son Miran in 1588, Firishtah left the services of Nizam Shahi dynasty and went in 1589 to Bijapur which was ruled at that time by Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

Completed in 1610, Tarikh-i-Firishtah is also called Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi on account of its being dedicated to Ibrahim Adil Shah. Another name of Tarikh-i-Firishtah is Tarikh-i-Naurasanama.

Srimanta Sankardev: Vaishnavite Saint of Assam

Srimanta Sankardev is to Assam what Chaitanya is to Bengal. Considered to be the greatest saint of Bhakti Movement in Assam, he gave great impetus to Vaishnavism and made it popular in the region.

Sankaradeva was born 1449 AD at Bardowa in the Nagaon district of Assam. His parents left the world when he was still a child.

This greatest religious reformer who flourished in the fifteenth century was an exponent of Krishnite form of Vaishnavism. The essence of his teachings is monotheism of God which has been named Eka-Sarana-Harinama-dharma (religion of taking refuge in one God) 

He rejected idol worship and therefore, no image of Lord Krishna is placed in the prayer hall. At the altar of god there is placed the Bhagavata Purana like the Grantha Sahib in the Shikh Shrines. He did not advocate the worship of Lord Krishna’s consort Lakshmi or Radha.

Sankardev denounced caste or class distinction and preached to all irrespective of caste or creed in their mother-tongue. The sect he founded came to be known as Mahapurushiya dharma which has made a deep impact on every aspect of life in Assam.

Sankardeva’s chief disciple was  Sri Madhavadeva who wrote  Nam-Ghosa and Bhakti-Ratnavali.

Narsi (Narsimha) Mehta: Saint Poet of Gujarat

Narsimha Mehta was a well-known poet saint of Gujarat in the fifteenth century. His songs which are composed in Gujarati depict the immortal love of Radha and Krishna. These songs form part of the Suratasangrama. 

One of Narsi’s bhajans ‘ Vishnava jana to teno kahiye’ was close to Mahatma Gandhi’s heart.