History · Ch 5 — Through the Eyes of Travellers — Perceptions of Society
Comparing “East” and “West”
Comparing “East” and “West”
François Bernier, a French physician and traveller who spent about twelve years in the Mughal Empire (1656–1668), did not simply record what he saw. He constantly compared India with Europe, and his comparisons shaped how Europeans came to view the subcontinent. His major work was dedicated to King Louis XIV of France, and many of his other writings took the form of letters addressed to powerful officials and ministers back home.
In almost every instance, Bernier described what he observed in India as a bleak situation when set against developments in Europe. This assessment, as the textbook notes, was not always accurate. Yet when his works were published, they became extremely popular. Bernier’s accounts were published in France in 1670–71 and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian within the next five years. Between 1670 and 1725 his account was reprinted eight times in French, and by 1684 it had been reprinted three times in English.
This was in marked contrast to travel accounts written in Arabic and Persian. Those circulated as manuscripts and were generally not published before 1800. The difference in reach is enormous: printed books could be mass-produced and widely distributed, while manuscripts had to be copied by hand and remained limited in circulation.
The printing press gave European travellers’ accounts a scale of influence that manuscript-based traditions in India and the Islamic world could not match. This is why Bernier’s version of India became the dominant one in Europe for generations.
What Bernier took on a journey with the Mughal army
Bernier often travelled with the Mughal army. In one description of the army’s march to Kashmir, he lists the items he carried:
- Two good Turkoman horses
- A powerful Persian camel and a driver
- A groom for his horses
- A cook
- A servant to go before his horse with a flask of water (as per local custom)
- A tent of moderate size
- A carpet
- A portable bed made of four very strong but light canes
- A pillow and a mattress
- Round leather table-cloths used at meals
- A few napkins of dyed cloth
- Three small bags with culinary utensils, all placed in a large bag
- That large bag carried inside a very capacious and strong double sack or net made of leather thongs
- The double sack also contained provisions, linen, and wearing apparel for both master and servants
- A stock of excellent rice for five or six days
- Sweet biscuits flavoured with anise (a herb)
- Limes and sugar
- A linen bag with a small iron hook for suspending and draining dahi (curds) — because nothing was considered as refreshing in India as lemonade and dahi
Notice that Bernier adapted to local practices — he took dahi and lemonade because they were considered refreshing in the Indian climate. This shows how travellers often blended their own needs with what they learned from the people around them.
The creation and circulation of ideas about India
The writings of European travellers like Bernier helped produce an image of India for European readers through the printing and circulation of their books. Later, after 1750, when Indians such as Shaikh Itisamuddin and Mirza Abu Talib visited Europe, they confronted this image that Europeans had of their society. In response, they tried to influence it by producing their own version of matters — writing their own accounts from an Indian perspective.
| Aspect | European travellers (e.g. Bernier) | Indian travellers (e.g. Shaikh Itisamuddin, Mirza Abu Talib) |
|--------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------| …
Source 4 — Travelling with the Mughal army. Bernier, who often travelled with the army, on his own baggage for the march to Kashmir:
I am expected to keep two good Turkoman horses, and I also take with me a powerful Persian camel and driver, a groom for my horses, a cook and a servant … I am also provided with … a tent of moderate size, a carpet, a portable bed made of four very strong but light canes, a pillow, a mattress … three small bags with culinary utensils … I have taken care to lay in a stock of excellent rice … of sweet biscuits flavoured with anise, of limes and sugar. Nor have I forgotten a linen bag with its small iron hook for … draining dahi or curds; nothing being considered so refreshing in this country as lemonade and dahi. …
The creation and circulation of ideas about India. European travellers' printed, widely-circulated books produced an image of India for Europeans. After 1750, when Indians such as Shaikh Itisamuddin and Mirza Abu Talib visited Europe and confronted this image, they tried to infl …