History · Ch 5 — Through the Eyes of Travellers — Perceptions of Society
Women, Slaves, Sati and Labourers
Women, Slaves, Sati and Labourers
The travellers who left written accounts were almost always men. Their observations on women in the subcontinent were shaped by curiosity, and sometimes by the assumption that social inequities were simply a "natural" state of affairs. This section examines what they recorded about women, slaves, the practice of sati, and the broader world of labour — and what they missed.
Slaves as Commodities
Slaves were openly sold in markets like any other commodity and were regularly exchanged as gifts. Ibn Battuta’s account makes this clear. When he reached Sind, he purchased "horses, camels and slaves" as gifts for Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq. At Multan, he presented the governor with "a slave and horse together with raisins and almonds." The Sultan himself was so pleased with a preacher named Nasiruddin that he gave him "a hundred thousand tankas (coins) and two hundred slaves."
Differentiation Among Slaves
Ibn Battuta’s account reveals that there was considerable differentiation among slaves.
- Female slaves in the Sultan’s service were experts in music and dance. Ibn Battuta enjoyed their performance at the wedding of the Sultan’s sister.
- Female slaves were also employed as spies — the Sultan used them to keep a watch on his nobles.
- Domestic labour was the most common use of slaves. Ibn Battuta found their services particularly indispensable for carrying women and men on palanquins (or dola).
- Price and availability: The price of slaves, especially female slaves required for domestic labour, was very low. Most families who could afford to do so kept at least one or two.
The Practice of Sati
Contemporary European travellers and writers often highlighted the treatment of women as a crucial marker of difference between Western and Eastern societies. Bernier chose the practice of sati for detailed description. He noted that while some women seemed to embrace death cheerfully, others were forced to die.
Bernier’s most poignant description is of a child sati he witnessed at Lahore. The victim was a beautiful young widow, not more than twelve years of age. He wrote:
The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting forth into clamorous and unavailing rage …
Women’s Lives Beyond Sati
However, women’s lives revolved around much else besides the practice of sati.
- Labour: Women’s labour was crucial in both agricultural and non-agricultural production.
- Commerce: Women from merchant families participated in commercial activities, sometimes even taking mercantile disputes to the court of law.
- Conclusion: It therefore seems unlikely that women were confined to the private spaces of their homes.
What the Travellers Missed
Travellers’ accounts provide a tantalising glimpse of the lives of men and women during these centuries. But 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. …
Source 15 — Slave women. Ibn Battuta informs us:
It is the habit of the emperor … to keep with every noble, great or small, one of his slaves who spies on the nobles. He also appoints female scavengers who enter the houses unannounced; and to them the slave girls communicate all the information they possess.
(Most female slaves, he notes, were acquired through raids and campaigns.) …
Source 16 — The child sati. European travellers often treated the condition of women as the key marker of difference between "East" and "West", and Bernier chose the practice of sati (the immolation of a widow) for detailed description. He observed that while some widows seemed to go to their deaths willingly, others were plainly unwilling and were compelled to do so. In one of his most anguished passages he describes witnessing, at Lahore, the sacrifice of a widow he judged to be no more than twelve years old — a terrified, weeping child forced to the pyre against her will by those around her — and writes that he could barely contain his own grief and rage at what he was powerless to prevent. …
The sculpted panel from Mathura, likely dating to the early centuries of the Common Era, shows a row of travellers moving from left to right. The carving is in low relief, typical of Mathura’s stone sculpture tradition. At the front, a man leads a laden bullock — the animal carries bundles on its back, probably goods or baggage. Behind him, another traveller rides a horse, seated sideways in a relaxed posture. Further along, a third figure sits in a covered bullock cart, with the driver perched in front. The cart has a curved canopy, suggesting it was used for longer journeys or for carrying women or the elderly. At the rear, a pedestrian walks carrying a staff and a shoulder pole with two baskets suspended from its ends — a common way to transport light goods on foot.
The panel does not show any city walls, temples, or inscriptions; the focus is entirely on the travellers and their animals. There are no labels carved into the stone — the “labels” are the objects themselves: the bullock, the horse, the cart, the shoulder pole. The composition is simple and horizontal, with all figures at roughly the same height, as if they are part of a single caravan or a stream of people moving along a road.
What this panel teaches is that travel in ancient and medieval India was not limited to the elite. The modes of transport shown — walking with a pole, riding a horse, driving a bullock cart — cover a range of social classes. The pedestrian with the shoulder pole is likely a labourer or a petty trader; the man on the horse is better off; the covered cart could belong to a merchant or a family of some means. The bullock carrying bundles is a pack animal, used for moving goods rather than people. Together, these details confirm what textual sources like Ibn Battuta’s account also describe: that roads were busy with a mix of people, animals, and vehicles, and that travel was a routine part of economic life. …
Figure 5.14 is a painting that shows a group of travellers who have stopped to rest. The scene is set outdoors, likely along a road or at a way-side halt. Several figures are visible: some are seated on the ground, others are standing or tending to animals. A few pack animals — probably horses or camels — are also present, carrying bundles or saddled for travel. The travellers appear to be from different walks of life: some are well-dressed, possibly merchants or nobles, while others are servants or attendants. There is no single building or landmark that dominates the scene; instead, the focus is on the temporary camp itself — the scattered bundles, the resting animals, the relaxed postures of the people.
The painting does not show any specific city, fort, or temple. Its purpose is not to document a particular place but to capture the experience of travel itself. The travellers are at rest, but their belongings and animals make it clear that they are in the middle of a journey. This is a mobile world — one of movement, trade, pilgrimage, and migration — that the chapter has explored through the accounts of Ibn Battuta, Bernier, and others. …
Timeline — Some Travellers who Left Accounts. (Unless otherwise indicated, dates are the traveller's lifespan.)
| Period | Traveller |
|---|---|
| 973–1048 | Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni (from Uzbekistan) |
| 1254–1323 | Marco Polo (from Italy) |
| 1304–77 | Ibn Battuta (from Morocco) |
| 1413–82 | Abd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi (from Samarqand) |
| 1466–72 | Afanasii Nikitin (years spent in India; from Russia) |
| 1518 | Duarte Barbosa, d. 1521 (visit to India; from Portugal) |
| 1562 | Seydi Ali Reis (year of death; from Turkey) |
| 1536–1600 | Antonio Monserrate (from Spain) |
| 1626–31 | Mahmud Wali Balkhi (years spent in India; from Balkh) |