Previous Year Question
Consider the following foreign travellers and arrange them in ascending chronological order:
I-Tsing
Al-Biruni
Huentsang (Hiuen Tsang)
Fahyan (Fa-Hien)
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
1, 2, 3, 4
4, 3, 1, 2
2, 1, 4, 3
3, 4, 2, 1
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
4. Fa-Hien: The Chinese Buddhist traveller Fa-Hien was the earliest of these four travellers to visit India. He travelled approximately between 399 and 414 CE. He came to India primarily in search of Buddhist texts and material relating to the Vinaya. An important part of his journey coincided with the reign of Chandragupta II.
Fa-Hien visited several Buddhist centres, including Pataliputra. His account provides information about certain aspects of contemporary society, Buddhism, towns and administration.
3. Hiuen Tsang: He was followed by Hiuen Tsang or Xuanzang, who travelled in India approximately between 629 and 645 CE. He came to India during the period of Harshavardhana and also studied at Nalanda.
His travel account is an important source for studying the political, religious, geographical and educational conditions of India in the seventh century.
1. I-Tsing: After Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist traveller I-Tsing or Yijing came to India. His Indian sojourn is generally placed approximately between 671 and 695 CE. He also studied at Nalanda and other Buddhist centres and made important contributions to the translation of Buddhist texts.
2. Al-Biruni: Among these four, Al-Biruni was the latest to become associated with India. He lived from 973 to about 1050 CE and came to the Indian subcontinent in the eleventh century during the period of Mahmud of Ghazni's campaigns.
Al-Biruni studied Sanskrit and made a detailed study of Indian religion, philosophy, science, mathematics, society and customs. His famous work Kitab-ul-Hind is an important source for the study of India.