Art & Culture · Topic 16 of 16
Accounts of foreign travellers, spread of Indian culture abroad, migrant communities, and UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage lists
The Basics
Indian chronicles rarely dated events precisely. Historians lean heavily on outsiders who visited India and recorded what they saw. This is why historians use foreign accounts, from Mauryan to Mughal times, to help reconstruct Indian history.
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Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus I Nikator to the Mauryan court of Chandragupta Maurya.
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By the early 5th century the Gupta empire was at its height under Chandragupta II, also called Vikramaditya. Buddhism still had many followers and famous monasteries, though it no longer enjoyed the strong royal patronage it had received under Ashoka. Chinese monks were eager to visit the Buddha's homeland and collect authentic manuscripts.
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By the 11th century, Ghaznavid raids into northwest India opened a new channel of contact with the Arab-Persian world. Scholars from that world grew curious about Indian learning, not just conquest.
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By the early 15th century, the Vijayanagara empire in the Deccan had grown into one of the richest and most organised kingdoms in India, ruled first by the Sangama dynasty (c. 1336 to 1485 CE). Its capital, also called Vijayanagara, near modern Hampi in Karnataka, had become famous for its wealth, markets and temples, drawing travellers from as far as Persia and Italy.
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By the early 17th century, the Mughal Empire under Jahangir was a vast, wealthy state. European trading companies wanted access to its ports and markets. The English East India Company wanted to set up a factory at Surat. It needed the emperor's permission, so it sent envoys to the Mughal court.
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Angkor Wat is a twelfth century Vishnu temple in Cambodia.
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India's historic travellers left written accounts of its monuments. Many of these monuments still stand today. Some have now been formally recognised as World Heritage Sites.
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) keeps a Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. India has 13 items on this list. Koodiyattam is Sanskrit theatre from Kerala, added in 2008. Mudiyettu, added in 2010, is Kerala's ritual theatre depicting a battle between Goddess Kali and demon Darika. Sankirtana, added in 2013, is Manipur's ritual singing, drumming and dancing linked to Vaishnavism, originating around the 15th century.
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Parsis migrated from Persia and settled mainly in Gujarat and Mumbai, following Zoroastrianism.
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