A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c6.48

c6.48

Notices of Southern India by foreign writers are often both instructive and interesting. Speaking generally, the earliest accounts are those of the Greek and Roman writers whose references to India gain in extent and accuracy to the end of the second century A.D. Then we have the Chinese travellers and annalists, the subjects of researches that are still in progress. From the eighth century the writings of Arab merchants and travellers, historians and geographers begin to be important, and the Chinese sources become more copious and definite than before. We also have occasional notices by European travellers like Benjamin of Tudela and Marco Polo. After the end of the fourteenth century the number of foreign travellers and writers increases greatly; at first Portuguese and Italians predominate, but soon Dutchmen, Englishmen and others join in.