Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t4.1.1

c4.s2.t4.1.1

In some respects, the most valuable source for the contemporary social history of India is to be found in the accounts of the foreign travellers. They come from different countries at different periods and move about with an admirable detachment and with intellectual curiosity. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions their sphere of movement was confined to a few coastal towns and a little belt of inland territory adjoining the sea-costs, and perhaps with the single exception of Varthema they were all totally ignorant of the language of the country. Within these limitations their accounts are extremely valuable, especially in one respect, namely, that the foreign travellers alone expose what are commonly considered as ugly social institutions of India¹. It is a curious fact, but none the less true, that some of the most inhuman social practices of the land have never appeared to the Indian writers, poets, and religious reformers, either Hindu or Muslim, as worthy of their notice and comment. If one wishes to gather the records of slavery, widow burning, untouchability, child-marriage, extreme sexual indulgence and sexual perversion, one would search for these facts in Indian books almost in vain.