Question

Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India?

(a) Francois Bernier

(b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier

(c) Jean de Thevenot

(d) Abbe Barthelemy Carre

Answer 1

Correct option is (b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier

• Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: was a French traveler who visited India between 1640 and 1667. Being a diamond merchant, he was particularly interested in diamonds and visited various diamond mines in India, especially those of the Deccan.
• Jean De Thevenot (1626): one of the first French travellers, graphically describes the cultivation of indigo and the extent of its cultivation in his book Remonstrantie.
• Frenchman, Francois Bernier (1656-58). His book Travels in the Mughal Empire mentioned the life of the peasantry, their poor conditions, towns, industries, life in the countryside and the urban culture and, above all, the major manufactures of India.
• Abbe Carre also a Frenchman, visited Mughal India between 1672 and 1674 and recorded his information in The travels of Abbe Carre in India and the Near East. He wrote about the port towns and the role of the newly formed French East India Company.