| Megasthenes |
He was the ambassador of Seleucus in the court of Chandragupta Maurya known to the Greek as Sandrocottus. He was also the author of a book 'Indica'. |
| Fahien |
He was a Chinese Buddhist monk who visited India during the reign of Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II). He is known for his visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. His journey is described in his travelogue "Record of Buddhist Kingdoms ...". |
| Huien Tsang |
He was a Chinese traveller who visited India during the time of Harsha Vardhana. His book is called Si-yu-ki or 'The Records of the Western World'. |
| Alberuni |
A persian scholar, he accompanied Mohammed of Ghazni and wrote a book titled 'Tahqiq-i-hind'. He was the first mulsim scholar to study India. He is regarded as the father of Indology. |
| Marco Polo |
He was a well known European traveller who visited many Eastern countries, including India. He visited Southern India where Rudramma Devi of the Kakatiyas was in power. |
| Ibn Batuta |
Ibn Batuta was a Moroccon traveller who visited India during the time of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq. His account of travels is known as the Rihla. |
| Thomas Roe |
Sir Thomas Roe was an English diplomat who visited the court of Jahangir in 1615 to seek protection for an English factory at Surat. His Journal of the mission to the Mogul Empire is a valuable contribution to the history of India of the time. |
| William Hawkins |
Captain William Hawkins led the first voyage of the English East India Company to India in 1609 when Jahangir was in power. He had a personal letter from King James I of England 1609, but did not succeed in seeking Jahangir's permission to establish a factory. |
| Nicolo Conti |
Italian merchant who visited India during the period of Deva Raya I of Vijayanagar (1420) |
| Abdul Razak |
He was a Persian cholar and ambassador of the ruler of Persia to Calicut who visited India during the rule of Deva Raya II of Vijayanagar during 1442 to 1445. |
| St Thomas |
He is believed to be the first Christian saint to visit India in 52 A.D.. |
| Francois Bernier |
He was a French physician and traveller who visited India during 1658 and 1671. He was the personal physician of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for around 12 years during his stay in India. He wrote Travels in the Mughal Empire, which is mainly about the reigns of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb. |
