It’s not only what they have seen in their own eyes but how they viewed things-- that is, the beliefs they held for instance, that tinged or colored the way they eventually saw the foreign cultures they visited and were exposed to for many years.
At least this can be clearly gleaned in how world travellers Xuanzang, Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta narrated their observations and experiences when they visited India, China and West Africa respectively during the post classical era.
The three travellers visited different foreign lands and cultures for more than a decade and brought back home their accounts on what they have seen through their years of living and working in these communities.
All of them gave vivid descriptions of the people they've met, encountered and forged relationships with, as well as gave accounts on how the latter lived and moved among their fellowmen in their respective circles. They also gave insights on the ways of the people as well as their practices –something they have noticed because it either clashed or conform with their beliefs and in all these cases, their religious beliefs.
In ``A Chinese Buddhist in India,'' Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk from China, gave very perceptive descriptions of the people he encountered in India – in his journey to get a better understanding of the teachings of Buddhism in India which is after all the ``homeland of Buddhism.'' He observed for instance there was a caste system in India classified in four groups – the Brahmans or the religious and pure caste; Kshattriya or royal caste, Vaisyas or the merchant class and the Sudra, or agricultural class.
Xuanzang noted how the caste system in India governed the lives of the people there. These included how marriage determines whether an individual would fall or rise from his or her caste system. He also noted how women in India then are not allowed to have second marriages. But despite the existence of caste system, Xuanzang found ``ordinary'' Indian people to be ``upright and honorable'' and described them as being ``considerate'' on the way they went about in administering justice. ``They are not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct, and are faithful to their oaths and promises,'' Xuanzang also said of the ordinary Indian folk.
His introspective descriptions of the gentle ways of the Indian people in his writing is very much palpable in his writings, and it's probably because he was a religious man and he appreciated and would give attention to the good side of people.
For instance, Xuanzang wrote that corporal punishment is not meted out to those who violate the law in India back them. ``They are simply left to live or die,'' he pointed out, saying that the worst fate to be suffered by the offenders were imprisonment or in some cases, having some parts of their body like hands cut off and then soon after, they are banished to live in other lands. He noted also though how people were not subjected to beatings by authorities when under criminal investigations. Overall though, Xuanzang reported that criminals and rebels were ``few in number'' and ``less troublesome'' there.
Religion too somehow prompted Marco Polo, a Catholic, to include in his writings certain practices that did not conform to his beliefs during his long stay in China. In ``A European Christian in China,'' Marco Polo was very much impressed with the city of Kinsay (actually city of Hangzhou) and described it to be not only a vast land but ``one of the finest and noblest city in the world.''
He observed for instance that the merchants and craftsmen and their wives lived ``as if they were kings and queens'' and noticed in another instance the fine silk they wore in the backs.
And while he seemed amazed at the way the Chinese lived there in their mansions and palaces, he took note as well of a unique practice there so unlike his Catholic upbringing.
Marco Polo wrote that people in China would ``eat all kinds of flesh, even that of dogs and other unclean beasts.'' He said this kind of practice of eating animals was not something Christians like him would indulge in, no matter what.
But at the same time, Marco Polo took note of how ``very cleanly'' the Chinese were as he pointed out that they tend to bathe frequently as shown by the existence of over 3,000 baths in the city.
And going back to the theme of cleanliness Marco Polo also pointed out that there were some women in parts of the city who traded their bodies for a living.
And like Xuanzang, Marco Polo also noticed the good side of the Chinese, noting that they were of ``peaceful character'' and that for one they don't own or know how to handle arms. ``You hear of no feuds or noisy quarrels or any dissensions of any kind among them,'' he said in his writing. Marco Polo also found Chinese people to be ``honest and truthful'' and the way they treat each other with kindness would lead he said, for some to think that they were ``all in one family.''
Religion, or in this case the Islamic faith, also played a big part in the writings of Arab Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta in his narration of his experiences in his travel to West Africa. But Battuta's observations had to more on how Islam was practiced in certain West African ``kingdoms'' likeMali then, which he noted was less strict in certain aspects. In ``An Arab Muslim in West Africa,'' Battuta for instance noted how in the town of Iwalatan there was a unique practice there that a person's heirs were not his own sons but the sons of his sisters.
He said that while such practice is being observed by the Indians in Malabar, this was understandable because these people were ``heathens'' unlike those in Iwalatan who were Muslims ``punctilious in observing the hours of prayers, studying books of law and memorizing the Koran.''
Battuta also took note that while Muslim women in this town do not use veils, they were very much prayerful.
Another thing that he observed was that Muslim men and women, even if they were married, can have ``companions'' outside of their marriage, something that shocked him when he went to see a Muslim judge in his house and found the latter in the company of a beautiful woman.
In his visit to Mali, Battuta noted that people there were prayerful as well. He also found ``admirable'' qualities in them, noting that they were not unjust and they also do not tolerate injustice. He also marvelled at the fact that Muslim men give importance to their religion that they would send ahead their boys to place their prayer mats in the mosque on Fridays and wait for their arrival there. This practice was just to make sure the Muslim men will have a corner to prey on the big crowd that worships in mosque on Fridays.
Battuta was also impressed by the way Muslims would make sure they wore clean white garments on mosques on Fridays, even if their clothes were old and had seen better days.
But he found several contemptible things of people in Mali too, including the practice of women servants, young girls and slave-girls to go naked while in the company of people. Also ``reprehensible'' to Battuta was the practice of many Muslims in Mali to eat carrion, dogs and asses.
Looking at the accounts of the three travellers, these all showed that their religious beliefs also influenced their reporting of their experiences and observations in their respective visits in certain parts of the world. Still, the accounts of these world travellers are credible in a way that they were just including certain facets on the way of life of people in these foreign cultures that they found unique to their own as well as to their faith. And these accounts constitute accurate facts of the way these people lived in their communities at that time.
Xuanzang, in his bid to get a better understanding of the teachings of Buddhism, set out to India to find out for himself how the faith is being practised. His audience in his writings were clearly the Chinese people practicing the Buddhist faith.
For his part, Marco Polo found certain practices in one of the biggest cities in China at that time that go beyond the Christianity he knew and he included them in his writings. His clear audience had to be his fellow Christians in Western European civilization.
Meanwhile, Ibn Battuta was able to see differences in the way the Islamic faith were being observed in West Africa which he found to be less strict. He included these observations in his writings about his travel of the region.
So how can travel accounts of foreign observers help in the study of history? For one, foreign observers can provide an eye witness account of the happenings in that society then, particularly how men interact and moved around. They were there and thus, can give a fair accounting of people, places and things coming or have come his way.
Through these eyewitness accounts, these foreign observers can help students of history get a better understanding of certain incidents and/or why some things happen. They can provide material that will help scholars sometimes piece together details or put things in their proper context. The only disadvantage that the uses of foreign observers have in explaining history is that their biases for certain things can come in and shape their perceptions when narrating facts.
Works Cited
Strayer, Robert W. "Part Three. An Age of Accelerating Connections, 500–1500." Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, First Edition Volume 1: To 1500. Bedford: St. Martin's, 2008. 356-366.
