Who among the following travelers visited India in the 7th century CE?
Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang)
The question asks which foreign traveller visited India during the 7th century CE, so the key is to match each visitor with the correct period and ruling dynasty.
Xuanzang (also spelt Hiuen Tsang or Hsuan Tsang) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to India in the 7th century CE, during the reign of Harshavardhana, and studied at the famous Nalanda university.
His detailed account, the 'Si-Yu-Ki' (Record of the Western Regions), is a valuable source on the society, religion and politics of Harsha's India, which firmly places him in the 7th century.
Faxian (Fa-Hien), another Chinese pilgrim, came earlier, around the late 4th to early 5th century CE, during the Gupta period under Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya), so he does not fit the 7th century.
Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus Nicator to the Mauryan court of Chandragupta Maurya around the 4th century BCE, and wrote the 'Indica', far earlier than the period asked.
Marco Polo was a Venetian traveller who reached India much later, in the 13th century CE, so he is also ruled out.
Therefore the traveller who visited India in the 7th century CE is Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang).
Similar Questions
_____ was an ambassador who was sent to the court of Chandragupta by the Greek ruler of West Asia.
Important Questions from Travellers in Ancient India
The Greek historian Megasthenes visited India during the reign of which Indian ruler?
Megasthenes was an ambassador who was sent to the court of which Indian ruler by the Greek ruler of West Asia Seleucus Nicator?
In travel through India Fahien has mentioned a hospital. It was located at
Hien Tsang came to India from which country?
How many sub-committees have been mentioned by Magasthenes to conduct military activities in the Mauryan administration?
