TAVERNIER, Jean Baptiste (1669 baron d’Aubonne). Paris 1605 — Moscow (?) 1689. French Jeweller and Traveller in India. Son of Gabriel T., a Huguenot merchant and geographer, originally from Antwerp, and Suzanne Tonnelier. Early travels in England, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy and Hungary. Some time served in Austrian army. Also…
PYRARD DE LAVAL, François. Laval c. 1578 — Paris c. 1623. French Traveller in Maldives and India. Son of a trader. In May 1601 he sailed on Corbin one of the two ships equiped by the merchants of St.Malo, Laval and Vitré in order to compete with the Dutch E.I.C. in…
PRICE, William. Worcester 1780 (or 1771 acc. to G.-V.) — Merryman’s Hill near Worcester ?.6.1830. British Colonial Officer and Oriental Scholar in India. In 1811-12 Assistant Secretary and Interpreter of Gore Ouseley’s mission to Persia. He kept a detailed diary, draw buildings and landscapes and copied cuneiform inscriptions. Returned to…
POTTINGER, Henry. Ballymacarrett, county Down 3.10.1788 — Malta 18.3.1855. Sir (Bart). British Colonial Officer in India. Born in a Berkshire family settled in Ireland. Son of Eldred Curwen P. and Anne Gordon, educated at Belfast; went to sea and to India [1804] to join the marine service, but entered the…
POŠKA, Antanas Jonas (until 1929 Paškevicius). Gripkeliai, dt. Panévezys 24.3.1903 — Vilnius 16.10.1992. Lithuanian Oriental Scholar, Anthropologist and Archaeologist. Born in a peasant family, son of Jonas Paškevičius and Elena Stapulionis. In 1926-29 studied physical Anthropology at Kaunas University. Interested in the affinity of Lithuanian and Sanskrit he started in…
PONS, Jean François. Rodez (Aveyron) 6.12.1698 — Chandernagor 1752/53. Father. S.J. French Missionary in India. Novice 1713, in 1726 arrived at Tanjore, from 1731 Superior of Bengal Mission in Chandernagor. In 1734 he visited the observatories of Delhi and Jaipur together with P. Boudier (1686–1757). Later also travelled in south,…
POLO, Marco. Venice 1254 (or 1250?) — Venice 8.1.1324. Famous Italian (Venetian) Traveller in the Middle Ages, spent many years in China. Born in a wealthy family of nobility, he left Venice in 1271 together with his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo, who had returned from their earlier commercial visit…
POLIER, Antoine-Louis-Henri. Lausanne ?.2.1741 — near Avignon 9.2.1795. Swiss Officer and Traveller in India. Born in a French Huguenot noble family naturalized in Switzerland, son of Jacques H. E. Polier (1700–1781) and Jeanne-Francoise Moreau de Brosses. He had a good education and showed interest in mathematics. Invited by his uncle…
POHRT, Hermann. 18?? — 19??. German Traveller. Dr. Participated as Grünwedel’s Assistant in the Turfan expedition in 1906-08. He spoke Chinese. There is one H.P., a lawyer, who served in WW I as fighter pilot and in 1919 moved from Berlin to Rheinsberg. He knew Göring and other Nazis and…
PETROVSKIJ, Nikolaj Fëdorovič. 30.11.(12.12.)1837 — Taškent 19.11.(2.12.)1908. Russian Diplomat and Central Asian Scholar. After an early military career he joined in 1861 Finance Department and in 1870 Foreign Department. He was Russian Consul in Kashgar in 1882-1904 (from 1895 General Consul) and an eager antiquarian, who donated his big collection…