NIKITIN, Afanasij. Tver 1433 (?) — Smolensk 1472 or 1475 (?). Russian Traveller in India. A merchant from Tver, he visited Persia and India, and wrote a good account of these countries. The chronology of his travel is uncertain. He left Tver in 1466, 1469, or 1471 and travelled down…
NIEUHOFF, Johan. Uelsen, Grafschaft Bentheim (Germany) 22.7.1618 — Madagascar 8.10.1672. Dutch Traveller in India in the middle of the 17th century. Son of the mayor of Uelsen, van Nijhoff and Egberta Picardt. In 1640-49 in Brazil during the Dutch attempt to establish a colony there, then in the service of…
NIEBUHR, Carsten. Lüdingworth near Cuxhaven 17.3.1733 — Meldorf, Holstein 26.4.1815. German Traveller, Geographer and Engineer in Danish Service. Son of Barthold Niebuhr (1704–1749), a free farmer, and Caecilie von Duhn (1706–1733). Father’s death interrupted school, but he studied privately mathematics, surveying, and Arabic, then at Göttingen. Selected by J. D.…
MUNDY, Peter. Before 1609 — after 1667. British Trader and Traveller. From Penryn in Cornwall, son of a pilchard trader. In 1609-10 in France. In 1611 he became a cabin boy in a merchantman, gradually arose to higher positions. Visited Constantinople (1617) and Spain (1621 & 1625). Three times in…
MOORCROFT, William. Ormskirk, Lancashire 1765 — Andkhui, Afghanistan 25.8.1825. British Veterinary Surgeon and Traveller in North-West India. Born as illegitimate son of Ann M., daughter of a local farmer, educated in “Liverpool as a surgeon, studied veterinary science in France [Lyon]. Made a fortune by his veterinary practice in London,…
MINDEROVIĆ, Čedomir. Belgrad 31.10.1912 — New Delhi 16.1.1966. Yugoslavian (Serbian) Author interested in India. Lost early his parents. After difficult childhood he started literary work and political activity in the age of 17 and was often persecuted for them, but he was a convinced Marxist. In 1941 he was among…
MILDENHALL (Midnall), John. Little Bedwell, Wiltshire 1560 (?) — Ajmer June 1614. British Traveller in India, self-styled envoy of the E.I.C. to Mughal Court in 1603. Son of Sir John M. Being a London merchant, he travelled on his own account, without any official position, although he often pretended the…
MARTIN, Robert Montgomery. Dublin 1801? (or 1803) — Sutton, Surrey 6.9.1868. British (Anglo-Irish) Physician, Botanist, Statistician and Historian in India and Asia. Born in a Protestant family in Ireland, son of John Martin and Mary Hawkins. Studied medicine. He came to Ceylon about 1820 and travelled around Indian Ocean as…
MARTIN, François. Paris 1634 — Pondichéry 31.12.1706. French Traveller in India. Illegitimate son of a wealthy spice merchant, after his death had to work as shop assistant. In 1663 joined the French E.I.C., served first in Madagascar, from 1668 in India, soon in charge of the factory in Masulipatan. In…
MARSHALL, John. 16?? — 1677. British Traveller in India. Studies at Cambridge (M.A. Christ’s College). Employed by E.I.C. in India from 1668, apparently died there. Served in Bengal and under Job Charnock in Patna. Made a great number of notes on Indian customs, religion, etc., which were published only in the…