OL’DENBURG, Sergej Fëdorovič (Serge d’Oldenbourg). Bjankino, Zabajkal’skoj obl. (now Tšita obl., Nerčinskij raion) 14.(26.)9.1863 — Leningrad 28.2.1934. Russian Indologist and Art Historian. Professor and Academician in St.Petersburg/Leningrad. Son of Fëdor Fëdorovič O. (1827–1877), an officer, of Livonian nobility, and Nadežda Fëdorovna Berg (von Berg, 1833–1909). Matriculated in 1881, he was…
ÓLAFSSON, Jón (Jan), called Bøsseskytte and Indíafari. “Svarthamri í Álftafirði við Ísafjarðardjúp” in Vestfirðir (Westfjords) 1593 (or 29.8.1596) — 2.5.1679. Icelandic Traveller in India, in the service of the Danish East India Company in Trankebar. Son of Ólafur Jónsson (1560–1600) and Ólöf Þorsteinsdóttir, father died when he was 7. In…
ODORICO DA PORDENONE (Odorico Mattiuzzi). Villanova near Pordenone 1265/74/86 (probably around 1280) — Udine 14.1.1331. Italian Franciscan Friar and Traveller in Asia. From Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Wrote a famous account of his journey to China and Central Asia. Different legends are told of his origin and youth, apparently joined…
NUNES (Nuniz), Fernão. 1500? — 1550?. Portuguese Jewish Horse Trader in India. In 1535-37 stayed in Vijayanagar and then wrote an account, including a short history of the Vijayanagara Empire. The manuscript came to Portugal and was used by Barros, but then forgotten for many years. Later on he was…
NOUETTE, Charles Georges. Montlhéry near Paris 6.5.1869 — Paris 2.5.1910. French Traveller, the photographer of the Pelliot expedition in Central Asia in 1906-09. After the cossack destruction of the 1920s his and Stein’s photographs are the only remaining document of many Dunhuang murals. He was son of merchant Albert Charles…
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. Probably he had travelled much even before, in Baltic and Caucasian countries and Ottoman Empire. The chronology of…
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, Jan van Nijhoff, of Zwolle, and Egberta Picardt. In 1640-49 in Brazil during the Dutch attempt to establish a colony there, then in…
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 as student at Göttingen. Selected by…
MUNDY, Peter. Before 1609 (1597?) — after 1667. British Trader and Traveller. From Penryn in Cornwall, son of a pilchard trader. In 1609-10 in Rouen and Gascony in France. In 1611 he became a cabin-boy in a merchantman, gradually arose to higher positions. Visited Constantinople (1617), returned overland via Bulgaria,…
MOORCROFT, William. Ormskirk, Lancashire 1767 — Andkhui, Afghanistan 25.8.1825. British Veterinary Surgeon and Traveller in North-West India and Afghanistan. Born as illegitimate son of Ann Moorcroft, the daughter of a local farmer, educated in “Liverpool as a surgeon, studied veterinary science in France [Lyon]. Made a fortune by his veterinary…