CORYAT, Thomas (Tom Coriate). Odcombe (Crewkerne), Somersetshire 1577? — Surat ?.12.1617. British Traveller in India. Son of the Rev. George Coryat (d. 1607), Rector of Odcombe, and his wife Gertrude. Studies at Winchester College and from 1596 at Gloucester Hall, Oxford, learning Greek and logic, but left 1599 without degree…
CONTI, Niccolò (De’ C., Niccolò di Giovanni Conti di Chioggia). Chioggia near Venice c. 1395 — Chioggia (?) Summer 1469. Italian (Venetian) Traveller in India. He spent twentyfive years travelling and trading in the East, accepted Islam and was thus capable of visiting many countries. In 1414 (or 1419) he…
CHEVALIER, Jean-Baptiste. Blois 23.4.1729 — Conan near Blois 30.4.1789. French Traveller in India and Tibet. Son of Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, a lawyer and royal adviser, and Marie-Catherine de La Saussaye. In French colonial service left for Bengal in 1752, in 1755-57 explored still independent Assam, trying without success to get an…
CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste (1681 Sir John Chardin). Paris 16.11.1643 (Julian 6.11.) — Chiswick, London 5.1.1713 (25.12.1712). French Huguenot Jeweller and Traveller. Sent to the east by his father, the wealthy Parisian jeweller Daniel Chardin, in 1664 he visited Persia (entering the service of Shah Abbas II in Isfahan), then Surat and…
CARRÉ, Barthélémy. 1636 — after 1699. Abbé. French Traveller. Of Blois, educated by Jesuits, took religious career and was ordained priest. From 1662 served in the navy, apparently as chaplain, in Atlantic, Mediterranian and Levant. Sent by Colbert with F. Caron to Madagascar, they arrived at Surat in 1669. Carré…
BURTON, Richard Francis. Barnham House, Elstree, Hertfordshire 19.3.1821 — Trieste 20.10.1890 (Dingle & Garrett: born in Torquay, Devon, Penzer explains: born in Toquay, baptised in Elstree, Herts). Sir. British (partly of Irish origin) Oriental Scholar, Pioneer of Anthropology, Traveller and Diplomat. Son of colonel Joseph Netterville Burton (1782–1857) and Martha…
BURNES, James. Montrose, Angus 12.2.1801 — London 19.9.1862. British (Scottish) Physician in India. Son of James BSon of James Burnes (1760–1852, provost and a cousin of the poet Robert Burns) and Elizabeth Glegg, brother of —> Alexander Burnes (1805–1841). Educated at Montrose Academy, Edinburgh University and in London hospitals (M.D.),…
BURNES, Alexander. Montrose, Angus 16.5.1805 — Kabul 2.11.1841. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) and Traveller in India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Son of James Burnes (1760–1852, provost and a cousin of the poet Robert Burns) and Elizabeth Glegg, brother of —> James Burnes (1801–1862). After attending the famous college…
BUCHANAN-HAMILTON, Francis (until 1815 Francis Buchanan, then Francis Hamilton). Branziet, Callander, Pertshire 15.2.1762 — Callander 15.6.1829. British (Scottish) Physician in India, Traveller and Naturalist, a Pioneer of Burmese Studies and of Indian Archaeology. Son of Thomas B., a physician, and Elizabeth Hamilton, took himself a M.D. at Edinburgh in 1783…
BRIGGS, Henry George. Bombay 20.10.1824 — Bombay 4.7.1872. British Merchant, Traveller, and Orientalist. Son of Henry Briggs. In 1843 travelled in South Africa, in 1845 in China. In 1846 settled at the office of Briggs & Co. in Bombay. For a while lived in Karachi (1854/55), then from 1856 Assistant…