BALDAEUS, Philippus (Philips Baelde). Delft bapt. 24.10.1632 — Geervliet 1671. Dutch Priest and Traveller. Son of Jan Baelde (1610–1636), a merchant of Flemish origin, and Maria de Jomge (Junius, d. 1636), lost early his parents. After Latin school in Delft studied at Groningen and, in 1650-54, Leiden universities, then joined…
BALBI, Gasparo. 15?? — after 1590. Italian Merchant and Traveller, in the East 1579-86. He was from Venice and dealt in jewels, and therefore went to India. Started from Venice in 1579, travelled by the land route, via Aleppo, Basra, and Ormuz to Goa, where he stayed till 1582. Then…
BACOT, Jacques. St.-Germain-en-Laye (Indre) 4.7.1877 — Paris 25.6.1965. French Traveller and Tibetologist. Born in a family of cloth merchants, son of Raymond Bacot (1843–1917), owner of a ceramic factory, and Marie Louise Bapterosses. With father and grandfather, who were experienced travellers, he himself made a journey round the world in…
AVITABILE, Paolo Crescenzo Martino (called Abu Tabela). Agerola near Sorrento 25.10.1791 — Agerola 28.3.1850. Neapolitan Officer and Traveller in India. Son of farmer Bartolomeo Avitabile and Angela di Fortunato. From 1807 served in Neapolitan militia and from 1809 in army (artillery) under Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim Murat. In 1815 second…
ANQUETIL-DUPERRON, Abraham Hyacinthe. Paris 7.12.1731 — Paris 18.1.1805. French Orientalist, Pioneer of Iranian and Indian Studies. Travelled in India 1755-61, then member of the A.I.B.L. in Paris. He was the son of a spice merchant from Paris, Pierre Anquetil, and Marie Angélique Coignard, and brother of historian Louis-Pierre Anquetil de…
ADRICHEM, Dirk van. 16?? — 1665?. Dutch Colonial Agent in India. He was the chief of the Dutch factory in Surat 1662-65, and in 1662 visited the court of Aurangzib on a diplomatic mission, to congratulate the emperor on his accession. He spent three months in Delhi, and published an…