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…
CHARPENTIER, Jarl Hellen Robert Toussaint. Nya Varvet near Gothenburg 17.12.1884 — Uppsala 5.7.1935. Swedish Indologist. Professor in Uppsala. Son of Claës Robert Adolf Charpentier, a major, of a Huguenot family which had emigrated to Sweden in the 17th century, and Helena Elisabeth Augusta Geijer. Educated in Gothenburg. From 1902 studies…
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…
CASTANHEDA, Fernão Lopes de. Santarem c. 1500 — Coimbra 23.3. or 6.6.1559. Portuguese Historian of Colonial India. Illegitimate son of Lopo Fernandez de Castanheda, royal officer, of an old family. In 1528 he accompanied his father to Goa. During ten years in India he visited Portuguese bases as far as…
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…
CALAND, Willem. Brielle (Den Briel), Zuid Holland 27.8.1859 — Utrecht 23.3. 1932. Dutch Indologist. Professor in Utrecht. Son of the water engineer Pieter Caland (1826–1902) and Helena Carolina de Jonge (1828–1893). Educated in the Hague. Studied from 1877 classical philology under Cobet at Leiden, became interested in Kern’s lectures. In…
CABRAL, Pedro Álvarez (born Pedro Álvarez de Gouveia). Belmonte, Portugal 1467/68 — Santarém? 1520. Portuguese Sailor. Son of a minor nobleman, Fernão Cabral and Isabel Gouveia, himself in high positions at the court of king Manuel. In 1500 he was given the command of the second Portuguese Indian expedition, a…
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…