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The traveller Duarte Barbosa, who described the trade and society of south India in the early 16th century, was from:

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Answer: Option D — Portugal

Detailed Solution

Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese writer and official who lived in India in the early 16th century and described the trade and society of south India.

About Duarte Barbosa:

  • He was born in Lisbon around 1480.
  • He came to India around 1500, soon after the Portuguese arrived, and stayed for about 16 years.
  • He worked as a clerk and interpreter (scrivener) at the Portuguese factory at Cannanore (Kannur) and Cochin (Kochi), and learnt the Malayalam language.
  • He later took part in Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world (Magellan was his brother-in-law), and was killed in the Philippines in 1521.

His book:

  • His account, known as "The Book of Duarte Barbosa" (completed around 1516), describes the countries of the Indian Ocean, from East Africa to China.
  • It gives a detailed picture of the trade, ports, people, customs and products of the Malabar coast, the Vijayanagara empire, Gujarat and Bengal.
  • He described the city of Vijayanagara, its trade and the king's justice.
  • He described the caste system of Malabar, the customs of the Nairs, and the trade in pepper and spices.
  • He noted the religious tolerance of the Vijayanagara kings, who allowed people of all faiths to live freely.

Other Portuguese writers on India:

  • Domingo Paes: visited Vijayanagara during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya (about 1520) and described the city, the king and the Mahanavami festival.
  • Fernao Nuniz: a horse-trader who visited Vijayanagara in the 1530s and wrote a history of the kingdom.
  • Tome Pires: wrote "Suma Oriental", about the East.
  • Gaspar Correia: wrote a history of Portuguese India.

Other foreign travellers to south India:

Niccolo de Conti (Italian), Abdur Razzaq (Persian) and Afanasy Nikitin (Russian) visited in the 15th century.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗Italy, Persia and Russia were the homelands of other travellers.

Quick tip

Remember: Duarte Barbosa = Portuguese (lived at Cannanore and Cochin; book completed about 1516; died on Magellan's voyage, 1521); Paes and Nuniz = Portuguese visitors to Vijayanagara.

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Arrival of Europeans & Expansion of British Rule — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Arrival of Europeans & Expansion of British Rule, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danes and French in India, the growth of the East India Company, and the battles, wars and treaties through which British power expanded, including the Battles of Plassey and Buxar, the Anglo-Mysore, Anglo-Maratha and Anglo-Sikh wars, and policies such as subsidiary alliance and the doctrine of lapse. Typical questions ask which battle was fought in which year and between whom, which treaty ended which war, and which Governor-General introduced a policy. For example, the Battle of Plassey (1757) was fought between Robert Clive and Siraj-ud-Daulah, and the Treaty of Allahabad (1765) gave the Company the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Practise the arrival of Europeans and expansion of British rule questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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