GatherGyan

  Sir Thomas Roe     Sir Thomas Roe was an ambassador. In 1581 he was born in Essex in England. He belonged to an upper class English family. Elinor Jermy was his mother and Sir Robert Roe was his father. Roe was an experienced, handsome, tactful, courageous as well as had pleasing manners. In 1614 Roe married Eleanor Beeston, unfortunately they had no offspring but later they adopted an orphan girl.   In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe was sent to India by King James I of England to obtain trading permission. During this time Mughal emperor Jahangir was ruling a major portion of India. On January 4, 1616, Sir Thomas Roe met the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Jahangir was much impressed by Sir Thomas Roe and give him the trading permission (Farman). After that te English were allowed to rent or build factories at Surat, Agra, Ahmedabad, Broach and Baroda. Sir Thomas Roe with the Mughal emperor Jahangir     Sir Thomas stayed in Jahangir's court...

            Marco Polo was one of the most famous travellers of the world. He was born on 8th January, 1254, in Venice, Italy. His father was Nicolo Polo and mother was Nicole Anna Defuseh. Although he was born to a wealthy Venetian merchant family, much of Marco Polo's childhood was spent parentless. When Marco was young his mother passed away, therefore his childhood was a little bit unhappy. Marco Polo known to us as a traveller, in fact he was not only a traveller but a merchant and writer also. Donata Badoer was his wife, and they have three daughters; Fantina, Bellela and Moretta.    In 1271, when Marco Polo was nearly 17 years old, he started his journey to China with his father (Nicolo Polo) and uncle (Maffeo Polo). They went part of the way by ship and the rest of the way by land. It was a long, arduous journey over mountains, across rivers and even a desert (Gobi). Many a time, they run out of food and water but their courage ke...

   Fa-Hien, a great Chinese Buddhist monk was born on 337 A.D. in China. Many of us know that he was a traveler, but, he was not only a traveler but also writer. Many Chinese pilgrims came to India as it was a holy land for the Buddhists, Fa-Hien was the earliest of them. In about 399 A.D. Fa-Hien started his journey to India by land from Changan, China. He reached India by crossing the Gobi desert, and then the Pamir plateau.  Fa-Hien reached India about 400 A.D. During this time the Gupta emperor Chandragupta Vikramaditya was ruling over north India. Fa-Hien visited to many places related to Gautam Buddha. He visited many places, such as; Patliputra, Lumbini, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Mathura, Kannauj, Kapilavastu and many other places.   At Pataliputra (Patna) he spent three years, and studied Sanskrit there. He stayed for two years at Tamralipta (now Tamluk in West Bengal). Fa-Hien spent nearly fifteen years (399-414 A.D.) in India. He was impressed by the...

  Vasco da Gama was one of the gallant explorers in the world. He was born in 1460, in the town of Sines, Portugal. His father was Estevao da Gama, and mother was Isabel Sodre. He had four brothers and a sister.    Many European kings were looking for a sea route to India, as Indian muslin and silk was very famous in this time. The Europeans also liked the species as well as precious stones which were exported from India. After all there are many sailors who tried to find a sea route to India, but all in vain. The Portuguese king sent Vasco da Gama to find a sea route to India. Vasco da Gama was 37 years old then, and it was his first voyage. On 8th July,1497 he left Lisbon with four ships and 170 men. He sailed for many days before reaching the Cape of Good Hope (located on the Atlantic coast of South Africa). After facing many problems he reached Mozambique, and a few days later he sailed to Malindi. There he met some Indian sailors. He found a Gujarati pilot who ...