Through the eyes of travellers Test - 1

Merchants had strong communal or kin ties and were organised into their own caste-cum-occupational bodies. In western India, these groups were called  mahajans   and their chief, the  nagarsheth .

Dara Shukoh was born on 20th  March, 1615. He was the eldest son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. When he was 12 years old, his grandfather, Jahangir, died, and his father, Shah Jahan, succeeded him as emperor.

Ibn Battuta  came to  India  in the fourteenth century. He had set off for India  in the year 1332-1333 CE.

In urban centers like Ahmedabad, merchants, called  Mahajans , were collectively represented by the chief of the community, also known as  Nagarsheth .

Daulatabad, also known as Devagiri, is a town which includes the Devagiri-Daulatabad fort. It carries the distinction of remaining undefeated in battle. It is a 14th-century fort city in Maharashtra state of India. Originally named Devagiri, it was an important uplands city along caravan routes. Starting 1327, it famously remained the capital of Tughlaq dynasty, under Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-51), who also changed its name, and forcibily moved the entire population of Delhi for two years before it was abandoned for lack of water.

Dara Shukoh was the eldest son of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan.

Marco Polo came from Venice, in Italy, and visited India and China in the thirteenth century.

Ibn Battuta had travelled all the way from Morocco, his home, till China, travelling through India. His account was compared with that of Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller who visited China and India in late thirteenth century.

One of the most famous travellers to India was  Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French jeweller who travelled to India at least six times. He was fascinated with trading conditions in India, which he compared to Iran and the Ottoman Empire.

Merchants had strong communities, organized into their own caste-cum occupational groups, which were known as mahajans in western India.