SOURCE: Digby, Simon. “An Eighteenth Century Narrative of a Journey from Bengal to England: Munshi Isma'il's New History.” In Urdu and Muslim South Asia: Studies in Honour of Ralph Russell, edited by Christopher Shackle, pp. 49-65. London: University of London, 1989.

In the following essay, Digby examines Munshi Isma'il's New History, one of the earliest travel narratives written by an Indian, describing his voyage to and experiences in England.

According to Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of King James I of England and VI of Scotland to the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr, a proposal was mooted in 1616 that an Indian ‘gentellman’ should accompany Roe on his return to England, ‘to kisse his Majestie's hand and see our countrye’.¹ Like a project to despatch an ambassador to Portugal in the reign of Jahāngīr's father Akbar,² the idea was not implemented; and Jahāngīr's own...