Independence Day 2023 | How do some of the earliest books on India describe the land, its people and culture?

For three years, K.K. Venugopal has been digitising his extensive collection of antiquarian books, now with nearly 1,900 titles, including Francois Bernier's 1676 travelogue and Dean Mahomed's 1794 English book. These books offer fascinating glimpses of India through the colonial lens, from the Ganges' fish to the Golden Temple. They also depict people, places and the past, from the bustling streets of Benares to the Capper House in Madras. Venugopal's library is a window into a different time, both alien and familiar.

For three years now, I’ve been regularly visiting a special corner of the Internet — the digital library of former Attorney General K.K. Venugopal. In March 2020, Venugopal decided to digitise and upload his extensive collection of antiquarian books — a process that took, for the first lot of nearly 1,200 books, half a year. Today, the collection has almost 1,900 books, and waiting in the wings are thousands more.

Venugopal began collecting books in 1970, starting with a title on the erstwhile South Indian Railway Company. He hasn’t stopped, and when I visit him, he shows me a new auction catalogue he has his eyes on. The books on the website, www.kkvlibrary.com, are copyright free and can be downloaded, too. The oldest in the collection is a travelogue: Travels In Hindustan: The History Of The Late Revolution Of The Dominions Of The Great Mogol by Francois Bernier, dating back to 1676. In fact, historical travelogues are one of the biggest segments in Venugopal’s library — accounts of visitors to the country, mostly men, but also a few women — who turned their lens on India. 

By the 18th century, Indians too were writing travelogues, and in 1790, the first account written in an Indian language was published — Varthamanappusthakam, by the Malayali Syriac Christian priest Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar. In English, The Travels of Dean Mahomet by Dean Mahomed, a native of Patna, was released in 1794 — the first English book to be published by an Indian. Later, through the 18th and 19th centuries, more Indians would write accounts of their travels to far corners of the world — Russia, China, Africa, the U.S. and Europe. 

The depictions by early visitors to India are both fascinating and evocative — a product of the colonial lens and in several cases, an anthropological study of a people and a land so expansive, changeable and new to foreign eyes. Today, these accounts act like windows into a different time, both alien and familiar. We bring to you a few snippets from some of these books — portraits of people, places, and the past.

“The Ganges, at this place, abounds with fish of all kinds; and, amongst them, the king of the finny tribes, the noble mahaseer, or great-head, which by many persons is esteemed the most delicious fresh-water fish which ever gratified the palate of an epicure. It rises to the fly, affording excellent sport to the angler, sometimes attaining the size o f a large cod, and is taken with considerable difficulty, even by those who have been accustomed to salmon-fishing in the most celebrated rivers of Scotland. The mahaseer is sent to table in various ways, Indian cooks being famous for their fish-stews and curries ; but it does not require any adventitious aid from the culinary art, as it is exquisite when plain-boiled, being, according to the best gastronomic authority, luscious but yet unsatiating.”

— Views In India, Chiefly Among The Himalaya Mountains; Lieut. George Francis White, of the 31st Regt. (1836)

“A fair takes place annually at Hurdwar in the month of April, lasting nearly a fortnight, that being the period chosen by the pilgrims, who flock from all parts of India, to perform their ablutions in the Ganges… The climate of Hurdwar during the early part of April is exceedingly variable: from four in the afternoon, until nine or ten o’clock on the following day, the wind generally blows from the north or east over the snowy mountains, rendering the air delightfully cool; during the intermediate hours, however, the thermometer frequently rises to 94°; and the clouds of dust arising from the concourse of people, together with their beasts of burden, collected at this place, add considerably to the annoyance sustained from the heat.”