Retracing Afanasy Nikitin’s journey 555 years later

Ratheesh C. Nair to retrace Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin's 15th century journey to India, promoting cultural ties and trade.

Five-and-a-half centuries after Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin travelled across India and recorded his impressions in what is today known as A Journey beyond the Three Seas, an Indian is all set to relive his great 15th century journey.

Ratheesh C. Nair, honorary consul of the Russian Federation and director of the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, plans to start off from Tver, Nikitin’s hometown 180 km northwest of Moscow, on September 2 and traverse five modern-day nations to mark the 555th anniversary of Nikitin’s arrival in Gujarat in 1469.

“Nikitin was one of the first Europeans to travel to India, arriving here after Niccolo de Conti. But people mostly remember Vasco da Gama who later discovered the sea route to India. Nikitin set off from Tver in 1466, travelled across what is today Azerbaijan, Iran, and Oman before crossing the Arabian Sea to Khambhat (Cambay) in Gujarat. He spent almost three years travelling 15th century India and documenting what he saw, before leaving for Ceylon (Sri Lanka),” Mr. Nair said.

Mr. Nair plans to follow Nikitin’s route from Tver to India. Christened Voyage@555, the project is meant to boost trade through people’s diplomacy, strengthen ties between Russian and Indian universities, and promote peaceful use of nuclear energy. Mr. Nair said his project is supported by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foundation Russkiy Mir, Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo, Russian Geographical Society, Rosatom, bank Sber as well as the Embassies of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Oman in India.

For retracing Nikitin’s footsteps five-and-a-half centuries later, Mr. Nair will sail down the mighty Volga river by boat and ship from Tver to Astrakhan, travel by road to Derbent in Dagestan, from where he will cross to Azerbaijan, and later, Iran. From Iran, he plans to fly to Oman, and from there to Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Once in India, Mr. Nair will spend the next 13 days travelling to the Indian towns and cities that find a mention in the book A Journey beyond the Three Seas. They include Khambhat and Baroda in Gujarat, Ratnagiri, Dabhol, and Chaul in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi and Mysore in Karnataka, and Golconda in Telangana. He plans to conclude his journey on October 12 in Kozhikode, which find mention in Nikitin’s work.

“And Calicut is a big harbour for the whole of the India sea, and God forbid that any ship should pass by it, no one who sails past it will cross the sea unscathed. Pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, spices, and many kinds of herbs are grown there in plenty,” Nikitin described Calicut thus in his writings, according to Old India: Notes on Afanasy Nikitin’s Voyage Beyond the Three Seas by the Russian scholar Ivan Pavlovich Minayev.