Fa Xian
Explanation
Chinese Buddhist pilgrims travelled to India to visit holy sites and collect scriptures. Their travelogues serve as critical historical sources for reconstructing the social, religious, and administrative conditions of ancient India.Detailed Analysis:
- Fa Xian (Faxian): He visited India in the early 5th century AD during the reign of Chandragupta II (Gupta Empire). He provided the earliest detailed foreign account of untouchability in India. He explicitly described that the "Chandalas" (outcasts) lived outside the city and were required to strike a piece of wood (clappers) when entering the city or marketplace. This sound warned upper-caste individuals to avoid contact with them or their shadows.
- Xuan Zang (Hiuen Tsang): Visiting in the 7th century AD during the reign of Harshavardhana, he also documented the social structure and the existence of untouchability. However, the specific observation regarding the mandatory use of wooden clappers to announce presence is distinct to Fa Xian's account of the Gupta period.
- I-Qing (I-tsing): A late 7th-century traveller, his works focused primarily on Buddhist monastic rules and the practice of Buddhism in India and the Malay Archipelago, rather than detailed social descriptions of the caste system.
- Sung Yun: He visited India in the early 6th century AD but is not the source associated with this specific description of social stratification.
Key Takeaway: Fa Xian's travelogue is the primary source for the specific practice of untouchables using clappers to announce their presence during the Gupta period.