The Sea and Land Travels of a Buddhist Sadhu in the Sixteenth Century
By Giuseppe Tucci
Summary
This article recounts the extraordinary voyages of a sixteenth‑century Buddhist monk who travelled widely by land and sea. Drawing on narrative fragments, inscriptions and oral tradition, the author reconstructs the Sadhu’s itinerary from his departure in eastern India through sea voyages that took him to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia and back. The Sadhu sought rare scriptures and religious teachers, and his travels illuminate commercial and diplomatic networks linking Bengal, Ceylon, South India, and the Malacca Straits. The author meticulously compares Buddhist sources with contemporary European travelers’ accounts to evaluate distances, itineraries and dates. The article also explores the historical geography of ports and trade routes used by pilgrims and merchants, showing how Buddhist travellers relied on monsoon winds and well‑established harbours to move between spiritual centres. This account offers rare insight into the agency of monastic travellers and their role in disseminating ideas across maritime Asia. It also demonstrates the cross‑cultural contacts that informed the intellectual life of sixteenth‑century Bengal monks, who combined scholarship with adventurous journeys. The author concludes that the Sadhu’s experiences reflect a period of renewed Buddhist engagement with the wider world, an assertion supported by epigraphic evidence and textual parallels.
Conclusion
By tracing the Sadhu’s route and comparing diverse sources, the article shows that Buddhist monks were active participants in sixteenth‑century maritime exchanges. His journey exemplifies the mobility of knowledge and the interconnectedness of religious communities across South and Southeast Asia.