CURIOSITY, DISGUISE AND THE END OF PILGRIMAGE

Ludovico de Varthema of Bologna is the second European traveller to have visited and described Vijayanagara. We know little about him, apart from what he tells us in his own book, and that, alas, is not always reliable. However, when he died some time before 1517, Varthema was one of the most successful and best-known travel writers since Marco Polo. On his return to Italy in 1508, after seven years in the East, he personally recounted his travels to the Venetian Senate (for which he was paid). The written version which he produced soon afterwards was dedicated to members of one of the leading noble families in Rome, the Colonna-Montefeltro. It was printed in Italian in 1510 with the support of the Pope and several of his humanist-trained cardinals, and then immediately translated into Latin. For decades, Varthema's Itinerario would figure as one of the key modern authorities concerning the Portuguese discoveries in the East. In fact his work is one of the most striking successes of travel literature in the early history of printing, with at least five editions in Italian, one in Latin, three in German, and two in Castilian between only 1510 and 1523. There were several more editions later in the century, including French, Dutch and English translations. Having been knighted by the king of Portugal for his services in India, Varthema could also seek to add a social emblem to his authority as traveller.