List of Indian travelers you should know about.

You call them explorers, travelers, nomads, wanderers or with any other name but, for many, these people are a true inspiration and they are perfect examples of determination, strong will power and dedication. It is truly impossible to put what these people have experienced, how they have seen the world and their experiences in a single article but my main aim is to prepare a list of great travelers of India whom we should know about. When we study about other country explorers in our history lessons we should definitely learn about these people too.

The list of people I have mentioned here is little and I am continuously trying to gather more such inspiring people and I request the readers to add names of any other great explorers/ travelers in the comments section below so that I can include them into this article.

Bimol Mukerji:

I am ashamed of not knowing about this legend till date. I was surprised and stunned by what he has achieved. In the year 1926, Bimol Mukerji along with his 3 other friends started on a journey to travel the world on bicycles. Yeah, you heard it right on a bicycle. During the course of their journey, his friends have given up and returned back to India but this man continued alone and completed his epic journey and return back to India after 11 years in the year 1937. It is a difficult feat to travel around the world even in present days even though we have google, mobiles, the internet, many travelogues and roadside assistances. Without any of these things, this man has travelled 30+ countries. He is the first Indian Globe-Trotter. Before going on this epic journey he had travelled entire India from 1921 – 1926. Another great thing he did was writing a book about his entire world tour named “Du Chakay Duniya” which means The World on Two Wheels.

Nain Singh Rawat:

This man’s life is nothing less than a movie. His first exploration trip was with Germans between 1855 – 1857, he travelled to Manasarovar, Rakas Tal and then to Gartok and Ladakh. In 1865-66, he travelled 1200 miles (1931 km's) from Kathmandu to Lhasa and to Lake Manasarovar and back to India. He along with other explorers has undergone training to record distances by using different methods one of them was by using a modified Buddhist rosary or mala. Every 100 steps the explorers take, they will slip one bead from mala, so the complete length of rosary represents 10,000 steps. He did many explorations undercover as a monk and used to code the notes of measurements in the form of written prayers. Mercury, used for creating an artificial horizon, was kept in cowrie shells and, for use, poured into the begging bowl carried by explorers. This is just a glimpse of the training he has undergone and the methods he used during his explorations. More detailed information about him can be found here.

Malli Mastan Babu:

Sadly he became famous only after his death. He is the first Indian and first South Asian to climb all seven summits, first Indian to climb Vinson Massi, Carstensz Pyramid. He holds a 2006 world record of climbing each continent’s highest peaks in 172 days. He was the only climber from Andhra Pradesh to summit Mt. Everest. He did a 75-day High altitude trek from Mt. Everest to Kanchenjunga, covering approximately 110kms and a 2000kms travel in 132 days of the trans-Himalayan expedition from Mt. Everest to Mt. Kailash. His entire travels are recorded here and here.

Check the list of people who became famous after death.

Dilip Donde:

He is the first Indian to circumnavigate (sagar parikrama) the world solo on a sailboat. He sailed for 276 days and documented his entire journey in his blog. He has sailed through strong winds of 55 knots (101 Km/Hr) and waves of height up to 9 meters (29 feet). On this epic journey, he has stopped at 4 places only. His journey completed in May 2010 after sailing for 9 months. This voyage was a part of Indian Navy’s project sagar parikrama.

Abhilash Tomy:

He is the first Indian, second Asian and 79^th person to complete a solo unassisted non-stop circumnavigation under sail. This voyage was also a part of Indian Navy’s project sagar parikrama, initiated by Vice-Admiral M.P.Awati. During this journey of 151 days he has sailed through winds of 70 knots (129 Km/Hr ) and waves of height up to 10 meters (32 feet). He has not sighted human for 130 days during this journey. His journey completed in April 2013. It’s mentioned in several papers and articles that he blogged his entire journey, but I couldn’t find it. Please share in comments sections below if you know it.

Bharadwaj Dayala:

He is first Indian to complete a solo tour around the world on an Indian-made Karizma motorcycle. He has travelled across 5 continents in 18 months covering 47,000kms and completed his journey in October 2007. His has blogged his travel details here.

If I have missed any other great explorers/travelers it's only due to my lack of knowledge.

Thanks, VV !!