Question

In the seventh century the ______ traveller Xuan Zang observed that languages related to Sanskrit were in use all over Bengal.
a. Korean
b. Chinese
c. Japanese
d. Tibetian

Answer 1

Hint: When commercial ties began to increase between Bengal and Magadha from the fourth-third centuries BCE, there was a growing influence of Sanskrit. Therefore, the Gupta rulers during the fourth century established political control over North Bengal and began to settle Brahmanas in the area. So, the linguistic and cultural influence from the mid- Ganga valley became stronger.

Complete answer: Xuan Zang was a Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller and translator belonging to China. He had travelled to India in the seventh century and also described the interaction between Indian and Chinese Buddhism.
He also visited many sacred Buddhist sites in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. In India, he primarily wanted to visit Nalanda to study about Buddhis. After this, he moved further east towards present-day Bengal and visited Tamralipti which was a trading port and a gateway for exchange of Buddhist thoughts.
Let us look at the given options.
Option a- Hyecho was a Korean Buddhist monk from Silla who visited India to know about the language and culture of the land of Buddha. So, Xuan Zang was not a Korean traveller and this is the wrong answer.
Option b- Xuan Zang was a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in India for a very long time and observed the culture of India and about Buddhism too. He only observed that there was a growing use of Sanskrit all over Bengal. Thus, this is the right answer.
Option c- Xuan Zang who studied in great detail about Indian rulers and the culture of the Indian society in the times of Gupta dynasty and King Harsha was a Chinese traveller. This is an incorrect option.
Option d- No Tibetan monk has visited India in the seventh century to India and Xuan Zang was not from a Tibetan origin either. This is again a wrong option.
Thus, option ‘b’ is correct.

Note: Xuan Zang became famous for his journey to India which lasted for seventeen years. The journey was recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. This influenced the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng during the Ming dynasty which was nine centuries after Xuan Zang’s death.