Through the emotional glasses

European travelers who visited India in the early modern period were particularly interested in exotic and unseen curiosities the country was famous for. As a consequence, the emergence of an “orientalist” image of India is one key interest of modern historical research on the East-West encounter. While the riches of the country and of its elite have always been part of this discussion, there are no studies available which focus on the European perception of the living conditions in pre-moder..