China and Bengal (present Bangladesh) have a rich heritage of cultural and diplomatic interactions and trade from ancient times. Many Tibet Chinese monks, scholars and traders of the Qin Dynasty, visited the ancient northern area of Bengal, as early as the 2nd century BC. Between the 5th and 7th centuries, many Chinese monks such as Yijing and Xuanzang, traveled to the Buddhist monasteries of northern Bengal, seeking knowledge of the "Western Heaven" (Indian subcontinent). Atish Dipankar , a Buddhist scholar from Bengal, traveled to Tibet in the 8th century and established the Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Later, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah(Reign:1390-1410) sent the first ambassador to China during the Ming Dynasty when there was frequent exchange of diplomatic missions. Emperor Yongle, in particular, sent annual envoys to Bengal. During a period of thirty-six years from 1404 to 1439 AD, hectic diplomatic and economic exchanges between Bengal and China were reported. The Chinese court received as many as fourteen missions from Bengal in 1404- 1439, while they sent four missions in return in 1412-1423. In this context, the missions of Ma Huan and Fei Shin are very important for their interaction between China and Bengal. We get from Ma Huan and Fei Shin a very important description of the court of Bengal and of China's trade with foreign countries.Ma Huan, a Chinese Muslim (his knowledge of Persian, the then state language in Bengal), informs that his travel account is indebted for a very detailed picture of Bengal's social and economic condition. The official History of the Ming Dynasty also heavily depended on Ma Huan's works for notices on the countries abroad. This paper focuses on why Fei Shin and Ma Huan visited Bengal and what their real perspective and outlook about socio-cultural facts in Bengal was. This paper also brings into discussion the influence and effect of their travel accounts and visits on cross-cultural exchange and diplomatic relations in the minds of educated people of Bengal. Moreover, this paper aims at identifying the difference of viewpoint of Ma Huan and Fei Shin with regarded to contemporary Bengal. The whole study is based on the accounts of Ma Huan and Fei Shin, and also the contemporary writings of Chinese and Bengali scholars.

Source:School of History and Culture