Forgotten Footprints

The Russian Who Beat Vasco to India

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Long before Vasco da Gama's fabled arrival on the Indian waters, Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian merchant, sailed across seas and lands, leaving behind a vivid travelogue of medieval India. Today, his story survives through a forgotten obelisk at Revdanda, Maharashtra— a memorial largely overlooked, yet echoing tales of curiosity, trade, and an early Indo-Russian bond. In this article, Manu Shrivastava traces Nikitin’s journey, an Indo-Russian film which paid ode to his story and the ties which ensued between the two nations.

A Forgotten Pioneer on the Konkan Coast

On the Konkan coast, where the Arabian Sea whispers tales of ancient voyages, a weathered stone obelisk stands in Maharashtra's Revdanda—choked by wild grass and kissed by salty winds. This is the memorial to Afanasy Nikitin, the 15th century Russian merchant who, decades before Vasco da Gama, set foot in India and penned Voyage Beyond Three Seas (1466-1472), a vivid chronicle of medieval India’s markets, temples, and diverse people.

Erected with Soviet collaboration in November 2000, this humble structure marks a pioneering Indo-Russian connection. A placard on the site says: The foundation stone of the monument to the first Russian traveller to India, Afanasy Nikitin, who first stepped on Indian soil near this site in 1470, was laid by the Vice-Governor of Tver Region Mr Y M Krasnov, on November 23, 2000 during the centenary anniversary celebrations of the first Russian Diplomatic Mission in India. The project to commemorate the memory of the first Russian traveller is being executed jointly by the Konkan Education Society and the Cultural Centre of Russia in Mumbai.