Arrange the following foreign travellers in chronological order of their arrival in India:I.William HawkinsII.Ralph FitchIII.Sir Thomas RoeIV.Nicholas Downton.Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

1. A

   II, I, IV and III

   II, I, IV and III is the official chronological order: Ralph Fitch, William Hawkins, Nicholas Downton, then Sir Thomas Roe. Fitch reached India in the late sixteenth century as an early English visitor. Hawkins arrived at Jahangir’s court in 1608. Downton followed in the early 1610s in East India Company sea service. Roe came as James I’s ambassador in 1615. That sequence is (a).

2. B

   IV, II, I and III

   IV, II, I and III puts Downton before Fitch, which reverses the sixteenth- versus seventeenth-century visits. This option is not the key.

3. C

   I, III, II and IV

   I, III, II and IV puts Hawkins and Roe before Fitch, which is impossible: Fitch preceded the Company embassy period. This option is therefore wrong.

4. D

   III, II, IV and I

   III, II, IV and I starts with Roe, the latest of the four. This option is not the key.

Summary. Official key is (a) II, I, IV and III. Ralph Fitch is the earliest English traveller in the list. Hawkins reached Jahangir in 1608, Downton came next among these four, and Thomas Roe’s embassy began in 1615. Any order that places Roe or Downton first fails. Only (a) is correct.