Xuanzang's journey to the West
The runaway monk behind 'Journey to the West'
In 629 the monk Xuanzang slipped out of Chang'an against the emperor's ban and travelled through Central Asia to India. He studied at Nalanda, toured almost the whole subcontinent and returned in 645 with 657 Buddhist texts, which he spent the rest of his life translating. His 'Records of the Western Regions' is the key source on 7th-century India, and he became the hero of the novel 'Journey to the West'.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 7th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- 622 Hijra: Muhammad's migration to Medina — 7 years earlier
- 636 Battle of the Yarmuk — 7 years later
Africa
- 652 The Baqt treaty with Nubia — 23 years later
Alive at the time
- Muhammad (aged 59)
- Ali ibn Abi Talib (aged 29)
- Pakal the Great (aged 26)
- Wu Zetian (aged 5)
- Emperor Taizong of Tang (aged 31)
- Xuanzang (aged 27)