Chinese pilgrim Fahien visited India in 4th Century

      Faxian (also known as Fa-Hien and Fa-hsien) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled by foot from China to India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Xinjiang, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka between 399-412 to acquire Buddhist texts. He visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II and is most known for his pilgrimage to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha in modern Nepal. Faxian claimed that demons and dragons were the original inhabitants of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He is said to have walked all the way from China across icy desert and rugged mountain passes. He entered India from the northwest and reached Pataliputra. He took back with him Buddhist texts and images sacred to Buddhism.