Peter Mundy

Mundy was the 17th century British merchant and traveller who travelled extensively in Asia, Russia and Europe. He was the first British to record tasting Chaa (tea) in China in his “Itinerarium Mundi” (“Itinerary of the World”).

Peter Mundy was born in 1596 as the son of a Cornwall pilchard merchant. He spent much of his youth travelling in various capacities, including as a cabin-boy and merchant through France, Spain and Mediterranean. In 1627, at age of 33, he joined the East India Company and went to India. After serving in Surat, he was promoted to junior merchant and stationed as a buyer in Agra. From there he proceeded to Puttana on the borders of Bengal, and returned back to Agra and Surat.

In 1636 Mundy went on further voyages to India, China and Japan. The fleet was sent out by Sir William Courten, and Mundy was employed as a factor. His records in journal mention that during these voyages he had an opportunity to taste “chaa” or tea by the Chinese and chocolate in Spanish trading ship.

A manuscript in the Rawlinson collection at the Bodleian Library described the second part of his voyages to Denmark, Prussia and Russia (1639-1648) since his diary ended abruptly.

In 1663 after years spent in journeys, Mundy declared the end of his voyages and retired to Falmouth. His journals record his calculations over the distances he passed during his voyages as 100,833 and 5/8th miles. His manuscripts were lost for nearly 300 years and then published by the Hakluyt Society.