active 16th century Domingos Paes

Likely active in the early 16th century rather than the late 16th, this Portuguese traveler visited the Vijayanagara Empire around 1520, arriving with a group of traders from Portuguese Goa. His name is also sometimes spelled "Pais."

He is best known for the account he left of Vijayanagara, the great South Indian empire whose capital was near present-day Hampi. Writers and historians continue to value his description because it offers a direct look at the city's wealth, markets, court life, and the reign of Krishna Deva Raya.

Very little seems to be firmly known about his personal life beyond the journey itself. What has lasted is the record he left behind, which remains one of the most useful outsider accounts of Vijayanagara in its prime.