François Bernier (1620–1688) was a French philosopher, physician and traveler who lived in India for almost 9 years (1659–1667). Occupying the position of a doctor at the court of the ruler of India, the Great Mogul Auranzeb, he had the opportunity to become thoroughly familiar with the social order and way of life of this country. First published in 1670–1671. In the Paris book, he paints a picture of the war for power that unfolded during the illness of the former Great Mogul, Shah Jahan, between his four sons and ended with the victory of Aurangzeb. But most importantly, F. Bernier in his book for the first time showed the radical, qualitative difference between the social system not only of India, but also of other countries of the East, where he also visited (Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Arabia, Persia) from the social orders that existed in Europe and in ancient times, and in the Middle Ages, and in modern times. Thus, he actually discovered an antagonistic mode of production other than the ancient (slave), feudal and capitalist modes of production, which later received the name “Asian”, and thereby identified a new, fourth main type of class society - “Asian” or "eastern" society. The appearance of F. Bernier's book marked the beginning of a discussion in historical and philosophical science of the problem of the “Asian” mode of production and “Eastern” society, which has not ended to this day. A detailed overview of this discussion is given in the introductory article to this edition of this outstanding book. This edition of F. Bernier's work, unlike the first Russian edition of 1936, is complete. The missing sections were first translated into Russian by Yu. A. Muravyov. The book is published under the editorship, with a new introductory article and notes by Yu. I. Semenov.