Fahien’s mission to India was to

Fahien (Faxian), a Chinese Buddhist monk, visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II (c. 399–414 CE) [1]. His primary mission was a religious pilgrimage to visit sacred Buddhist institutions and to obtain authentic copies of the Buddhist scriptures (Vinaya Pitaka) that were unavailable or incomplete in China at the time. He traveled through Central Asia and across the Indian subcontinent, documenting his observations in 'Fo-Kwo-Ki' (Record of Buddhist Kingdoms). While his accounts provide incidental information about the prosperity and social conditions of the Gupta Empire, such as the absence of capital punishment and the general peace, his core objective remained the collection of sacred texts and the study of Buddhist precepts [1]. After spending several years in India and Sri Lanka, he returned to China to translate these manuscripts, significantly impacting Chinese Buddhism.

Sources

1. [1] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 7: The Guptas > Fahien's account on Mathura and Pataliputra > p. 93