Ibn Battuta

The essentials

Ibn Battuta, born in Tangier, Morocco, came from a family of scholars learned in Islamic law (shari'a). Before coming to India he had made pilgrimage to Mecca and travelled in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and East Africa. He reached Sind in 1333 and went to Delhi, where Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, impressed by his scholarship, appointed him qazi (judge) of Delhi. He served for several years, then was sent as the Sultan's envoy to China (1342). He later returned to Morocco, and his travels were recorded as the Rihla, written in Arabic.

Key points

• Ibn Battuta was a traveller who saw travel as a valuable source of knowledge; he met dangers like robbers.
• He described the coconut and the paan (betel leaf), unfamiliar to his readers, with vivid comparisons.
• Indian cities were densely populated and prosperous, with crowded streets and bright, colourful markets. Delhi was a vast city with a great population; Daulatabad was no less in size.
• Bazaars were social and economic centres, with mosques and temples, and spaces for public performances of dancers, musicians and singers.
• Indian agriculture was productive because of fertile soil; this allowed two crops a year. Textiles such as cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin were in great demand in Southeast Asia and West Asia.
• The state encouraged merchants; almost all trade routes had inns and guest houses.
• The postal system was efficient: uluq (horse post, with royal horses stationed every four miles) and dawa (foot post, with three stations per mile). While an ordinary journey from Sind to Delhi took about fifty days, reports of spies reached the Sultan through the postal system in just five days.
• Slaves were openly sold in markets and given as gifts.

Common mistakes

• Confusing uluq (horse) with dawa (foot).