[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Arabic](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar) › [Travel and sea narratives](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla) › [تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt) › 10.1 # تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 10.1 English (machine translation) 10.1 - **Language:** English ### [10.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.1) The post in the land of Hind is of two kinds. The horse post they call al-wulāq, with u after the w and ending in q; it consists of horses belonging to the Sultan stationed every four miles. As for the foot post, there are three stages to each mile, which they call al-dāwa, with an undotted d and w; the dāwa is a third of a mile, and the mile among them is called the kurūh, with u after the k and the r. The arrangement is that every third of a mile there is an inhabited village, outside which are three pavilions where men sit ready to move, their waists girded. Each of them has a whip two cubits long with copper bells at its top. When the courier leaves the city, he takes the letter in the upper part of one hand and the whip with the bells in the other, and sets out running with all his might. When the men in the pavilions hear the sound of the bells they make ready for him, and when he reaches them one of them takes the letter from his hand and runs off with all his strength, shaking the whip, until he reaches the next dāwa. They go on in this way until the letter reaches its destination. ### [10.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.2) This post is faster than the horse post. Sometimes they carry by this post fruits from Khurāsān that are prized as rarities in Hind; they put them on platters and run with them until they reach the Sultan. In the same way they also carry the chief criminals: they place the man on a bed, lift it above their heads, and run with him. Likewise they carry water for the Sultan to drink when he is at Dawlat Ābād, bringing it from the river Gang, to which the Hindus go on pilgrimage. ### [10.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.3) It is a journey of forty days from there. When the informants write to the Sultan about someone arriving in his country, they make the letter comprehensive and go into great detail, informing him that a man has come whose appearance is thus and whose dress is thus, and they record the number of his companions, slaves, servants and animals, and his manner of conduct in moving and resting, and all his doings, leaving out nothing of all this. When the newcomer reaches the city of Multān, which is the capital of the land of ### [10.1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.4) Sind, he stays there until the Sultan's order is issued concerning his coming on and the hospitality to be given him. A person is honoured only according to what appears of his actions, conduct and ambition, since no one there knows his lineage or his forebears. ### [10.1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.5) It is the custom of the King of Hind, Sultan Abū al-Mujāhid Muḥammad Shāh, to honour foreigners, to show them affection, and to single them out for governorships and high ranks. Most of his intimates, chamberlains, viziers, qāḍīs and relatives by marriage are foreigners. He issued an order that foreigners in his country be called the aʿizza (honoured ones), and this became a proper name for them. Everyone coming to this king must bring a gift to present to him, offering it as a means of access to him, and the Sultan rewards him for it many times over. Much will be said later about the gifts of foreigners to him. ### [10.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.6) When people became accustomed to this from him, the merchants in the lands of Sind and Hind began to lend thousands of dinars to everyone coming to the Sultan, and to equip him with whatever he wished to present to him or to use for himself, such as riding animals, camels and goods. They serve him with their wealth and their persons and stand before him like retainers. When he reaches the Sultan, the Sultan gives him a generous gift, and he pays off their debts and settles what is owed them. So their trade flourished and their profits grew, and this became a settled custom for them. ### [10.1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1.7) When I reached the land of Sind I followed that course and bought from the merchants horses, camels, mamlūks and other things. In the city of Ghazna I bought from an Iraqi merchant from Takrīt, known as Muḥammad al-Dūrī, about thirty horses and a camel carrying a load of arrows, for that is among the things presented to the Sultan. The merchant went to Khurāsān, then returned to Hind, and there he collected his money from me. He made a great profit because of me and became one of the great merchants. I met him in the city of Aleppo many years later, when the infidels had robbed me of what I had, and I received no kindness from him. ## Linked texts (1) - [تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta.10.1.1) — Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Arabic --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.rihla.ibn-battuta~en-mt.10.1) · Pramāṇa