A History of Agriculture in India v2.c58.s1.6

v2.c58.s1.6

Our knowledge of the state of India in early half of the fourteenth century is largely due to the visit paid by Ibn Battuta, a traveller with keen power of observation. He had an insatiable lust for travel and was always on the move. He calls himself ‘The Traveller of Islam’, and his ambition was to see all countries under Islamic domination. He was a native of Tangiers in Morocco. He travelled over the greater part of Asia, and visited India in the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlak, about whose generosity to learned Moslems from foreign countries he had heard many accounts. After journeying through the Central Asian desert, he arrived at Khwarizm, the largest city of the Turks, known for the quality of its melons. Passing through Bukhara and Samarqand he reached Balkh. From Balkh he travelled through the mountainous country of Kohistan. He crossed into Afghanistan over the Hindukush, which, he explains, means ‘Slayer of Indians’, because the Hindu slave boys and girls who were brought from India died there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the quantity of snow. He joined a caravan and entered Punjab. A great caravan which preceded him lost many camels and horses, but he arrived safely at the Indus, which he describes as the river of Sind. He reached this river on the night of 12 September 1333. After crossing the Indus he passed through a forest of reeds, in which he saw a rhinoceros for the first time. The heat was intense, and his companions used to sit naked except for a cloth round the waist and another soaked with water on their shoulders; this dried in a very short time and they had to keep constantly wetting it again. He ultimately reached the city of Multan. From Multan he reached the town of Ajudh-an (Pakpatan), where he met the saint Sheikh Farid. From Ajudh-an he reached the city of Abohar, now in Ferozepur district of the Punjab. From Abohar, he reached Sarsati, the modern Sirsa in Hissar district, which was known for its excellent rice. From Sarsati he reached Hansi, and ultimately Palam, the suburb of Delhi.