Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 67

From Cultural Routes to Cultural Roots
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experiences, there were also persons who wrote about India on the basis of gathered information from others and thus exposed India at broader level'.
However, here I shall like to focus on Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta who interacted with the local people and penned down his experiences. These experiences throw immense light on different aspects of Indian society and culture in Arabic language. Thus after going back from India his writings made India known to others.
Shaikh Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim, commonly known as Ibn Battuta, belonged to the Bani Kalb tribe of Arabia. He came from a family of scholars. He was a man of vivid personalities - poet, a historian, a philologist, a theologian, a traditionalist and a calligraphist. He travelled extensively, gained experiences and came in contact with various people of Arab and nonArab areas. On the order of Sultan Abu Inan Marini, Muhammad Ibn Juzayy compiled the account of the countries that Ibn Battuta visited and the anecdotes, stories of the kings, scholars and saints he met, including his adventures.
Ibn Battuta describes his journey to India via Sind and informs us how the foreigners were received and were allowed to enter into the country. Indus river marked the beginning of the territories of Sultan Mohd. Tughlaq, the emperor of Delhi (1325-1350 A.D.), so the news officers were posted there who used to report the arrival of the foreigners to the governor of Multan, who had to stay there till Sultan's orders were received to entertain them. When new persons came to the country, officers write to the King, telling him about his physical features, the garments, companions, servants, slaves and horses and also his whole conduct. Battuta informs us that it was habit of the Sultan to honour foreigners and appoint them at higher offices. He writes, 'All educated persons are called Maulana in India. They used to call me 'Badru-din in India'. The Sultan had issued orders that no foreigner from Khurasan should be allowed to enter Indian territory unless he came with the purpose of staying in India. When Battuta informed of his intention of staying and serving the Sultan, the gazis and notaries (udul) were sent for and took bond in his name and others who wished so. Even Sultan's mother used to send escorts for the female companions of the foreign dignitaries. Sultan had ordered foreigners be called Aizza (dear ones).
Thus the travelogue is a rich source of information on cultural heritage of India. It also reflects the interest in monuments and historical past which is the most important trait of tourism. When Battuta reached the town of Lahari, he visited a site which according to historians was a city one thousand years ago and was destroyed. He writes, "One day I rode in company with 'Ala-ul-Mulk- and arrived at a plain called Tarna at a distance of seven miles from the city. There I saw innumerable store images and animals, many of which had undergone a change, the original shape being obliterated. Some were reduced to a head, others to a foot and so on. Some of the stones were shaped like grain, wheat, peas, beans and lentils. And there were traces of the ramparts and the walls of houses. Then we noticed traces of a house which contained a chamber built of hewn stone, the whole of which looked like one solid mass. Upon it was a statue in the form of a man, the only difference being that its head was long, its mouth was towards a side of its face and its hands at its back like a captive's. There were pools of water from which an extremely bad smell came. Some of the walls bore Hindi inscriptions. Ala-ul-mulk told me that the historians assume that on this site there was a big city, most of the inhabitants of which were notorious. They were changed into stone. The petrified human form on the platform in the house mentioned above was that of their king. The house still goes by the name