Gackwad's Oriental Series Published under the Authority of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Baroda General Editor : A. N. Jani, M.A.. Ph.D.. D.Litt., KavyaHrtha. Director. Oriental Institute No. 122 THE REHLA OF IBN BATTUTA ( INDIA. MALDIVE ISLANDS AND CEYLON ) ) ) THE REHLA OF IBN BATTCTA • •••••• (INDIA, MALDIVE ISLANDS AND CEYLON TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY By Mabdi Husain, M.A. ( Punjab ), Ph.D. (London), D.Liu. ( Sorbcnne, Paris Oriental Institute Baroda 1976 First Woo: 1953 Stednd Edition (Reprint): 1976 Copies 500 Published with Financial Aid of the University Grants Commission, Govt, of Gujarat & M. S. University of Baroda Price Rs. 71=00 Copies can be had from : — The Manager, UNIVERSITY PUBLICATION SALES UNIT, M. S. University of Baroda ( Sadhana Press ), Near Palace Gate, Palace Road, BARODA-390 001 Re-printed by photo-offset process at 'the " Printrasee-' Bagikhana, Baroda. for Shri Rasiklal G. Patel, Manager, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Press (Sadhana Press), Near Palace Gate, Palace Road, Baroda and published on behalf of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda by Pr. h- N. Jani, Director, Oriental Institute, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Baroda, March 1976. FOREWORD The Rehla of Ibn Ea\\u\a was first published in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series as No. CXXII in 1953 by the then Director, the Late Professor G. H. Bhatt It should not be necessary to justify this reprint of an imported work of Muslim Cultural History, which has been in demand for a long time. I hope this reprint will fill a long-felt desideratum. T thanks the University Grants Commission, the Government of Gujarat and the M. S. University of Baroda whose financial assistance has made the publication of this volume possible. Oriental Institute, A. N. Jani Baroda, Director March. 11, 1976 The Empire of Dehli in the year of Ibn Battiita'a arrival. .. .., TABLE OP CONTENTS Ihtboductioh .. The RefUa—a mike or history . Gbkat Traveller and Exflober . Data of His Indian Travels Prfecls of His Travels His Knowledge of Indian Geography and Memory Csaftbs I From Bind to Multan . Chapter II From Multan to DelJll . Chaptbb III DehH "haptbb IV The sultans of Dehli . Chapter V The sultans of Dehli (Continued) . Chaptbb VI Sulfcan Abul Mujahid Muhammad Shah . Ckapxeb VII Sulfcan Muhammad Shah (Continued) Chap-tub VIII Sulfcan Muhammad Shah (Continued) Chaptkb IX Sultan Muhammad Shah (Continued) Chapteb X Sulljan Muhammad Shah (Continued) Chapteb XI Sultan Muhammad Shah (Continued) Chatter XII 3ul(an Muhammad Shah (Continued) iv CONTENTS Chaptkb XIII ^"B* 132 Sultan Muhammad Sh&h (Continued) . • • Chapter XIV 150 Dehli to Malabar (Muloybfir) . • • Chaptbb XV 176 Along the Malabar (Mvlayb&r) Coast Chajtbb. XVI 1<j7 The Maldive Islands (Djyibauul-mahal) . • • Chapter XVII 217 Tho Voyage to Ceylon (Saylan) .. .. • Chapter XVIII 22 '' Ma'bar and Bengal (Banjdla) . APPENDICES 243 A. Caliph'a Letter of Investiture • 246 B. Amir Bakht Sharaf-ul-mulk . • • • • 246 C. 'Abdul 'Aalz Ardwell D. Shaikh Abu 'Abdullah bin Khafif •• 247 249 E. Shiae at Dehli . ... F. Tarmashlrin king of Transoxiana 254 0. 'Other nations embraced Islam only when the Arabs used their 259 ev. ords against them' (Ibn Battuj;a) 260 H. Qazi killed to savo the Hindus • • • 1. Ibn i&aldun realized that he had beon wrong in disbelieving Ibn 264 • • 13attu1;a . • • 266 J. Philosophers at tho oourt of Muhammad bin Tugfcluq K. Jamd&r and Jandar •• 268 L. Dawatdar and Dawadar .. • 270 271 M. An-Na»ar Fil Magahm • • • 273 • • • N. bohra . • • • 278 O. Kunar .. .. - •• -• 279 P. ' Turbulent and Disaffected People ' . 281 Q. Hindustani words in the Behla . • 286 R Dihli, Dohli and Delhi . • . 29° S. Bajulja, Buijulja or Bajjj;uta . • 291 Index .. • • MAPS ..frontispiece 1. Tho empire of Dehli m the year of Ibn Bajjri^'a arrival 1 2. From Sind to Mult&n . • • 12 3. From Mult&n to Dehli . • • • 4. Dehli .. 25 I 50 C. Dehli to Malabar (Mulaybdr) . 176 6. Along the Malabar ooast . 7. Malabar to Maldives, Maldives to Ceylon, Ceylon to Ma'bar, Ma'bar to Malabar, Malabar to Maldives .. HW 8. Maldives to Bengal 233 COHTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS Plata No. J. The MS. 22*0 ; the title-page .. .. .. .. I 2. first ... .. .. ..II The MS. 2290 ; the page 3. The autograph of Ibn Juzayy [MS. 2291]—the fly-leaf HI 4 The autograph of Ibn Juzayy [MS. 229!]—the first page ..IV The autograph of Ibn Juzayy [MS. 2291]—another page V 6 The autograph of Ibn Juzayy [MS. 2291]—another page .. VI 7 The autograph of Ibn Juzayy [MS. 2291]—another page VH K. The fly-leaf of the MS. 2287 (9i i9) .. .. .. .. VTII Facing Page 9. Khwajn Mu'Jn-ud-din Chishti, Khwaja Qutb-ud-din Bakhtiyar KakI and Khw&it F.qrid-ud-dm Phakarganj .. .. .. 29 10. The tomb of Shaikh Rukn-ud-din commonly known as Rukn-i-'alam . 47 11. Sultan -ul- aullya Hazrat Xizam-ud-din .- .. .. 51 12. The tomb of Ahmad btn Aiyaz Khwaja Jaheri . 54 13. Sultan Abul Mujfthid Muhammad ShSh .. .. .. 56 14 Tlie Hazar Svitun Palace at Jahanpanah (after exeavatiouB) .. .. 57 1 5. The Mashwar . 57 16 The sitting posture of the sultan according to Ibn Ba^tuta .. .. 58 17 The fortress of Daulatabnd ~> (i) [Moat and the natural scarp] . (ii) [Ruins of the old palace] . ) ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLITERATION. A.Ak. for Aln-i-Akbarl A.A. for 'Ajaib-ul-asfSr A.A.K. for 'Abul 'All Khan ' A C. for ' after the Christian era A.G. for Albert Grey A.H.G. for Arabic History of Gujarat Aj.H. for 'Ajalb-ul-Hmd A.S l.R orA.S.R for Archaeological Survey of India Reports B for Bnrbosa's Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar translated by H. E. J. Stanley B N. for BSbar Nama C.H. for Cambridge History of India C. P.K.D. for Tho Chronicles of tho Pathan Kings of Dehli D.Mb. for Dabistan-i-madhahib Def. et Sang. for Defremory ct Sanguinetti E. B. orEncyc Brit for Encyclopaedia Britanniea E.D. for Elliot and Dowson E»I. for Encyclopaedia of Islam E.R.E. for Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics F. S. for Futuh-us-salatln G.A. for Gulzar-i-abrSr G. S.I. for Geological Survey of India H M for Henri Masse H.Cy. for History of Ceylon I. G. for Imperial Gazetteer Is.C. /or Islamic Culture J.F for Jawahir-i-Faridl J.RAs.Soc. for Journal of Royal Asiatic Society M.A. for MaaSlik-ul-Absar M.B. for Mu'jnm-ul-Buldan — vi CONTENTS MLIs. for Mad^ahib-ul-Islam N.B. for NiR&ml BansI R.A.8. for Royal Asiatic Society R.F.M. for The Rise and Fall of Muhammad bin Tughluq S.A. for Safmat-u-aully5 Sy.A. for Siyar-ul-aullya S.I.M.I. for South India and Her Muhammadan Invaders S.M.P. for Book of Ser Marco Polo T.F. for Tankh-i-Flroz Shahl T.K. for Tarlkh-ul-kiram T.N. for Tabarjat-i-Nasirl T.8. for Tanki-i-Sind The scheme of transliteration followed in this work is the same as has been followed in my book The Rise and Fall of Muhammad bin Tughluq—published by Luzac & Co. with this difference that the transliteration marks have been confined in this book to singular forms only. The plural being formed in the English manner by adding V, the transliteration marks are not considered nocessary in the plural formsf e.g. sulfcan, sultans ; qazl, qazis ; amir, amirs ; Hindu, Hindus. However, for the con- venience of the reader the said scheme is reproduced here. 1 =a u* = ? v =b = fc o =t £ = z f = Sh = f (3 = q a = d = k 3 =dh J = i > = r = r m j = z = n = zh J i = W, V o» = s t = h I (jw = sh f u» =9 - y —— PREFACE Of all the Arab geographers and historians, I have had from my school days a special liking for Ibn Battufca, partly because of his extremely interesting personality and versatile talents as a scholar, theologian, adventurer, warrior, sailor, swimmer, traveller, explorer, pilgrim, botanist, politician, poet, journalist, historian, geographer, j urist, ascetic, devotee and pleasure-seeker, and partly because of his promoting historical researches and making remarkable contributions to the history of medieval India. Tt was Maulvi Muhammad Husain's Urdu translation of the Second Part of the Rehla 1 which first attracted my attention. I was able to obtain a copy of it from tho library of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, at which I was a student. As soon as 1 learnt that the whole of the Rehla in original Arabic had been printed and published at Cairo I obtained a copy of it. Later, I came across Samuel Lee's Travels of Ibn Batuta—an English translation of an epitome of the Rehla based on incomplete manuscripts. It is, however, a scholarly work and contains many useful notes. I was delighted to read in it the learned author's opinion on Ibn Batfcutia: 'My principal object', says Samuel Lee explaining the notes he has added to the text, ' was to ascertain the accuracy and fidelity of my author; and in this point of view I have succeeded to my own satisfaction at least, having no doubt that he is worthy of all credit. It is for his historical, geographical and botanical notices that he is principally valuable; and I concur with his Epitomator Mr. Burckhardt, and Mr. Kosegarten, in believing, that in these he is truly valuable'. 2 Meanwhile, a copy of Yule's Cathay And The Way Thither came into my hands and I heard of a translation of the Rehla brought out by Prof.