Jahangeer Ahmad Kumar
It is rightly said, “History is the science of men in time.” In the centuries between 1400and 1800 visitors to India wrote a number of travelogues in Persian. At the same time, Indian visitors to central Asia, Iran and the Ottoman Empire also sometimes wrote about their experiences. These writers followed in the footsteps of “Albiruni and Ibn- Battuta”.
He was born in 1304 at ‘Morocco’ in Africa. His full name was ‘Sheikh Fak Abu-Abdulla Mohammad-bin-Battuta”. The unparalleled man was born in “Tangier” into one of the most respectable and educated familiesknown for their expertise in Islamic religious law.His considered experience gained through travels to be a more important source of knowledge than books. He made pilgrimage trips to Mecca and had already travelled extensively in “Syria, Iraq,Yemen, Oman and a few trading ports on the coast of East Africa, overland through Central Asia. IbnBattuta reached Sind in 1333. He had heard about “Mohammad bin Tughlaq” was generous, unprecedented and a humble ruler of Delhi. He impressed by his scholarship and appointed him the “Qazi” or Judge of Delhi. He restored to imperial service, and was ordered in 1342 to proceed to china as the sultan’s envoy to the Mongol ruler. He also visited some famous places such as Maldives, Sri Lanka, China and also visited Bengal and Assam as well.
The Ibn- Battuta’s description about Indian cities was most paramount and authentic. The full of exciting opportunities for those who had the necessary drive, resources and skills, densely populated and prosperous except for the occasional disruptions caused by wars and invasions, described Delhi as a vast city, with a great population, the largest in India. The social, political,cultural, economicalconditions of Indian cities was par-excellent, mega and full of vast resources. My travelling in the sub-continent was exclusively memento and fetching. In simple Ibn- Batutta was a great geographer and a mega explorer. He returned home in 1354, about 30 years. He was died in 1369 at the age of 65. But his accounts are enjoyable and valuable in today’s milieu eminently.
Author hails from NagriMalpora Kupwara
Can be mailed
jahangeerKumhar 121@gmail.com
PG In History
Present student :Studied Public Administration
