Ibn Battuta — "The women of this land dye their teeth black. It is considered beautiful, but I …"
The women of this land dye their teeth black. It is considered beautiful, but I found it quite strange.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"I was once attacked by a band of robbers in this land. I fought them off with my sword and managed to escape with my life."
"In this city, I saw a strange thing. The women do not veil themselves, and they do not show any shame for this."
"The people of this city are very superstitious. They believe in evil spirits and carry charms to ward them off."
"In Constantinople, I saw a church so large it could hold ten thousand people. The Christians there worship idols, but their buildings are magnificent."
"The women of this country do not veil themselves, and they are not shy. They are very beautiful."
About Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Moroccan Muslim scholar and explorer whose Rihla (travels) covered ~75,000 miles across the Islamic world from Mali to China — the most-traveled person of the medieval world. Closely associated with Marco Polo (his Venetian counterpart, traveling 50 years earlier in the opposite direction). For an intellectual contrast, see medieval European Christian insularity, the sheltered monastic-feudal worldview of 14th-century Latin Christendom — Ibn Battuta's 30-year journey demonstrates that the 14th-century Dar al-Islam was a single intellectual ecosystem from West Africa to Beijing, while medieval Europe was still tribal and parochial. The cleanest 'connectedness vs insularity' contrast in pre-modern history — Battuta could find a familiar Maliki judge in any city from Mali to Sumatra.