Ibn Battuta — "I have indeed seen the Great Bird, Rukh, and it was a marvel to behold. Its wing…"
I have indeed seen the Great Bird, Rukh, and it was a marvel to behold. Its wings were like mountains, and its cry was like thunder.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"I have indeed - praise be to God - attained my desire in this world, which was to travel through the earth, and I have attained in this respect what no other person has attained to my knowledge."
"Among the customs of the people of this island is that the women do not cover their heads, and they are not veiled."
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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.
Details
Describing a mythical creature, likely from local folklore rather than personal observation.
Date: c. 1355
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