Ibn Battuta — "The women of the Maldives go about naked from the waist up, and they are the mos…"
The women of the Maldives go about naked from the waist up, and they are the most beautiful women I have ever seen.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The people of this country are very fond of wrestling, and they hold contests every day."
"It is a strange thing that the women here do not veil themselves, and they are not ashamed of this."
"The inhabitants of this country are all polytheists, and they worship idols. They have a temple where they perform their rites."
"I was once given a magic carpet in this land, but it did not fly. It was just a very beautiful rug."
"The women here are not veiled, and they are not shy. They speak openly with men."
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.