Ibn Battuta — "The houses in this land are made of mud and straw, and they are very small. I ha…"
The houses in this land are made of mud and straw, and they are very small. I had to bend over to enter them.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The Chinese are a people who do not have a strong belief in God."
"Who lives sees, but who travels sees more."
"They eat human flesh, and they consider it a delicacy."
"I set out alone finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse. and no party of travelers with whom to associate."
"I was once mistaken for a king in this land and was given many gifts and honors. It was a very pleasant mistake."
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.