Ibn Battuta — "I saw a man in this city who could swallow swords. It was a terrifying but fasci…"
I saw a man in this city who could swallow swords. It was a terrifying but fascinating performance.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The people of this country are very ignorant, and they do not know the religion."
"I was once given a ride on a boat made of reeds. It was very flimsy, and I was afraid it would sink."
"I saw in this city many things that are contrary to our religion."
"The women here are beautiful, and they do not veil themselves. This is a strange thing in a Muslim country."
"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.