Ibn Battuta — "I was given a parrot as a gift, and it could speak Arabic."
I was given a parrot as a gift, and it could speak Arabic.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"I was once caught in a sandstorm in this land. The sand was so thick I could not see my hand in front of my face."
"I saw a man in this city who had a pet monkey that was trained to steal things from people's pockets. It was quite amusing to watch."
"The people of this land are a bad people, and they are not trustworthy."
"I was given a sword as a gift, and it was made of very fine steel."
"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."
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.