Ibn Battuta — "The people of this country are very ignorant, and they do not know the religion."
The people of this country are very ignorant, and they do not know the religion.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The people of this city are very skilled in craftsmanship. They make beautiful pottery and intricate textiles."
"I saw in this city a strange custom: the women do not veil themselves, and they are not ashamed of this."
"The women of this land wear veils that cover their entire faces, so I could not see their beauty."
"In Anatolia, I met a dervish who could make himself invisible. Or at least, that's what he claimed. I never saw him do it."
"The people of this country are very fond of chess, and they play it all day long."
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.