Ibn Battuta arrived in India in 1333. In Delhi, he met the sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq in the Hall of a Thousand Pillars in one of his palaces in Jahanpanah. The sultan was surrounded by dozens of chamberlains, officials and slaves, including the “keeper of the fly whisk.” In attendance were 200 armored soldiers, 60 horses in royal harnesses and 50 elephants dressed in silk and gold.
This is pepper country, the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta declared of Malabar, India’s southwest coast along the Arabian Sea. Admiring the tropical forests and hills made bountiful by monsoon rains, there was “not a span of ground or more but is cultivated,” he observed. “Every man has his own separate orchard,” and these extend down the coast for the distance of “a two-month march” (about 400 kilometers).
Among the many ports in Malabar he visited in the 14th century, thee “flourishing and much-frequented” Kozhikode, known then as Qaliqut (and later Calicut), today in the state of Kerala. stood out. In its harbor, he wrote, “gather merchants from all quarters,” such as China, Java and Sri Lanka to the east and the Maldives, Yemen and Persia to the west. Many of them traded in spices—especially cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon from further east and cardamom, ginger and cassia from Malabar itself. But one spice was king, anchor of the city’s success: Piper nigrum—black pepper.
Interesting facts
Vaclav Havel Airport Prague - International airport in Prague Formerly Prague Ruzyně International Airport, it… Read More
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup - International men's field hockey tournament The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup… Read More
David Thompson, the greatest practical land geographer that the world has produced ,(30 April 1770… Read More
Bessie Coleman - The First African American woman pilot Coleman, or Queen Bess as she… Read More
Jeanne Baret - The first woman to circumnavigate the globe Jeanne Baret was a talented… Read More
2nd Asian games 1954 Manila in Philippines The second edition of the Asian Games was… Read More