Ibn Battuta and the unfamiliar

In the fourteenth century, the subcontinent was part of a global network of communication, stretching from China to north-west Africa and Europe. Ibn Battuta wrote about what was unfamiliar to his readers, to impress them.

He described the coconut, comparing it with the familiar date-palm: its nut, he said, looked like a man's head, with what seemed like two eyes and a mouth, and fibre like hair. He described paan, betel leaves eaten with areca nut and chalk.

Cities were densely crowded and prosperous, with exciting opportunities. Delhi was the largest city in India; Daulatabad (in Maharashtra) rivalled it in size. Bazaars were centres of social and economic activity, with mosques and temples, and spaces for performers: dancers, musicians and singers.

Agriculture was very productive, because the soil was fertile: farmers grew two crops a year. Indian textiles, especially fine cotton and silk, were in great demand across West and Southeast Asia.

He was amazed by the postal system. The horse-post (uluq) had royal horses stationed every four miles. The foot-post (dawa) had three stations per mile (one every third of a mile), where runners waited to carry the message on. News from Sind reached Delhi in just five days. Compare the strange with the familiar.