![]() Ross’ book on Ibn Battuta has appeared in three editions and a fourth is being planned. Ibn Battuta, who probably visited Kozhikode in 1342, does not mention the mosque, and I have not determined whether it was built before or after his arrival.” “In this town too” Ibn Battuta writes, “lives the famous ship owner Mithqal, who possesses vast wealth and many ships for his trade with India, China, al-Yaman, and Fars.” Miskhal, named Mithqal in the Rihla, was one of the great merchant entrepreneurs of the long-distance Indian Ocean sea trade. I was especially interested in the Miskhal masjid because Nakhuda Miskhal, the mosque’s benefactor, lived in Ibn Battuta’s time”. Reminiscing about his visit, the historian cum author narrates: “I visited Miskhal and Muchundi mosques. ![]() Impressed by Malabar’s reference, Ross Dunn visited Kozhikode in February this year and was wowed by the place. The richest towns of all were along the Malabar coast, the main source of the pepper that commanded such high prices in the markets of China, Alexandria and Venice but also of the teak used for building ship. Ibn Battuta’s travels took him to Spain, Russia, Turkey, Persia, India, China and all the Arab lands. The Rihla is the only surviving eye-witness account of the Maldive Islands, Sudanic West Africa, and several other regions as they were in the fourteenth century.” Showering lavish praises on Ibn Battuta’s travels, Ross Dunn said: “The subjects of his lively and sometimes critical commentary include religion, education, state politics, royal ceremony, law, warfare, gender relations, slavery, trade, agriculture, cuisine, manufacturing, geography, transport, and the achievements and failings of numerous jurists, theologians, monarchs, and governors. The eminent professor armed with a PhD degree in African and Islamic history from the University of Wisconsin, is planning to revisit Kozhikode for a conference titled, Travel, Trade, Tradition, and Trajectories, which will focus mainly on Indian Ocean history at the Ibn Battuta International Center for Intercultural and Civilizational Studies from December 4-8, 2018”. This is partly because it illuminates the values, customs, and partly because it records observations of nearly every conceivable facet of life in Muslim, and in some measure, non-Muslim societies. Talking to Al Arabiya English, Ross Dunn, also author of many books, minces no words in saying that the Rihla – whose formal title is A Gift to the Observers Concerning the Curiosities of the Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travels – is of huge documentary value. ![]() The Professor Emeritus of History, San Diego State University, United States, who is engaged in retracing a few pockets of Ibn Battuta’s journeys believes that the traveler’s accounts help us recreate our past.
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