Ibn Battuta's Trip - Part Six [Continued]
Return to the Steppes
Ibn Battuta and the royal escorts returned to the steppe just as the terrible Asian winter was beginning. He wore three fur coats, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of heavy socks, and heavy boots lined with bearskin. Whenever he washed with hot water, the water would run down his beard and freeze.
They again reached Astrakhan, but continued northward to meet the Khan who was then at New Saray, a city up the now-frozen Volga River. New Saray was "of boundless size ... choked with its inhabitants." Its bazaars handled metal ware, leather, silk and woolens, grain, furs, timber, and slaves. Here, too, were a band of Muslim scholars and hopeful bureaucrats eager to find jobs in the frontier cities of Dar al-Islam.
Ibn Battuta left the Volga River colony and headed south, generally toward India. For five months he traveled through regions conquered by the Mongols. In the aftermath of the conquest, civilization for a time simply vanished. In Bukhara, Ibn Battuta reports, "the mosques, colleges, and bazaars are in ruins ... There is not one person in it today who possesses any learning or who shows any concern for acquiring it." [Dunn, p. 175 - 176] The once-great walled cities that tried to resist the Mongols had been totally destroyed. But some cities were coming back to life.
Left: The Walls of Bukhara rebuilt under Tamerlain about 1390 - long after Ibn Battuta's trip. From Middle East Tour Uzbekistan
Right: Ruins at Farah, Afghanistan -Photo copyright by Luke Powell, 1996
Within a generation Ghengiz Khan had conquered the largest empire in recorded history, two-thirds of the population of Central Asia lay dead, and cities like Farah, Urgench, Ghazni, Bamian, Bukhara, and Balkh were ruins.
The Land of Chagatay
Ibn Battuta continued on his journey leaving the steppe, the Land of the Golden Horde, and crossed into the land of the Khan of Chagatay, another descendant of Ghengis Khan. This was the geographic center of the great Mongol Empire, but it was mostly where nomadic herders lived with few major trading cities or centers of learning. The present Khan (named Tarmashirin) was the first of his dynasty to make Islam the official religion of state. Ibn Battuta stayed with the Khan for 54 days in the cold winter of 1333. When he left he was given 700 silver dinars, two camels, and a warm sable coat. A few months later in India, he learned that the Khan had been overthrown by a treacherous nephew and a group of anti-Muslim commanders. So again, Ibn Battuta arrived in a brief moment of peace before disaster came to a kingdom.
Left: Built in 1127, this magnificent Kalyan minaret in Bhukara survived the Mongol invasions. It was formerly used for executions. The victims were thrown from the windows.
In the spring of 1333, Ibn Battuta continued with others on a caravan into the mountain passes into Afghanistan. Here they encountered bandits, rock slides, and snow. "We crossed the mountain setting out about the end of the night and traveling on it all day long until sunset. We kept spreading felt cloths in front of the camels for them to tread on, so that they should not sink in the snow." [Dunn, p. 178] After a four-month journey through the land of Chagatay, they rode into India - ruled by a Muslim conqueror. It was here that Ibn Battuta hoped to settle down and get a high paying job.
"The king of India ... makes a practice of honoring strangers and showing affection to them and singling them out for governorships or high dignities of state. The majority of [them] are foreigners." - like Ibn Battuta himself.
Modern Afghani travelers continue ancient traditions. [Photo Courtesy of GeoImages, UCB, Afghanistan, by Doug Powell]
Afghanistani nomads moving to higher pasture - photo courtesy of GeoImages, UCB, Prof. Douglas R. Powell
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