This map of the Northern part of the Maldives comes from Lopo Homem 1519AD also called the Miller atlas. It was made just after the first voyages of the Portuguese in those areas and partly based on Arab maps bought by them in the countries visited. India and Ceylon are found in the right upper corner. The flag shown everywhere is from Portugal. The cowries (of the type shown Cypraea moneta) were the currency exported from the Maldives to Africa and India. Also is shown a cowry from an early Japanese Encyclopedia.
A troupe of fakirs (1) come to find me in that place; they wear collars and bracelets of iron, and had as their chief a very black negro.....Their chef comes to ask me for a tunic and I give him a very fine. He puts it on; rolls through the fire... till he extinguishes the fire. Then he brings back the tunic on which the flames had not left a trace.
(ibn Battuta meets another African in India in the neighborhood of the town Djelaly. The city is under attack by the Hindu and Battuta and his group of travelers get involved in the fighting;)
Among our companions 23 horsemen and 55 on foot became martyrs among them the eunuch Cafour (typical name of black person).....
(Later Battuta is taken prisoner by villagers who leave him behind with three guards to kill him. )
He leaves me under the guard of three of his people, an old man, his son and a bad negro.... God sends to the Negro a fever, accompanied by shivers. He puts his feet on me. The old man and his son fall asleep.
(The next day they put him free instead of killing him)
Later on in his travels Ibn Battuta becomes qadi (magistrate) on the Maledive islands.
.... The money of these islands consists of cowries (al-wada) ..... 100 of these shells are called siyah, and 700 fal, 12000 they call kutta, and 100,000 bustu. Bargains are made with these cowries at the rate of 4 bustu to a gold dinar. Sometimes the rate falls and 12 bustu are exchanged for a gold dinar. The islanders barter them to the people of Bengal for rice, for they also form the currency in use in that country.... the cowries serve also for barter with the Negroes in their own country.... (then he gives examples of trade with cowries in w-afr.)
It is dated 1338 that is 5 years before Ibn Battuta visited the Maldives. Line 2 and 3 read: Abu’l Barakat Yusuf al Tabrizi arrived in this country, and the sultan became a Muslim at his hands in the month of Rabi al Akhir 548. Ibn Battuta mentions Barbari instead of Tabrizi. As the islam of Maldives is Maliki Barbari seems more correct.
……Then they broke the idols, and razed the temple to the ground. The people of the island embraced Islam, and sent messengers to the other islands, whose inhabitants were also converted.
The Maghrabin remained among them, and enjoyed their high esteem. The natives made profession of his doctrine, which was that of the Iman Malic (4). Even at present they respect the Maghrabins
for his sake. He built a mosque, which is known by his name. I have also read the following inscription: graven in wood on the enclosed pulpit of the chief mosque: 'Sultan Ahmad Shaniviraza has
received the true faith at the hands of Abu al Barakat the Berber, the Maghrabin.' This Sultan assigned a third of the taxes of the islands as alms to travellers, in recognition of his reception
of Islam through their agency. (Note: some argue that the Berber was not from the Maghreb but from Somalia)
The grave of Abu al Barakat the Berber in Male.
He records visiting 'a hermitage situated at the extremity of the island (Male) and founded by the virtuous Shaykh Najib'. This is a reference to the
Habshigefanu Magan, or "Shrine of the African Worthy", a memorial erected to a certain Shaykh Najib who is believed by the Maldivians to have travelled through the Maldive Archipelago spreading
the faith of Islam before dying at Karendu Island in Fadiffolu Atoll.
The next morning I leave with the head of the boat and the kadi Ica Alyamany to visit a hermitage situated at the extreme end of the island and founded by the virtuous cheikh Nedjib. We stay
overnight.....
Later during the same visit he was presented with five sheep by the Maldivian vizir: He gives me permission and sends
me 5 sheep, a kind of animal that is rare in these islands, so they bring them from Ma'bar (5), Malabar (6) and Makdachaou (3). The vizier sends me also rice, chickens, butter and spices.
He was called upon on one occasion to preside over the trial of an African slave accused of conducting an "adulterous intrigue" with a lady of the
Maldivian Sultan's harem.
I ordered both to be beaten, because of their 'closeness', I announced that the women be liberated and I keep in the prison the slave, after which I return to my home. The vizier sends me several
of his principal servants to ask to free the slave. I tell them: One intercedes to me in favor of a negro slave who violated the respect he had to give his owner, and yesterday, you deposed the
sultan Chihab eddin and you have killed him, because he entered in the house of one of his slaves. And immediately I order to beat the guilty one with a bamboo, which is more effective then with
a stick. I have him walk all through the island with the rope around his neck.
Note; Ibn Battuta was immediately removed from his position as Kadi
and told to leave the country.
(after hearing in India that the pregnant wife he had left behind in the Maldives had given birth to a son-two years earlier Ibn Battuta returned
to the Maldives in 1346) He landed at Kinalos Island in Malosmadulu Atoll and was 'welcomed with respect' by the island chief whose name, abd al-Aziz al-Makdashawi (that is, of Mogadishu),
indicates a clear connection with the Somali coast.
I ask for the grace of God; hit the road, and arrive in 10 days at the Maldive islands and disembark at the island of Cannlous (7). The governor of the island Abd Al'aziz Almakdachaouy, receives
me with respect, takes care of me and equips a boat for me. I then arrive at Hololy (8)...(He gets to see his son and then leave to
Bengal)
...After a while we leave for Hily (9) (in Elimala), where we arrive after two days. It is a big town, well constructed situated in a big gulf where big ships enter. The ships from China arrive
there , they only come there and in the harbors of Caoulem (10) and Calcuta...... I met in the mosque a pious qadi from Makdachaou (3). His name was Said. He was a devout Moslem and an
Islamic doctor of law. He was handsome, had a good character and was constantly fasting. He told me he had lived 14 years in Mecca and as many in Medina; that he had met the emir of Mecca, Abou
Nemy, and the one from Medina, Mansour, son of Djammaz, at the end he also traveled in India and China.
He recalls that on embarking on a ship at Qandahar (11), or Gandhar on the west coast of India, he found on board fifty Abyssinian men-at-arms, and adds; these latter are the guarantors of safety
on the Indian Ocean; let there be but one of them on a ship and it will be avoided by the indian pirates and idolaters.
Further south, at Calcutta when describing the ships from China; Ibn Battuta notes: On a ship four decks are built. It
has cabins, saloons and state rooms for the merchants. The sailors sow pot-herbs and vegetables in wooden buckets. The master of the ship is like a great emir. When he disembarks the archers and
the Abyssinians march in front of him with javelins, swords, drums, horns and trumpets.
At Colombo, in Ceylon he reports that Jalasti, the wazir and ruler of the sea, had about five hundred Abyssinians.
Ibn Battuta recalls that at Alapur, north of Delhi, the governor a slave of the sultan of India was the Abyssinian Badr; a man whose bravery passed into a proverb. He was continually making raids on the infidels alone and single handed, killing and taking captive, so that this fame spread far and wide and the infidels went in fear of them. He was tall and quite big. He used to eat a whole sheep at a meal and following the custom of the Abyssinians, would, after consuming it, drink a pound and a half of gee, or clarified butter. He had a son who followed him close in bravery.
Also when describing the palace of the sultan of China: At the seventh gate sit the eunuchs, who have three galleries, one for the Abyssinians, the second for the
Indians, and the third for the Chinese. Each of these corps has a Chinese officer.
Note: all authors agree that the word Abyssinians here has to be used for Africans in general.
Ibn Battuta also tells the story of the Indian Sultana Raziya who lived centuries earlier. His accound is not exactly very factual, but tells the stories that had grown up by the time he visited India. Many authors wrote at least some lines about her, I do not repeat all those authors as this study is not about India.
Ruknud din.
At his death Sultan Shamsud din left three sons: Ruknud din, who succeeded him; Muizzud din, and Nasirud din, and one daughter named Raziya, full sister of Muizzud din. When Ruknud din was
recognized as Sultan, after the death of his father, he began his reign by unjust treatment of his brother, Muizzud din, whom he caused to be put to death. Raziya was full sister of this
unfortunate prince, and she reproached Ruknud din with his death, which made him meditate her assassination. One Friday he left the palace to go to prayers. Raziya then ascended to the terrace of
the Old Palace, called Daulat-khana, close by the chief mosque. She was clothed in the garments of the wronged, and, presenting herself to the people, she addressed them from the terrace, saying,
My brother has killed his brother, and wishes to kill me also. She then reminded them of the reign of her father, and of the many benefits he had bestowed upon them. Thereupon the auditors rushed
tumultuously towards Ruknu-d din, who was in the mosque, seized him, and brought him to Raziya. She said; The slayer must be slain. So they massacred him in retaliation for his murder of his
brother. The brother of these two princes, Nasirud din, was yet in his infancy, so the people agreed to recognize Raziya as Sovereign.
The Empress Raziya.
When Ruknud din had been killed, the soldiers agreed to place his sister, Raziya, on the throne. They proclaimed her Sovereign, and she reigned with absolute authority for four years. She rode on
horseback as men ride, armed with a bow and quiver, and surrounded with courtiers. She did not veil her face. She was eventually suspected of an intimacy with one of her slaves, an Abyssinian by
birth, and the people resolved upon deposing her and giving her a husband. So she was deposed and married to one of her relations, and her brother, Nasiru-d din, obtained the supreme power.
Nasirud din, son of Shamsud din Altamsh.
After the deposition of Raziya, her younger brother, Nasirud din, ascended the throne, and for some time exercised royal authority. But Raziya and her husband revolted against him, mounted their
horses, and, gathering round them their slaves and such disaffected persons as were willing to join them, they prepared to give battle. Nasirud din came out of Dehli with his slave and lieutenant
Ghiyasud din Balban, who became ruler of the kingdom after him. The opposing forces met, and Raziya was defeated and obliged to fly. Pressed by hunger and overcome with fatigue, she addressed
herself to a man engaged in cultivating the ground and begged for food. He gave her a bit of bread, which she devoured, and then she was overpowered by sleep. She was dressed in the garments of a
man; but when the peasant looked at her as she slept, he perceived under her upper garment a tunic trimmed with gold and pearls. Seeing she was a woman he killed her, stripped her of her
valuables, drove away her horse, and buried her corpse in his field. He then carried some of her garments to the market for sale. The dealers suspected him, and took him before the magistrate,
who caused him to be beaten. The wretch then confessed that he had killed Raziya, and told his guards where he had buried her. They exhumed her body, washed it, and, wrapping it in a shroud,
buried it again in the same place. A small shrine was erected over her grave, which is visited by pilgrims, and is considered a place of sanctity. It is situated on the banks of the Jumna, about
a parasang (12) from Dehli.
(1) Fakirs; Faqih: A Faqih is an expert in fiqh (Jurist).
(2) ghaliya brought from Makdachaou. = a perfume of musk and ambergris.
Other works mentioning the civet from Africa are (see my webpage:) Al-Jahiz Al-Fakhar al-Sudan (869); Shah Mardan Ibn Abi al-Khayr (11th); Joseph ibn Abraham (1137); Yakut al Hamawi (1220); Al-Saghani (1252); Nur al-ma'arif (1295); al-Watwat (1318); Friar Jordanus; (1329); Ibn Battuta and the African Diaspora (1331); Cowar el-aqalim (1347); From the Court of Al-Zahir (1439); Ibn al-Ahdal (1451); Ibn Madjid: As-Sufaliyya (1470); Ibn al-Dayba (1496).
(3) Makdachaou: Mogadishu
(4) Iman Malic: Malik ibn Anas was an Arab Muslim jurist, theologian, and hadith traditionist. Born in the city of Medina, Malik rose to become the premier scholar of prophetic traditions in his day, he became the founder of one of the four schools of Sunni law, the Maliki.
(5) Ma'bar: Coromandel coast
(6) Malabar: Malabar Coast India's southwestern coast.
(7) island of Cannlous: Kannalus; modern Kinalos in Malosmadulu Atoll
(8) Hololy: probably Oluveli island in North Male Atoll.
(9) Hily (in Elimala): West coast of Kerala.
(10) Caoulem: Quillon
(11) Qandahar (Gndhar) : now a fishing village near the mouth of the Dhandar river. It was formerly a port of some importance.
(12) parasang: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km.
End of the Middle-Ages View of the Mogadisians by Sir Thomas Roe 1615.
Nearly 300 years after Ibn Battuta Sir Thomas Roe in 1615 also meets people of Mogadishu who also far from home live and work using their skills.
Taken from: The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul; Vol-I by Foster William. (1615)
…… From Cape Augustine a N.W. by N. Course will go Clear both of the shoals of India and the shoals of Saint Lawrance in 20°. These shoals are rugged, as a pilot of Magadoxa tould me ……
……… Molalia is one of the 4 Islands of Comoros, Angazesia, Juanny, and Mayotta being the other three. ………
……… The next in goodness (after Mayotta) is Juanny,(= Anjouan or Nzwani) ………… having obtained permission to come ashore, we landed some 40 Men …… The Governor they found sitting upon a Mat of Straw, under the side of a Junck which was being build, accompanied by about 50 Men. ……… The interpreters were certain Magadoxians, that spoke Arabic and broken Portuguese. ………
……… Many of them speak and write Arabic, and some Portuguese, trading to Mozambique in junks of 40 tons made of Cocos, sowed instead of nails, Cawled, tackled, and wholly fitted, victualed, and freighted with that universal tree. ………
……… I dealt liberally with him (A slave-trader from Madagascar), in present and in promises. To the south of Magadoxo all the Ports are Governed by Moorish Petty Kings, even to Mozambique. He persuaded me that we might in many places trade for gold and silver; that in Magadoxo the houses roofs were guilt, and that they had gold in sand and mingled with earth, which they esteem not; off the inland he knew little, only naming some Places or regions between Magadoxo and Prester Jhon as Odola, Maheza, Rehamy, and Gala ……… From Magadoxo to Cambaya he was expert. ……… The Magadoxians had some absurd belief that the current sett 15 days one way, and 15 another, and 15 days still (in the waters of the Comoros) …… August 14 (1615) — In the Morninge we saw the Coast of Magadoxo ……
……… The Coast is rugged, as the Magadoxian Pilot did assure me. From Cape Alabana in to Cape Guardafuy ………