Pecheneg
11-14-2012, 08:55 PM
Ibn Battuta
http://i49.tinypic.com/2gxics2.jpg
Ibn Baṭtuta was a Muslim Moroccan explorer, known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. "Journey"). Over a period of thirty years, he visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands; his journeys including trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a distance surpassing threefold his near-contemporary Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta is considered one of the greatest travellers of all time. He journeyed more than 75,000 miles (121,000 km), a figure unsurpassed by any individual explorer until the coming of the Steam Age some 450 years later.
In 1330 (or 1332), in need of a guide and translator for his journey, he set off for the Seljuq lands of Anatolia to join one of the caravans that went from there to India. From the Syrian port of Latakia, a Genoese ship took him to Alanya on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. He then travelled overland to Konya and afterwards to Sinope on the Black Sea coast.
Some notes from this travel which give us some clues about ethnic structure of anatolia at that time.
"
On the tenth we reached Alaiya (present-day Alanya) where the province begins. This country is one of the best in the world; in it God has united the good features dispersed thorughout other lands. Its people are the most comely of men, the cleanest in their dress, the most exquisite in their food, and the kindliest folk in creation. Wherever we stopped in this land, whether at a hospice or a private house, our neighbors both men and women(these do not veil themselves) came to ask after us. When we left them they bade us farewell as though they were our relatives and our own folk, and you would see the women weeping. They bake bread only once a week, and the men used to bring us gifts of warm bread on the day it was baked, along with delicious viands saying "The women have sent this to you and beg your prayers."
The city of Alaiya is a large town on the seacoast. It is inhabited by the Turkmens, and is visited by the merchants of Cairo, Alexandria, and Syria. The district is well-wooded, and wood is exported from there to Alexandrietta and Damietta, whence it is carried to the other cities of Egypt. There is a magnificent and formidable citadel, built Sultan Ala ad-Din, at the upper end of town. The qadi of the town rode out with me to meet the king of Alaya, who is Yusuf Bek, son of Qaraman, bek meaning king in their language. He lives at a distance of ten miles from the city. We found him sitting by himself on the top of a hillock by the shore, with the amirs and wazirs below him, and the troops on his right and left. He has his hair dyed black. I saluted him and answered his questions regarding my visit to his town, and after my withdrawal he sent me a present of money.
From Alaiya I went to Antaliya [Antalya], a most beautiful city. It covers an immense area, and though of vast bulk is one of the most attractive towns to be seen anywhere, besides being exceedingly populous and well laid out. Each section of the inhabitants lives in a separate quarter. The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the town known as the Mina[the Port], and are surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut upon them from without at night and during the Friday service. . The Greeks, who were its former inhabitants, live by themselves in another quarter, the Jews in another, and the king and his court and mamluks in another, each of these quarters being walled off likewise. The rest of the Muslims live in the main city. Round the whole town and all the quarters mentioned there is another great wall. The town contains orchards and produces fine fruits, including an admirable kind of apricot, called by them Qamar ad-Din, which has a sweet almond in its kernel. This fruit is dried and exported to Eqypt, where it is regarded as a great luxury.
We stayed here at the college mosque of the town, the principal of which was Shaykh Shihab ad-Din al-Hamawi. Now in all the lands inhabited by the Turkmens in Anatolia, in every district, town and village, there are to be found members of the organization known as the Akhiya or Young Brotherhood. Nowhere in the world will you find men so eager to welcome strangers, so prompt to serve food and to satisfy the wants of others, and so ready to suppress injustice and to kill [tyrannical] agents of police and the miscreants who join with them. A Young Brother, or akhi in their language, is one who is chosen by all members of his trade [guild], or the other young unmarried men, or those who live in ascetic retreat, to be their leader. This organization is known also as the Futuwa, or the Order of Youth. The leader builds a hospice and furnishes it with rugs, lamps, and other necessary appliances. The members of his community work during the day to gain their livelihood, and bring him what they have earned in the late afternoon. With this they buy fruit, food, and the other things which the hospice requires for their use. If a traveler comes to town that day they lodge him in their hospice; these provisions serve for his entertainment as their guest, and he stays with them until he goes away. If there are no travelers they themselves assemble to partake of the food, and having eaten it they sang and dance. On the morrow they return to their occupations and bring their earnings to their leader in the late afternoon. The members are called fityan (youths), and their leader, as we have said, is the akhi.
The day after our arrival at Antaliya one of these youths came to Shaykh Shihab ad-Din al-Hamawi and spoke to him in Turkish, which I did not understand at that time. He was wearing old clothes and had a felt bonnet on his head. The shaykh said to me "Do you know what he is saying?" "NO" said I "I do not know." He answered "He is inviting you and your company to eat a m meal with him." I was astonished but I said ""Very well," and when the man had gone I said to the shaykh "He is a poor man, and is not able to entertain us, and we do not like to a be a burden on him." The shaykh burst out laughing and said "He is one of the shaykhs of the Young Brotherhood. He is a cobbler and a man of generous disposition. His companions, about two hundred men belonging to differetn trades, have made him their leader and have built a hospice to entertain their guests. All that they earn by day they spend at night."
http://i49.tinypic.com/2gxics2.jpg
Ibn Baṭtuta was a Muslim Moroccan explorer, known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. "Journey"). Over a period of thirty years, he visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands; his journeys including trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a distance surpassing threefold his near-contemporary Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta is considered one of the greatest travellers of all time. He journeyed more than 75,000 miles (121,000 km), a figure unsurpassed by any individual explorer until the coming of the Steam Age some 450 years later.
In 1330 (or 1332), in need of a guide and translator for his journey, he set off for the Seljuq lands of Anatolia to join one of the caravans that went from there to India. From the Syrian port of Latakia, a Genoese ship took him to Alanya on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. He then travelled overland to Konya and afterwards to Sinope on the Black Sea coast.
Some notes from this travel which give us some clues about ethnic structure of anatolia at that time.
"
On the tenth we reached Alaiya (present-day Alanya) where the province begins. This country is one of the best in the world; in it God has united the good features dispersed thorughout other lands. Its people are the most comely of men, the cleanest in their dress, the most exquisite in their food, and the kindliest folk in creation. Wherever we stopped in this land, whether at a hospice or a private house, our neighbors both men and women(these do not veil themselves) came to ask after us. When we left them they bade us farewell as though they were our relatives and our own folk, and you would see the women weeping. They bake bread only once a week, and the men used to bring us gifts of warm bread on the day it was baked, along with delicious viands saying "The women have sent this to you and beg your prayers."
The city of Alaiya is a large town on the seacoast. It is inhabited by the Turkmens, and is visited by the merchants of Cairo, Alexandria, and Syria. The district is well-wooded, and wood is exported from there to Alexandrietta and Damietta, whence it is carried to the other cities of Egypt. There is a magnificent and formidable citadel, built Sultan Ala ad-Din, at the upper end of town. The qadi of the town rode out with me to meet the king of Alaya, who is Yusuf Bek, son of Qaraman, bek meaning king in their language. He lives at a distance of ten miles from the city. We found him sitting by himself on the top of a hillock by the shore, with the amirs and wazirs below him, and the troops on his right and left. He has his hair dyed black. I saluted him and answered his questions regarding my visit to his town, and after my withdrawal he sent me a present of money.
From Alaiya I went to Antaliya [Antalya], a most beautiful city. It covers an immense area, and though of vast bulk is one of the most attractive towns to be seen anywhere, besides being exceedingly populous and well laid out. Each section of the inhabitants lives in a separate quarter. The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the town known as the Mina[the Port], and are surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut upon them from without at night and during the Friday service. . The Greeks, who were its former inhabitants, live by themselves in another quarter, the Jews in another, and the king and his court and mamluks in another, each of these quarters being walled off likewise. The rest of the Muslims live in the main city. Round the whole town and all the quarters mentioned there is another great wall. The town contains orchards and produces fine fruits, including an admirable kind of apricot, called by them Qamar ad-Din, which has a sweet almond in its kernel. This fruit is dried and exported to Eqypt, where it is regarded as a great luxury.
We stayed here at the college mosque of the town, the principal of which was Shaykh Shihab ad-Din al-Hamawi. Now in all the lands inhabited by the Turkmens in Anatolia, in every district, town and village, there are to be found members of the organization known as the Akhiya or Young Brotherhood. Nowhere in the world will you find men so eager to welcome strangers, so prompt to serve food and to satisfy the wants of others, and so ready to suppress injustice and to kill [tyrannical] agents of police and the miscreants who join with them. A Young Brother, or akhi in their language, is one who is chosen by all members of his trade [guild], or the other young unmarried men, or those who live in ascetic retreat, to be their leader. This organization is known also as the Futuwa, or the Order of Youth. The leader builds a hospice and furnishes it with rugs, lamps, and other necessary appliances. The members of his community work during the day to gain their livelihood, and bring him what they have earned in the late afternoon. With this they buy fruit, food, and the other things which the hospice requires for their use. If a traveler comes to town that day they lodge him in their hospice; these provisions serve for his entertainment as their guest, and he stays with them until he goes away. If there are no travelers they themselves assemble to partake of the food, and having eaten it they sang and dance. On the morrow they return to their occupations and bring their earnings to their leader in the late afternoon. The members are called fityan (youths), and their leader, as we have said, is the akhi.
The day after our arrival at Antaliya one of these youths came to Shaykh Shihab ad-Din al-Hamawi and spoke to him in Turkish, which I did not understand at that time. He was wearing old clothes and had a felt bonnet on his head. The shaykh said to me "Do you know what he is saying?" "NO" said I "I do not know." He answered "He is inviting you and your company to eat a m meal with him." I was astonished but I said ""Very well," and when the man had gone I said to the shaykh "He is a poor man, and is not able to entertain us, and we do not like to a be a burden on him." The shaykh burst out laughing and said "He is one of the shaykhs of the Young Brotherhood. He is a cobbler and a man of generous disposition. His companions, about two hundred men belonging to differetn trades, have made him their leader and have built a hospice to entertain their guests. All that they earn by day they spend at night."