A gift for Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughluq of India

Jens Nordlunde · 15th May 2005, 02:10 PM

In ‘The Travels of Ibn Battuta A.D. 1325-1354’, vol. III, pp742, Ibn Battuta writes about a meeting with Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughluq.

Account of the Sultan’s arrival and our meeting with him. On the fourth of Shawwal [8th June 1334] the Sultan alighted at a castle called Tilbat, seven miles from the capital [Delhi], and the vizier ordered us to go out to him. We set out, each man with his present of horses, camels, fruits of Khurasan, Egyptian swords, mamluks and sheep brought from the land of the Turks, and came to the gate of the castle where all the newcomers were assembled. They were then introduced before the Sultan in order of precedence and were given robes of linen, embroidered in gold.

It is interesting to notice the gifts they were bringing, horses and camels were common and usually used for gifts. The Turkish sheep were not breed in India, no, they were brought from Turkey. But the strangest gifts were the Egyptian swords and the mamluks. Although the mamluks were not unknown in India at the time, as the Sultan had them in his army, I do however, not think many knows this – but the swords. We often hear about Persian swords and famous swords from Damascus and other places, but only very rarely do we hear about Egyptian swords. They must however have been of a special quality, or they would not have dared to present them to the Sultan.

From early times there have been an export of blades and other things to Egypt, from countries like Persia Syria, India and others, but I don’t remember to have read about an export of blades from Egypt, at a greater scale, other that to the south, do you?

Battuta could of course also have brought the Egyptian swords with him for gifts, as he was born in Tangier in 1304, from where he started his travels in 1324 – only this would mean that he had travelled with the swords for ten years before giving it/them as gifts. This does not sound very likely to me, I think it sounds more likely that he bought the swords for this occasion – which indicates, that Egyptian swords were known and appreciated, at least in north India.

15th May 2005, 02:10 PM	#1
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	A gift for Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughluq of India In ‘The Travels of Ibn Battuta A.D. 1325-1354’, vol. III, pp742, Ibn Battuta writes about a meeting with Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughluq. Account of the Sultan’s arrival and our meeting with him. On the fourth of Shawwal [8th June 1334] the Sultan alighted at a castle called Tilbat, seven miles from the capital [Delhi], and the vizier ordered us to go out to him. We set out, each man with his present of horses, camels, fruits of Khurasan, Egyptian swords, mamluks and sheep brought from the land of the Turks, and came to the gate of the castle where all the newcomers were assembled. They were then introduced before the Sultan in order of precedence and were given robes of linen, embroidered in gold. It is interesting to notice the gifts they were bringing, horses and camels were common and usually used for gifts. The Turkish sheep were not breed in India, no, they were brought from Turkey. But the strangest gifts were the Egyptian swords and the mamluks. Although the mamluks were not unknown in India at the time, as the Sultan had them in his army, I do however, not think many knows this – but the swords. We often hear about Persian swords and famous swords from Damascus and other places, but only very rarely do we hear about Egyptian swords. They must however have been of a special quality, or they would not have dared to present them to the Sultan. From early times there have been an export of blades and other things to Egypt, from countries like Persia Syria, India and others, but I don’t remember to have read about an export of blades from Egypt, at a greater scale, other that to the south, do you? Battuta could of course also have brought the Egyptian swords with him for gifts, as he was born in Tangier in 1304, from where he started his travels in 1324 – only this would mean that he had travelled with the swords for ten years before giving it/them as gifts. This does not sound very likely to me, I think it sounds more likely that he bought the swords for this occasion – which indicates, that Egyptian swords were known and appreciated, at least in north India.