Ibn Battuta sails from Sinope to the Crimea pp. 147-155.
We stayed at Sanub [Sinope] about forty days waiting for the weather to became
favourable for sailing to the town of Qiram [in the Crimea]. Then we hired a vessel
belonging to the Greeks and waited another eleven days for a favourable wind. At length we
set sail, but after travelling for three nights, we were beset in mid-sea by a terrible
tempest. The storm raged with unparalleled fury, then the wind changed and drove us back
nearly to Sanub. The weather cleared and we set out again, and after another tempest like
the former, we at length saw the hills on the land. We made for a harbour called Karsh
[Kerch], intending to enter it, but some people on the hill made signs to us not to enter,
and fearing that there were enemy vessels in the port, we turned back along the coast.
As we approached the land I said to the master of the ship "I want to descend
here, so he put me ashore." The place was in the Qipchaq desert [steppe] which is
green and verdant, but flat and treeless. There is no firewood so they make fires of dung,
and you will see even the highest of them picking it up and putting it in the skirts of
their garments. The only method of travelling in this desert is in waggons; it extends for
six months' journey, of which three are in the territories of Sultan Muhammad Uzbeg.
Ibn Battuta arrives at Kaffa
The day after our arrival one of the merchants in our company hired some waggons from
the Qipchaqs who inhabit this desert, and who are Christians, and we came to Kafa [Kaffa],
a large town extending along the sea-coast, inhabited by Christians, mostly Genoese, whose
governor is called Damdir [Demetrio].
We stayed at Kaffa in the mosque of the Muslims. An hour after our arrival we heard
bells ringing on all sides. As I had never heard bells before, I was alarmed and made my
companions ascend the minaret and read the Koran and issue the call to prayer. They did
so, when suddenly a man entered wearing armour and weapons and greeted us. He told us that
he was the qadi of the Muslims there, and said "When I heard the reading and the call
to prayer, I feared for your safety and came as you see." Then he went away, but no
evil befel us.
The next day the governor came to us and entertained us to a meal, then we went round
the city and found it provided with fine bazaars. All the inhabitants are infidels. We
went down to the port and saw a magnificent harbour with about two hundred vessels in it,
ships of war and trading vessels, small and large, for it is one of the most notable
harbours in the world.
Traveling by wagon on the steppe
We hired a waggon and travelled to the town of Qiram, which forms part of the
territories of Sultan Uzbeg Khan and has a governor called Tuluktumur. On hearing of our
arrival the governor sent the imam to me with a horse; he himself was ill, but we visited
him and he treated us honourably and gave us gifts. He was on the point of setting out for
the town of Sari, the capital of the Khan, so I prepared to travel along with him and
hired waggons for that purpose. These waggons have four large wheels and are drawn by two
or more horses, or by oxen or camels, according to their weight. The driver rides on one
of the horses and carries a whip or wooden goad. On the waggon is put a light tent made of
wooden laths bound with strips of hide and covered with felt or blanket-cloth, and it has
grilled windows so that the person inside can see without being seen. One can do anything
one likes inside, sleep, eat, read or write, during the march. The waggons conveying the
baggage and provisions are covered with a similar tent which is locked.
We set out with the amir Tuluktumur and his brother and two sons. At every halt the
Turks [let] loose their horses, oxen and camels, and drive them out to pasture at liberty,
night or day, without shepherds or guardians. This is due to the severity of their laws
against theft. Any person found in possession of a stolen horse is obliged to restore it
with nine others; if he cannot do this, his sons are taken instead, and if he has no sons
he is slaughtered like a sheep.
The food of the Turks
They do not eat bread nor any solid food, but prepare a soup with a kind of millet, and
any meat they may have is cut into small pieces and cooked in this soup. Everyone is given
his share in a plate with curdled milk, and they drink it, afterwards drinking curdled
mares milk, which they call qumizz [kumis]. They have also a fermented drink prepared from
the same grain, which they call buza [beer] and regard as lawful to drink. It is white in
colour; I tasted it once and found it bitter, so I left it alone. They regard the eating
of sweetmeats as a disgrace. One day during Ramadan I presented Sultan Uzbeg with a plate
of sweetmeats which one of my companions had made, but he did no more than touch them with
his finger and then place it in his mouth.
Turkish horses
The horses in this country are very numerous and the price of them is negligible. A
good one costs about a dinar of our money. The livelihood of the people depends on them,
and they are as numerous as sheep in our country, or even more so. A single Turk will
possess thousands of horses. They are exported to India in droves of six thousand or so,
each merchant possessing one or two hundred of them or less or more. For each fifty they
hire a keeper, who looks after their pasturage. He rides on one of them, carrying a long
stick with a rope attached to it, and when he wishes to catch any horse he gets opposite
it on the horse which he is riding, throws the rope over its neck and draws it towards
him, mounts it and sets the other free to pasture
On reaching Sind [in India] the horses are fed with forage, because the vegetation of
Sind will not take the place of barley, and the greater part of them die or are stolen.
The owners pay a duty of seven silver dinars on entering Sind and a further duty at
Multan. Formerly they were taxed a quarter of the value of their imports, but Sultan
Muhammad abolished this tax and ordered that Muslim merchants should pay the legal tithe
and infidel merchants a tenth. Nevertheless the merchants make a handsome profit, for the
least that a horse fetches [in India] is a hundred dinars (that is twenty-five dinars in
Moroccan money) and it often sells for twice or three times that amount. A good horse
sells for five hundred or more. The Indians do not buy them as racehorses, for in battle
they wear coats of mail and cover their horses with armour; what they prize in a horse is
its strength and length of pace. Their racehorses are brought from Yemen, Oman and Firs,
and they cost from a thousand to four thousand dinars each.
Turkish women
A remarkable thing which I saw in this country was the respect shown to women by the
Turks, for they hold a more dignified position than the men. The first time that I saw a
princess was when, on leaving Qiram, I saw the wife of the amir in her waggon. The entire
waggon was covered with rich blue woollen cloth, and the windows and doors of the tent
were open. With the princess were four maidens, exquisitely beautiful and richly dressed,
and behind her were a number of waggons with maidens belonging to her suite. When she came
near the amir's camp she alighted with about thirty of the maidens who carried her train.
On her garments there were loops, of which each maiden took one, and lifted her train
clear of the ground on all sides, and she walked in this stately manner. When she reached
the amir he rose before her and greeted her and sat her beside him, with the maidens
standing round her. Skins of qumizz were brought and she, pouring some into a cup, knelt
before him and gave it to him, afterwards pouring out a cup for his brother. Then the amir
poured out a cup for her and food was brought in and she ate with him. He then gave her a
robe and she withdrew.
I saw also the wives of the merchants and commonalty. One of them will sit in a waggon
which is being drawn by horses, attended by three or four maidens to carry her train, and
on her head she wears a conical headdress incrusted with pearls and surmounted by peacock
feathers. The windows of the tent are open and her face is visible, for the Turkish women
do not veil themselves. Sometimes a woman will be accompanied by her husband and anyone
seeing him would take him for one of her servants; he has no garment other than a sheep's
wool cloak and a high cap to match.
Ibn Battuta travels to meet Uzbeg Khan
We then prepared for the journey to the sultan's camp, which was four days' march [to]
a place called Bishdagh, which means "Five mountains." In these mountains there
is a hot spring in which the Turks bathe, claiming that it prevents illness.
We arrived at the camp on the first day of Ramadan and found that it was moving to the
neighbourhood from which we had just come, so we returned thither. I set up my tent on a
hill there, fixing a standard in the ground in front of it, and drew up the horses and
waggons behind. Thereupon the mahalla approached (the name they give to it is the ordu)
and we saw a vast town on the move with all its inhabitants, containing mosques and
bazaars, the smoke from the kitchens rising in the air (for they cook while on the march),
and horse-drawn waggons transporting them. On reaching the encampment they took the tents
off the waggons and set them upon the ground, for they were very light, and they did the
same with the mosques and shops.
The sultan's khatuns [wives] passed by us, each separately with her own retinue. The
fourth of them, as she passed, saw the tent on top of the hill [i.e., Ibn Battuta's tent]
with the standard in front of it, which is the mark of a new arrival, and sent pages and
maidens to greet me and convey her salutations, herself halting to wait for them. I sent
her a gift by one of my companions and the chamberlain of the amir Tuluktumur. She
accepted it as a blessing and gave orders that I should be taken under her protection,
then went on. Afterwards the sultan arrived and camped with his mahalla separately.
Uzbeg Khan
The illustrious Sultan Muhammad Uzbeg Khan is the ruler of a vast kingdom and a most
powerful sovereign, victor over the enemies of God, the people of Constantinople the
Great, and diligent in warring against them. He is one of the seven mighty kings of the
world, to wit: [first], our master the Commander of the Faithful, may God strengthen his
might and magnify his victory! [the sultan of Morocco]; [second] the sultan of Egypt and
Syria; [third], the sultan of the Two Iraqs; [fourth], this Sultan Uzbeg; [fifth], the
sultan of Turkistan and the lands beyond the Oxus; [sixth], the sultan of India; and
[seventh], the sultan of China [the emperor].
The day after my arrival I visited him [Uzbeg Khan] in the afternoon at a ceremonial
audience; a great banquet was prepared and we broke our fast in his presence. These Turks
do not follow the custom of assigning a lodging to visitors and giving them money for
their expenses, but they send him sheep and horses for slaughtering and skins of qumizz,
which is their form of benefaction.
Every Friday, after the midday prayer, the sultan holds an audience in a pavilion
called the Golden Pavilion, which is richly decorated. In the centre there is a wooden
throne covered with silver-gilt plates, the legs being of pure silver set with jewels at
the top. The sultan sits on the throne, having on his right the Khatun Taytughli with the
khatun Kebek on her right, and on his left the khatun Bayalun with the khatun Urduja on
her left. Below the throne stand the sultan's sons, the elder on the right and the younger
on the left, and his daughter sits in front of him. He rises to meet each Khatun as she
arrives and takes her by the hand until she mounts to the throne. All this takes place in
view of the whole people, without any screening.
Ibn Battuta meets Uzbeg's wives, the khatuns
On the morrow of my interview with the sultan I visited the principal khatun Taytughli,
who is the queen and the mother of the sultan's two sons. She was sitting in the midst of
ten aged women, who appeared to be servants of hers, and had in front of her about fifty
young maidens with gold and silver salvers filled with cherries which they were cleaning.
The khatun also had a golden tray filled with cherries in front of her and was cleaning
them. She ordered qumizz to be brought and with her own hand poured out a cupful and gave
it to me, which is the highest of honours in their estimation. I had never drunk qumizz
before, but there was nothing for me but to accept it. I tasted it, but found it
disagreeable and passed it on to one of my companions.
The following day we visited the second khatun Kebek and found her sitting on a divan
reading the holy Koran. She also served me with qumizz.
The third khatun Bayalun is the daughter [almost certainly an illegitimate daughter] of
the Emperor of Constantinople the Great. On visiting her we found her sitting on a throne
set with jewels, with about a hundred maidens, Greek, Turkish and Nubian, standing or
sitting in front of her. Behind her were eunuchs and in front of her Greek chamberlains.
She asked how we were and about our journey and the distance of our native lands, and
wept, in pity and compassion, wiping her face with a handkerchief that lay before her. She
ordered food to be served and we ate in her presence, and when we desired to leave she
said "Do not sever relations with us, but come often to us and inform us of your
needs." She showed great kindness to us and after we had gone sent us food, a great
quantity of bread, butter, sheep, money, a magnificent robe and thirteen horses, three
good ones and ten of the ordinary sort. It was with this khatun that I made my journey to
Constantinople the Great, as we shall relate hereafter.
The fourth khatun is one of the best, most amiable and sympathetic of princesses. We
visited her and she showed us a kindness and generosity that cannot be surpassed. By the
sultan's daughter however we were treated with a generosity and kindness that no other
khatun showed us; she loaded us with surpassing favours, may God reward her!
Ibn Battuta leaves the steppe kingdom of Uzbeg Khan with the retinue
of Uzbeg's wife the khatun Bayalan, a Byzantine princess pp. 152-159.
We set out . . . in the company of the khatun Bayalun and under her protection. The
sultan [Uzbeg] escorted her one stage then returned, he and the queen [the khatun
Taytughli] and the heir to the throne; the other khatuns accompanied her [the khatun
Bayalan] for a second stage and then returned. The amir Baydara with five thousand troops
travelled with her, and her own troops numbered about five hundred horsemen, two hundred
of whom were her attendant slaves and Greeks, and the remainder Turks. She had with her
also about two hundred maidens, most of whom were Greeks, and about four hundred carts and
about two thousand draught and riding horses, as well as three hundred oxen and two
hundred camels. She had also ten Greek youths and the same number of Indians, whose
leader-in-chief was called Sunbul the Indian; the leader of the Greeks was a man of
conspicuous bravery called Michael, but the Turks gave him the name of Lu'lu' [Pearl]. She
left most of her maidens and her baggage at the sultan's camp, since she had set out only
to pay a visit [to her father the emperor].
