1882.] 



IBN BATUTA IN THE MALDIVES AND CEYLON. 



X.BN BATUTA 



IN 



THE MALDIVES AND CEYLON/* 



I resolved to go to the Dhtbat Almahal (the Maldives) of which 

 I had heard much. Ten days after we had embarked at Calicut 

 we arrived at the Dhtbat Almahal islands. Dhtbat is pronounced 

 as the feminine of Dhib {Arabic for "wolf : it is really an alter- 

 ation of the Sanskrit douipa, " island' 1 ). These islands are among 

 the wonders of the world : they number about 2,000.f A hundred 

 or less of these islands lie together in a circle in the form of a ring: 

 the group has an entrance as to a harbour, and ships get through 

 by that alone. When a ship arrives near one of these islands 

 it must of necessity have a pilot from among its natives, so that 

 it may reach the other islands under his guidance. They are so 

 close to each other that the tops of the palms which grow on one 

 seem to belong to its neighbour. t If the vessel misses its way 

 it cannot reach the islands, and is driven by the wind to Ma* bar 

 {coast of Coromandel) or towards Ceylon. 



* Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, par C. Defremery et Le Dr. B. R. Sanguinettij 

 Tome IV., 110—185, 191-2, 205-6, 207-10. Paris, 1879. 



f See Gray, J. R. A. S , 1878, Vol. X. n. s., pp. 196-7, notes 2, 3 ; and 

 " The Maldive Islands" (Ceylon Sessional Papers, 1881), pp. 3, 4, 5, Notes (1) 

 (6)-B. 



I So too more recent travellers : — " The Malabares say that heretofore they 

 were joyn'd to the Continent, and were separated by the sea, which in some 

 places hath left such narrow divisions that an active man might leap from one 

 side to the other" (Mandelso's Travels into the Indies, 1639. Lib, II. 116. London, 

 1662). " But that which makes them so numerous is the multitude of canals that 

 divide them ; which are so narrow that the sprit-sails of the ships strike the 

 leaves of the trees which are planted on both sides. And in some places a 

 nimble man may leap into an island from the top of a bough that grows in 

 another." — (Collection of Voyages of the Dutch East-India Company, p, 131, 

 London, 1703)— 5, 



