2 : @82.] IBN BATUTA IN THE MALDIVES AND CEYLON. >/ 



Ghiydtft eddin, whose wife was a sister of a woman Ibn Batuta 

 had married at Delhi : he is therefore above called his brother- 

 in-law. Ibn Batuta was hospitably entertained, and he thus 

 continues:—-] 



I had an interview with the Sultan and proposed the sub- 

 ject of the Maldives, and the sending of an army to the islands. 

 He formed a resolve to accomplish this object, and appointed the 

 ships for the purpose. He arranged a present for the Queen of 

 Maldives, robes of honor, and gifts for the Emirs and Viziers. 

 He entrusted to me the care of securing a marriage for him with 

 the sister of the Queen; and lastly, he ordered three ships to be 

 loaded with alms for the poor of the islands, and said to me, " You 

 will get back in five days." The Admiral Khodjah Serlec said to 

 him, (< It will not be possible to go to the Maldives until three 

 months from this moment." The Sultan went on to address me, 

 " Since that is so, come to Fattan, so that we may finish this ex- 

 pedition and return to our capital at Moutrah (Madura): you will 

 set out from there." I then remained with him, and as we 

 Waited I sent for my concubines and my comrades^ 



\_Ghiyath eddin won a great victory over the infidels and 

 returned with Ibn Batuta to Fattan (? Devipatam) a large sea- 

 port town, and thence to Madura. At Fattan the Sultan told 

 the Admiral to cease preparing the vessels for the Maldive 

 expedition. He was then suffering from an illness, and shortly 

 afterward died at a place near Madura. He left no son, and 

 h's nephew, Nassir eddin, whom Ibn Batuta had known as a 

 domestic servant at Delhi, was accepted by the army, and reigned 

 in his stead: — ] 



He \_Ndssir eddin] ordered that I should be provided with 

 all the ships, which his uncle had assigned to take me to the 

 Maldives, But I was attacked with fever, which is mortal at 

 this place. I imagined that I was about to die. God inspired 

 me to have recourse to the tamarind, which is very abundant in 

 that country; I took about a pound and put it in water. I then 



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