236 H. Beveridge —The Khurahtd Jafian Numd of Ildhi Bafchsh. [No. 3, 
from. I, however, quote Pyrard’s words: “ Some sepulchres they hold 
sacred, and at them keep many lamps burning continually.” To this 
Mr. Gray adds from Young and Christopher’s account: A remarkable 
object on the island 1 is a tomb erected over the remains of a person 
who is regarded by the natives as the most eminent of their saints. 
The building, which is surmounted by a cupola and a short spire, is thirty 
feet high; the gate, over which a lantern is placed, is of copper network 
(T. Bo. Geo. Soc., I, 63).” 
Ibn Batutah does not mention Jalalu-d-din in connection with the 
Maldives. According to him, Muhammadanism was introduced into the 
island by a Muhammadan from Barbary named Abu- 1-bark at, and he 
tells a romantic and interesting story of how the conversion of the 
islanders was brought about. He also says that he saw an inscription 
on a mosque, which stated that the Sultan had embraced Muhamma¬ 
danism at the hands of Abu-l-barkat. Ibn Batutah was twice at the 
Maldives, but both occasions were before he visited Bengal and saw Jalalu- 
d-din. As Jalalu-d-din asked him about his travels, it may be that it 
was Ibn Batutah’s account of the Maldives that induced Jalalu-d-din to 
go there. He may, however, have done so simply on his way to Mecca, 
which it is said he used to visit every year. 
There is a curious similarity between Ibn Batutah’s narrative about 
Abu-l-barkat, and the accouut of Jalalu-d-dln’s success in the Maldives 
in the Siyaru-l-arifin. The latter tells that Jalalu-d-din broke down the 
idol temple, and that one-half of the customs (Bandar) was assigned 
for the support of his langarkhana there. Ibn Batutah tells us that 
one-third of the customs (Bandar, which he explains by an Arabic phrase 
rendered by his French translators entrepot de la douane) is given to 
travellers in gratitude for Abu-l-barkat’s delivering the island from the 
power of a demon. It is unfortunate that the exact date when Ibn 
Batutah visited Bengal is not known. He left Tangiers on 2nd Rajjab 
725 (14th June, 1325) and arrived in Bengal apparently about 741 (1341) 
when disputes were going on between Fakhru-d-dln and ‘All Shah. In 
all probability the Sadkawan where Ibn Batutah landed is not Chitta¬ 
gong, but Satgaon, the Jamuna which he refers to being one of the 
streams into which the Ganges separates at Tribenl. 
Though Ibn Batutah is a confused and credulous writer, yet, I think, 
it cannot be doubted that he saw a man in Bengal or Assam, who was 
called Jalalu-d-din Tabriz!. In his account of Delhi, Ibn Batutah says 
that he devoted himself for five months to the service of a saint named 
Kamalu-d-dln ‘Abdu-llah Algliarl. Perhaps this is the Kamalu-d-dln 
Jaffarl mentioned in the Siyaru-l-arifln as a friend of Jalalu-d-din. 
1 This is Male or King’s island (so called from the residence there of the Sultan). 
It is the principal atoll or island of the group, and lies at their southern extremity. 
