gems, corundum, history.1, Sri Lanka.12, ibn Batuta

The wonderful travels of Ibn Batuta are a record alike of the commercial activity of the Arabs, and of the far-reaching power of the Bagdad caliphate, whose influence long survived its overthrow. From the swift rise of the Muhammadan power in the seventh century down to the arrival of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498, the trade of Europe with the East was in the hands of the Arabs. The carrying to Europe was done by their ships, but in the Indian seas a vast coast trade was developed by all the nations of the Indian sea-bord—Persians, the races of India, Ceylon, the Eastern Islands and China. After the rounding of the Cape followed in succession the restrictive monopolies of the Portuguese, Dutch, and English, and the Eastern nations have never regained the great and free international commerce of the Arab days. From the story of Ibn Battuta, one comes to understand how it was possible for a native of Tangiers in the fourteenth century to travel, with but little difficulty, for twenty-four years over every country between Morocco and China. The Muhammadan faith had been spread over a great part of India, and had established a footing in China: Arab merchants were everywhere, and ships were never long in demand for voyages from any one port to any other.