As a widget I have a songfic music player. I have put 4 songs into it, one for each of the stories. The first is for the merchant’s tale and it proceeds from there. You’ll probably read faster than the music will play so just use the fast forward button for the next song. I just thought it would be a nice touch. My choice for the songs is detailed in the introduction page. I just really love music and thought it might help the stories along.

What were the purposes of Zheng He’s voyages?

            The purposes seemed to be to keep international peace. Zheng He speaks of tribute gifts, which are part of the Chinese’s way of keeping international relations peaceful. Apparently, leaders of foreign nations would send the Chinese Emperor gifts and when he received them, he would return the favor. Actually, if you click on the hyperlinked words, bearing precious objects and presents.  it says “One of the main purposes of Zheng He’s voyages was to reinforce existing and create new tributary relationships.” These voyages also show who can not be trusted, as a few times Zheng He runs into people who attempt to attack his fleet. How did he get a giraffe on a ship?

 

What was a tribute?

            It was a series of gifts send back and forth between the Chinese Emperor and rulers of other countries.  Most of the gifts were things were local items; most of them were rare things as well. The tribute helped to set up an alliance between the country and China.

 

Where is the account of the voyage written down?

            The account is written on a stone.

From what sorts of records do we find accounts of East Africa from other perspectives?

            One of the places were there are other accounts of East Africa are in trading/exploring logs (Fei Xin/ Barbosa). There is also an account from Ibn Battuta who travels for pleasure or if he is told to, his account is in story form. Oral history is also used to give an account of East Africa. 

If you follow all the links, you will discover that two of them mention the city of Mecca. Which two, and is it just a coincidence?

           I don’t see any mention of the City of Mecca………

 

What information about political authority can you glean from each of the four different perspectives on East Africa (15th-century Chinese, 14th-century North African, 16th-century Portuguese and Swahili oral traditions)?

15^th Century Chinese was very interesting with the idea of tributes. For international affairs the idea seems to be about buying love. If you give the emperor of China nice presents, he might give you some back and he probably won’t attempt to wipe you out.

It was also interesting to see that Yongle took the throne away from his nephew and therefore had to work hard to make his people accept him.

In Fei Xin’s account, tributes are also mentioned. “The ruler, having received the imperial presents, was filled with gratitude, and sent articles of tribute.” This leads me to believe that tributes were a fairly common occurrence. This seems very similar to 15^th century Chinese ideals.

            In  an interesting turn, in the account by Duarte Barbosa he mentions “It has not got a king; it is governed by its elders, they being honoured and respectable persons.” This is the first time in this exercise we see a group of tribal leaders instead of religious and/or noble leaders. 

                       In the  East African Oral History account a Sultan marries one of the tribal elders daughters and then kicks the old man out of his home.  The man willing leaves, but hands down his power to the grandson, not his son in law.

What can you infer from Fei Xin, Duarte Barbosa, Ibn Battuta and the Swahili oral histories about what goods were traded to and from the East Coast of Africa?

The East Coast of Africa was very wealthy, they had lots of gold and silver. They also had spices and live stock. They traded for coloured satins, sandal-wood, rice, china-ware, coloured taffetas.

They had things that the travellers wanted. Because of this the travellers and their countries tried to form and keep some sort of alliance with the East Coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   According to aspanet.org, political science is “the study of governments, public policies and political processes, systems, and political behavior.  Political science subfields include political theory, political philosophy, political ideology,  political economy, policy studies and analysis, comparative politics, international relations, and a host of related fields.” 

           Political Science is necessary in order to understand all aspects of different governments. Political Science can tell us how and why different forms of government were created and if they stay true to their orginal mission statement. The study also allows an insight to the peole living under the government and the types of lives they lead.

          Alexis De Tocqueville would construct a new political science in a way that would allow for little chaos. He wants the government to be prepared for change, to plan ahead. He wants some group, he doesn’t seem to care who to  take over democracy and control it. He believes a controlled, and unchanging democrazy is best. Everyone should have the same system all across the board.  Even if it kills the passions of the people, a well controlled and ‘educated’ democracy is the best democracy.

           Some of the challenges he faces in  coming to understand America, are those that many people face today. He is simply not used to the idea of ‘equality’ and democracy so he is shocked by some of the things that occur. He just does not seem to be the kind of person who would like to travel, he seems to like things to be safe and predictable.

I found it interesting that he viewed the crusades as something that promoted equality. From all the classes I’ve taken they were nothing of the sort.  

Unfortunately, this post is going to be more questions as the last bit you had us read was rather confusing.

In the capital of Dihli, Ibn Battuta encounters the sultan’s mother, who is blind. He claims the reason for her blindness is “when her son came to the throne she was visited by all the princesses and daughters of the maliks and the amirs wearing their finest apparel. As she was sitting on a golden couch encrusted with jewels and they all made obeisance before her, her sight went suddenly…” I don’t know first of all, why people visiting her could make her go blind, but why would Ibn Battuta include this? Is it to give some proof toward the fact that he was there?In the account of the hospitality gift, Ibn Battuta talks about beds. It sounds like what modern cross country back packers do, except for the part with the slave boy carrying the masters bed on top of his head. On top of his head, seriously? That’s got to be a pain in the neck. haha. Is that maybe just a problem with the translation? Ibn Battuta’s daughter dies, and the events that follow are very strange. I was also wondering about why it says their actions, not my actions or my peoples actions. I understand the Ibn Battuta is a popular guy, but they ship his kids body to the area he is in, and even the Sultan comes out to pay his respects. It is a whole big production too, with the girls mother getting carried in a dulah. But when I was reading this it didn’t occur to me as it has now. Was this woman traveling with him? That’s really the only way that it could possibly make any sense. But still, the wake was at least 3 days long. Its not like they has morgues or anything else like that back then. Its weird for this to come up because in my MFL class, we were talking about different cultures and I believe someone said that in the Philippians, wakes last about 40 days and the body is kept in the living room of the house. However, regardless of that, the funeral seems very nice with the flowers and the carpets by the tomb.

Another oddity that occurred was Ibn Battuta’s sudden employment with the sultan. Not only does the sultan employ him, (and pay him quite well) but he also pays Ibn Battuta’s rather large debt. The whole enemy of the sultan thing was weird too. If the Sultan had agreed to pay Ibn Battuta’s debt why didn’t he just do it and get on with his life. Did the sultan often pay off debts? I mean for there to be this ritual (192), I would think he must of.

In Antaliyah, there is the first obvious divide between cultures. According to Ibn Battuta, “inhabitants live by themselves, separated from each other section. Thus Christian merchants reside in a part of it called al-Mina and are encircled by a wall […] The Rum[…]live in another part encircled by a wall[…] Jews in another part with a wall around them;[…]the king and his officers and mamluks live in a separate township from the sections we have mentioned” (Battuta 103). They all live right around each other, they might even interact during the day yet at night they close themselves off from one another. This is strange to me it also seems almost hypocritical as well. If they can live in the same area why can’t they get along well enough to not need walls? It is almost like the early immigration days of America, where groups of people stuck together in one area.

Then in stark contrast there is the tale of the Young Akhis. They are an apparently chivalrous group of individuals who all live in one area together, under one elected leader.  All of the work they do goes toward the groups collective good. They also enjoy sharing their fortune with people travelling through the land.

Whats interesting is that Ibn Battuta does not seem to think that the separation of the groups in Antaliyah is in fact not strange at all. However, everything the fityan did seemed to astonish hi, in a good way.  Both ways of life seem odd to me. For the groups in Antaliyah to live so close together but to fight so hard to keep them selves separate is pointless to me. On the other hand, doing everything for the group is a little to socialist for someone raised in America to understand.

In Kawiyah, there is another example of culture division. Ibn Battutah and his group go to the home of one of the Akhis, who speaks Turkish. They attempt to speak to him in Arabic, needless to say, this does not work. The Akhis then says “Call the doctor of the law, for he knows Arabic.”. Unfortunately, this man did not know Arabic, he simply pretended like he did, in order to impress the Akhis.  What I did find amusing is Ibn Battuta’s translation of what the legist said, even though at the time he had no knowledge of Persian when he heard it and this must be at least a few years later.

In Muturni, there is another language barrier. Ibn Battuta sends two of his servants for chopped straw and ghee. They go and attempt to retrieve these items. They are only 50 percent successful because to them samn is ghee, but in Turkish samn is chopped straw. Ibn Battuta then says that he eventually figured out the ghee is rughan.

I have a question though. When they were in the city of Qastamuniyah, Ibn Battuta, seeks out a Shaikh, in order to receive his blessing. I have noticed in other areas people either seek out Shaikhs or other important people for blessings. What is this all about?

You also asked us to be on the look out for amusing things in this story. In Sanub Ibn Battuta hears about the areas former ruler, who apparently could perform superhuman tasks. However, just like the green lantern has to charge his ring the former ruler also had to restore his power. The ruler did that by consuming lots and lots of hashish.

 

•  Baghdad- He metions the people are Khafajah Arabs, who are powerful and violent. Apparently there is no save passage through this area with out their help and/or approval. However on page 74, He calls Baghdad the “Abode of Peace”. Call me crazy but a land filled with violent people does not seem to be a home of peace. Even though its very beautiful, but home of peace seems to stretch it if the earlier statements are to be believed.
• Wasit- This city has the best people, orchards and fruit trees. The incident with the snake at the grave site was very interesting. Was there any reason, religious or otherwise for that?
• al-Basrah- A metropolitan city, but has lots of area, with palm trees and fruit gardens. The people of this city are very generous, no one feels lonely around them. Has a nice mosque.
• al-Ubulla- Was a great city is not now. I was wondering if he knew that before he went or if it was a surprise to him. He mentioned that the people of this area row standing up and it reminded me of the gondolas in Italy.
• Abbadan- everyone gives alms to the poor. I didn’t understand this part of the story “I entertained the idea of spending the rest of my life in the service of this sheikh, but I was dissuaded from it by the pertinacity of my spirit.” What does he mean? That he had to continue his quest or that he thinks eventually he would get to strong willed or bored?

I found it interesting the he likes to travel of places that he has already been. It reminds me of a family that goes to the same water park in the dells every summer, even if their on their way to somewhere else.

• Tustar- Another large and beautiful city, it also has large markets. He mentioned that Tustar had strange attractions and I couldn’t help but think of all the weird things one can find when road tripping across America. I kinda doubt that the ancient Middle East had the same kind of attractions that we do today, but its interesting. I wonder what they considered “strange attractions”.

I’ve noticed that he tends to get sick a lot. I know that their medicine is kind of poor compared to todays medicine, but he is always get struck down with a fever.  He mentions people often get a fever because of the hot weather. I was wondering if this was maybe heat stroke or something similar?

• Idhaj- This part really confused me. When they first arrive he wants to see the Sultan, but when the Sultan’s son dies, he does not want to go pay his respects. Also, Ibn Battutah said that “ My associates have no knowledge of either music or dancing.” How is this possible? I thought that earlier in the story he might have mentioned one or the other. None the less, how could you not have any knowledge of music or dancing? I can’t dance to save my life, but I wouldn’t say that I have no knowledge of dancing. To me that implies that they wouldn’t even know what the two are.
• Firuzan- A small town with nice streams trees and orchards.  Ibn Battutah account of the funeral, where all the town went out with the deceased and were singing “merry songs” reminded me of the song Finnigan’s Wake. Ibn Battutah were properly horrified by these peoples actions, as I’m sure many people were when they first heard the song. (if they could understand it).
• Ceylon- was full of people who were in a great state of infidelity but still took good care of the poor people. I am curious to know what IB considers to be infidelity and if because of this he judges the people of Ceylon harshly.

Sorry this is late, I forgot we’re posting not printing

Ibn Fadlan’s writing allows us to see a different group and their customs, not through their eyes, but through the eyes of an outsider.  The third to last paragraph in the translation also allows us to see how the group views the outsider’s cultural practices.

In our society today, when we travel to a different part of the world that has a culture that is different from our own, we are expected to change our culture. For the time that we are there, we are trying to show respect and keep from causing an unnecessary uproar. The Rusiyyah, whichever of the many possible cultures they might be, do not observe this practice. (However given the time when this was written, it is kind of expected that they would not).  They are travelling merchants who come often enough to have permantly set up their own religious icons. If one of them dies they carry out an elaborate and frankly rather disgusting ritual, apparently no matter where they are. When one of the foreigners notices Ibn Fadlan, he criticizes the Arab cultures practices for dealing with the deceased. That was rather rude and unnecessary on his part, after all he and his companions had just killed a bunch of perfectly healthy animals and a slave girl for no other reason than to provide for some silly superstition.  Perhaps it is for this reason that Ibn Fadlan is rather harsh in his judgment of these people calling them “the filthiest of Allah’s creatures…”. I am curious to know how Ibn Fadlan knows all that he does, it is one this to attend the funeral but how does he know how they behave behind closed doors?  Essentially, it was very interesting to see how his opinion of the Rusiyyah culture was very similar to their opinion of Arab culture.

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