From Malabar he went to Maldives, where he stayed for 10 months as qazi, but eventually decided to go to Sri Lanka. He took a ship to Sumatra and from there another ship to Chinese town Zaytun. He travelled extensively in China. Who was he?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Ibn Battuta
On his mission to China as the Sultan’s envoy, Ibn Battuta went from the Malabar coast to the Maldives, where he served as the qazi, and later went on to Sri Lanka. He took a ship to Sumatra, and from there another to the Chinese port town of Zaytun, and travelled extensively in China.
Note: It seems that there is a mistake in the original NTA paper, which prints ‘10 months’ when it should read ‘eighteen months’. NCERT says that Ibn Battuta stayed in the Maldives for eighteen months as the qazi. The rest of the description fits Ibn Battuta alone, so the answer is not affected.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 An early globe-trotter … With the new assignment, Ibn Battuta proceeded to the Malabar coast through central India. From Malabar he went to the Maldives, where he stayed for eighteen months as the qazi, but eventually decided to proceed to Sri Lanka. He then went back once more to the Malabar coast and the Maldives, and before resuming his mission to China, visited Bengal and Assam as well. He took a ship to Sumatra, and from there another ship for the Chinese port town of Zaytun (now known as Quanzhou). He travelled extensively in China, going as far as Beijing, but did not stay for long, deciding to return home in 1347.…” |