Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Question:

Who described coconut as "Nuts like a man's head"?

Options:

Al-Biruni

François Bernier

Jesuit Roberto Nobili

Ibn Battuta

Correct Answer:

Ibn Battuta

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 4: Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta, a traveller from Morocco described coconut as "Nuts like a man's head".

The following is how Ibn Battuta described the coconut:

These trees are among the most peculiar trees in kind and most astonishing in habit. They look exactly like date-palms, without any difference between them except that the one produces nuts as its fruits and the other produces dates. The nut of a coconut tree resembles a man’s head, for in it are what look like two eyes and a mouth, and the inside of it when it is green looks like the brain, and attached to it is a fibre which looks like hair. They make from this cords with which they sew up ships instead of (using) iron nails, and they (also) make from it cables for vessels.