The khatun declines to return to her husband Uzbeg Khan
When it became clear to the Turks who were in the khatun’s company that she professed her father’s religion and wished to stay with him, they asked her for leave to return to their country. She made them rich presents and sent them an amir called Saruja with five hundred horsemen to escort them to their country.
She sent for me, and gave me three hundred of their gold dinars, called barbara, which are not good money, and a thousand Venetian silver pieces, together with some robes and pieces of cloth and two horses, which were a gift from her father, and commended me to Saruja. I bade her farewell and left, having spent a month and six days in their town.
Ibn Battuta returns to the steppe kingdom of Uzbeg Khan, from where he journeys on deeper into Central Asia and then to India, Java, and China; he then returns westward and homeward, arriving at the city of Fez in Morocco in November of 1349.
Ibn Battuta arrives in Fez.
I arrived at the royal city of Fez on Friday, at the end of the month of Sha’ban of the year 750 [November 13, 1349].
I presented myself before our most noble master the most generous imam, the Commander of the Faithful, al-Mutawakkil Abu’ Inan–may God enlarge his greatness and humble his enemies. His dignity made me forget the dignity of the sultan of Iraq, his beauty the beauty of the king of India, his fine qualities the noble character of the king of Yemen, his courage the courage of the king of the Turks, his clemency the clemency of the king of the Greeks, his devotion the devotion of the king of Turkistan, and his knowledge the knowledge of the king of Jawa [Java].
I laid down the staff of travel in his glorious land, having assured myself after unbiassed [sic] consideration that it is the best of countries, for in it fruits are plentiful, and running water and nourishing food are never exhausted. Few indeed are the lands which unite all these advantages, and well spoken are the poet’s words:
“Of all the lands the West by this token’s the best:
Here the full moon is spied and the sun speeds to rest.”
Ibn Battuta lauds the diet of the Maghreb over that of other lands
The dirhams [silver coins] of the West are small, but their utility is great. When you compare its prices with the prices of Egypt and Syria, you will see the truth of my contention, and realize the superiority of the Maghrib.
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