Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Awadh (Avadh, Oudh, ʿAwḍ)
Title
How the Sultan killed the supporters of a rebel malik
Short description
Sultan Muḥammad Ibn Tughluq had the supporters of a rebel malik (governor) killed in front of him by elephants, while musical instruments were sounded.
Text on source
ولما كان بعد المغرب جلس السلطان ببرج الخشب، وأتي باثنين وستين رجلًا من كبار أصحاب القائم، وأتي بالفيلة فطرحوا بين أيديها، فجعلت تقطعهم بالحدائد الموضوعة على أنيابها، وترمي ببعضهم إلى الهواء وتتلقفه، والأبواق والأنفار والطبول تضرب عند ذلك، وعين الملك واقف يعاين مقتلهم، ويطرح منهم عليه، ثم أعيد إلى محبسه [ص. ٣٥٥]
English translation
After the sunset prayer the Sultan took his seat in the wooden tower and sixty-two of the principal associates of the rebel were brought in. Then the elephants were brought and these men were thrown down in front of them, and they started cutting them in pieces with the blades placed on their tusks and throwing some of them in the air and catching them, and all the time the coiled trumpets [abwāq] and straight trumpets [anfār] and drums [ṭubūl] were being sounded. ʿAyn al-Mulk too was standing watching their slaughter, and parts of them were thrown at him, then he was taken back to his prison.
Folios/Pages
726
Date
1337 circa
Observations on the events description
The slaughtering performed with emphasising music was likely intended to be an admonition to the rebel governor since he was restored to favour no long afterwards (see Jackson, [1999] 2003, p. 270).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
Ibn Tughluq, Muhammad
Viewer
King
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "How the Sultan killed the supporters of a rebel malik" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 17.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
