Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Between Sehwan and Delhi (Sīwasitān)
Title
Description of the Barīd (Postal service)
Short description
Description of the Barīd (Postal service) in which instruments with rattles are used. According to Silverstein (2007:163-164), Ibn Baṭṭūṭa's account of the Barīd echoes Marco Polo's description of the Yām, the Mongol postal service that was an important aspect of Mongols' legacy in the Islamic world.
Text on source
والبريد ببلاد الهند صنفان، فإمّا بريد الخيل فيسمونه الولاق « أولاق » (ضم الواو وآخره قاف)، وهو خيل تكون للسلطان في كل مسافة أربعة أميال، وأمّا بريد الرجالة فيكون في مسافة الميل الواحد منه ثلاث رتب، ويسمونها الداوة (بالدال المهمل والواو)، والداوة رحلة ابن بطوطة هي ثلث ميل، والميل عندهم يسمَّى الكروه (بضم الكاف والراء)، وترتيب ذلك أن يكون في كل ثلث ميل قرية معمورة، ويكون بخارجها ثلاث قباب يقعد فيها الرجال مستعدين للحركة قد شدوا أوساطهم، وعند كل واحد منهم مقرعة مقدار ذراعين بأعلاها جلاجل نحاس، فإذا خرج البريد من المدينة أخذ الكتاب بأعلى يده، والمقرعة ذات الجلاجل باليد الأخرى، وخرج يشتد بمنتهى جهده فإذا سمع الرجال الذين بالقباب صوت الجلاجل تأهبوا له، فإذا وصلهم أخذ أحدهم الكتاب من يده ومرَّ بأقصىجهده وهو يحرك المقرعة حتى يصل إلى الداوة الأخرى، ولا يزالون كذلك حتى يصل الكتاب إلى حيث يراد منه [ص. ٢٨١-٢٨٢]
English translation
The postal service in India is of two kinds. The horse-post, which they call ūlāq, consists of horses belonging to the Sultan [with relays]
every four miles. The service of couriers on foot has within the space of each mile three relays, which they call dāwa, the dāwa being a third of a mile, and a mile itself is called by them kurūh. The manner of its organization is as follows. At every third of a mile there is an inhabited village, outside which there are three pavilions. In these sit men girded up ready to move off, each of whom has a rod [miqraʿa] two cubits long with copper rattles [jalājil] at the top. When a courier leaves the town he takes the letter in the fingers of one hand and the rod with the bells in the other, and runs with all his might. The men in the pavilions, on hearing the sound of the rattles, get ready to meet him and when he reaches them one of them takes the letter in his hand and passes on, running with all his might and shaking his rod until he reaches the next dāwa, and so they continue until the letter reaches its destination.
Folios/Pages
594
Date
1333 circa
Observations on the events description
The Arabic term "miqraʿa" might refer to a rod as well as to a whip in this context. Today it means drumstick. The use of bells is consistent with the descriptions of the Yām system.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Description of the Barīd (Postal service)" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 30.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
