What did Ibn Battuta see in Herat and Khurasan?

"four great cities, two thriving, Herat and Nishapur, and two in ruins, Balkh and Merv. Herat is a large city with abundant architecture. Its inhabitants are upright, modest, and religious, adhering to the school of Imam Abu Hanifa. May God be pleased with him, and their land is free from corruption. The ruler of Herat was the esteemed Sultan Husayn ibn Sultan Giyath al-Din al-Ghuri, known for his legendary courage. God's support and aid appeared to him in two noteworthy battles that arouse wonder. One, when his army confronted Sultan Khalil, who rebelled against him, resulting in Khalil being taken captive. And the second, when he personally faced Masud, the Sultan of"

"mosque is among the most beautiful and spacious in the world, comparable to the mosque of Rabat al-Fath in the Maghreb. Mosque of Balkh surpasses it in beauty otherwise. Some historians informed me that the mosque of Balkh was built by a woman whose husband was a governor in Balkh for the Abbasids, named Dawud ibn Ali. Once, the caliph became angry with the people of Balkh due to an incident they caused, imposing a severe tax upon them. When the tax collector reached Balkh, the women and children came to the woman who built the mosque, the wife of their emir, complaining about their condition and the burden of the tax."

"to it, but it was closed off, so we did not enter it. It is near the congregational mosque. Then we traveled from the city of Balkh, journeying through the mountains of Khoistan for seven days. These are richly inhabited villages with flowing water and lush trees, mostly fig trees, and numerous retreats where devout individuals are devoted to God Almighty. Subsequently, we arrived at the city of Herat, the largest flourishing city in Khorasan. Khorasan has four great cities, two thriving, Herat and Nishapur, and two in ruins, Balkh and Merv."

"tax and told him to take it to the caliph, offering it as charity on behalf of the people of Balkh due to their hardship. He presented it to the caliph, narrating the story. The caliph was ashamed, asking, how can a woman be more generous than us? He ordered the lifting of the tax from the people of Balkh and instructed his envoy to return the garment to the woman, also relieving them of taxes for a year. The official returned to Balkh, narrated the caliph's words to the woman, and returned her the garment. She said, did the caliph gaze upon this garment? He replied, yes. She said, I will not wear a garment seen by a"

"known as Muhammad al-Duri, while in the city of Ghazna. These were gifts for the Sultan. The mentioned merchant then travelled to Khurasan before returning to India, where he demanded a hundred from me. He greatly benefited through me and became one of the prominent merchants. Years later, I met him in the city of Aleppo, after the infidels had stripped me of what I owned, and I did not receive any good from him. After crossing the Sindh river, known as Punjab, we entered a forest of reeds to continue our path, as it is in the middle of it. Suddenly, a rhinoceros appeared before us. It is an enormous black creature with a very large head,"

"distinguished and just jurist Ala al-Mulk al-Qurasani, known as Fasi al-Din, who had been a judge in Herat early in history, came to the king of India and was appointed to the city of Lari and its dependencies in Sindh. He attended this movement with Imad al-Mulk Sertiz and his troops, so I decided to travel with him to the city of Lari. He possessed fifteen boats brought down the Sindh river to carry his belongings, and I traveled with them. Among the boats of Faki ala al-Mulk was a vessel known as the Ahura, with the A and H opened, the W silent, and R pronounced, resembling our trireme, but wider and shorter."

"I saw the judge the next day dressed in his clothes, with his cap on his head, riding his horse, leading me to think it was him. He stayed in prison for months before being released and restored to his former position. Later, he angered the Sultan again and was exiled to Khorasan, eventually settling in Herat. He wrote to the Sultan seeking clemency, and the Sultan remarked on the back of his letter, If your repentance is true, return."

"Nowhere in the world have I seen prices cheaper, but it is a dark land. The people of Khurasan call it Dus Coast, meaning hell filled with blessings. I saw rice being sold in their markets at twenty-five pounds for a silver dinar. The silver dinar equaled eight dirhams, and their dirham was similar to the silver dirham, and a deli pound was twenty Moroccan pounds."