Leaving India, Ibn Battutah travels through the Maldives archipelago on his way farther east, stopping at various islands on the way. He focuses on the ecology somewhat, especially the tropical trees that produce coconuts, which Ibn Battutah seems to really enjoy. Most of his recollection of these islands however, revolves around the culture of their inhabitants being very primitive to the travelers. This is evident by how he retells the story he heard of the islanders converting to Islam because a Muslim banished an evil spirit that terrorized their villages. The story, whether told to him or not, is somewhat painting the islanders in a negative light, despite them now being Muslim they are shown to be stupid and helpless. It bears resemblance to white savior narratives, as the man that fixed all of their problems did so by instilling his own religion and way of life upon the islanders. Further criticism of their way of life comes from Ibn Battutah’s reaction to learning the sultan is a woman here,  with the first thing he says about the government being that “It is a strange thing about these islands that their ruler is a woman” (236). Though not everything he says about this female ruler is negative, the overall fixation on her gender and how she governs is telling compared to his description of many of the other sultans. Any sultan that is misusing his power or being a poor ruler gets similar focus, but this woman does not appear to be weak or inadequate, suggesting the focus on her comes from a more sexist prerogative from Ibn Battutah. Given his opinion on the women of the Maldives in general being scrutinizing to say the least, this is not surprising.

The purpose of recording his travels through the Maldives once again is likely to serve as a cautionary tale towards practicing Muslims. Having much of this section dedicated to how women behave in their culture and are admitted more freedoms, it feels as though Ibn Battutah is showing a displeasing perspective on purpose. His reason for leaving the Maldives reinforces this priority of his own beliefs, as he is criticized by the locals for a punishment he gives being too harsh. “I gave orders that both of them should be beaten because of their intimacy, and then set the woman at liberty and imprisoned the slave…I sent for the slave and had him beaten with bamboo rods…and paraded round the island with a rope round his neck” (239-240). Ibn Battutah takes this act of adultery as a very serious offense to Islam, but the locals disagree with the severity of the crime and subsequent punishment. “When they went to the vizier and told him of this he was much agitated and fell into a violent rage, assembled the ministers and army commanders and sent for me” (240). This incident causes him to relinquish his position and leave as soon as he possibly can, being offended that they would question him for this, especially given that those being punished are a black slave and a woman. Ibn Battutah clearly sees himself as right in this scenario, which is evident by how he describes the events from his perspective.

I think Ibn Battutah’s trip through the Maldives, though it is somewhat short, exemplifies his biased recollection of events. I doubt he is lying about what happens while he stays in the archipelago, his religious beliefs show that he values specific societal norms and demonizes any divergence from his way of life. It is fascinating to read how he reacts to women in power and more free expressions of sexuality, though at this point in the book it hardly counts as surprising.