Melon vendor. Samarkand. By S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky, between 1905-1915/Library of Congress
Central Asia, the cradle of ancient traditions and a crossroads of diverse ideologies, cultures, and beliefs, has long captivated the imagination of travelers from both near and far. Through their detailed notes and vivid reflections, they have, for centuries, offered a unique, albeit not always impartial, glimpse into the rich mosaic of life in this region: bustling bazaars, nomadic customs, and enduring cultural heritage. In this series of articles, Qalam presents excerpts from their accounts and memories, spanning different eras and revealing the many facets of Central Asia.
Today, we present notes on the most delicious melon in the world, written by the renowned Maghrebi traveler Ibn Battutai
The text below has been excerpted from Volume 3 of The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354. by H.A.R. Gibb (1958).
The question of where the sweetest fruits are grown has been discussed for millennia, and the famous fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta has weighed in as well. He traversed the entirety of Eurasia, from Iberia1 
1 Iberia is the historical name of the region covering the Iberian Peninsula, where the modern countries of Spain and Portugal are located to China. Central Asia was no exception, as Ibn Battuta passed through the region on his journey from the Golden Horde to India.
Caravan of pilgrims to Mecca. Illustration from medieval arabic manuscript (13 th century)/Wikimedia commons
His travels took him across the Kipchak steppes and through the cities of Khwarezm22Khwarezm was a historical region in Central Asia along the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River, located in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Ibn Battuta left detailed accounts of these places, and among his most vivid impressions was the local melon, which was consumed in various forms:
The melons of Khwarizm have no equal in any country of the world, East or West, except it may be the melons of Bukhārā, and next to them are the melons of Iṣfahān. Their rind is green, and the flesh is red, of extreme sweetness and firm texture. A remarkable thing is that they are cut into strips, dried in the sun, and packed in reed baskets, as is done in our country with dried figs and Malaga figs. They are exported from Khwārizm to the remotest parts of India and China, and of all the dried fruits there are none which excel them in sweetness. During my stay at DihlīiDelhi in India, whenever a party of travellers arrived, I used to send someone to buy sliced melon for me from them. The king of India, too, when any of it was brought to him, used to send it to me, knowing as he did my fondness for it. It was his way to give pleasure to the foreigners by sending to them the fruit of their own countries, and he used to give special attention to learning their desires and supplying them accordingly.