This thesis tries to demonstrate the value of reading primary sources within the context of their cultural history instead of interpretting them through a modern day lense. It did so by stuyding...Show moreThis thesis tries to demonstrate the value of reading primary sources within the context of their cultural history instead of interpretting them through a modern day lense. It did so by stuyding the works of Ibn Battuta and Ma Huan two writers of travelogues from distinctly different cultures that both traveled around the Indian Ocean prior to the arrival of Europeans in the region.Show less