Ibn Battuta

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (Arabic: ‫َأ ُبو َع ْب د اهلل ُم َح َّم د ِا ْبن َع ْب د اهلل الَّل َو اِت ّي ا لَّط ْن ِج ّي ِا ْبن َبُّط وَط ة‬,
romanized: ʾAbū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Lawātiyy aṭ-Ṭanjiyy ibn Baṭṭūṭah, /ˌɪbən
bæt ˈt uːt ɑː/; 24 February 1304 – 1368/1369),[a] commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber
Maghrebi[1][2][3][4] scholar and explorer who t ravelled ext ensively in t he lands of Afro-Eurasia,
largely in t he Muslim world. He t ravelled more t han any ot her explorer in pre-modern hist ory,
t ot alling around 117,000 km (73,000 mi), surpassing Zheng He wit h about 50,000 km (31,000 mi)
and Marco Polo wit h 24,000 km (15,000 mi).[5][6][7] Over a period of t hirt y years, Ibn Bat t ut a
visit ed most of sout hern Eurasia, including Cent ral Asia, Sout heast Asia, Sout h Asia, China, and t he
Iberian Peninsula. Near t he end of his life, he dict at ed an account of his journeys, t it led A Gift to
Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling, but commonly
known as The Rihla.
 Ibn Bat t ut a

‫ابن بطوطة‬

1878 illustration by Léon Benett showing Ibn Battuta (right) and his guide in Egypt

Born 24 February 1304

Tangier, Marinid Sultanate

Died 1369 (aged 64–65)

Marinid Sultanate

Other names The Islamic Marco Polo

Ibn battuta al-Tanji

 Occupation Geographer, explorer, scholar
Era Post-classical history

Notable work Rihla

Early life

A 13th-century book illustration produced in Baghdad by al-Wasiti showing a group of pilgrims on a hajj.

All t hat is known about Ibn Bat t ut a's life comes from t he aut obiographical informat ion included in
t he account of his t ravels, which records t hat he was of Berber descent ,[6] born int o a family of
Islamic legal scholars in Tangier, known as qadis in t he Muslim t radit ion in Morocco, on 24
February 1304, during t he reign of t he Marinid dynast y.[8] His family belonged t o a Berber t ribe
known as t he Lawat a.[9] As a young man, he would have st udied at a Sunni Maliki madhhab
(Islamic jurisprudence school), t he dominant form of educat ion in Nort h Africa at t hat t ime.[10]
Maliki Muslims request ed Ibn Bat t ut a serve as t heir religious judge as he was from an area where
it was pract ised.[11]

His name

Europeans are somet imes puzzled by Arabic/Islamic naming convent ions, which most ly do not
include a given, middle, or family name. Inst ead t hey t end t o have a pot ent ially lengt hy series of
epit het ic, aspirat ional, and/or pat ronymic names. This may have just been a nickname since
"bat t ut a" means "duckling".[12] His most common "full name" is given as Abu Abdullah
Muhammad ibn Battuta,[13] which simply means "Fat her of Abdullah (and Abdullah means
"worshipper of Allah"), Praisewort hy son of Bat t ut a". But many aut horit at ive t ext s will go on
longer, adding more of his acquired name sequence. In his t ravelogue, the Rihla, he gives his full
name as Shams al-Din Abu’Abdallah Muhammad ibn’Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn
Muhammad ibn Yusuf Lawati al-Tanji ibn Battuta.[14][15][16] This breaks down as follows:

Shams: sun

al-Din: of t he fait h

Abu: fat her of

Abdallah: servant of God

Muhammad: praisewort hy

ibn’Abdallah: son of Abdallah

ibn Muhammad: son of Muhammad

ibn Ibrahim: son of Ibrahim ("fat her of many")

ibn Yusuf: son of Yusuf ("God will add")

al-Lawat i: of t he Laguat an t ribe

al-Tanji: from t he cit y of Tangier

ibn Bat t ut a: son of Bat t ut a ("duckling")

Journeys

Itinerary 1325–1332

T igris Tabriz
Béjaïa Mardin Cizre
Tangier Algiers T unis
Latakia Mosul
MilianaAnnaba Sousse
Sfax Zagros
Fes T lemcen Damascus Baghdad
Najaf Mountains
Gabès Jerusalem
T ripoli Alexandria Bethlehem
Cairo BasraShiraz

Qatif
Al-Hasa
Medina Muscat
Rabigh
 Jeddah Dhofar

Yemen Sana'a
Zabīd
Ta'izz
Aden
Zeila

Mogadishu

Mombasa
Zanzibar

Kilwa

Ibn Battuta Itinerary 1325–1332 (North Africa, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, Swahili Coast)

First pilgrimage

In June 1325, at t he age of t went y-one, Ibn Bat t ut a set off from his home t own on a hajj, or
pilgrimage, t o Mecca, a journey t hat would ordinarily t ake sixt een mont hs. He was eager t o learn
more about far-away lands and craved advent ure. No one knew t hat he would not ret urn t o
Morocco again for t went y-four years.[17]

I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveller in whose

companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might
join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a
desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious
 sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female
and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My
parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to
part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at
this separation.[18]

He t ravelled t o Mecca overland, following t he Nort h African coast across t he sult anat es of Abd
al-Wadid and Hafsid. The rout e t ook him t hrough Tlemcen, Béjaïa, and t hen Tunis, where he
st ayed for t wo mont hs.[19] For safet y, Ibn Bat t ut a usually joined a caravan t o reduce t he risk of
being robbed. He t ook a bride in t he t own of Sfax,[20] but soon left her due t o a disput e wit h t he
fat her. That was t he first in a series of marriages t hat would feat ure in his t ravels.[21]

Ottoman 17th century tile depicting the Kaaba, in Mecca

In t he early spring of 1326, aft er a journey of over 3,500 km (2,200 mi), Ibn Bat t ut a arrived at t he
port of Alexandria, at t he t ime part of t he Bahri Mamluk empire. He met t wo ascet ic pious men in
Alexandria. One was Sheikh Burhanuddin, who is supposed t o have foret old t he dest iny of Ibn
Bat t ut a as a world t raveller and t old him "It seems t o me t hat you are fond of foreign t ravel. You
must visit my brot her Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind, and Burhanuddin in China. Convey my
greet ings t o t hem". Anot her pious man Sheikh Murshidi int erpret ed t he meaning of a dream of Ibn
Bat t ut a t hat he was meant t o be a world t raveller.[22][23]
He spent several weeks visit ing sit es in t he area, and t hen headed inland t o Cairo, t he capit al of
t he Mamluk Sult anat e and an import ant cit y. Aft er spending about a mont h in Cairo,[24] he
embarked on t he first of many det ours wit hin t he relat ive safet y of Mamluk t errit ory. Of t he
t hree usual rout es t o Mecca, Ibn Bat t ut a chose t he least -t ravelled, which involved a journey up
t he Nile valley, t hen east t o t he Red Sea port of Aydhab.[b] Upon approaching t he t own, however,
a local rebellion forced him t o t urn back.[26]

Ibn Bat t ut a ret urned t o Cairo and t ook a second side t rip, t his t ime t o Mamluk-cont rolled
Damascus. During his first t rip he had encount ered a holy man who prophesied t hat he would only
reach Mecca by t ravelling t hrough Syria.[27] The diversion held an added advant age; because of
t he holy places t hat lay along t he way, including Hebron, Jerusalem, and Bet hlehem, t he Mamluk
aut horit ies spared no effort s in keeping t he rout e safe for pilgrims. Wit hout t his help many
t ravellers would be robbed and murdered.[28][c]

Aft er spending t he Muslim mont h of Ramadan in Damascus, he joined a caravan t ravelling t he

1,300 km (810 mi) sout h t o Medina, sit e of t he Mosque of t he Islamic prophet Muhammad. Aft er
four days in t he t own, he journeyed on t o Mecca while visit ing holy sit es along t he way; upon his
arrival t o Mecca he complet ed his first pilgrimage and he t ook t he honorific st at us of El-Hajji.
Rat her t han ret urning home, Ibn Bat t ut a decided t o cont inue t ravelling, choosing as his next
dest inat ion t he Ilkhanat e, a Mongol Khanat e, t o t he nort heast .[33]

Iraq and Iran

On 17 November 1326, following a mont h spent in Mecca, Ibn Bat t ut a joined a large caravan of
pilgrims ret urning t o Iraq across t he Arabian Peninsula.[34] The group headed nort h t o Medina and
t hen, t ravelling at night , t urned nort heast across t he Najd plat eau t o Najaf, on a journey t hat
last ed about t wo weeks. In Najaf, he visit ed t he mausoleum of Ali, t he Fourt h Caliph.[35]

Then, inst ead of cont inuing t o Baghdad wit h t he caravan, Ibn Bat t ut a st art ed a six-mont h det our
t hat t ook him int o Iran. From Najaf, he journeyed t o Wasit , t hen followed t he river Tigris sout h t o
Basra. His next dest inat ion was t he t own of Isfahan across t he Zagros Mount ains in Iran. He t hen
headed sout h t o Shiraz, a large, flourishing cit y spared t he dest ruct ion wrought by Mongol
invaders on many more nort herly t owns. Finally, he ret urned across t he mount ains t o Baghdad,
arriving t here in June 1327.[36] Part s of t he cit y were st ill ruined from t he damage inflict ed by
Hulagu Khan's invading army in 1258.[37]

In Baghdad, he found Abu Sa'id, t he last Mongol ruler of t he unified Ilkhanat e, leaving t he cit y and
heading nort h wit h a large ret inue.[38] Ibn Bat t ut a joined t he royal caravan for a while, t hen t urned
nort h on t he Silk Road t o Tabriz, t he first major cit y in t he region t o open it s gat es t o t he
Mongols and by t hen an import ant t rading cent re as most of it s nearby rivals had been razed by
t he Mongol invaders.[39]

Ibn Bat t ut a left again for Baghdad, probably in July, but first t ook an excursion nort hwards along
t he river Tigris. He visit ed Mosul, where he was t he guest of t he Ilkhanat e governor,[40] and t hen
t he t owns of Cizre (Jazirat ibn 'Umar) and Mardin in modern-day Turkey. At a hermit age on a
mount ain near Sinjar, he met a Kurdish myst ic who gave him some silver coins.[d][43] Once back in
Mosul, he joined a "feeder" caravan of pilgrims heading sout h t o Baghdad, where t hey would meet
up wit h t he main caravan t hat crossed t he Arabian Desert t o Mecca. Ill wit h diarrhoea, he arrived
in t he cit y weak and exhaust ed for his second hajj.[44]

Arabia

Old City of Sana'a, Yemen

Ibn Bat t ut a remained in Mecca for some t ime (t he Rihla suggest s about t hree years, from
Sept ember 1327 unt il aut umn 1330). Problems wit h chronology, however, lead comment at ors t o
suggest t hat he may have left aft er t he 1328 hajj.[e]

Aft er t he hajj in eit her 1328 or 1330, he made his way t o t he port of Jeddah on t he Red Sea
coast . From t here he followed t he coast in a series of boat s (known as a jalbah, t hese were small
craft made of wooden planks sewn t oget her, lacking an est ablished phrase) making slow
progress against t he prevailing sout h-east erly winds. Once in Yemen he visit ed Zabīd and lat er
t he highland t own of Ta'izz, where he met t he Rasulid dynast y king (Malik) Mujahid Nur al-Din Ali.
Ibn Bat t ut a also ment ions visit ing Sana'a, but whet her he act ually did so is doubt ful.[45] In all
likelihood, he went direct ly from Ta'izz t o t he import ant t rading port of Aden, arriving around t he
beginning of 1329 or 1331.[46]

Somalia

The port and waterfront of Zeila

From Aden, Ibn Bat t ut a embarked on a ship heading for Zeila on t he coast of Somalia. He t hen
moved on t o Cape Guardafui furt her down t he Somalian seaboard, spending about a week in each
locat ion. Lat er he would visit Mogadishu, t he t hen pre-eminent cit y of t he "Land of t he Berbers"
(‫ بلد البربر‬Balad al-Barbar, t he medieval Arabic t erm for t he Horn of Africa).[47][48][49]

When Ibn Bat t ut a arrived in 1332, Mogadishu st ood at t he zenit h of it s prosperit y. He described
it as "an exceedingly large cit y" wit h many rich merchant s, not ed for it s high-qualit y fabric t hat
was export ed t o ot her count ries, including Egypt .[50] Ibn Bat t ut a added t hat t he cit y was ruled by
a Somali sult an, Abu Bakr ibn Sayx 'Umar,[51][52] who was originally from Berbera in nort hern
Somalia and spoke bot h Somali (referred t o by Bat t ut a as Mogadishan, t he Benadir dialect of
Somali) and Arabic wit h equal fluency. The sult an had a son and heir apparent , Hamza, who was a
revered milit ary st rat egist and t he first Somali t o visit mainland China, est ablishing t ies wit h t he
Ming Dynast y of t he 14t h cent ury. The sult an claimed lineage t o t he Prophet t hrough Abu Taleb,
and his son Aqeel.[52][53] A ret inue of wazirs (minist ers), legal expert s, commanders, royal eunuchs,
and assort ed hangers-on served t he sult an in his day-t o-day affairs.[52]

Swahili Coast
The Great Mosque of Kilwa Kisiwani, made of coral stones is the largest Mosque of its kind.

Ibn Bat t ut a cont inued by ship sout h t o t he Swahili Coast , a region t hen known in Arabic as t he
Bilad al-Zanj ("Land of t he Zanj"),[54] wit h an overnight st op at t he island t own of Mombasa.[55]
Alt hough relat ively small at t he t ime, Mombasa would become import ant in t he following
cent ury.[56] Aft er a journey along t he coast , Ibn Bat t ut a next arrived in t he island t own of Kilwa in
present -day Tanzania,[57] which had become an import ant t ransit cent re of t he gold t rade.[58] He
described t he cit y as "one of t he finest and most beaut ifully built t owns; all t he buildings are of
wood, and t he houses are roofed wit h dīs reeds".[59]

Ibn Bat t ut a recorded his visit t o t he Kilwa Sult anat e in 1330, and comment ed favourably on t he
humilit y and religion of it s ruler, Sult an al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman, a descendant of t he legendary Ali
ibn al-Hassan Shirazi. He furt her wrot e t hat t he aut horit y of t he Sult an ext ended from Malindi in
t he nort h t o Inhambane in t he sout h and was part icularly impressed by t he planning of t he cit y,
believing it t o be t he reason for Kilwa's success along t he coast . During t his period, he described
t he const ruct ion of t he Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant ext ension t o t he Great Mosque
of Kilwa, which was made of coral st ones and was t he largest Mosque of it s kind. Wit h a change
in t he monsoon winds, Ibn Bat t ut a sailed back t o Arabia, first t o Oman and t he St rait of Hormuz
t hen on t o Mecca for t he hajj of 1330 (or 1332).[60]

Itinerary 1332–1347
 Azov Astrakhan
Feodosiya Aral Sea
Bulgaria Sinop Uzbekistan
Hagia Constantinople Bukhara
Sophia Anatolia Samarkand
Samarqand Beijing
Konya Caspian Sea Tajikistan
Antalya Alanya Balkh
Afghanistan Pakistan
Damascus BaghdadIsfahan
Alexandria Jerusalem
Cairo Bethlehem Delhi Hangzhou
Shiraz
Uttar Fujian
Medina Pradesh Sylhet Quanzhou
Mecca Khambhat Chittagong Myanmar Vietnam
Jeddah
Dhofar Deccan
Uttara Honavar Philippine
Kannada
Kozhikode

Sri Lanka Adam's

Peak Pasai
Maldives
Sumatra

Java

Ibn Battuta Itinerary 1332–1346 (Black Sea Area, Central Asia, India, South East Asia and China)

Anatolia
Ibn Battuta may have met Andronikos III Palaiologos in late 1332.

Aft er his t hird pilgrimage t o Mecca, Ibn Bat t ut a decided t o seek employment wit h t he Sult an of
Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughluq. In t he aut umn of 1330 (or 1332), he set off for t he Seljuk
cont rolled t errit ory of Anat olia t o t ake an overland rout e t o India.[61] He crossed t he Red Sea and
t he East ern Desert t o reach t he Nile valley and t hen headed nort h t o Cairo. From t here he
crossed t he Sinai Peninsula t o Palest ine and t hen t ravelled nort h again t hrough some of t he
t owns t hat he had visit ed in 1326. From t he Syrian port of Lat akia, a Genoese ship t ook him (and
his companions) t o Alanya on t he sout hern coast of modern-day Turkey.[62]

He t hen journeyed west wards along t he coast t o t he port of Ant alya.[63] In t he t own he met
members of one of t he semi-religious fityan associat ions.[64] These were a feat ure of most
Anat olian t owns in t he 13t h and 14t h cent uries. The members were young art isans and had at
t heir head a leader wit h t he t it le of Akhil.[65] The associat ions specialised in welcoming t ravellers.
Ibn Bat t ut a was very impressed wit h t he hospit alit y t hat he received and would lat er st ay in t heir
hospices in more t han 25 t owns in Anat olia.[66] From Ant alya Ibn Bat t ut a headed inland t o Eğirdir
which was t he capit al of t he Hamidids. He spent Ramadan (June 1331 or May 1333) in t he
cit y.[67]
From t his point his it inerary across Anat olia in t he Rihla becomes confused. Ibn Bat t ut a
describes t ravelling west wards from Eğirdir t o Milas and t hen skipping 420 km (260 mi) east ward
past Eğirdir t o Konya. He t hen cont inues t ravelling in an east erly direct ion, reaching Erzurum from
where he skips 1,160 km (720 mi) back t o Birgi which lies nort h of Milas.[68] Hist orians believe
t hat Ibn Bat t ut a visit ed a number of t owns in cent ral Anat olia, but not in t he order in which he
describes.[69][f]

When Ibn Bat t ut a arrived in Iznik, which had just been conquered by Orhan, Sult an of t he nascent
Ot t oman Empire. Orhan was away and his wife was in command of t he nearby st at ioned soldiers,
Ibn Bat t ut a gave t his account of Orhan's wife: "A pious and excellent woman. She t reat ed me
honourably, gave me hospit alit y and sent gift s."[72]

Ibn Bat t ut a's account of Orhan:

The greatest of the kings of the Turkmens and the richest in wealth,
lands and military forces. Of fortresses, he possesses nearly a
hundred, and for most of his time, he is continually engaged in
making a round of them, staying in each fortress for some days to
put it in good order and examine its condition. It is said that he has
never stayed for a whole month in any one town. He also fights with
the infidels continually and keeps them under siege.

[73]
— Ibn Battuta,

Ibn Bat t ut a had also visit ed Bursa which at t he t ime was t he capit al of t he Ot t oman Beylik, he
described Bursa as "a great and import ant cit y wit h fine bazaars and wide st reet s, surrounded on
all sides wit h gardens and running springs".
[74]

He also visit ed t he Beylik of Aydin. Ibn Bat t ut a st at ed t hat t he ruler of t he Beylik of Aydin had
t went y Greek slaves at t he ent rance of his palace and Ibn Bat t ut a was given a Greek slave as a
gift .[72] His visit t o Anat olia was t he first t ime in his t ravels he acquired a servant ; t he ruler of
Aydin gift ed him his first slave. Lat er, he purchased a young Greek girl for 40 dinars in Ephesus,
was gift ed anot her slave in Izmir by t he Sult an, and purchased a second girl in Balikesir. The
conspicuous evidence of his wealt h and prest ige cont inued t o grow.[75]

Central Asia
Bactrian camel (one of the symbols of Silk Road caravans) in front of Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in the city of
Turkestan, Kazakhstan.

From Sinope he t ook a sea rout e t o t he Crimean Peninsula, arriving in t he Golden Horde realm. He
went t o t he port t own of Azov, where he met wit h t he emir of t he Khan, t hen t o t he large and
rich cit y of Majar. He left Majar t o meet wit h Uzbeg Khan's t ravelling court (Orda), which was at
t he t ime near Mount Besht au. From t here he made a journey t o Bolghar, which became t he
nort hernmost point he reached, and not ed it s unusually short night s in summer (by t he st andards
of t he subt ropics). Then he ret urned t o t he Khan's court and wit h it moved t o Ast rakhan.

Ibn Bat t ut a recorded t hat while in Bolghar he want ed t o t ravel furt her nort h int o t he land of
darkness. The land is snow-covered t hroughout (nort hern Siberia) and t he only means of
t ransport is dog-drawn sled. There lived a myst erious people who were reluct ant t o show
t hemselves. They t raded wit h sout hern people in a peculiar way. Sout hern merchant s brought
various goods and placed t hem in an open area on t he snow in t he night , t hen ret urned t o t heir
t ent s. Next morning t hey came t o t he place again and found t heir merchandise t aken by t he
myst erious people, but in exchange t hey found fur-skins which could be used for making valuable
coat s, jacket s, and ot her wint er garment s. The t rade was done bet ween merchant s and t he
myst erious people wit hout seeing each ot her. As Ibn Bat t ut a was not a merchant and saw no
benefit of going t here he abandoned t he t ravel t o t his land of darkness.[76]
Flag of the Golden Horde during the reign of Öz Beg Khan

When t hey reached Ast rakhan, Öz Beg Khan had just given permission for one of his pregnant
wives, Princess Bayalun, a daught er of Byzant ine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos, t o ret urn t o
her home cit y of Const ant inople t o give birt h. Ibn Bat t ut a t alked his way int o t his expedit ion,
which would be his first beyond t he boundaries of t he Islamic world.[77]

Arriving in Const ant inople t owards t he end of 1332 (or 1334), he met t he Byzant ine emperor
Andronikos III Palaiologos. He visit ed t he great church of Hagia Sophia and spoke wit h an East ern
Ort hodox priest about his t ravels in t he cit y of Jerusalem. Aft er a mont h in t he cit y, Ibn Bat t ut a
ret urned t o Ast rakhan, t hen arrived in t he capit al cit y Sarai al-Jadid and report ed t he account s of
his t ravels t o Sult an Öz Beg Khan (r. 1313–1341). Then he cont inued past t he Caspian and Aral
Seas t o Bukhara and Samarkand, where he visit ed t he court of anot her Mongol khan, Tarmashirin
(r. 1331–1334) of t he Chagat ai Khanat e.[78] From t here, he journeyed sout h t o Afghanist an, t hen
crossed int o India via t he mount ain passes of t he Hindu Kush.[79] In t he Rihla, he ment ions t hese
mount ains and t he hist ory of t he range in slave t rading.[80][81] He wrot e,

After this I proceeded to the city of Barwan, in the road to which is a

high mountain, covered with snow and exceedingly cold; they call it
the Hindu Kush, that is Hindu-slayer, because most of the slaves
brought thither from India die on account of the intenseness of the
cold.

— Ibn Battuta, Chapter XIII, Rihla – Khorasan [81][82]

Ibn Bat t ut a and his part y reached t he Indus River on 12 Sept ember 1333.[83] From t here, he made
his way t o Delhi and became acquaint ed wit h t he sult an, Muhammad bin Tughluq.

Indian Subcontinent
Tomb of Feroze Shah Tughluq, successor of Muhammad bin Tughluq in Delhi. Ibn Battuta served as a qadi or judge for six
years during Muhammad bin Tughluq's reign.

Muhammad bin Tughluq was renowned as t he wealt hiest man in t he Muslim world at t hat t ime.
He pat ronized various scholars, Sufis, qadis, viziers, and ot her funct ionaries in order t o
consolidat e his rule. As wit h Mamluk Egypt , t he Tughlaq Dynast y was a rare vest igial example of
Muslim rule aft er a Mongol invasion.[84] On t he st rengt h of his years of st udy in Mecca, Ibn
Bat t ut a was appoint ed a qadi, or judge, by t he sult an.[85] However, he found it difficult t o enforce
Islamic law beyond t he sult an's court in Delhi, due t o lack of Islamic appeal in India.[86]

Ibn Battuta in 1334 visited the shrine of Baba Farid in Pakpattan.[87]

It is uncert ain by which rout e Ibn Bat t ut a ent ered t he Indian subcont inent but it is known t hat he
was kidnapped and robbed by rebels on his journey t o t he Indian coast . He may have ent ered via
t he Khyber Pass and Peshawar, or furt her sout h.[88] He crossed t he Sut lej river near t he cit y of
Pakpat t an,[89] in modern-day Pakist an, where he paid obeisance at t he shrine of Baba Farid,[87]
before crossing sout hwest int o Rajput count ry. From t he Rajput kingdom of Sarsat t i, Bat t ut a
visit ed Hansi in India, describing it as "among t he most beaut iful cit ies, t he best const ruct ed and
t he most populat ed; it is surrounded wit h a st rong wall, and it s founder is said t o be one of t he
great non-Muslim kings, called Tara".[90] Upon his arrival in Sindh, Ibn Bat t ut a ment ions t he Indian
rhinoceros t hat lived on t he banks of t he Indus.[91]

The Sult an was errat ic even by t he st andards of t he t ime and for six years Ibn Bat t ut a veered
bet ween living t he high life of a t rust ed subordinat e and falling under suspicion of t reason for a
variet y of offences. His plan t o leave on t he pret ext of t aking anot her hajj was st ymied by t he
Sult an. The opport unit y for Bat t ut a t o leave Delhi finally arose in 1341 when an embassy arrived
from t he Yuan dynast y of China asking for permission t o rebuild a Himalayan Buddhist t emple
popular wit h Chinese pilgrims.[g][95]

Ibn Bat t ut a was given charge of t he embassy but en rout e t o t he coast at t he st art of t he
journey t o China, he and his large ret inue were at t acked by a group of bandit s.[96] Separat ed from
his companions, he was robbed, kidnapped, and nearly lost his life.[97] Despit e t his set back, wit hin
t en days he had caught up wit h his group and cont inued on t o Khambhat in t he Indian st at e of
Gujarat . From t here, t hey sailed t o Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), where Port uguese explorer
Vasco da Gama would land t wo cent uries lat er. While in Calicut , Bat t ut a was t he guest of t he
ruling Zamorin.[85] While Ibn Bat t ut a visit ed a mosque on shore, a st orm arose and one of t he
ships of his expedit ion sank.[98] The ot her ship t hen sailed wit hout him only t o be seized by a
local Sumat ran king a few mont hs lat er.

Afraid t o ret urn t o Delhi and be seen as a failure, he st ayed for a t ime in sout hern India under t he
prot ect ion of Jamal-ud-Din, ruler of t he small but powerful Nawayat h sult anat e on t he banks of
t he Sharavat hi river next t o t he Arabian Sea. This area is t oday known as Hosapat t ana and lies in
t he Honavar administ rat ive dist rict of Ut t ara Kannada. Following t he overt hrow of t he sult anat e,
Ibn Bat t ut a had no choice but t o leave India. Alt hough det ermined t o cont inue his journey t o
China, he first t ook a det our t o visit t he Maldive Islands where he worked as a judge.[99]
A view of an island in the Maldives.

He spent nine mont hs on t he islands, much longer t han he had int ended. When he arrived at t he
capit al, Malé, Ibn Bat t ut a did not plan t o st ay. However, t he leaders of t he formerly Buddhist
nat ion t hat had recent ly convert ed t o Islam were looking for a chief judge, someone who knew
Arabic and t he Qur'an. To convince him t o st ay t hey gave him pearls, gold jewellery, and slaves,
while at t he same t ime making it impossible for him t o leave by ship. Compelled int o st aying, he
became a chief judge and married int o t he royal family of Omar I.

Ibn Bat t ut a t ook on his dut ies as a judge wit h keenness and st rived t o t ransform local pract ices
t o conform t o a st rict er applicat ion of Muslim law. He commanded t hat men who did not at t end
Friday prayer be publicly whipped, and t hat robbers' right hand be cut off. He forbade women
from being t opless in public, which had previously been t he cust om.[100] However, t hese and
ot her st rict judgment s began t o ant agonize t he island nat ion's rulers, and involved him in power
st ruggles and polit ical int rigues. Ibn Bat t ut a resigned from his job as chief qadi, alt hough in all
likelihood it was inevit able t hat he would have been dismissed.

Throughout his t ravels, Ibn Bat t ut a kept close company wit h women, usually t aking a wife
whenever he st opped for any lengt h of t ime at one place, and t hen divorcing her when he moved
on. While in t he Maldives, Ibn Bat t ut a t ook four wives. In his Travels he wrot e t hat in t he Maldives
t he effect of small dowries and female non-mobilit y combined t o, in effect , make a marriage a
convenient t emporary arrangement for visit ing male t ravellers and sailors.

From t he Maldives, he carried on t o Sri Lanka and visit ed Sri Pada and Tenavaram t emple. Ibn
Bat t ut a's ship almost sank on embarking from Sri Lanka, only for t he vessel t hat came t o his
rescue t o suffer an at t ack by pirat es. St randed onshore, he worked his way back t o t he Madurai
kingdom in India. Here he spent some t ime in t he court of t he short -lived Madurai Sult anat e
under Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani,[101] from where he ret urned t o t he Maldives and
boarded a Chinese junk, st ill int ending t o reach China and t ake up his ambassadorial post .

He reached t he port of Chit t agong in modern-day Bangladesh int ending t o t ravel t o Sylhet t o
meet Shah Jalal, who became so renowned t hat Ibn Bat t ut a, t hen in Chit t agong, made a one-
mont h journey t hrough t he mount ains of Kamaru near Sylhet t o meet him. On his way t o Sylhet ,
Ibn Bat t ut a was greet ed by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come t o assist him on his
journey many days before he had arrived. At t he meet ing in 1345 CE, Ibn Bat t ut a not ed t hat Shah
Jalal was t all and lean, fair in complexion and lived by t he mosque in a cave, where his only it em
of value was a goat he kept for milk, but t er, and yogurt . He observed t hat t he companions of t he
Shah Jalal were foreign and known for t heir st rengt h and bravery. He also ment ions t hat many
people would visit t he Shah t o seek guidance. Ibn Bat t ut a went furt her nort h int o Assam, t hen
t urned around and cont inued wit h his original plan.

Southeast Asia

In 1345, Ibn Bat t ut a t raveled t o Samudra Pasai Sult anat e (called "al-Jawa") in present -day Aceh,
Nort hern Sumat ra, aft er 40 days voyage from Sunur Kawan.[102][103] He not es in his t ravel log t hat
t he ruler of Samudra Pasai was a pious Muslim named Sult an Al-Malik Al-Zahir Jamal-ad-Din, who
performed his religious dut ies wit h ut most zeal and oft en waged campaigns against animist s in
t he region. The island of Sumat ra, according t o Ibn Bat t ut a, was rich in camphor, areca nut ,
cloves, and t in.[104]

The madh'hab he observed was Imam Al-Shafi‘i, whose cust oms were similar t o t hose he had
previously seen in coast al India, especially among t he Mappila Muslims, who were also followers
of Imam Al-Shafi‘i. At t hat t ime Samudra Pasai marked t he end of Dar al-Islam, because no
t errit ory east of t his was ruled by a Muslim. Here he st ayed for about t wo weeks in t he wooden
walled t own as a guest of t he sult an, and t hen t he sult an provided him wit h supplies and sent him
on his way on one of his own junks t o China.[104]

Ibn Bat t ut a first sailed for 21 days t o a place called "Mul Jawa" (island of Java) which was a
cent er of a Hindu empire. The empire spanned 2 mont hs of t ravel, and ruled over t he count ry of
Qaqula and Qamara. He arrived at t he walled cit y named Qaqula/Kakula, and observed t hat t he
cit y had war junks for pirat e raiding and collect ing t olls and t hat elephant s were employed for
various purposes. He met t he ruler of Mul Jawa and st ayed as a guest for t hree days.[105][106][107]

Ibn Bat t ut a t hen sailed t o a st at e called Kaylukari in t he land of Tawalisi, where he met Urduja, a
local princess. Urduja was a brave warrior, and her people were opponent s of t he Yuan dynast y.
She was described as an "idolat er", but could writ e t he phrase Bismillah in Islamic calligraphy. The
locat ions of Kaylukari and Tawalisi are disput ed. Kaylukari might referred t o Po Klong Garai in
Champa (now sout hern Viet nam), and Urduja might be an arist ocrat of Champa or Dai Viet .
Filipinos widely believe t hat Kaylukari was in present -day Pangasinan Province of t he
Philippines.[108] The t hriump over t he Mongol indicat ed 2 possible locat ions: Japan and Java
(Majapahit ).[109] In modern t imes, Urduja has been feat ured in Filipino t ext books and films as a
nat ional heroine. Numerous ot her locat ions have been proposed, ranging from Java t o somewhere
in Guangdong Province, China. However, Sir Henry Yule and William Henry Scot t consider bot h
Tawalisi and Urduja t o be ent irely fict it ious. (See Tawalisi for det ails.)
From Kaylukari, Ibn Bat t ut a finally reached Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China.

China

Ibn Battuta provides the earliest mention of the Great Wall of China with regard to medieval geographic studies, although
he did not see it.

In t he year 1345, Ibn Bat t ut a arrived at Quanzhou in China's Fujian province, t hen under t he rule of
t he Mongol-led Yuan dynast y. One of t he first t hings he not ed was t hat Muslims referred t o t he
cit y as "Zait un" (meaning olive), but Ibn Bat t ut a could not find any olives anywhere. He ment ioned
local art ist s and t heir mast ery in making port rait s of newly arrived foreigners; t hese were for
securit y purposes. Ibn Bat t ut a praised t he craft smen and t heir silk and porcelain; as well as fruit s
such as plums and wat ermelons and t he advant ages of paper money.[110]

He described t he manufact uring process of large ships in t he cit y of Quanzhou.[111] He also

ment ioned Chinese cuisine and it s usage of animals such as frogs, pigs, and even dogs which
were sold in t he market s, and not ed t hat t he chickens in China were larger t han t hose in t he
west . Scholars however have point ed out numerous errors given in Ibn Bat t ut a's account of China,
for example confusing t he Yellow River wit h t he Grand Canal and ot her wat erways, as well as
believing t hat porcelain was made from coal.[112]

In Quanzhou, Ibn Bat t ut a was welcomed by t he head of t he local Muslim merchant s (possibly a
fānzhǎng or "Leader of Foreigners" simplified Chinese: 番长; t radit ional Chinese: 番長; pinyin:
fānzhǎng) and Sheikh al-Islam (Imam), who came t o meet him wit h flags, drums, t rumpet s, and
musicians.[113] Ibn Bat t ut a not ed t hat t he Muslim populace lived wit hin a separat e port ion in t he
cit y where t hey had t heir own mosques, bazaars, and hospit als. In Quanzhou, he met t wo
prominent Iranians, Burhan al-Din of Kazerun and Sharif al-Din from Tabriz[114] (bot h of whom were
influent ial figures not ed in t he Yuan History as "A-mi-li-ding" and "Sai-fu-ding", respect ively).[115]
While in Quanzhou he ascended t he "Mount of t he Hermit " and briefly visit ed a well-known Taoist
monk in a cave.

He t hen t ravelled sout h along t he Chinese coast t o Guangzhou, where he lodged for t wo weeks
wit h one of t he cit y's wealt hy merchant s.[116]

From Guangzhou he went nort h t o Quanzhou and t hen proceeded t o t he cit y of Fuzhou, where he
t ook up residence wit h Zahir al-Din and met Kawam al-Din and a fellow count ryman named Al-
Bushri of Ceut a, who had become a wealt hy merchant in China. Al-Bushri accompanied Ibn
Bat t ut a nort hwards t o Hangzhou and paid for t he gift s t hat Ibn Bat t ut a would present t o t he
Emperor Huizong of Yuan.[117]

Ibn Bat t ut a said t hat Hangzhou was one of t he largest cit ies he had ever seen,[118] and he not ed
it s charm, describing t hat t he cit y sat on a beaut iful lake surrounded by gent le green hills.[119] He
ment ions t he cit y's Muslim quart er and resided as a guest wit h a family of Egypt ian origin.[117]
During his st ay at Hangzhou he was part icularly impressed by t he large number of well-craft ed
and well-paint ed Chinese wooden ships, wit h coloured sails and silk awnings, assembling in t he
canals. Lat er he at t ended a banquet of t he Yuan administ rat or of t he cit y named Qurt ai, who
according t o Ibn Bat t ut a, was very fond of t he skills of local Chinese conjurers.[120] Ibn Bat t ut a
also ment ions locals who worship t he Solar deit y.[121]

He described float ing t hrough t he Grand Canal on a boat wat ching crop fields, orchids, merchant s
in black silk, and women in flowered silk and priest s also in silk.[122] In Beijing, Ibn Bat t ut a referred
t o himself as t he long-lost ambassador from t he Delhi Sult anat e and was invit ed t o t he Yuan
imperial court of Emperor Huizong (who according t o Ibn Bat t ut a was worshipped by some
people in China). Ibn Bat ut t a not ed t hat t he palace of Khanbaliq was made of wood and t hat t he
ruler's "head wife" (Empress Qi) held processions in her honour.[123][124]

Ibn Bat t ut a also wrot e he had heard of "t he rampart of Yajuj and Majuj" t hat was "sixt y days'
t ravel" from t he cit y of Zeit un (Quanzhou);[125] Hamilt on Alexander Rosskeen Gibb not es t hat Ibn
Bat t ut a believed t hat t he Great Wall of China was built by Dhul-Qarnayn t o cont ain Gog and
Magog as ment ioned in t he Quran.[125] However, Ibn Bat t ut a, who asked about t he wall in China,
could find no one who had eit her seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it .[126]

Ibn Bat t ut a t ravelled from Beijing t o Hangzhou, and t hen proceeded t o Fuzhou. Upon his ret urn t o
Quanzhou, he soon boarded a Chinese junk owned by t he Sult an of Samudera Pasai Sult anat e
heading for Sout heast Asia, whereupon Ibn Bat t ut a was unfairly charged a heft y sum by t he crew
and lost much of what he had collect ed during his st ay in China.[127]
Bat t ut a claimed t hat t he Emperor Huizong of Yuan had int erred wit h him in his grave six slave
soldiers and four girl slaves.[128] Silver, gold, weapons, and carpet s were put int o t he grave.[129]

Return

Aft er ret urning t o Quanzhou in 1346, Ibn Bat t ut a began his journey back t o Morocco.[130] In
Kozhikode, he once again considered t hrowing himself at t he mercy of Muhammad bin Tughluq in
Delhi, but t hought bet t er of it and decided t o carry on t o Mecca. On his way t o Basra he passed
t hrough t he St rait of Hormuz, where he learned t hat Abu Sa'id, last ruler of t he Ilkhanat e Dynast y
had died in Iran. Abu Sa'id's t errit ories had subsequent ly collapsed due t o a fierce civil war
bet ween t he Iranians and Mongols.[131]

In 1348, Ibn Bat t ut a arrived in Damascus wit h t he int ent ion of ret racing t he rout e of his first hajj.
He t hen learned t hat his fat her had died 15 years earlier[132] and deat h became t he dominant
t heme for t he next year or so. The Black Deat h had st ruck and he st opped in Homs as t he plague
spread t hrough Syria, Palest ine, and Arabia. He heard of t errible deat h t olls in Gaza, but ret urned
t o Damascus t hat July where t he deat h t oll had reached 2,400 vict ims each day.[133] When he
st opped in Gaza he found it was depopulat ed, and in Egypt he st ayed at Abu Sir. Report edly
deat hs in Cairo had reached levels of 1,100 each day.[134] He made hajj t o Mecca t hen he decided
t o ret urn t o Morocco, nearly a quart er of a cent ury aft er leaving home.[135] On t he way he made
one last det our t o Sardinia, t hen in 1349, ret urned t o Tangier by way of Fez, only t o discover t hat
his mot her had also died a few mont hs before.[136]

Itinerary 1349–1354

Cagliari
Granada
Gibraltar Málaga Algiers T unis
T énès
Tangiers
T lemcen
Fes
Marrakech
Alexandria
Sijilmasa Cairo

Taghaza

I-n-Azaoua
 Oualata T imbuktu Takedda
Gao

Niani

Ibn Battuta Itinerary 1349–1354 (North Africa, Spain and West Africa)

Spain and North Africa

Ibn Battuta visited the Emirate of Granada, which was the final vestige of the Arab-Andalusian populace in Al-Andalus.

Aft er a few days in Tangier, Ibn Bat t ut a set out for a t rip t o t he Muslim-cont rolled t errit ory of al-
Andalus on t he Iberian Peninsula. King Alfonso XI of Cast ile and León had t hreat ened t o at t ack
Gibralt ar, so in 1350, Ibn Bat t ut a joined a group of Muslims leaving Tangier wit h t he int ent ion of
defending t he port .[137] By t he t ime he arrived, t he Black Deat h had killed Alfonso and t he t hreat
of invasion had receded, so he t urned t he t rip int o a sight -seeing t our ending up in Granada.[138]

Aft er his depart ure from al-Andalus he decided t o t ravel t hrough Morocco. On his ret urn home, he
st opped for a while in Marrakech, which was almost a ghost t own following t he recent plague
and t he t ransfer of t he capit al t o Fez.[139]

Mali and Timbuktu

Sankore Madrasah in Timbuktu, Mali

In t he aut umn of 1351, Ibn Bat t ut a left Fez and made his way t o t he t own of Sijilmasa on t he
nort hern edge of t he Sahara in present -day Morocco.[140] There he bought a number of camels
and st ayed for four mont hs. He set out again wit h a caravan in February 1352 and aft er 25 days
arrived at t he dry salt lake bed of Taghaza wit h it s salt mines. All of t he local buildings were
made from slabs of salt by t he slaves of t he Masufa t ribe, who cut t he salt in t hick slabs for
t ransport by camel. Taghaza was a commercial cent re and awash wit h Malian gold, t hough Ibn
Bat t ut a did not form a favourable impression of t he place, recording t hat it was plagued by flies
and t he wat er was brackish.[141]

Aft er a t en-day st ay in Taghaza, t he caravan set out for t he oasis of Tasarahla (probably Bir al-
Ksaib)[142][h] where it st opped for t hree days in preparat ion for t he last and most difficult leg of
t he journey across t he vast desert . From Tasarahla, a Masufa scout was sent ahead t o t he oasis
t own of Oualat a, where he arranged for wat er t o be t ransport ed a dist ance of four days t ravel
where it would meet t he t hirst y caravan. Oualat a was t he sout hern t erminus of t he t rans-Saharan
t rade rout e and had recent ly become part of t he Mali Empire. Alt oget her, t he caravan t ook t wo
mont hs t o cross t he 1,600 km (990 mi) of desert from Sijilmasa.[143]
Azalai salt caravan from Agadez to Bilma, Niger

From t here, Ibn Bat t ut a t ravelled sout hwest along a river he believed t o be t he Nile (it was
act ually t he river Niger), unt il he reached t he capit al of t he Mali Empire.[i] There he met Mansa
Suleyman, king since 1341. Ibn Bat t ut a disapproved of t he fact t hat female slaves, servant s, and
even t he daught ers of t he sult an went about exposing part s of t heir bodies not befit t ing a
Muslim.[145] He wrot e in his Rihla t hat black Africans were charact erised by "ill manners" and
"cont empt for whit e men", and t hat he "was long ast onished at t heir feeble int ellect and t heir
respect for mean t hings."[146] He left t he capit al in February accompanied by a local Malian
merchant and journeyed overland by camel t o Timbukt u.[147] Though in t he next t wo cent uries it
would become t he most import ant cit y in t he region, at t hat t ime it was a small cit y and
relat ively unimport ant .[148] It was during t his journey t hat Ibn Bat t ut a first encount ered a
hippopot amus. The animals were feared by t he local boat men and hunt ed wit h lances t o which
st rong cords were at t ached.[149] Aft er a short st ay in Timbukt u, Ibn Bat t ut a journeyed down t he
Niger t o Gao in a canoe carved from a single t ree. At t he t ime Gao was an import ant commercial
cent er.[150]

Aft er spending a mont h in Gao, Ibn Bat t ut a set off wit h a large caravan for t he oasis of Takedda.
On his journey across t he desert , he received a message from t he Sult an of Morocco
commanding him t o ret urn home. He set off for Sijilmasa in Sept ember 1353, accompanying a
large caravan t ransport ing 600 female slaves, and arrived back in Morocco early in 1354.[151]

Ibn Bat t ut a's it inerary gives scholars a glimpse as t o when Islam first began t o spread int o t he
heart of west Africa.[152]

Works
A house in the city of Tangier, the possible site of Ibn Battuta's grave.

Historic copy of selected parts of the Travel Report by Ibn Battuta, 1836 CE, Cairo

Aft er ret urning home from his t ravels in 1354, and at t he suggest ion of t he Marinid ruler of
Morocco, Abu Inan Faris, Ibn Bat t ut a dict at ed an account in Arabic of his journeys t o Ibn Juzayy, a
scholar whom he had previously met in Granada. The account is t he only source for Ibn Bat t ut a's
advent ures. The full t it le of t he manuscript may be t ranslat ed as A Masterpiece to Those Who
Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling (‫تحفة النظار في غرائب األمصار وعجائب‬
‫األسفار‬, Tuḥfat an-Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār).[153][j] However, it is oft en simply
referred t o as The Travels (‫الرحلة‬, Rihla),[155] in reference t o a st andard form of Arabic lit erat ure.

There is no indicat ion t hat Ibn Bat t ut a made any not es or had any journal during his t went y-nine
years of t ravelling.[k] When he came t o dict at e an account of his experiences he had t o rely on
memory and manuscript s produced by earlier t ravellers. Ibn Juzayy did not acknowledge his
sources and present ed some of t he earlier descript ions as Ibn Bat t ut a's own observat ions. When
describing Damascus, Mecca, Medina, and some ot her places in t he Middle East , he clearly
copied passages from t he account by t he Andalusian Ibn Jubayr which had been writ t en more
t han 150 years earlier.[157] Similarly, most of Ibn Juzayy's descript ions of places in Palest ine were
copied from an account by t he 13t h-cent ury t raveller Muhammad al-Abdari.[158]

Scholars do not believe t hat Ibn Bat t ut a visit ed all t he places he described and argue t hat in
order t o provide a comprehensive descript ion of places in t he Muslim world, he relied on hearsay
evidence and made use of account s by earlier t ravellers. For example, it is considered very
unlikely t hat Ibn Bat t ut a made a t rip up t he Volga River from New Sarai t o visit Bolghar[159] and
t here are serious doubt s about a number of ot her journeys such as his t rip t o Sana'a in Yemen,[160]
his journey from Balkh t o Bist am in Khorasan,[161] and his t rip around Anat olia.[162]

Ibn Bat t ut a's claim t hat a Maghrebian called "Abu'l Barakat t he Berber" convert ed t he Maldives
t o Islam is cont radict ed by an ent irely different st ory which says t hat t he Maldives were
convert ed t o Islam aft er miracles were performed by a Tabrizi named Maulana Shaikh Yusuf
Shams-ud-din according t o t he Tarikh, t he official hist ory of t he Maldives.[163]

Some scholars have also quest ioned whet her he really visit ed China.[164] Ibn Bat t ut a may have
plagiarized ent ire sect ions of his descript ions of China lift ed from works by ot her aut hors like
"Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar" by Shihab al-Umari, Sulaiman al-Tajir, and possibly from Al
Juwayni, Rashid al din, and an Alexander romance. Furt hermore, Ibn Bat t ut a's descript ion and
Marco Polo's writ ings share ext remely similar sect ions and t hemes, wit h some of t he same
comment ary, e.g. it is unlikely t hat t he 3rd Caliph Ut hman ibn Affan had someone wit h t he
ident ical name in China who was encount ered by Ibn Bat t ut a.[165]

However, even if t he Rihla is not fully based on what it s aut hor personally wit nessed, it provides
an import ant account of much of t he 14t h-cent ury world. Concubines were used by Ibn Bat t ut a
such as in Delhi.[156]: 111–13, 137, 141, 238 [166] He wedded several women, divorced at least some of
t hem, and in Damascus, Malabar, Delhi, Bukhara, and t he Maldives had children by t hem or by
concubines.[167] Ibn Bat t ut a insult ed Greeks as "enemies of Allah", drunkards and "swine eat ers",
while at t he same t ime in Ephesus he purchased and used a Greek girl who was one of his many
slave girls in his "harem" t hrough Byzant ium, Khorasan, Africa, and Palest ine.[168] It was t wo
decades before he again ret urned t o find out what happened t o one of his wives and child in
Damascus.[169]

Ibn Bat t ut a oft en experienced cult ure shock in regions he visit ed where t he local cust oms of
recent ly convert ed peoples did not fit in wit h his ort hodox Muslim background. Among t he Turks
and Mongols, he was ast onished at t he freedom and respect enjoyed by women and remarked
t hat on seeing a Turkish couple in a bazaar one might assume t hat t he man was t he woman's
servant when he was in fact her husband.[170] He also felt t hat dress cust oms in t he Maldives,
and some sub-Saharan regions in Africa were t oo revealing.

Lit t le is known about Ibn Bat t ut a's life aft er complet ion of his Rihla in 1355. He was appoint ed a
judge in Morocco and died in 1368 or 1369.[171]

Ibn Bat t ut a's work was unknown out side t he Muslim world unt il t he beginning of t he 19t h
cent ury, when t he German t raveller-explorer Ulrich Jasper Seet zen (1767–1811) acquired a
collect ion of manuscript s in t he Middle East , among which was a 94-page volume cont aining an
abridged version of Ibn Juzayy's t ext . Three ext ract s were published in 1818 by t he German
orient alist Johann Kosegart en.[172] A fourt h ext ract was published t he following year.[173] French
scholars were alert ed t o t he init ial publicat ion by a lengt hy review published in t he Journal de
Savants by t he orient alist Silvest re de Sacy.[174]

Three copies of anot her abridged manuscript were acquired by t he Swiss t raveller Johann
Burckhardt and bequeat hed t o t he Universit y of Cambridge. He gave a brief overview of t heir
cont ent in a book published post humously in 1819.[175] The Arabic t ext was t ranslat ed int o
English by t he orient alist Samuel Lee and published in London in 1829.[176]

In t he 1830s, during t he French occupat ion of Algeria, t he Bibliot hèque Nat ionale (BNF) in Paris
acquired five manuscript s of Ibn Bat t ut a's t ravels, in which t wo were complet e.[l] One manuscript
cont aining just t he second part of t he work is dat ed 1356 and is believed t o be Ibn Juzayy's
aut ograph.[181] The BNF manuscript s were used in 1843 by t he Irish-French orient alist Baron de
Slane t o produce a t ranslat ion int o French of Ibn Bat t ut a's visit t o t he Sudan.[182] They were also
st udied by t he French scholars Charles Defrémery and Beniamino Sanguinet t i. Beginning in 1853
t hey published a series of four volumes cont aining a crit ical edit ion of t he Arabic t ext t oget her
wit h a t ranslat ion int o French.[183] In t heir int roduct ion Defrémery and Sanguinet t i praised Lee's
annot at ions but were crit ical of his t ranslat ion which t hey claimed lacked precision, even in
st raight forward passages.[m]

In 1929, exact ly a cent ury aft er t he publicat ion of Lee's t ranslat ion, t he hist orian and orient alist
Hamilt on Gibb published an English t ranslat ion of select ed port ions of Defrémery and
Sanguinet t i's Arabic t ext .[185] Gibb had proposed t o t he Hakluyt Societ y in 1922 t hat he should
prepare an annot at ed t ranslat ion of t he ent ire Rihla int o English.[186] His int ent ion was t o divide
t he t ranslat ed t ext int o four volumes, each volume corresponding t o one of t he volumes
published by Defrémery and Sanguinet t i. The first volume was not published unt il 1958.[187] Gibb
died in 1971, having complet ed t he first t hree volumes. The fourt h volume was prepared by
Charles Beckingham and published in 1994.[188] Defrémery and Sanguinet t i's print ed t ext has now
been t ranslat ed int o number of ot her languages.

Historicity

The German Islamic st udies scholar Ralph Elger views Bat t ut a's t ravel account as an import ant
lit erary work but doubt s t he hist oricit y of much of it s cont ent , which he suspect s t o be a work
of fict ion being compiled and inspired from ot her cont emporary t ravel report s.[189] Various ot her
scholars have raised similar doubt s.[190]

Ross E. Dunn in 1987 has similarly expressed doubt s t hat any evidence would be found t o
support t he narrat ive of t he Rihla, but in 2010 Tim Mackint osh-Smit h complet ed a mult i-volume
field st udy in dozens of t he locales ment ioned in t he Rihla, in which he report s on previously
unknown manuscript s of Islamic law kept in t he archives of Al-Azhar Universit y in Cairo t hat were
copied by Ibn Bat t ut a in Damascus in 1326, corroborat ing t he dat e in t he Rihla of his sojourn in
Syria.[191]

Present day cultural references

The largest t hemed mall in Dubai, UAE, t he Ibn Bat t ut a Mall is named for him and feat ures bot h
areas designed t o recreat e t he exot ic lands he visit ed on his t ravels and st at uary t ableaus
depict ing scenes from his life hist ory.[192][193]

A giant semblance of Bat t ut a, alongside t wo ot hers from t he hist ory of Arab explorat ion, t he
geographer and hist orian Al Bakri and t he navigat or and cart ographer Ibn Majid is displayed at t he
Mobilit y pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai in a sect ion of t he exhibit ion designed by Wet a
Workshop.[194]

See also

Notes

References
External links

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