Ibn Battuta
- Lived
- 1304 - 1369 CE
- Read next
- Meaning of the name Ibn Battuta
Who was Ibn Battuta? The Moroccan scholar who traveled 75,000 miles across 29 years, from Tangier to China and back, and dictated it all in the Rihla, one of the great works of medieval travel literature.
The Moroccan scholar who traveled 75,000 miles across 29 years, from Tangier to China and back, and dictated it all in the Rihla, one of the great works of medieval travel literature.
Life
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 1304 CE into a family of Muslim judges (qadis). He set out on hajj at age 21 in 1325 CE, and did not return home for 29 years.
From Mecca he pushed east to Iraq, Persia, and East Africa. He crossed to India, where he served the Sultanate of Delhi as a Maliki judge for eight years. From India he was sent as an ambassador to China, journeying through Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and the Chinese coastal cities. He returned via Mecca and Damascus, then explored Spain and West Africa, going as far south as Timbuktu and Mali.
He traveled some 75,000 miles across three continents. He met more than sixty rulers, married multiple times, was shipwrecked, robbed, imprisoned, cured of plague, honored at court, and denounced as a foreigner.
On his final return to Fez in 1354 CE, the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris commissioned him to dictate his travels. The scribe Ibn Juzayy took them down in what became known as the Rihla, the Journey. It runs to over a thousand pages and is one of the greatest works of medieval travel literature in any language.
He died in Morocco around 1369 CE. His grave is traditionally located in Tangier, but its exact site is uncertain.
Stories
Each story is drawn from the classical Islamic sources.