Ibn Battuta (d. 1368) a traveler from Morocco

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Ibn Battuta (d. 1368) a traveler from Morocco.

The great Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta also known as Shams ad-Din was born on 25^th of Feburary in 1304 (the exact year of death depends from source to source 1304–1368 or 1369 year) during the Marinid dynasty era in the family of Muslim legal scholars in Tangier in Morocco.  According to the family business and social valuables of an early 14^th century he studied law at an Islamic jurisprudence school called Sunni Maliki madh'hab. Although respectable educational opportunities Ibn Battuta, at the age of twenty one, on Thursday, 14th June, 1325 left his hometown on purpose to start his pilgrimage to Mecca. It took him six month to reach his first destination, whereas left Morocco for more than twenty-four years. (Byrne)

In his first journey called haji Ibn Battuta travelled through North Africa, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. After completing it, he went to Iraque and Persia, then came back to Mecca. In 1328 joined the sea voyage down to the eastern coast of Africa around modern Tanzania. On the way back traveller visited Oman, Persian Gulf and moving across the central Arabia returned to the Mecca. (Dunn)

In 1330 went to India with a view to find an employment in the government of Sultanate of Delhi.  Choosing the unusual way he decided to go north through Egypt and Syria to Asia Minor. After touring that region, he moved to the plains of West Central Asia by crossing the Black Sea. Then, having fortuitous conditions, in pair with a Turkish princess made westward detour to visit the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. Returning to the Asian steps, did eastward rough through Transoxiana, Khurasan and Afganistan  arrived back to Indus River in September 1333. (Dunn)

Ibn Battuta spent eight years in India occupying the post of judge in the government of Muhammad Tughluh, Sultan of Delhi. In 1341 with a diplomatic mission to the court of the Mongol emperor of China he got into a disastrously shipwreck near the southern coast of India, which left him unemployed and without resources. For more then two year he travelled about southern India, Ceylon, and the Maldive Islands where he served for about eight month as a judge under the local Muslim dynasty. After that in 1345 he visited Bengal, the coast of Burma, the island of Sumatra and Canton on the way to China on his own. (Dunn)

In 1346-1347 he turned to Mecca by the way of South India, the Persian Gulf, Syria and Egypt. Then arrived to the Fez, capital of Morocco, late in 1349. In 1353, went through the Sahara Desert to the Kingdom of Mali in the West African Sudan. In 1355 he came back to Morocco to stay. (Dunn)

During his saturated travelling Ibn Battuta diarized his unique experience with a great flavor in work the full title of which is usually translated as “A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling”. It is important that the traveller did not made any notes during the first twenty-one years, but his memorized information was dictated to Ibn Juzayy, the scholar he met in Granada and collaborated with. An exceptional work simply called “Rihla” or “The Journey” is not just an ordinary diary, it contains of autobiography, descriptive summary in not customary “scientific” way for perception of modern traveller. An author gives less attention to dates and routes, furthermore some parts describing Middle East regions were rewritten from Ibn Juzayy’s accounts of 12^th century. The so-called “through his eyes” picture displays the system of Muslim world of the 14^th century. (Dunn)

The manuscript contains personal impressions of traveller which can show for example a great effect of culture differences, especially women rights and freedom, family agreements, dress customs etc. His calendar was based on the cycles of the moon, which disagree with dates of the Georgian calendar that’s why in literature it is mentioned two dates according to both calendars. The “Rihla” was finished in 1355, after which he was appointed as a lawyer in Morocco and died in 1369. His humble tomb in Tangier and a huge ferry boat which takes people also with their automobiles across the Gibraltar Channel are pleasantly visiting by foreign tourists and make mortal a remain of traveller. (Byrne)

It is interesting there is no any mentioning of a great traveller in the Islamic civilization even in geographical literature. In fact, it is not isolated example and refers to the cultural features, but it is not the reason to reduce sources of Ibn Battuta. The great traveller made a huge unquestionable contribution to the geographical development and is not attainable in a good way by the modern geographers. In fact, he had travelled more than 75,000 miles, which is more than Marco Polo did, moreover visited about 44 modern countries. Ibn Battuta’s contribution to the world’s awareness of the culture differences and qualities are unimaginably remarkable and prominent. He can stay for the young Muslims as an encouraging and supportable monument of investing in world major success of the whole scientific field.

Works cited:

Byrne, Joseph Patrick. The black death. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print.

Dunn, Ross. The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. Print.