The Travels of Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta is known to be one of the greatest travellers of all time. He started his travels in 1325 when he was just 20 years of age. His primary purpose to travel was to go to Hajj or a pilgrimage to Mecca in a bid to fulfil the fifth pillar of Islam. His travelling went on for a staggering 29 years covering about 75,000 miles. This paper traces the travels of Ibn Battuta, the various countries he visited and the specific timelines. The paper presents Ibn Battuta as the most celebrated traveller in the world.
Born in Tangier Morocco in a Muslim family, Battuta left Tangier for his pilgrimage in Mecca. Eager and adventurous, Battuta travelled overland along the North African coast (Maghreb) to Egypt. He arrived at the busy city of Tlemcen from where he set off onto a pilgrimage to Mecca. With other travellers they manoeuvred through the wilderness, some walking others riding on horses and donkeys. Battuta’s main aim was to acquire knowledge of religion and law and to meet other Muslim scholars. He moved through Tripoli, Libya to Alexandria Egypt in 1926. According to Waines (17), he spent some time in Egypt touring the ports and the Pharos lighthouse. He then left Cairo for Damascus in Syria along the Royal road. Here the Mamluk government organized caravans to carry merchants and pilgrims. Battuta used this caravan to move to Damascus whereby he connected with a Hajj caravan to complete his journey to Mecca (Battuta, 54).
He also passed through cities such as Hebron, Jerusalem, and arrived in Mecca during the holy month of Ramadhan in 1926. After leaving Mecca in November 1326, Battuta joined a caravan to Persia. From 1326-1327, Battuta travelled through Iraq and Persia. The journey was dangerous by both land and sea. He visited cities such as Shiraz (Garden City), Isfahan, Basra, whereby he explored them. Battuta continued with his journey alongside the caravans and arrived at Baghdad, a city which had been destroyed by the Mongol invasions. He yet joined another procession which was going to the north to Tabriz, a capital in Persia. He did not stay for long in this city as he had to catch up with another caravan back to Baghdad for a Hajj caravan (Dunn, 135).
After Ibn Battuta had lived in Mecca for about a year, he started yet another adventure, the journey to the Red Sea and East Africa. From Mecca, he went to the coast of the Red Sea using a dhow. Battuta was able to visit coastal cities in Yemen and later to Taiz down to the city of Aden to the entrance of the Red Sea (Waines, 34). He travelled downwards to Ethiopia in a port called Zeila which he termed as the most “stinking and dirtiest” city in the world. Fifteen days later, he reached Mogadishu which was the wealthiest and busiest port in East Africa. This was because of the trading activities of the Persians, Arabs, Indians and some Europeans. He moved further southwards to Mombasa, the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar and finally arrived at Kilwa (part of present-day Tanzania). After spending two weeks in Kilwa, he went northwards back to South Arabia from where he decided on another short adventure, to Qalhat (Waines, 54).
In 1330, Battuta decided to move northwards to Anatolia, the modern day Turkey. From here, he connected with Turkish caravans going to India. He praised the hospitality of the Turks and their commitment to the Sunni Muslim faith. In 1331, Battuta and his three friends (two slave boys and a slave girl) started towards the Black Sea. According to Mackintosh-Smith, having enjoyed his life in Turkey, the next move was stressful and troubled: he was misled by a guide caught in a raging river and almost frozen to death in the wilderness (124). Mackintosh-Smith records that Battuta and his allies finally arrived at the port of Sinop on the Black Sea ready to leave to the steppe lands (125).
Ibn Battuta boarded a ship to cross the Black Sea and reached Kaffa, an Italian colony which had 200 boats in its harbor. He later travelled through the Middle East and Persia and entered India in 1333 where he presented himself at the Sultan’s court in Delhi. Muslim kings (sultans) ruled most of India (Battuta, 1325). He entered India through the high mountains of Afghanistan. Life in India was exemplary good as he ate royal meal such as bread, meat, large dough cakes, and walnuts. The king, in particular, gave Ibn Battuta many gifts before making him a judge. Around 1342, the sultan asked Battuta to carry messages and gifts to the Chinese ruler. After his eight-year stay in India, Battuta was ready to leave for China. From India, Battuta and other travelling companions to Bangladesh which is Muslim country neighboring India. After sailing for about 40 days, Ibn Battuta finally arrived in China at the busy port of Quanzhou. China was a non-Muslim country, and the religious and cultural differences offended him. He was disgusted by what he termed as Chinese worshipping idols and burning their dead, eating the flesh of swine and dogs. He called the Chinese infidels (Battuta, 112).
From China, Ibn Battuta started yet another journey, this time of returning home from 1346-1349. He started by going back to China using the winter monsoons. From China, he headed to another hajj in Mecca and passed through Persia. He later went to Syria from where he crossed over the Syrian Desert and lastly arrived in Damascus in 1348. Next, he went to Aleppo where he stayed for a few months as a tourist, but due to frightening pandemics he moved to Cairo and later to Mecca (Dunn, 226). He then proceeds home in Morocco perhaps due to the threats of the diseases. He crossed to Spain for more adventure, but in 1350, he returned to Morocco. Setting out from Fez, Battuta crossed the Atlas Mountains, and in 1351 he went to Mali to complete his 29-year long journey. He died in Morocco in 1369 (Mackintosh-Smith, 27).
In conclusion, having covered about 75,000 miles and visited around 44 countries in about 29 years, Ibn Battuta is the greatest traveller of all time. The paper has traced the travels of Ibn Battuta from his country Morocco in 1325 to his return 29 years later. Having travelled with odd means including walking, use of camels and sailing and triumphing through difficult times and conditions such as plagues, Dunn labels Battuta as the most celebrated traveller in history (325).
Works cited
Battuta, Ibn. The Travels of Ibn Battuta. Cosmo, Inc., 2009.
Battuta, Ibn. The Travels of Ibn Battuta: In the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354. Courier Corporation, 2013.
Dunn, Ross E. The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century, With a New Preface. University of California Press, 2012.
Mackintosh-Smith, Tim. Travels of Ibn Battuta. Collectors Library, 2016.
Waines, David. The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta: uncommon tales of a medieval adventurer. IB Tauris, 2012.