In the mid-14th century, Moroccan judge and scholar Ibn Battuta embarked on an epic 24-year-long journey worldwide. He was received by kings and queens, robbed and kidnapped by rebels, and even ended up marrying into the royal family of Omar I, Sultan of the Maldives.
Battuta’s Context: The Islamic World in the 14th Century
The Medieval Islamic world was a diverse place that—by 1350—spanned Africa, Europe, and Asia. Islamic cities like Cordoba, Baghdad, and Cairo had just experienced the “Islamic Golden Age,” a period of scientific, technological, and cultural advancement that contrasted with the so-called “Dark Age” that engulfed Europe.
Like the rest of the Islamic world, Morocco experienced a period of development. Ruled by a Berber dynasty called the Marinids, Fes and Marrakesh became centers of scientific knowledge. The Qarawiyyin University—established by Fatima al-Fihri in the 9th century—experienced its peak during this time and educated some of the world’s greatest astronomers and polymaths.
Morocco’s proximity to Spain also allowed it to influence politics in the Iberian peninsula. The last Islamic emirate left in Spain, the Emirate of Granada, was able to repel the Spanish reconquest thanks to the Marinid army. Morocco—and North Africa in general—also provided them with alternate trading networks and routes.
Ibn Battuta’s Youth
Ibn Battuta was born in such a world around the year 1304. Although he is known today as Ibn Battuta, meaning “son of the duckling,” his full name was Shams al-Din Abu Abdullah Muhammad. His family were from the Lawata tribe of the Berber people, an indigenous North African group.
Raised in the coastal town of Tangier, Ibn Battuta was no stranger to the world. Tangier frequently experienced raids by foreign armies, pirate attacks, and tribal conflict. Generations of Ibn Battuta’s family had played a prominent role in the city as qadis, or Islamic legal scholars and judges.
In his father’s footsteps, Ibn Battuta studied at the madrasa, schools seen around the Medieval Islamic world. He was trained in Islamic law and gained a reputation as a knowledgeable and disciplined scholar.
Yet, the ambitious and inquisitive side of the scholar was ever-present. At the age of 21, the young Ibn Battuta decided to travel overseas to deepen his knowledge with the world’s greatest scholars.
Journey to Mecca and the Middle East
The pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and a journey that all believing Muslims aspire to undertake. This was no different in the 14th century when Ibn Battuta began his world tour by traveling to Mecca. Though parting from his parents “weighed sorely upon [him],” the traveler wrote in his memoirs that visiting the holy sites was a “desire long cherished in [his] bosom.”
Traveling through present-day Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt in the first year of his journey, Ibn Battuta took a bride and met ascetics who stated that his life purpose was to be a world traveler. What they could not have predicted was that this “purpose” would span decades and be remembered for centuries to come.
While on this pilgrimage route, Battuta visited Damascus (Syria), Jerusalem, and Bethlehem (Palestine). Until then, Ibn Battuta had mainly traveled on his own. However, joining a caravan was the most common and safest way for Medieval travelers to go on long journeys. In Damascus, he joined a pilgrimage caravan and traveled 1,300 km (808 miles) to present-day Saudi Arabia. In November 1326, he completed his hajj, yet his passion for travel only became stronger.
East to Africa
Though his journey was complete, Battuta refused to return home. Instead, he traveled through Iraq and Iran, great centers of civilization which had recently been demolished by the Chingissid Mongol invasions.
His increasing fame and status allowed him to return to Mecca, where he lived for the next three years, most likely working as a jurist and scholar. From the port of Jeddah, he boarded a rickety boat and made a sea voyage to Yemen, where he met King Nur al-Din Ali of the Rasulid Dynasty.
Continuing his sea voyage, he headed to Somalia, noting that the country produced and exported fine-quality fabrics. Ibn Battuta visited some of Africa’s important trading cities, like Kilwa (present-day Tanzania), providing invaluable and rare insights into trade in 14th-century Africa.
The Beyliks of Anatolia
By 1330, Ibn Battuta was a seasoned traveler. He decided that after another Hajj pilgrimage, he would settle down in Delhi to work as a qadi for Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq. However, due to issues in communications, the scholar had to travel through Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Once in Anatolia (present-day Turkey), he traveled to the various beyliks (principalities). These principalities were ruled by beys, chieftains of nomadic Turkic origin. After visiting several prominent cities like Konya, the former capital of the Seljuk Empire, Battuta traveled to Iznik, then ruled by the small Ottoman principality. Here, he was received by the wife of Orhan bey, who he wrote was a pious, hospitable and “excellent woman.”
In a description that would shock the modern reader, Ibn Battuta describes how he purchased slaves in Anatolia, and how one of these slaves—possibly a Greek girl—eventually bore him a child. This was just one example of the wives and concubines that the traveler gathered throughout his journey.
Moving on to the Silk Road
His next goal was to reach the realm of the Golden Horde, the powerful Mongol khanate. From Northern Anatolia, he traveled to Azov, Russia and to Mount Beshtau, where he met with the traveling court of Özbeg Khan (d. 1341), khan of the Golden Horde. Traveling through the “land of darkness,” Ibn Battuta reportedly witnessed a trade deal in northern Siberia, although historians have questioned the veracity of this report.
One of Özbeg’s wives was the Byzantine princess Bayalun, likely an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Bayalun was heavily pregnant and wished to give birth in her home city, Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). With the Khan’s permission, Ibn Battuta accompanied her on the trip.
Arriving in Constantinople around 1332, Ibn Battuta was introduced to the Emperor, making the acquaintance of yet another king. While there, he recorded interesting observations about the first Christian city that he had visited. He wrote about monasteries where he witnessed monks, priests, and the ascetic sons and daughters of the royal dynasty.
Moving on toward Delhi, Ibn Battuta traveled through the ancient intellectual centers of Bukhara and Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan). Despite being sacked by Chinggis Khan’s armies a century before, Samarkand was still—according to the traveler—one of the “finest” cities in the world. It also remained an important part of the Silk Road, an ancient and extensive network of trade and communication routes stretching from China to Constantinople.
The Sultanates of India
In 1333—three years after his initial decision—Ibn Battuta made it to the Sultanate of Delhi. But not without suffering through many ordeals. Traveling through Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountain range, Battuta noted that the cold was so intense that the mountains were called “Hindu-slayers” in reference to the slaves who had frozen to death en route from India.
Next, Battuta and his retinue were kidnapped and robbed by rebels on the Indian Coast. In the robbery, the traveler’s notes of his journey were taken. Ibn Battuta would later have to rewrite his memoirs when he returned to Morocco, although some aspects of his travels were undoubtedly misremembered.
Because of his experience and knowledge, Battuta was appointed as a qadi in Delhi. However, the Sultan’s unpredictability made Battuta’s life there volatile—at one point, he was even suspected of treason! After six years of working as a qadi in Delhi, Battuta decided that he could not take the Sultan’s despotic rule any longer.
While considering how he could leave the city, Battuta had a stroke of luck. He was to be sent as an ambassador to the Chinese emperor of the Yuan Dynasty in 1342. However, this luck was short-lived; on the road, the embassy was attacked by Hindu insurgents. For the second time, Ibn Battuta was robbed, kidnapped and almost killed.
The Riches of Asia
Against all odds, the traveler was soon reunited with his group. However, after stopping in Calicut (present-day Kozhikode, India) to visit a mosque, he became shipwrecked. All his personal property, and the ambassadorial gifts for the Chinese emperor, were lost.
Fearing punishment of the erratic Sultan, Ibn Battuta fled to the Maldives, where he worked as a qadi for nine months. Here, he married into the royal family of Omar I and influenced the growth of Islam in the area.
Despite his disciplinary attitude towards Islamic law, his messages did not always get across. He failed, for instance, to convince the women on the island to cover their naked chests. His unpopular teachings and political intrigues finally led to his resignation from his judicial post. After this, he moved on to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where he met Shah Jalal, the famous Bengal conqueror.
After a long reroute, Ibn Battuta finally set out from India to reach China. In 1345, he traveled to islands in Indonesia and continued to China in a traditional Chinese vessel called a junk. Sailing through South-East Asia, Battuta became acquainted with Urduja, a princess-warrior of the modern-day Philippines.
Ibn Battuta finally arrived in Quanzhou, China in 1345. Writing about the local customs and beliefs, Battuta noticed important local advancements like the use of paper money. His interactions with a Taoist monk, Muslims, and worshipers of a sun deity reveal the myriad religious groups that co-existed in Medieval China.
The Journey Back Home
Ibn Battuta’s epic travels soon came to an end. He retraced his steps through India, Iraq, and Syria, before stopping in Damascus in 1348. The spread of the black death (plague) delayed Battuta’s return. Thousands of people died daily in cities like Cairo and Damascus, and Battuta found that Gaza was almost depopulated due to the disease.
Ibn Battuta made it home to Tangier by 1349. However, his return was bittersweet: though he was reunited with his hometown, both of his parents had died some time before. The traveler had nothing to keep him in Morocco any longer and thus began his second departure.
Intending to defend Al-Andalus from the Spanish King Alfonso XI, Ibn Battuta joined a troop of Muslims and traveled to Spain. However, Alfonso’s death from the plague neutralized this threat, and so, Battuta returned to Morocco.
His passion for traveling was too strong, however, for Ibn Battuta to resist. One year later, in 1351, he traveled to the Empire of Mali and the famous Timbuktu, a place known for its gold, salt mines, and prestigious universities.
At the behest of the ruler of Morocco, Ibn Battuta dictated an account of his travels. Ibn Juzayy, an Andalusian scholar and historian, composed all of his stories in the Rihla—Arabic for “travels”—in 1355.
Despite his remarkable life, Ibn Battuta’s final years are obscure. He died sometime (and somewhere!) between 1369 and 1370. Although he is renowned for his curious and courageous character, some of his accounts have also been questioned by modern historians because of their similarities to earlier travel accounts.
