February 24, 1304 C.E. – 1369 C.E. By: Nicole Nikonetz

1. IBN BATTUTA February 24, 1304 C.E. – 1369 C.E. By: Nicole Nikonetz

2. Ibn Battuta’s Travels The green line shows Battuta’s travels throughout Africa, Europe and Asia. The red line shows Marco Polo’s travels. Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier, Morocco, which is the black dot, and died in Fez, Morocco, which is the yellow dot.

3. Timeline

4. Era of Ibn Significant happenings during the 14th century include the Black Death, which was sweeping across the middle east, causing many deaths. Also, The death of the Ilkhan Abu Said in 1335, led to the disintegration of the Mongol rule in Persia. In China, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty came to an end and the Ming Dynasty began. The Mali Empire expanded, and the Chinese began to sail across the Mediterranean to Egypt and Northern Africa. All of these events happened while Ibn Battuta was travelling around.

5. The Very Detailed History of Ibn Battuta • Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier, Morocco, and when he was twenty years old, he began his first hajj (pilgrimage) at Mecca. From Mecca he went along the North African Coast until he reached Cairo. From there he chose the least travelled route and went up the Nile, then turning east to the Red Sea port of ‘Aydhad, where he was forced to turn back due to local rebellion. Battuta returned to Cairo, and then proceeded to Damascus where he spent a month. After his stay there he joined a caravan travelling from Damascus to Medina and then travelled back to Mecca, where he completed the usual rituals of a Muslim pilgrim. He was also granted the status of al-Hajji. Instead of returning home, Ibn Battuta carried on, going a caravan going into Mesopotamia. Here he visited al-Najaf, which is the burial place for the fourth Caliph Ali. From there he visited Basra, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Baghdad. In Baghdad he met Abu Sa’id, who was the last ruler of unified Il-Khanate. He continued on in a caravan and turned north to Tabriz, which was a major trading center on the Silk Road. Battuta returned to Mecca for a second hajj, but lived there for a year before leaving. When he did depart, he went down to the Red Sea and Eastern African coast before stopping at Aden. Aden was a flourishing trading center, and Battuta wanted to stay and make his fortune as a trader, but he kept travelling instead, wishing to see more of the world. He continued on down the coast visiting Ethiopia, Mogadishu, Somalia, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Kilwa before returning to South Arabia. He also visited Oman and the Straits of Hormuz. After journeying to Anatolia, Battuta joined up with a caravan there and went to India. He went on a sea voyage from Damascus to Alanya. He also visited Konya, Sinope, and the Black Sea coast. He crossed the Black Sea and landed in Caffa, which was in Crimea. He entered the lands of the Golden Horde and joined the caravan of Ozbeg, on a journey as far as Astrakhan on the Volga River. Battuta also joined an expedition to Constantinople to take a woman to her home city because she was going to have a baby. He arrived in Constantinople near the end of 1332, and met Emperor Andronicuz III and saw the exterior of Hagia Sophia. After a month there he retraced his route back to Astrakhan and then went on past the Caspian and Aral Seas to Bokhara and Samarkand. From there he went south to Afghanistan and crossed into India, where he was employed as a gadi (judge) by the Sultan in Delhi. Eventually Battuta wanted to take another hajj but the Sultan offered the option of being ambassador to China. Ibn Battuta chose to be ambassador. While on the way to China, Ibn and his group were attacked by Hindu rebels. Ibn was separated from the others, robbed, and nearly killed, however, he managed to find his group within two days and they continued on to Cambay. From there they sailed to Calicut. While he was visiting the mosque on the shore here, a storm blew up and two of his ships sank while the third sailed away without him.

6. Ibn Battuta’s History Continued • He didn’t want to return to Delhi as a failure so he stayed in the south for awhile under the protection of Jamal al-Din, but when his protector died, Battuta decided to continue on to China. On his way, he decided to take a detour to the Maldives, where he spent nine months. While in the Maldives, he discovered that his gadi skills were highly desirable in less developed islands. He was appointed as chief judge and married into the royal family. He became involved in local politics and ended up leaving after making everyone angry by imposing strict judgments in what had before been more of a laissez-faire kind of place. So Battuta continued on to Ceylon for a visit to Adam’s Peak. He worked his way back to Calicut and from there he sailed to the Maldives before attempting to get to China. On his way he stayed in Chittagong, Sumatra, and Vietnam before finally landing in Quanzhou, in Jujian Province, China. From there he went north the Hangzhou. Ibn returned to Calicut yet again and decided to carry on to Makkah. He returned to Hormuz but saw that the state had dissolved into civil war so he went on to Damascus. While he was in Damascus he learned that his father had died, so he decided to go back to Morocco but on his way there he learned that his mother had died as well. So he took a detour and ended up in Valencia, and travelled through Granada, Spain. Eventually, he returned to Fez, Morocco, and Tangier. In 1351, Ibn Battuta set out from Fez and reached Sihilmasa, where he joined yet another caravan and reached the central Saharan town of Taghaza. He went to Walata, Mali and travelled along the Niger River until he came upon the capital of the Mali Empire. He met Mansa Suleiman (Who was king) and travelled up to Timbuktu. At this point he was ordered by the Sultan to return home. He did so, and spent the rest of his life in Fez, Morocco. Ibn Battuta dictated his immense journey to Ibn Juzay, who wrote it all down in the famous book named Rihla, which means “journey.” Little is known about Battuta’s life after his travels and publication of the Rihla. He died in Fez in 1369.

7. Ibn Battuta’s Achievements • Ibn Battuta received the title of Shams ad-Din, which is an honourable title given to scholars in the Islamic East. It means “The Sun/Illuminator of the Faith.” Which brings his full title to: Shams ad-Din Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibnMuhhammedibn Ibrahim Ibn Battuta al-Lawati al-Tanji. • Ibn Battuta travelled 75,000 miles, more than Marco Polo! • Ibn Battuta was the only medieval traveler known to have visited every Muslim ruler of his time.

8. Ibn’s Impacts • Ibn Battuta had a great impact on the political system in the Maldives, where he employed a stricter judgment system. • He had also had a social impact on the places he visited, because his travels allowed him to spread ideas and such. • He had less impacts on economics because he wasn’t a merchant and did not trade very much, he was more involved in politics, as he was employed as a gadi several times.

9. Inaccurate Depiction of Ibn Battuta

10. Accurate Depiction of Ibn Battuta • “We don't know what Ibn Battuta looked like, except that he had a beard.” –National Geographic

11. Bibliography • http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/images/mpibvoya.jpg • http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ibn_Battuta#His_Account • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century • http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/ibn_battuta/Ibn_Battuta_Rihla.html • http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/ibn_battuta.jpg • http://explorermikaelstrandberg.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/ibnbattuta.jpg