Ibn Battuta

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta (February 24 1304 to 1368 to 1377, year of death uncertain) was born in Tangier, Morocco during the time of Merinid Sultanate rule in the Islamic calendar year 703, into a Berber family. He was a Sunni Islamic scholar and jurisprudent from the Maliki Madhhab (a school of Fiqh, or Sunni Islamic law), and at times a Qadi or judge. However, he is best known as an extensive traveller or explorer, whose account documents his travels and side-excursions over a period of almost thirty years, covering some 75,000 miles (120,700 km). This journeying covered almost the entirety of the known Islamic world, extending also to present-day India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and China, a distance readily surpassing that of his prior, near-contemporary and traveller Marco Polo.

Southeast Asia and China

En route to the coast, he and his party were attacked by Hindu rebels, and separated from the others he was robbed and nearly lost his life. Nevertheless, he managed to catch up with his group within two days, and continued the journey to Cambay. From there they sailed to Calicut. While Ibn Battuta visited a mosque on shore, however, a storm blew up and two of the ships of his expedition were sunk. The third then sailed away without him, and ended up seized by a local king in Sumatra a few months later.

Related Topics:
Hindu - Cambay - Calicut - Sumatra

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fearful of returning to Delhi as a failure, he stayed for a time in the south under the protection of Jamal al-Din, but when that worthy was overthrown it became necessary for Ibn Battuta to leave India altogether. He resolved to carry on to China, with a detour near the beginning of the journey to the Maldives.

Related Topics:
Jamal al-Din - Maldives

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Maldives he spent nine months, much more time than he had intended to. As a qadi his skills were highly desirable in the backwards islands and he was half-bribed, half-kidnapped into staying. Appointed chief judge and marrying into the royal family, he became embroiled in local politics, and ended up leaving after wearing out his welcome by imposing strict judgments in the laissez-faire island kingdom. From there he carried on to Ceylon for a visit to Adam's Peak.

Related Topics:
Ceylon - Adam's Peak

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Setting sail from Ceylon, his ship nearly sank in a storm, then the ship that rescued him was attacked by pirates. Stranded on shore, Ibn Battuta once again worked his way back to Calicut, from where he then sailed to the Maldives again before getting onboard a Chinese junk and trying once again to get to China.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This time he succeeded, reaching in quick succession Chittagong, Sumatra, Vietnam, and then finally Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China. From there he went north to Hangzhou, not far from modern-day Shanghai. He also claimed to have travelled even further north, through the Grand Canal to Beijing, but this is believed to be one of his tales, not an actual event.

Related Topics:
Chittagong - Vietnam - Quanzhou - Fujian - Hangzhou - Shanghai - Grand Canal - Beijing

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~