Abu
Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad - Din, was born
at Tangier, Morocco, on the 24th February 1304 C.E. (703 Hijra). He
left Tangier on Thursday, 14th June, 1325 C.E. (2nd Rajab 725 A.H.),
when he was twenty one years of age. His travels lasted for about
thirty years, after which he returned to Fez, Morocco at the court of
Sultan Abu 'Inan and dictated accounts of his journeys to Ibn Juzay.
These are known as the famous Travels (Rihala) of Ibn Battuta. He died
at Fez in 1369 C.E.
Ibn
Battuta was the only medieval traveler who is known to have visited
the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. He also traveled in
Ceylon (present Sri Lanka), China and Byzantium and South Russia. The
mere extent of his travels is estimated at no less than 75,000 miles,
a figure which is not likely to have been surpassed before the age of
steam.
In
the course of his first journey, Ibn Battuta traveled through Algiers,
Tunis, Egypt, Palestine and Syria to Makkah. After visiting Iraq,
Shiraz and Mesopotamia he once more returned to perform the Hajj at
Makkah and remained there for three years. Then travelling to Jeddah
he went to Yemen by sea, visited Aden and set sail for Mombassa, East
Africa. After going up to Kulwa he came back to Oman and repeated
pilgrimage to Makkah in 1332 C.E. via Hormuz, Siraf, Bahrain and
Yamama. Subsequently he set out with the purpose of going to India,
but on reaching Jeddah, he appears to have changed his mind (due
perhaps to the unavailability of a ship bound for India), and
revisited Cairo, Palestine and Syria, thereafter arriving at Aleya
(Asia Minor) by sea and traveled across Anatolia and Sinope. He then
crossed the Black Sea and after long wanderings he reached
Constantinople through Southern Ukraine.
On
his return, he visited Khurasan through Khawarism (Khiva) and having
visited all the important cities such as Bukhara, Balkh, Herat, Tus,
Mashhad and Nishapur, he crossed the Hindukush mountains via the
13,000 ft Khawak Pass into Afghanistan and passing through Ghani and
Kabul entered India. After visiting Lahri (near modern Karachi),
Sukkur, Multan, Sirsa and Hansi, he reached Delhi. For several years
Ibn Battuta enjoyed the patronage of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq, and was
later sent as Sultan's envoy to China. Passing through Central India
and Malwa he took ship from Kambay for Goa, and after visiting many
thriving ports along the Malabar coast he reached the Maldive Islands,
from which he crossed to Ceylon. Continuing his journey, he landed on
the Ma'bar (Coromandal) coast and once more returning to the Maldives
he finally set sail for Bengal and visited Kamrup, Sylhet and
Sonargaon (near Dhaka). Sailing along the Arakan coast he came to
Sumatra and later landed at Canton via Malaya and Cambodia. In China
he traveled northward to Peking through Hangchow. Retracing his steps
he returned to Calicut and taking ship came to Dhafari and Muscat, and
passing through Paris (Iran), Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt made
his seventh and last pilgrimage to Makkah in November 1348 C.E. and
then returned to his home town of Fez. His travels did not end here -
he later visited Muslim Spain and the lands of the Niger across the
Sahara.
On
his return to Fez, Ibn Battuta dictated the accounts of his travels to
Ibn Juzay al-Kalbi (1321-1356 C.E.) at the court of Sultan Abu Inan
(1348-1358 C.E). Ibn Juzay took three months to accomplish this work
,which he finished on 9th December 1355 C.E.
