The Rihla
Ibn Battuta · 1325 CE – 1354 CE · Earth
Complete the pilgrimage to Mecca and travel as far as the known world allows.
Historical context
In the fourteenth century the Islamic world stretched from Spain to China, linked by pilgrimage, scholarship and trade. Ibn Battuta moved through it for thirty years, from Mali to the Malabar coast.
The voyage, step by step
Setting out from Tangier
1325 CE
A young jurist leaves Morocco on pilgrimage to Mecca, the start of thirty years of travel.
Pilgrimage to Mecca
1326 CE
He completes the hajj and studies, then decides not to go home.
Judging in Delhi
1333 CE
He serves as a qadi under the Delhi Sultanate for several years.
To the edge of the world
1345 CE
He travels by way of the Maldives and Ceylon and reaches the coast of China.
Across the Sahara to Mali
1352 CE
His last great journey crosses the desert to the kingdom of Mali.
Outcome
Journeyed through Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean, then dictated his account in Fez.
Ibn Battuta
Moroccan jurist and traveller who covered some 120,000 kilometres across Africa, Asia and Europe and dictated the account known as the Rihla.
Sources
- Ibn Battuta — Wikipedia
- Pathfinders: A Global History of ExplorationFelipe Fernández-Armesto · Oxford University Press · 2006
Continue exploring
- Journey to CathayMarco Polo · 1271 CE – 1295 CE
- Pilgrimage from Granada to MeccaIbn Jubayr · 1183 CE – 1185 CE
- Mission to the VolgaAhmad ibn Fadlan · 921 CE – 922 CE
- Journey to the WestXuanzang · 629 CE – 645 CE