Name : Ibn Battuta.
Where lived: Tangier, Morocco (traveled the Islamic world & Far East).
When lived: 1304 – 1368/69 CE.
Other information : He was a Moroccan explorer from Tangier whose expeditions took him further than any other known traveler of his time and resulted in the work which has made him famous, The Rihla of Ibn Battuta.
Biography :
Leaving home at the age of 21, Ibn Battuta traveled the Islamic world and Far East of the 14th century CE, covering 75,000 miles (120,000 km) between 1325 - c. 1352 CE, visiting 40 countries and crossing three continents. According to Bullis, “it would have worked out to a bit under 11 kilometers (7 mi) a day for almost 11,000 days” (Part I, 1). After he completed his travels, he returned home and dictated the tales of his adventures to Ibn Juzay. Little is known of his life afterwards. His now-famous work was almost unknown until the 19th century CE when German and English scholars brought it to world attention.
Battuta kept no journal on his travels and his Rihla was composed from memory and embellished upon by the scholar Ibn Juzay al Kalbi (l. 1321-1357 CE) between c. 1352-1355 CE. He seems to have gone by the name `Shams al-Din’ in his lifetime. He came from an educated background, a family of qadis (judges) and was devoted to his religion. He memorized the Quran and, as he reports, would sometimes recite it in its entirety twice a day during his travels.
’I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation."
Ibn Battuta’s first pilgrimage to Mecca, 1325 CE
As a traveler, Mecca was Ibn Battuta’s first destination for Hajj or pilgrimage, when he was 20 years old. As any other religious Muslim, Ibn Battuta dreamed of fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam with his visit to the ‘’illustrious sanctuaries’’ according to him.
The religious journey to Mecca would be long and arduous, requiring some sixteen months of travel; for Ibn Battuta it was the beginning of an adventure which would take twenty-four years. Having completed the hajj, however, Ibn Battuta chose to continue eastward rather than turning back towards his homeland. One may wonder if he would be what he’s been, an inspiration to the world, if he didn’t get out of his comfort zone and defeat all the perils he was exposed to.
Reference :
Article: Why Moroccan Scholar Ibn Battuta May Be the Greatest Explorer of all Time. (Read on line). or this read this biography ( Read)
Book:The Travels of Ibn Battuta: To India, the Spice Islands, and China by Noël Q.King & Albion M.Butter
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