Summary
Highlights
On June 14, 1325, Ibn Battuta embarked on his Hajj, the traditional Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, from his homeland in Morocco. This marked the beginning of an almost 30-year journey, during which he traveled 75,000 miles and visited lands of every Muslim ruler, a feat still considered one of the greatest journeys in history.
Born in Tangier, Morocco, on February 24, 1304, Ibn Battuta came from a family of legal scholars and pursued a similar path to become a judge. At 21, yearning to explore the world, he began his pilgrimage, driven by an inner desire to visit illustrious sanctuaries.
Battuta traveled along the North African coast, passing through Algiers, Tunisia, Tripoli, Cairo, and Alexandria. He continued through the holy cities of Hebron and Jerusalem, reaching Damascus, Syria, before arriving in Mecca in October 1326, a place he would revisit multiple times.
After exploring Iraq, Persia, and East Africa, Battuta heard of work in the Sultan of Delhi's court. He traveled through Turkey and Afghanistan, arriving in India in 1334. He served as a judge in Delhi for eight years before being appointed the Sultan's envoy to China in 1342. He traveled to China via the Maldives and Bangladesh, but despite its beauty, he disliked China, staying mostly indoors.
After 24 years, Battuta returned to Morocco in 1349 at age 45. He then traveled to southern Spain and across the Sahara to Mali before returning to Morocco in 1354. A local Sultan commissioned a scholar to record Battuta's travels, resulting in the manuscript called 'Rihla' or 'The Journey.' He died in 1368 or 1369, and his work was rediscovered and translated in the 19th century, documenting his extraordinary achievement of traveling the earth.