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Ibn Battuta documented his travels across the Muslim world. On his travels, he detailed the governments, the splendor of the cities, and the attitudes of the people. Many people have questioned his adventures, especially history professor Ross Dunn.
To begin with, Ibn Battuta was born in the year 1304 in Tangier, Morocco. He was born into a very wealthy Moroccan family of legal scholars and judges. His family had descended from the members of the Berber people of Lawata. Before Ibn Battuta became a traveler, he had wanted to become a judge of the Islamic court in Lawata. Ibn Battuta is remembered as one of the most widely traveled individuals of the Middle Ages. During his lifetime, he visited almost the entire Islamic world. He began to travel in the year 1325. Over the course of the years, he had traveled from Morocco to China, Russia to Mali, Spain to Sumatra, and made the trip to Hajj four to five times. This comes to a total of around seventy-four thousand six hundred fifty-four miles, about three times the distance of the earth’s equator, over twenty-nine years. This was the longest overland trip prior to the invention of the steam engine. Ibn Battuta then later died around 1377 in Fez, Morocco.
Ibn Battuta then gave us very detailed descriptions of the governments he encountered. He explained that many of the places had border agents, as they had to check passports; this is along the lines of what we do today. On many people’s way to Hajj, the government will send Islamic authorities to accompany travelers to ensure safety. They would do this by establishing forts along the major passage routes and they would occasionally offer armed escorts or bribes for their safety. This was a description much like Ibn Battuta gave us in his account of his travels to Mecca.
One of Ibn Battuta’s major points of his journey was the marvelous cities. He provided details of many cities. One of the cities, Tripoli, had many marketplaces going down the streets. He also exclaimed that it had rained for about ten consecutive days in Tripoli. In this city is when he provided details about him being accompanied by more than 100 horsemen and military archers. He described, “the mother of all cities,” Cairo. Cairo was where the seat of the tyrant Pharaoh was. Knowing this we can infer that Cairo had a lack of democracy. In this city, there were over twelve thousand water carriers that would transport water using camels, donkeys, and mules. He exclaimed that along the Nile there were almost thirty-six thousand boats that belonged to the Pharaoh and his subjects. Here there were also hospitals and schools. Next to the hospital was the mausoleum and its beauty could be given no justice in words. He then began to describe the city of Qatya. This place is where the border checks came in. The guards began to examine his baggage and goods, they collected merchandise and looked at his passport so that he could go from Egypt to Spain. The most beautiful city Ibn Battuta saw was the city of Damascus. The Umayyad Mosque was the most magnificent in the world located in Damascus. In this city, Ibn Battuta began to study Islamic law. He then found his second wife. When he reached where Hajj would take place he got rid of his clothing. The people of Mecca were so humble to the weak, and kind to strangers, and they always gave food to the poor. The people also wore white, elegant, and clean garments. Most used lots of perfume. In this city, he prayed and dedicated himself to God. He met excellent nobles and participated and splendorous activities. After he left Mecca he headed for Jeddah. After he left Jeddah he sailed down the red sea headed for Yemen. He then went to Sri Lanka and visited Adam’s Peak. Adam’s Peak was a high mountain that was very sacred to Muslims. In Sumatra, he had befriended a Muslim ruler. The Muslim ruler had given Ibn Battuta enough supplies to last him on his journey toward China. Soon after he was asked to help defend the city of Ceuta. Ceuta was located in northern Morocco and he was needed to help defend a Christian force. He then crossed into the Straits of Gibraltar, which was named after Ibn Battuta, to Spain. When Ibn Battuta was visiting Timbuktu, he was one of the first outsiders to write about Timbuktu. Kilwa was a trading city far in the south that Ibn Battuta had traveled through. One of the amazing cities he visited was Constantinople. This city was enormous in size. It was separated by this great river named, the Golden Horn, and there was a constant tide. Over this river was a huge stone bridge. The bridge later fell to ruins but now has been replaced by multiple boats to represent a bridge. The eastern bank of the Golden Horn was called Istambul. This is the place where the Emperor, nobles, and the rest of the population lived. The emperor’s palace resided on the top of the hill in this city surrounded by large walls that would keep all enemies out. In Constantinople, the streets were paved with magnificent flagstones. Many of the women here were artisans and sellers. From here he went to Delhi. He remained in Delhi for eight straight years. He was then named the chief of Delhi by the emperor Muhamad. Soon after he was then named the sultanate’s ambassador to China. However, on his way to China, his ship had wreaked near Calicut. Ibn Battuta could have kept going, but he decided he would never return to Delhi again. Therefore, in Ibn Battuta’s lifetime, he visited many splendorous cities. From Tripoli to Mecca, Jeddah to Yemen, Sumatra to Timbuktu, and Kilwa to Delhi.
By going on many of these adventures, Ibn Battuta encountered lots of people from these cities. Ibn Battuta mainly talks about the people from Mecca. He focuses his attention on the people of Mecca’s selflessness. The people of Mecca were excellent and noble. He describes them as, “good to the humble and weak, and kind to strangers.” He puts these people of Mecca on a pedestal as he believes they are extremely devoted to their faith and always give to the poor. It is wise to assume that the people of Mecca do not always act like this. As Ibn Battuta was visiting Mecca during Hajj, it is easy to believe that they had to put on a sort of “show”.
Although Ibn Battuta has shared many great stories of his adventure, many people have questioned the truthfulness of them all. A historian from the University of San Diego State, Ross Dunn has studied the veracity of Ibn Battuta’s stories. He deciphers his journey to Bulghar and back. He begins by saying that the total distance between Bulghar and back would be roughly 800 miles. Another historian, Stephen Janiscek, argued that this trip never even took place. He explains that Ibn Battuta could not have taken this journey as he does not give us a description of his route, his confidants, any of his personal experiences, or any of the beautiful sights he would have at least glanced at on the way. Many of his writings have been traced back to be based on earlier geographic Arabic reports. Although this is the only trip that has been proven to be false the truthfulness of the other journeys is suspected. Many people who study Ibn Battuta relate him to Marco Polo. Each of them has published their own book and has become the fabricator of many falsehoods.
Although Ibn Battuta has been proven to copy things from people before, can we trust his accounts on his other trips? Although he did lie about his trip to Bulghar and back we can trust his other writings. No matter what it has been proven he took those other trips. Through his detailed description of the governments, the splendor of the cities, and the attitudes of the people; there is no way we can say that he lied about those trips.
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