Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Battuta (b. 703 AH / 1304 CE; d. probably 770 AH / 1368–1369) was a Moroccan Maliki-trained jurist, qadi and traveller from Tangier. He left for the Hajj in 725 AH / 1325 and spent roughly twenty-four years moving across North and East Africa, the Middle East, Anatolia, the Golden Horde, Central and South Asia and the Indian Ocean world before returning to Morocco. He then travelled to al-Andalus and the Mali Empire. His surviving travel account, Tuhfat al-nuzzar, commonly called the Rihla, was dictated after his return and arranged by Ibn Juzayy under Marinid patronage. It is a uniquely rich source for fourteenth-century societies, but it is not a verbatim diary: its chronology contains inconsistencies, some passages draw on earlier literary sources, and several claimed route segments—including Bulghar and parts of the China itinerary—remain disputed. His exact death year is uncertain, with 770 AH / 1368–1369 preferred in major biographical references and 779 AH / 1377 also reported.
1304 — ?
Names and variants
Ibn Battuta· canonicalIbn Battuta· canonicalابن بطوطة· canonicalMuhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim· birth nameمحمد بن عبد الله بن محمد بن إبراهيم· birth nameAbu Abd Allah· kunyaأبو عبد الله· kunyaShams al-Din· laqabشمس الدين· laqabBadr al-Din· variantal-Lawati· nisbaاللواتي· nisbaal-Tanji· nisbaİbn Battûta· transliteration
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Battuta was a Moroccan Maliki-trained jurist, qadi and traveller from Tangier whose journeys across Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, India and the Indian Ocean world were later shaped into the Rihla by Ibn Juzayy.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Full name
His full name is commonly given as Abu Abd Allah Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Lawati al-Tanji.
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Kunya: Abu Abd Allah
His established kunya was Abu Abd Allah.
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Shams al-Din
Biographical sources give him the honorific Shams al-Din; some also preserve Badr al-Din.
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The nisba al-Lawati
His family belonged to the Berber Lawata tribal confederation, reflected in the nisba al-Lawati.
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The nisba al-Tanji
The nisba al-Tanji identifies him with Tangier, the Moroccan city of his birth.
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A family tradition of judges
Ibn Battuta states that judicial office and shaykhly authority were professions of his family, and he himself later served as qadi in several places.
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Birth in 703 AH / 1304 CE
The principal sources place his birth in Tangier on 17 Rajab 703 AH, corresponding to late February 1304 CE.
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Maliki legal training
His education in Tangier included Maliki jurisprudence, a background that later enabled him to take judicial posts abroad.
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Departure for pilgrimage in 725 AH
On 2 Rajab 725 AH / 14 June 1325 CE, Ibn Battuta left Tangier intending to perform the Hajj.
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A solitary departure
In the Rihla he recalls leaving without a travelling companion or caravan of his own, separating from his parents while still in his early twenties.
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Across North Africa
He travelled eastward along the North African coast through the Maghrib and Ifriqiya before reaching Egypt.
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Alexandria
Ibn Battuta reached Alexandria in 726 AH / 1326 CE and met Sufi figures whose conversations later became part of the literary framing of his journeys.
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Burhan al-Din’s prediction
The Rihla reports that the Alexandrian shaykh Burhan al-Din al-Araj predicted Ibn Battuta would meet spiritual associates of his in India, Sind and China. This belongs to the travelogue’s autobiographical and hagiographic narrative and is not independently verifiable.
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Egypt and the failed Aydhab route
He travelled through Cairo and Upper Egypt and attempted to reach the Hijaz through Aydhab, but political disorder forced him to turn back.
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Damascus and the Syrian route
He then travelled through Syria, including Damascus, before joining the pilgrimage route to the Hijaz.
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The first Hajj
Ibn Battuta performed his first Hajj in 726 AH / 1326 CE, completing the religious purpose that had originally motivated his departure.
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Iraq and western Persia
After the pilgrimage he travelled through Iraq and parts of Persia, visiting major cities, shrines and scholarly communities.
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Repeated pilgrimages and residence in Mecca
The Rihla presents Ibn Battuta as returning to Mecca several times and spending extended periods there before continuing farther afield.
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Yemen and East Africa
He travelled through Yemen and along the East African coast, describing commercial ports and Muslim communities from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean networks.
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Oman and the Persian Gulf
The Rihla also places him in Oman and Gulf regions, although modern chronology has raised doubts about some individual movements in this portion of the itinerary.
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Anatolia and the Akhi networks
His Anatolian account is an important source for urban life and the Akhi fraternities, whose hospitality repeatedly supported his movements.
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The Golden Horde
Ibn Battuta describes travelling in the territories of the Golden Horde and visiting the court of Öz Beg Khan.
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Constantinople
The Rihla says that Ibn Battuta accompanied a Byzantine princess from the Golden Horde to Constantinople. The episode is part of the received itinerary, although parts of the northern chronology have long been critically examined.
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The disputed journey to Bulghar
Ibn Battuta’s claimed journey to Bulghar has been questioned because the distances and chronology are difficult to reconcile. It should therefore be presented as disputed rather than certain.
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Central Asia
The Rihla carries him through Central Asian regions on the route toward the Indian subcontinent, combining personal travel narrative with information about rulers, scholars and cities.
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Arrival in India
Ibn Battuta reports crossing the Indus in 734 AH / September 1333 CE and then entering the Delhi Sultanate.
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Qadi in Delhi
At the court of Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq he received a judicial appointment and remained in the Delhi environment for roughly eight or nine years.
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Muhammad ibn Tughluq
The Rihla contains extensive descriptions of Muhammad ibn Tughluq’s court, policies, generosity and punishments, making the India section an important but literary source for the Delhi Sultanate.
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A major source for fourteenth-century India
Despite literary shaping and chronological difficulties, modern historians repeatedly use the India sections because they preserve details not available in the limited surviving Indo-Persian chronicle tradition.
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The proposed embassy to China
Muhammad ibn Tughluq appointed Ibn Battuta to an embassy connected with China, setting in motion the long maritime phase of the Rihla.
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Disaster on the Malabar coast
During preparations for the embassy, Ibn Battuta recounts losing much of his property and entourage when ships departed or were wrecked off the Malabar coast.
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The Maldives
Ibn Battuta spent a substantial period in the Maldives, where his Maliki legal education made him useful to local rulers.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Chief qadi in the Maldives
He served as qadi in the Maldives and describes efforts to impose legal and social norms that brought him into conflict with local practices and political interests.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Marriage alliances during travel
The Rihla records several marriages and household relationships during Ibn Battuta’s travels, including in the Maldives. These relationships were often closely tied to mobility, patronage and local political networks.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Sri Lanka and Adam’s Peak
He reports visiting Sri Lanka and making a pilgrimage to the mountain traditionally identified as Adam’s Peak.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Bengal
The Rihla places him in Bengal and records information about rulers, trade and religious figures, though the chronology of parts of this eastern itinerary is difficult to reconstruct.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Southeast Asia
He describes travel through island Southeast Asia on the route toward China, but modern scholars have noted that place identifications and distances are often uncertain.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The China narrative
The Rihla presents Ibn Battuta as reaching China and describes ports, paper money, crafts and imperial administration.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Whether he reached all the Chinese places he names is disputed
Modern specialists have questioned whether Ibn Battuta personally visited every Chinese place described. Sparse geographical detail, chronological problems and use of literary material make the extent of the China journey uncertain.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Return westward
The Rihla then traces a return by the Indian Ocean and Middle East toward North Africa.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The Black Death
On his return through the Middle East, Ibn Battuta describes the great plague of 1348 and the mortality he encountered in Syrian and other cities.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Return to Morocco in 750 AH / 1349 CE
He returned to Morocco in Shaʿban 750 AH / November 1349 CE after roughly twenty-four years away.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Journey to al-Andalus
After returning home, Ibn Battuta made another journey to al-Andalus, visiting Muslim territories in the Iberian Peninsula.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Across the Sahara to Mali
He later crossed the Sahara into the western Sudan, entering the Mali Empire during his final major journey.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
A major source for the Mali Empire
His description of Mali is one of the most important surviving narrative sources for fourteenth-century West Africa, especially for court life, trade, religion and social customs.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Timbuktu and Gao
The Rihla records visits to Timbuktu and Gao during the western African journey, preserving some of the earliest well-known external descriptions of these urban networks.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The exact Mali itinerary remains debated
Modern historians have debated the identification of several places and the precise route from Walata through Mali, showing that even this valuable section requires geographical criticism.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
End of the great journeys
Ibn Battuta returned to Morocco in 754 AH / 1353–1354 CE and did not undertake another comparable long-distance journey.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Abu Inan’s commission
The Marinid sultan Abu Inan ordered that Ibn Battuta’s experiences be recorded after his return to Morocco.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Ibn Juzayy as editor and arranger
Ibn Battuta dictated his recollections to the Andalusian scholar Ibn Juzayy, who arranged and stylistically shaped the text.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The Rihla is a collaborative text
Because the precise division of labour between traveller and editor cannot be fully reconstructed, modern scholarship increasingly treats the surviving Rihla as a collaborative Ibn Battuta–Ibn Juzayy text rather than a transparent verbatim transcript.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Tuhfat al-Nuzzar
The work’s full title is Tuhfat al-nuzzar fi gharaʾib al-amsar wa-ʿajaʾib al-asfar, commonly known as the Rihla of Ibn Battuta.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Completion in 756–757 AH
The text reports the dictation as finished in Dhu al-Hijja 756 AH / December 1355, with the final arranged version completed a few months later in Safar 757 AH / February 1356.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
A rihla, not a modern travel diary
The work belongs to the Arabic rihla tradition, combining itinerary, pilgrimage, biography, marvels, scholarship, court description and literary borrowing. It should not be read as a modern day-by-day travel diary.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Borrowing from al-Abdari
Research has shown that significant parts of the Palestine description were adapted from the earlier traveller al-Abdari. Literary borrowing is therefore demonstrable within the received Rihla.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Chronological inconsistencies
The Rihla contains dates and sequences that cannot always be reconciled, especially in some long-distance sections. Its itinerary requires reconstruction rather than literal acceptance of every timestamp.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Eyewitness, hearsay and literary material
Ibn Battuta sometimes distinguishes what he saw from what he was told, but the Rihla also mixes eyewitness observation, hearsay, remembered reports and borrowed literary material.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The famous 120,000 km estimate
Modern popular accounts often estimate Ibn Battuta’s journeys at roughly 120,000 kilometres. Because several route segments are disputed or reconstructed, this figure is best treated as an approximate modern estimate rather than an exact measured total.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Traveller and qadi
Ibn Battuta repeatedly used his legal education as professional capital, obtaining judicial or advisory roles in societies far from Morocco.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Sufi networks and hospitality
Sufi shaykhs, hospices, saints’ shrines and devotional networks occupy a major place in the Rihla and often structured Ibn Battuta’s social world while travelling.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Travel through patronage
Gifts and patronage from rulers, judges, merchants and religious figures repeatedly financed or facilitated his mobility.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
A source for social history
The Rihla is especially valuable for details of hospitality, food, clothing, gender customs, slavery, religious practice, maritime trade and court ritual, though each observation must be evaluated in its literary and regional context.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Probable death in 770 AH / 1368–1369 CE
Ibn Hajar and major modern reference works place Ibn Battuta’s death around 770 AH / 1368–1369 CE in Morocco.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
A later 779 AH / 1377 date is also reported
Some reference traditions give 779 AH / 1377 CE instead. The exact death year is therefore not absolutely settled.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
The report that he died as qadi of Tamasna
TDV reports, following later biographical sources, that Ibn Battuta died while serving as qadi of Tamasna. The detail is plausible but less secure than his birth and travel chronology.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Manuscripts and later circulation
The Rihla circulated in manuscript and abridged forms, but its reception before the early modern period is less visible than its later fame might suggest.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Modern editions and translations
Nineteenth-century European editions and translations, followed by fuller Arabic and scholarly editions, transformed Ibn Battuta into a major figure of global travel history.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
A uniquely wide but critically read travel record
Ibn Battuta’s lasting importance lies in the geographical breadth of the Rihla and the density of its social observations. Its value is greatest when extraordinary reach is combined with careful source criticism rather than uncritical literal reading.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Source-sensitive points
established
Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 703 AH / 1304 CE.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
He left Tangier for the Hajj on 2 Rajab 725 AH / 14 June 1325 CE.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
Ibn Battuta completed his first Hajj in 726 AH / 1326 CE.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
disputed
The claimed journey to Bulghar is difficult to reconcile with the chronology and remains disputed.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
Ibn Battuta reports entering India in 734 AH / 1333 CE and then serving at the court of Muhammad ibn Tughluq.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
His Maliki legal training enabled him to hold judicial office in the Delhi Sultanate.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
The India section of the Rihla remains a major source for the Delhi Sultanate despite its literary character.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
Ibn Battuta served as qadi in the Maldives and describes conflict over local legal and social practices.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
disputed
The extent of Ibn Battuta’s personal travel in China is disputed because the account contains sparse geography, chronological problems and literary material.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
Ibn Battuta returned to Morocco in Shaʿban 750 AH / November 1349 CE after roughly twenty-four years away.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
His account of the Mali Empire is one of the most important surviving narrative sources for fourteenth-century West Africa.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
disputed
The exact route through Mali and the identification of several places remain disputed among historians.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
The surviving Rihla was produced through collaboration between Ibn Battuta’s dictated recollections and Ibn Juzayy’s editorial arrangement.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
The dictation was finished in Dhu al-Hijja 756 AH / December 1355 and the arranged version was completed in Safar 757 AH / February 1356.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
Substantial parts of the Palestine description were adapted from the earlier travel account of al-Abdari.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
The Rihla contains chronological inconsistencies that prevent literal acceptance of every date and sequence.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
reported
The commonly repeated figure of roughly 120,000 kilometres is a modern estimate rather than an exactly measured total.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
probable
The preferred death chronology places Ibn Battuta around 770 AH / 1368–1369 CE.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
reported
A later death date of 779 AH / 1377 CE is also reported in reference traditions.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
established
The Rihla is most useful when read as a rich literary-historical source whose eyewitness, hearsay and borrowed materials are critically distinguished.
Sources: [1] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [2] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [3] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [4] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [5] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [6] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [7] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [8] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [9] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [10] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [11] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [12] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context, [13] Biographical, travel, literary or historiographical context
Contributions
A vast source for fourteenth-century social history
The Rihla preserves unusually dense observations on travel, trade, law, hospitality, religious practice, courts and everyday customs across a very wide geographic range.
scholarly · established
A major source for India and West Africa
The Delhi and Mali sections preserve information of exceptional value where surviving contemporary narrative sources are limited.
scholarly · established
Maliki legal expertise as a mobile profession
Ibn Battuta repeatedly converted his legal training into judicial authority abroad, showing how Islamic legal culture could create professional mobility across distant societies.
institutional · established
A landmark of Arabic travel literature
Through Ibn Juzayy’s arrangement, Ibn Battuta’s recollections became one of the most influential works in the Arabic rihla tradition.
other · established
A model for critical global-history reading
The Rihla’s mixture of eyewitness testimony, hearsay, literary borrowing and disputed itineraries makes it a particularly instructive source for combining global historical reach with source criticism.
other · established
Sources
[1]
al-Muqaddima
Ibn Khaldūn · Classical historiographical source
[2]
al-Durar al-kāmina fī aʿyān al-miʾa al-thāmina
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani · Classical biographical source