Author: Joshua Crilly

The Tabula Rogeriana was not a one to one accurate map, but considering it is a Muslim map it was ideal for plotting Ibn Battutah’s journey. Mecca was at roughly the center of this map as the most important city to the religion of Islam and the original goal Ibn Battutah had when leaving his home of Morocco for the first time. Besides the geography of the time being somewhat inaccurate, this map gets the general shape of landmasses correct. This made mapping the locations easier than most medieval maps and also makes it easier to read coherently, as long as the reader knows which way it is oriented. Once again because of the Islamic craftsmanship, this map is oriented with south at the top and north on the bottom. East and west are also flipped accordingly, which can cause some difficulty with locating things. The scope is also perfect for tracking Ibn Battutah, as his entire journey never leaves the bounds of this map. Morocco is far on the right hand side and the farthest east he goes is Peking in China, all of which is present there. For its time, the Tabula Rogeriana was considered a world map since the Americas had not been discovered yet. Some known land was omitted from this map of the world, namely the southern two-thirds of Africa. The map was centered around not just Mecca it seems but the entire Islamic world, as at the time the majority of this land was under Muslim control. Seeing as the only parts of Africa that made it in were the northern countries that were primarily Muslim, the continent was likely cut out pertaining to relevance for those that might be reading the map, as well as the cartographer’s own desires.

Ibn Battutah probably did not use maps much at all during his time travelling, mainly due to ease of access. It was also fairly easy to hire guides or rely on slaves that could speak the language of the foreign country they were navigating. Muslims at this time also relied little on written documents and more on memory, with Ibn Battutah’s entire travels even being recorded by his later recounts of them. If he did have some form of map, it was likely lost or stolen as happened to many belongings he travelled with over the years. Aside from the likelihood of him carrying a map, Ibn Battutah would have agreed with the way the Tabula Rogeriana shows the world. Being a jurist of his faith, Ibn Battutah’s whole journey revolved completely around his religion and how it should be practiced. His constant policing of his religion throughout the lands he travels falls in line with the Muslim centric view of the world seen in the Tabula Rogeriana. Mecca’s centrality would also likely please him, as the pilgrimage was so important to Ibn Battutah that he did it more than once in his lifetime. With Islam being such a big part of his life and in some ways his purpose, having the world displayed as it is in the Tabula Rogeriana would be validating to say the least.

As a jurist, Ibn Battutah saw the world in relation to the laws of Islam and its practice. His pilgrimage was the original intention of his journey, but after reaching Mecca he traveled farther to spread his faith and act as an advisor to foreign rulers. In the modern day, it is generally frowned upon to travel somewhere and critique local customs or be judgmental of cultural and religious differences. While it may have been his job, Ibn Battutah judges cultural differences often, sometimes openly to whatever government official is in front of him. Not only would the more cautious and respectful mindset modern travelers have be lost on him, but Ibn Battutah would likely find it difficult wanting to travel anywhere as the Muslim world is significantly smaller than when he was alive. Given the larger reach of Islam, he also encountered many Muslims wherever he went and was met with primarily Muslim countries and cities. Traveling today, he would not be received with Muslim hospitality in every city and not be given such special treatment either, resulting in miserable conditions for travel in terms of what he thought of as standard.

So considering Ibn Battutah’s journey in relation to not only the Tabula Rogeriana but also modern day maps, it appears that the medieval map would be preferrable for him. Not only would it be better in line with his beliefs, but the differences in the modern world make it hard to imagine Ibn Battutah traveling in it or using modern maps.

Leaving India, Ibn Battutah travels through the Maldives archipelago on his way farther east, stopping at various islands on the way. He focuses on the ecology somewhat, especially the tropical trees that produce coconuts, which Ibn Battutah seems to really enjoy. Most of his recollection of these islands however, revolves around the culture of their inhabitants being very primitive to the travelers. This is evident by how he retells the story he heard of the islanders converting to Islam because a Muslim banished an evil spirit that terrorized their villages. The story, whether told to him or not, is somewhat painting the islanders in a negative light, despite them now being Muslim they are shown to be stupid and helpless. It bears resemblance to white savior narratives, as the man that fixed all of their problems did so by instilling his own religion and way of life upon the islanders. Further criticism of their way of life comes from Ibn Battutah’s reaction to learning the sultan is a woman here,  with the first thing he says about the government being that “It is a strange thing about these islands that their ruler is a woman” (236). Though not everything he says about this female ruler is negative, the overall fixation on her gender and how she governs is telling compared to his description of many of the other sultans. Any sultan that is misusing his power or being a poor ruler gets similar focus, but this woman does not appear to be weak or inadequate, suggesting the focus on her comes from a more sexist prerogative from Ibn Battutah. Given his opinion on the women of the Maldives in general being scrutinizing to say the least, this is not surprising.

The purpose of recording his travels through the Maldives once again is likely to serve as a cautionary tale towards practicing Muslims. Having much of this section dedicated to how women behave in their culture and are admitted more freedoms, it feels as though Ibn Battutah is showing a displeasing perspective on purpose. His reason for leaving the Maldives reinforces this priority of his own beliefs, as he is criticized by the locals for a punishment he gives being too harsh. “I gave orders that both of them should be beaten because of their intimacy, and then set the woman at liberty and imprisoned the slave…I sent for the slave and had him beaten with bamboo rods…and paraded round the island with a rope round his neck” (239-240). Ibn Battutah takes this act of adultery as a very serious offense to Islam, but the locals disagree with the severity of the crime and subsequent punishment. “When they went to the vizier and told him of this he was much agitated and fell into a violent rage, assembled the ministers and army commanders and sent for me” (240). This incident causes him to relinquish his position and leave as soon as he possibly can, being offended that they would question him for this, especially given that those being punished are a black slave and a woman. Ibn Battutah clearly sees himself as right in this scenario, which is evident by how he describes the events from his perspective.

I think Ibn Battutah’s trip through the Maldives, though it is somewhat short, exemplifies his biased recollection of events. I doubt he is lying about what happens while he stays in the archipelago, his religious beliefs show that he values specific societal norms and demonizes any divergence from his way of life. It is fascinating to read how he reacts to women in power and more free expressions of sexuality, though at this point in the book it hardly counts as surprising.

When he reached India, Ibn Battutah was very concerned with the people he met there. His focus in this regard was not due to intrigue like in other locations he described, usually taking more notice to the locals if they showed impressive faith or Islamic values. In India however, his perspective was far more critical, partly because of the more foreign elements of the culture confusing him but usually passing judgment on these customs and practices. An example of this was the manner in which funerals are held in this country, as Ibn Battutah describes the act of cremation in horrific and demeaning detail. He pauses during his describing of the events to proclaims “the place looked like a spot in hell – God preserve us from it!”, clearly disgusted by how much this act goes against his beliefs (159). In the city of Delhi, he serves the sultan there for several years, though not willingly. The chapter on Delhi and its government ends with a series of anecdotes on brutal executions ordered by the sultan there, each being explained as unjust in some capacity. It should not be a surprise that some of these stories involve men of similar social standing and profession as Ibn Battutah himself, with one section even titled as “His killing of two other jurists, men of Sind, who were in his service” (179). His staying in the sultan’s service can be equated to fear of his own brutal execution, and lack of trust in the sultan to be fair and just in his punishments.

Though much of his stay in India was fairly static, the journey to and from the country involved more seafaring and river based travel. Ibn Battutah did not appear to be very fond of boats, or the crews that sailed them, but still gave good accounts of the vessels. When he travels with a new type of ship, he describes its appearance and craftsmanship, such as when he sees an ahawrah for the first time, “In the centre of it there was a wooden cabin to which one climbed up by steps…while the crew of about forty men rowed” (153). Considering he travelled with a group, even if just a few slaves and guides, each voyage by water had a small entourage of ships traveling together. Often they split up his group onto different vessels, so that there was enough space for the crew and cargo Ibn Battutah brought everywhere with him, among other things. This made sailing places tedious and often dangerous, as later on much of their party dies in a shipwreck. This does not happen until Ibn Battutah had left India however.

In this section of the journey, I think Ibn Battutah’s goals in writing about India are as a form of moral lesson to Muslims. While retelling of his time there, he delves into many terrible acts of murder performed by the sultan’s command, and also expresses distaste in local customs. Many of these customs and practices are uncomfortable to him because of his Muslim values, which he makes clear as well. By expressing the disgust or unjust nature of these events he has either witnessed or heard of, Ibn Battutah is telling a cautionary tale to his people, should they also not follow the rules of their religion.

Finally reaching the city he set out on a pilgrimage for, Ibn Battutah arrives in Mecca and prays there.  He goes into immense detail about the beauty of Mecca, including the people there as well, and it is clear his focus was towards the religious significance of this place. Ibn Battutah goes on to talk about preparing for their arrival in Mecca, saying that on the way he “entered the pilgrim state and in my enthusiasm I did not cease crying Labbaika Allahumma through every valley and hill and rise and descent” (46). This “pilgrim state” seems to be a deep religious state of mind that involves constant praying, but even more interesting is how he says it excites him, which really puts into perspective the role of religion in his time. That being said, the section where he actually talks about being in Mecca is eclipsed somewhat by his continued retelling of travelling away from it, and while staying there Ibn Battutah decided he desired to continue travelling the world for the remainder of his life. His further travels after Mecca involve meeting several important people too, including several sultans and kings as well as many others that he recalls fondly and left impressions on him. Most of the basis on which he meets these new people is still in the context of his religious endeavors though, even more so considering the importance of Mecca as a holy place.

The journey to Mecca began with a lot of emphasis on the maintenance of water reserves. Given this attention to detail, it seems that Ibn Battutah does not exaggerate the dangerous aspect of this pilgrimage in the slightest. Hardship is never lacking in religious ventures of this time, but the pilgrimage to Mecca appears especially brutal. Yet while it is also important to plan and not die of thirst, Ibn Battutah makes it clear that over supplying oneself is not acceptable either. “They provision themselves and wash their clothes, and also deposit any surplus of provisions they may have, taking with them only the amount of their strict necessities” (45). Part of the pilgrimage involves humility and sacrifice, otherwise it would not be as important when the pilgrim arrives in Mecca. So while the journey is definitely through harsh environment with food and water being scarce, part of the struggle with traversing this terrain is self inflicted to a degree.

I think a main goal of Ibn Battutah focusing so much on the arrival at Mecca is to inspire others to follow in his footsteps and make the Pilgrimage themselves. At the same time, he seems to be preparing the reader for what they should expect from this journey (up to this point of course). The descriptions of these places as beautiful and captivating serves to arouse curiosity, while the talk of provisions and days of painful travel also warn future pilgrims to prepare accordingly. In this sense, even the knowledge of someone else’s experience should be considered useful in preparing for the trip. This section of the text was very heavy on Islamic religious practices, and while I found that very interesting, it also was a bit repetitive at times. Not only did he pray a lot, but Ibn Battutah must have really enjoyed talking about praying too.

Map Link: https:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1hkQKf45XcmjMVuCAmPp4r1d6uf_AFXc&usp=sharing

Category 1: The Beginning (Green)

I grouped the first few cities before Alexandria together as marking the start of Ibn Battutah’s long journey. These cities are not important to him religiously or culturally so much as they are the first major locations he visits and introduce the young traveler to his new life of pilgrimage.

Category 2: Holy Land (Red)

This category involves many of the cities Ibn Battutah seemed excited to visit for their religious significance. From Alexandria to Jerusalem, his focus was on the spiritual and it drove him to detour in search of these significant places.

Category 3: New Perspectives (Purple)

The last two cities of Aleppo and Damascus were hard to place, but due to the paths Ibn Battutah took, I felt it was a more freeing part of his journey. He had a less direct course and seemed in no rush to reach his destinations, staying in smaller towns and cities longer than before and appreciating local cultures far more.

Upon leaving Cairo, Ibn Battutah made his way to Syria, specifically highlighting many of the religious cities he passes through. These include several places of significance to Christianity and Judaism, mainly he mentions Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This portion of his travels involves much more architectural description of holy sites, such as when he wrote of the congregational mosque at Damascus, the capital of Syria. “The inner faces of all the walls of this mosque are decorated with cut stones of gold known as fusaifisa, intermingled with various colours of extraordinary beauty” (37). Culture also remained at he center of his attention, as Ibn Battutah was engrossed in the religious significance of these cities, such as his visiting of religious tombs of what we now more commonly associate with prominent Christian figures. In Islam, many of these people are still acknowledged as prophets appointed by God. This was very interesting to see in Ibn Battutah’s writings, as I would not have expected his religious pilgrimage to include stops at the graves of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Jesus and his mother Mary. The mention of these names is also usually followed by the customary “(peace be upon him)” or some derivative of this prayer for speaking a notable name.

This portion of the text does not as much concern the physical aspects of travel, at least not in comparison to how his journey started. Much of Ibn Battutah’s writing concerns his description of the holy lands he visits and their customs. There were a few mentions of illness while he was in Damascus it seemed, as he claims to have “witnessed at the time of the Great Plague at Damascus…a remarkable instance of the veneration of the people of Damascus for this mosque” (39). He again chooses to focus on the religious resilience of the city residents, but before leaving the city himself he appears to fall ill as well.

After being treated for this illness, he claims the medical bill has depleted all his funds and he would not have been able to travel. Had it not been for his host’s hospitality, he would have been stuck in Damascus. “Nur al-Din, learning this, hired camels for me and gave me travelling provisions, etc., and money in addition,” (41). While not anecdotes about his actual travels, the fact his pilgrimage was almost completely halted due to health and funding should not be overlooked. It speaks to his inexperience as a young traveler, clearly enamored by the locations and probably not being careful with planning and conserving his resources for the journey ahead.

Much of Ibn Battutah’s travels through this region contained anecdotes and stories of other people’s lives, most of which he obviously heard from the locals and is simply recording. The consistency of these stories was strange to me, almost uncharacteristic of how he is usually so excited to write about the people he meets, not someone already dead long before his arrival. It only makes sense to me in the context of the religious nature of these cities, that many of these stories he retells are relating to the devotion of the people there. The story of Ad’ham seems to be some sort of lesson on prayer, as the man (metaphorically) prays himself to death after being forced into marriage and fornication (34). At least, that is my guess considering the message is not clearly stated in my opinion. Either way, it is intrinsically tied to the act of prayer and the man’s relationship God, so it can be assumed that its retelling bears some lesson regarding this or Ibn Battutah would not have felt the need to write it down.

I found this portion of Ibn Battutah’s journey less compelling. Though he seemed easily influenced by the Shaikh in Cairo and other notable people up until now, parroting the stories of the region and not offering as much of his own insight and experiences. It was however interesting to see how he viewed the many places considered sacred to more than just Islam, as the perspective it gives was something I knew of but had not thought would affect him as it did.

Ibn Battutah was a young Moroccan Muslim that set out on pilgrimage of his own volition. He explains early that he had no caravan initially and set out totally alone, instead requesting to travel with an envoy of the ‘king of Africa’. This was not a king of Africa but instead a Roman province of the time, consisting of territory in modern Tunisia and Algeria. I call the beginning of his journey to attention not just to emphasize the imperative safety a caravan offers that is almost a necessity for traveling in this time, but also in an effort to understand how Ibn Battutah writes about the places he visits. His focus in each new location they reach tends to lean towards the behavior of people he meets, even remarking that upon reaching Tunis he was overcome by a grave loneliness at having no one to welcome him. By joining a caravan of frequent and seasoned travelers, the young Ibn Battutah did not receive the same enthusiasm as those who had been to Tunis before. He soon forgets this loneliness it seems, as much of his focus shifts to the festival the locals celebrate, claiming to be “overtaken” by this feast he was now participating in.

Upon reaching Alexandria, Ibn Battutah’s fascination for the people only grows as well. While he first praises the divine architecture of the citadel, saying it to be “of memorable edifices both secular and religious”, his attention seems to once again gravitate towards the people he finds there. In not just Alexandria but almost every settlement along the Nile, Ibn Battutah praises the local Shaikh as wise and displaying various forms of power. Whether or not there is any truth to the miracles he writes of, these local elders each leave an impression on his travels. The Shaikh of Alexandria seemed to affect Ibn Battutah most of all, as he gives him gifts of money and provisions and tasks him with sending a greeting to three of his cousins in different countries. Ibn Battutah spares the suspense and immediately writes in past tense that he has already met and greeted these three men in his travels, further cementing the influence this Shaikh had on his will to travel. Once reaching Cairo, Ibn Battutah does express fascination at the Nile River and how unique it is compared to other Great Rivers, but his attention overall still remains on the peoples and cultures he encounters.

Where his focus in the cities and towns was drawn to the interesting people he met, the process of travel bore clear hardships that draws his attention as well. Before reaching Cairo, Ibn Battutah describes points in their journey when the caravan had to take shelter from rain in stone or wood structures for days at a time. This seems to me that they were travelling during North Africa’s wet season, as is evident by the dates of these reports being after leaving Tunis in early November. The dry season has sparce rain, while the wet season has rainstorms that can last weeks, as his travel account clearly shows. Also be aware that the months these seasons occur differ depending location, with Northern Africa beginning its wet season around November. There is also some run in with dangerous wildlife, as Ibn Battutah recounts a night where hyenas raided their camp, though I doubt this was a one and only time wild animals posed a problem. This particular incident ends in his own personal sack of dates being stolen, leading me to believe that this was simply the worst instance he decided to write about.

Of the travel narratives we have collectively experienced as a class, Ibn Battutah stands out to me as travelling solely for personal reasons. His travels begin simply because he was encouraged to journey to Mecca to deepen his spiritual and religious understanding. Throughout his travels he meets people that tell him stories and give him advice that he seems more then happy to transcribe and take to heart. I can say I’m very intrigued at how the remainder of his journey plays out, as his accounts Egypt were fascinating.