Ibn Battuta's travels across the Islamic world
Viajes de Ibn Battuta por el mundo islámico
- Date
- 1325-1354 · confidence high
- Place
- Tangier, Morocco (starting point and return)
- Credited to
- Ibn Battuta
- People
- 👤 Ibn Battuta1304–1368
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The traveller from Tangier covered some 120,000 km across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Southeast Asia and China over almost 30 years, dictating the 'Rihla', the fullest description of the 14th-century world.
Coordinates of Tangier, his home city. He travelled through territories already densely known to their inhabitants; his value lies in the record.
What it led to
- Knowledge of the Mali Empire, the Maldives and Southeast Asia
- Comparative geography of the Islamic world
- An essential historical source on medieval West Africa
Built on
- Pilgrimage to Mecca
- Indian Ocean trade networks
Made possible
- Arabic travel literature (rihla)