Ibn Battuta - the World's Greatest Traveller

by Read Listen Learn

Ibn Battuta was a great world traveller and was born in the 1300s in Morocco. His family was middle-class. He learnt about the law and then began his travels when he was twenty-one years old. He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He told his mother that he would come home in a year or two. In fact, Ibn Battuta did not return for more than twenty years. When he got back to Morocco, his mother was dead. Very sadly, she died a few months before her son arrived.

Battuta crossed North Africa on the way to Mecca. He enjoyed the journey. He also travelled to other parts of the eastern Mediterranean, like Palestine and Jordan.

In total, Battuta travelled over 120,000 kilometres. This is probably the longest journey any person ever made. He travelled in all kinds of ways – by foot, by donkey and sometimes by ship. He used every type of transport he could. He spent a lot of his life moving.

His travels took him to Persia and Central Asia where he often journeyed over the mountains in winter. His life was very dangerous and there were robbers, wild animals and many other difficulties.

He was very good at making friends. He journeyed to islands in the Indian Ocean. Then he went to Southeast Asia and China. After many trips, he returned to North Africa but he still wanted to see more. One of his last visits was to the great Mali Empire. Thankfully, Battuta wrote down his thoughts about the places he visited.

Battuta wanted to travel because of his religion. Most of his journeys were to places that were Islamic. He liked all good Muslims. He was especially excited about some of the places in Africa he visited. He felt comfortable there.

He only made one trip to a place that was not Islamic: China. China was a difficult place for Battuta to live. He said many good things about Chinese society and its cities, but was confused and uncomfortable outside a Muslim culture. He knew China was a great place but he said he stayed in his room a lot.

Thanks to Ibn Battuta we know a lot about the world in the 1300s!