Ibn Battuta

Topic: Medieval India through Travellers' Eyes · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Through the Eyes of Travellers"

Meaning

Ibn Battuta (1304–77) was a Moroccan traveller from Tangier. He was trained as a judge in Islamic law. He reached Sind in 1333 and served Muhammad bin Tughlaq as qazi (judge) of Delhi. In 1342 the Sultan sent him as envoy to the Mongol ruler of China. He then travelled through the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bengal, Assam, Sumatra and China, and reached home in 1354 [2].

His travel book, the Rihla, is one of our main outside sources for 14th-century India under the Delhi Sultanate. It records daily life, roads and court politics that Indian chroniclers often ignored. NCERT teaches it as a core source in the chapter "Through the Eyes of Travellers".

Explanation

Background: who he was and why he travelled

• He was born in Tangier, Morocco, on 24 February 1304 [2].
• His family was respected for its knowledge of shari'a (Islamic law). He received a good literary education while young.
• He was trained as a qadi. A qadi is a Muslim judge who decided both religious and civil cases [2]. Indian records spell it qazi.
• He was unusual for his class. He believed travel gave better knowledge than books.
• He left home at 22, "as birds forsake their nests", in his own words.

• Britannica says he set out at 21 [2]. NCERT says 22, so use 22 in the exam.

• His first reason to leave was the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca [2].

Sequence of travels

Before India (up to 1332–33):

• He travelled overland through Tunis and Tripoli to Egypt. There he made a rule: "never to travel any road a second time" [2].
• He then went to Mecca, Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and the East African trading ports.
• In 1333 he reached Sind, coming overland through Central Asia.

In India under Muhammad bin Tughlaq:

• Why he came: Muhammad bin Tughlaq was famous as a generous patron of arts and letters.

• Travelling scholars hoped such a ruler would give them gifts and jobs.

• Route: Sind → Multan and Uch → Delhi.

• The Sultan was impressed by his learning and made him qazi of Delhi.
• He served for several years. Then he fell out of favour and was put in prison.
• Later the Sultan trusted him again and gave him back his position.
• In 1342 he was sent as envoy (official messenger) to the Mongol ruler of China.

After Delhi:

• Central India → Malabar coast → Maldives, where he stayed 18 months and again worked as qazi.
• Sri Lanka → back to Malabar and the Maldives → Bengal and Assam.
• By ship to Sumatra, then to the Chinese port of Zaytun (today Quanzhou).
• He travelled inside China as far as Beijing.
• He turned back in 1347 and reached home in 1354, about 30 years after he first left [2].
• In his whole life he covered about 75,000 miles (120,000 km) [2].

The Rihla: how the book was made

• Rihla is an Arabic word. It simply means "journey" [2].
• Full title: Tuhfat al-anzar fi gharaib al-amsar wa ajaib al-asfar, which means "A gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the marvels of travelling" [2].
• He did not write it himself.
• On the ruler's orders, he dictated his stories to a scribe, Ibn Juzayy.

• Ibn Juzayy turned his plain prose into an ornate style and added bits of poetry [2].

• The book had two aims, to educate and to entertain. That is why it keeps strange, shocking and funny stories.

• A manuscript copy of the Rihla is kept in the Library of Congress [3].

What the Rihla records: travel as data

Journey times to Delhi:

• Multan → Delhi: 40 days
• Sind → Delhi: about 50 days
• Daulatabad → Delhi: 40 days
• Gwalior → Delhi: 10 days

Dangers on the road:

• Highway robbers. His caravan from Multan to Delhi was attacked. Many travellers were killed, and he was wounded.
• Illness. Once, sick with fever, he tied himself to his saddle so that he would not fall off.
• Loneliness. He was far from his family and his own language.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: 14th century. He was in India from 1333 until he left as envoy in 1342, and later passed through the Maldives, Bengal and Assam.
• Dynasty and ruler: the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, under Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• Places in India: Sind, Multan, Uch, Delhi, Daulatabad, Gwalior, the Malabar coast, Bengal, Assam. Outside India: the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
• Places beyond India: Tangier, Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt, Mecca, Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman, East Africa, Central Asia, Sumatra, Zaytun (Quanzhou) and Beijing.
• Key people: Ibn Battuta; Muhammad bin Tughlaq (his patron in Delhi); Ibn Juzayy (the scribe who wrote down the Rihla).
• How we know:
• The Rihla itself, a traveller's account dictated after he came home.
• A manuscript of it in the Library of Congress [3].

• Modern summaries such as Britannica [2].

• Points of doubt:

• Britannica says he left at 21, not 22.
• It also gives his death as 1368/69 or 1377 [2].
• NCERT uses 22 and 1377. Follow NCERT.

Don't confuse with

• Marco Polo: Polo was a merchant from Venice. He wrote about China and India in the late 13th century. He returned to Venice in 1295 after 24 years away. His book, Il Milione, was dictated in a Genoese prison to Rustichello [4]. Ibn Battuta was a 14th-century Moroccan qazi, and his book was dictated to Ibn Juzayy.
• Al-Biruni: came from Central Asia in the 11th century with Mahmud of Ghazni and wrote Kitab-ul-Hind, a scholarly study of Indian society and religion. Ibn Battuta came three centuries later and wrote a travel story, not a study.
• François Bernier: a 17th-century French doctor who wrote about the Mughal empire. Ibn Battuta wrote about the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century.
• Ibn Juzayy: the scribe who wrote the Rihla down in an ornate style. He was not the traveller. In an MCQ, "author of the Rihla" means Ibn Battuta, while "the person who wrote down the Rihla" means Ibn Juzayy.

Prelims Hooks

• Ibn Battuta: born Tangier, Morocco, 1304; died 1377 (NCERT); left home at 22.
• Reached Sind in 1333, overland through Central Asia. Entered Delhi by way of Multan and Uch.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq made him qazi of Delhi. In 1342 he sent him as envoy to the Mongol ruler of China.
• He served 18 months as qazi in the Maldives. He entered China at Zaytun (Quanzhou) and reached Beijing.
• Rihla means "journey". It was dictated to Ibn Juzayy. Its full title is Tuhfat al-anzar… [2].
• Order of travellers: Al-Biruni (11th c.) → Marco Polo (late 13th c., back in Venice 1295) [4] → Ibn Battuta (14th c., back home 1354) → Bernier (17th c.).

Mains Points

• A view from outside. Ibn Battuta noticed things Indians took for granted, such as the coconut, the paan, the postal system and the speed of caravans. Indian court chronicles left out such everyday details, so we often know them only because a foreigner found them surprising.
• Useful but limited as evidence.
• He dictated from memory, many years after the events.
• Ibn Juzayy rewrote his plain prose in a fancy style and added poetry [2]. The facts are his, but part of the voice is the scribe's.
• Marco Polo's book has the same problem, because it was dictated to a writer of romances in prison [4].

• So travel accounts must be checked against inscriptions and court records.

• Proof of a connected Islamic world and of how far state control reached.

• Knowledge of shari'a and Arabic was valued from Morocco to Bengal. That is how a Moroccan scholar became judge in Delhi, then judge in the Maldives, then envoy to China. This is good material for questions on cultural links across the medieval Indian Ocean.
• His journey times (Multan–Delhi 40 days, Gwalior–Delhi 10 days) show that Sultanate roads covered long distances. The robber attack on his caravan shows the state could not keep the roads between towns safe.

Related concepts

• Ibn Juzayy
• Rihla
• Marco Polo

Read more

• Ibn Battuta and the Rihla: the itinerary of a globe-trotter