Ibn Baṭṭūṭah summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Baṭṭūṭah , orig. Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Lawātī al-Ṭanjī ibn Baṭṭūṭah, (born Feb. 24, 1304, Tangier, Mor.—died 1368/69 or 1377, Morocco), Noted Arab traveler and writer. He received a traditional juristic and literary education in Tangier. After a pilgrimage to Mecca (1325), he decided to visit as many parts of the world as possible, vowing “never to travel any road a second time.” His 27-year wanderings through Africa, Asia, and Europe covered some 75,000 miles (120,000 km). On his return, he dictated his reminiscences, which became one of the world’s most famous travel books, the Riḥlah. The date of his death remains uncertain.

Sumatra Summary

Sumatra, Indonesian island, the second largest (after Borneo) of the Greater Sunda Islands, in the Malay Archipelago. It is separated in the northeast from the Malay Peninsula by the Strait of Malacca and in the south from Java by the Sunda Strait. In the 11th century the influence of the Srivijaya

Maldives Summary

Maldives, independent island country in the north-central Indian Ocean. It consists of a chain of about 1,200 small coral islands and sandbanks (some 200 of which are inhabited), grouped in clusters, or atolls. The islands extend more than 510 miles (820 km) from north to south and 80 miles (130

Yemen Summary

Yemen, country situated at the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is mostly mountainous and generally arid, though there are broad patches with sufficient precipitation to make agriculture successful. The people speak various dialects of Arabic and are mostly Muslims (see Islam). The

Anatolia Summary

Anatolia, the peninsula of land that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey. Because of its location at the point where the continents of Asia and Europe meet, Anatolia was, from the beginnings of civilization, a crossroads for numerous peoples migrating or conquering from either continent.