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<p align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Ibn battout’s book of travel</span></p>
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The “Rihla”, a classic Arabic name of the word <em>the journey</em>, is one of the most important and famous literature works of travel of the 14<sup>th</sup> century. It’s an account of travels and vivid experiences of the famous Moroccan explorer Ibn Battouta (1304-1368).

Ibn Batouta’s book of travel is considered as an eye witness of the cultural, social, and political life in the 14<sup>th</sup> century. Indeed, it is a geographical and historical reference. Because of that, Ibn Battouta’s book of travel should be preserved for future generations.

The book is about a Muslim scholar who left his homeland at the age of 21 in the intention to perform the pilgrimage, and ended up returning home “29 years later” (Rumford). After finishing his pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, instead of returning home, he decided to discover and visit the entire Islamic world at that time. Driven by his intellectual curiosity, he started his adventure. Thus, during 29 years, he visited about 44 countries of the Islamic world and beyond. His journey covered North Africa, West Africa, Asia, and some of Europe (Dunn). What is important about this, is that he recorded and documented all of his travels over 29 years.

The work was created on December 1355, when the Sultan of Morocco ordered the young writer, Ibn Juzayy, to record Ibn Battuta’s experiences. After finishing the work, the book was given the official title: <em>A gift to the Observers Concerning the Curiosities of the Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travels </em>(Dunn).

“Enormous opportunities for long-distance travel began to exist in the 13<sup>th</sup> century after the Mongols and other nomadic groups established large, stable empires in Eurasia that facilitated travel, trade and cultural exchange”.(journey to Mecca). The expanding world of Islam, after the Mongol converted to faith, created sort of cultural and political stability which helps Muslims to travel freely across Eurasia. (Dunn<em>)</em>. Caravans and sea lanes created transportation and communication network that stretched across the Eastern Hemisphere.

The 14<sup>th</sup> century was a century of remarkable events such as the beginning of the hundred year’s war, and the bubonic plague that ravaged almost the entire world killing millions of peoples. In the middle of these events, an important number of literature and artistic works were created by European and African personalities. During this era, literature works were more about “personal experiences in the everyday world”, and tales were the famous form of literature. (Fiero)

Some of the important literature works at that time was the Boccaccio’s <em>Decameron</em> and <em>Immoral tales. </em>Chaucer, who was influenced by Boccaccio’s tales, left a remarkable group of stories called <em>The Canterbury tales</em> (Fiero). In the Muslim and Arabic world, <em>The Muquaddima, (</em>Introduction), of the historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun was one of the important works of sociology and philosophy in the 14<sup>th</sup> century; and Ash-Sharif al-Idrisi, who wrote one of the greatest works of the medieval geography, <em>The Pleasure</em> <em>Excursion of One of Who Is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World</em>. (Encyclopedia Britannica).

The <em>Rihla </em>was more than just a simple group tales; it was a piece of information and entertainment for the readers with detailed description of peoples, customs, monuments and cuisine of each place he visited.

In fact, Ibn Battouta’s book of travel was educational and informative in term of content. Indeed, it was a great source of inspiration knowing the story behind the creation of the work; Ibn Battouta left his hometown and family at a young age to perform the pilgrimage, but he ended up traveling about 75,000 miles (Encyclopedia Britannica), seeking education and learning about different Islamic cultures. For this reason, this work is considered innovative of its time; it should be preserved for future generation to teach them about intellectual curiosity.

If we compare Ibn battouta’s work with those of his contemporaries, such as Ibn Jubayr, and Ash-Sharif Al-Idrisi, we find that his <em>Rihla</em> contains observation of geographical details, as well as cultural, religious and political matters witch far exceed those provided by the other books. According to Dunn, “he ranged over almost every aspect of fourteenth-century life from cuisine, botany, and marriage practices to dynastic history and the price of chickens”.

At that time, Ibn Battouta’s experience was unique in the Islamic world by the fact that he traveled further and for a longer period than any other contemporary. For this reason, his experience, and tales attracted the attention of everybody including the Sultan of Morocco, who ordered Ibn Battuta to prepare a narrative of the experiences he encountered during his journey. Moreover, Ibn Battouta was a subject of a biographical notice of the Andalusian scholar Abu l’Barakat al-Balafiqi.

The translation and publishing of the work in many languages contributed to the circulation of the work. Today, the book is used as a source of information and entertainment. At the same time, Ibn Battouta’s book of travel became a subject of research and inspiration to many experts in the field of geography or literature. For example, Rumfod used Ibn Battouta’s own extensive records as the inspiration of the text in his book <em>The Traveling Man </em>(Smith). Again, the Professor of History Dunn wrote a book about Ibn Battuta’s adventure (<em>The adventures of Ibn Battuta</em>), and described <em>the Rihla</em> as “a comprehensive survey…..and the record of a dramatic adventure” (Dunn).

Personally, I find that Ibn Battouta’s book of travel very interesting as it provides an eye-witness account of the various cultures of that era, the political events, and the social and economic live at that time. In addition, what is particularly meaningful about The <em>Rihla</em> is how Ibn Battouta set out by himself and traveled about 75,000 miles facing the dangers and the unknown. In fact, at that time, most people on the Eurasian land lived and died very close to where they were born without even venturing very far from home given the danger of traveling in the 14<sup>th</sup> century. In other words, Ibn Battouta and his book is an example of courage, and willpower.

Another important thing about the book of Ibn Battouta is that without his recordings, there would have been many undiscovered civilizations; historians would have never known about these smaller civilizations. The Columbia Electronica Encyclopedia mentioned that: Ibn Battouta “still considered a most reliable source for the geography of his period and an authority on the cultural and social history of Islam”.

<em><span style="text-decoration: underline">The Rihla</span></em>, wasn’t the first book of travel written at that time. Ibn Battouta was always compared by his contemporary Italian explorer Marco Polo. Marco Polo’s book of travel was titled: <em>Il milione.</em> Both Ibn Battouta and Marco Polo wrote about their travels in what became the medieval bestsellers. Both works evoked several similarities and differences.

In term of similarities, both explorers left an account of what they had seen during their travels witch started at an early age, and covered too many countries from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Also, both works represented a geographical description. However, both books were criticized. In fact, both the reliability of their accounts, and the authenticity of the information they provide have been challenged time and again. For example, some historians suggest that Marco Polo never went to China, basing their argument on the fact that Marco failed to describe the Great Wall of China, Chopsticks, and tea. Similarly, critics about <em>Rihla </em>concluded that many dates and exact details were altered by Battuta and Juzay (Dunn).

These two works are alike in that they were not written down by their creators. Ibn Battouta’s book was recorded by the young scholar Ibn Juzayyupon the request of the Moroccan ruler. Meanwhile, <em>Il Milione</em> was composed by Rustichello de Pisa, a well-known author, who was accompanying Polo in the prison. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Despite of all these similarities, Ibn Battuta’s book of travel stands out from its contemporary Marco Polo’s book by the fact that Ibn Battouta traveled about 75,000 miles, much further than did Marco Polo. For instance <em>the Rihla</em> had more information and covered more places than in <em>Il Milione.</em>

Indeed, when Ibn Battouta started his travel career, he was driven by his religious zeal, and intellectual curiosity that leaded him to occupy many important positions in different countries; he was appointed a judge and an ambassador. He also started his adventure by himself leaving behind his family and friends. Ibn Battuta was a brave man, who risked his life to discover different cultures and bring knowledge of it to the public.

In contrast, Marco Polo left his home to accompany his father and uncle in search for trade and wealth (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Prof. Dunn described Polo’s book as “a treatise of empirical geography revealing almost nothing about his personality”; his book was divided in two parts, the first part is autobiography, and the second part which composed the large volume was dedicated to the description of China and some other Asian countries (Dunn).

In Contrast, Ibn Battouta told so much about him throughout the book, and included the book some verses of poetry which gave it a special taste, and made it distinguishable from its peers. The Prof. Dunn described this aspect in Ibn Battouta’s work and wrote: “the autobiography, the personal adventure, remains in the heart of the book, revealing the traveler’s gregarious, high-spirited…..ingratiating personality through the account of the life he lived”. Thus<em>, The Rihla</em> was filled with numerous tales and adventures witch far exceed the observations of Marco Polo in liveliness, acuity and insight.

Ibn Battuta wasn’t a scientist or geographer; he was a simple man seeking knowledge and adventure, his intellectual curiosity made from him one of the greatest travelers and explorers in the humanity, and made form his work a geographical and cultural reference for historians, geographers, and knowledge seekers. For instance, future generations need to be aware of the significance of this work, and learn from its values. In fact, the preservation of the work is the key for the achievement of this goal.

Biographies and narratives there are in quantities, but the historians for all their picturesque details, rarely show the ability to select the essential and to give their figures that touch of the intimate which makes them live again for the reader. It is in this faculty that Ibn Battuta excels. Among all the literature works of travel, Ibn Battuta’s narrative is valued for the literary merits of its vivid description and comprehensive analysis of medieval Islamic life as well as for its utility to archeologists and other scholars for whom the work serves as a unique guide to the relics of the society in which Ibn Battuta lived.
<p align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Works cited</span></p>
Fiero. <em>The Humanistic Tradition. </em>6<sup>th</sup> Edition. Vol.2

It’s a textbook about the humanities from the renaissance to the present that I used to discuss the historical context of the work’s time.

<em>Ibn Battuta</em>. Columbia Electronica Encyclopedia, 6<sup>th</sup> Edition (2011): 1.web. 7 Sept. 2012.

Http://ehis.ebscohost.com.Isproxy.austincc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&amp;hid=102&amp;sid

This is an electronic encyclopedia that provides information about all subjects. I used it to find information about Ibn Battuta’s biography.

<em>Ibn Battuta. </em>Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition.

Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 7 Sep.2012.

<a href="http://www.britannica.com.isproxy.austincc.edu/EBchecked/topic/280726/Ibn-Battuta">Http://www.britannica.com.Isproxy.austincc.edu/EBchecked/topic/280726/Ibn-Battuta</a>

It’s an electronic encyclopedia from the ACC library containing several articles about different subjects. It helped me finding information about Ibn Battuta’s life and travels.

Iyer, Pico. <em>A voyager for the Ages</em>. (Cover story). Time international (Atlantic Edition)

178.5 (2011): 68-88.

This is an article from the Acc library where the author describes the importance of Ibn Battuta’s experience. I used it to find arguments about why Ibn Bttuta’s book is innovative and unusual.

Smith, Robin. <em>The Marvels of the Road.</em> Book Links 12.1(2012): 41.

This is a journal article from The ACC library about the description of Rumford Book which was influenced by Ibn Battuta’s book.

Ross E., Dunn. <em>The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim Traveler of the 14<sup>th</sup> Century</em>.

University of California Press. Berkely, Los Angeles, London. 1989. Print.

In this book the author explains how the Muslim world worked in the early 14<sup>th</sup> century using Ibn Bttuta’s Rihla as a reference. I used this book to compare between Ibn Battuta and Marco polo and their works. I also used it to explain how the work is received today.