THE TRAVELS OF IBN BATTUTA - A.D. 1325 - 1354

Translated with revisions and notes from the Arabic text edited by C. Defremery and B.R. Sanguinetti by H.A.R. Gibb. In two volumes. Published for The Hakluyt Society by the Cambridge University Press. Frontispiece folding picture of The Mosque of Mecca (volume 1). Pages 537 combined. Illustrations and maps. Blue cloth covers. Condition: Both volumes in very good condition in their dust jackets but with ex-library markings in front of both volumes.

Ibn Battuta started on his travels in 1325, when he was 20 years old. His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, or a Pilgrimage to Mecca, to fulfill the fifth pillar of Isla.. But his traveling went on for around 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries which were then mostly under the governments of Muslim leaders of the World of Islam, or "Dar al-Islam".

He met many dangers and had numerous adventures along the way. He was attacked by bandits, almost drowned in a sinking ship, and nearly beheaded by a tyrant ruler. He also had a few marriages and lovers and fathered several children on his travels!

Near the end of Ibn Battuta's life, the Sultan of Morocco insisted that Ibn Battuta dictate the story of his travels to a scholar and today we can read translations of that account, which was originally titled Tuhfat al-anzar fi gharaaib al-amsar wa ajaaib al-asfar, or A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling.

That title is a bit of a mouthful so the text is generally just called Ibn Battuta's Rihla, or Journey. 

The Journey

        Across North Africa to Cairo: 1325

        In Cairo: 1326

        Cairo to Jerusalem, Damascus, Medina, and Mecca: 1326

        The Hajj - from Medina to Mecca: 1326

        Iraq and Persia: 1326 - 1327

        The Red Sea to East Africa and the Arabian Sea: 1328 - 1330

        Anatolia: 1330 - 1331

        Lands of the Golden Horde & the Chagatai: 1332 - 1333

        Delhi, the Capital of Muslim India: 1334 - 1341

        Escape from Delhi to the Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka: 1341 - 1344

        Through the Strait of Malacca to China: 1345 - 1346

        Return Home: 1346 - 1349

        On to al-Andalus and Morocco: 1349 - 1350

        Journey to Mali: 1350 - 1351

        Writing the Rihla: 1355 

(https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta)