Editing Ibn Battuta (section)

== Journeys ==

===Itinerary, 1325–1332===

<div style="overflow: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
{{Location map many| Africa | width=600| float=none
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</div>

====First pilgrimage====
On 2 Rajab 725 [[Islamic calendar|AH]] (14 June 1325 AD), Ibn Battuta set off from his home town at the age of 21 to perform a ''[[hajj]]'' (pilgrimage) to [[Mecca]], a journey that would ordinarily take sixteen months. He was eager to learn more about far-away lands and craved adventure. He would not return to Morocco again for 24 years.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|pp=30–31}}

{{blockquote|I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation.<ref>{{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA13 13 Vol. 1]}}; {{harvnb|Gibb|1958|p=8}}</ref>}}

He travelled to Mecca overland, following the North African coast across the sultanates of [[Zayyanid dynasty|Abd al-Wadid]] and [[Hafsid]]. The route took him through [[Tlemcen]], [[Béjaïa]], and then [[Tunis]], where he stayed for two months.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=37}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA21 21 Vol. 1]}}</ref> For safety, Ibn Battuta usually joined a [[Caravan (travelers)|caravan]] to reduce the risk of being robbed. He took a bride in the town of [[Sfax]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354 |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~dmdhist/ibnbattuta.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820121438/http://www.indiana.edu/~dmdhist/ibnbattuta.htm |archive-date=20 August 2017 |access-date=6 December 2017 |website=Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis |publisher=Indiana University}}</ref> but soon left her due to a dispute with the father. That was the first in a series of marriages that would feature in his travels.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA26 26 Vol. 1]}}</ref>

[[File:Turkish - Tile with the Great Mosque of Mecca - Walters 481307 - View A.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] 17th century tile depicting the [[Kaaba]], in [[Mecca]] ]]

In the early spring of 1326, after a journey of over {{cvt|3500|km}}, Ibn Battuta arrived at the port of [[Alexandria]], at the time part of the [[Bahri dynasty|Bahri Mamluk empire]]. He met two ascetic pious men in Alexandria. One was Sheikh Burhanuddin, who is supposed to have foretold the destiny of Ibn Battuta as a world traveller and told him, "It seems to me that you are fond of foreign travel. You must visit my brother Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind, and Burhanuddin in China. Convey my greetings to them." Another pious man, Sheikh Murshidi, interpreted a dream of Ibn Battuta as being that he was meant to be a world traveller.<ref>The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325–1354: Volume I, translated by H.A.R Gibb, pp. 23–24</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA27 27 Vol. 1]}}</ref>

He spent several weeks visiting sites in the area, and then headed inland to [[Cairo]], the capital of the [[Mamluk Sultanate]]. After spending about a month in Cairo,<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=49}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA67 67 Vol. 1]}}</ref> he embarked on the first of many detours within the relative safety of Mamluk territory. Of the three usual routes to Mecca, Ibn Battuta chose the least-traveled, which involved a journey up the [[Nile]] valley, then east to the [[Red Sea]] port of [[ʿAydhab]].{{efn|Aydhad was a port on the west coast of the Red Sea at {{Coord|22|19|51|N|36|29|25|E}}.{{sfn|Peacock|Peacock|2008}}}} Upon approaching the town, however, a local rebellion forced him to turn back.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=53–54}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta returned to Cairo and took a second side trip, this time to Mamluk-controlled [[Damascus]]. During his first trip he had encountered a holy man who prophesied that he would only reach Mecca by travelling through [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Syria]].<ref>{{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA105 105 Vol. 1]}}; {{harvnb|Gibb|1958|p=66}}; {{harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=53}}</ref> The diversion held an added advantage; because of the holy places that lay along the way, including [[Hebron]], [[Jerusalem]], and [[Bethlehem]], the Mamluk authorities kept the route safe for pilgrims. Without this help many travellers would be robbed and murdered.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=54}}{{efn|Ibn Battuta left Cairo on around 16 July 1326 and arrived in Damascus three weeks later on 9 August 1326.{{sfn|Gibb|1958|pp=71, 118}} He described travelling on a complicated zig-zag route across Palestine in which he visited more than twenty cities. Such a journey would have been impossible in the allotted time and both Gibb (1958) and Hrbek (1962) have argued that Ibn Battuta conflated this journey with later journeys that he made in the region.{{sfn|Gibb|1958|p=81 Note 48}}{{sfn|Hrbek|1962|pp=421–425}} Elad (1987) has shown that Ibn Battuta's descriptions of most of the sites in Palestine were not original but were copied (without acknowledgement) from the earlier ''rihla'' by the traveller [[Mohammed al-Abdari al-Hihi|Mohammed al-Abdari]]. Because of these difficulties, it is not possible to determine an accurate chronology of Ibn Battuta's travels in the region.{{sfn|Elad|1987}} }}

After spending the Muslim month of [[Ramadan (calendar month)|Ramadan]], during August,<ref>[https://hijri.habibur.com/726/9/ Islamic Hijri Calendar For Ramadan – 726 Hijri] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519181014/https://hijri.habibur.com/726/9/ |date=19 May 2023 }}. hijri.habibur.com</ref> in Damascus, he joined a caravan travelling the {{cvt|1300|km}} south to [[Medina]], site of the Mosque of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]. After four days in the town, he journeyed on to Mecca while visiting holy sites along the way; upon his arrival to Mecca he completed his first pilgrimage, in November, and he took the honorific status of ''[[Hajji|El-Hajji]]''. Rather than returning home, Ibn Battuta decided to continue travelling, choosing as his next destination the [[Ilkhanate]], a [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] [[Khanate]], to the northeast.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|pp=66–79}}

====Iraq and Iran====
On 17 November 1326, following a month spent in Mecca, Ibn Battuta joined a large caravan of pilgrims returning to [[Iraq]] across the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=88–89}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1853|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA404 404 Vol. 1]}}; {{harvnb|Gibb|1958|p=249 Vol. 1}}</ref> The group headed north to Medina and then, travelling at night, turned northeast across the [[Najd]] plateau to [[Najaf]], on a journey that lasted about two weeks. In Najaf, he visited the [[Imam Ali Shrine|mausoleum]] of [[Ali]], the [[Rashidun|Fourth Caliph]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1958|pp=255–257 Vol. 1}}; {{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=89–90}}</ref>

Then, instead of continuing to [[Baghdad]] with the caravan, Ibn Battuta started a six-month detour that took him into [[Iran]]. From Najaf, he journeyed to [[Wasit]], then followed the river [[Tigris]] south to [[Basra]]. His next destination was the town of [[Isfahan]] across the [[Zagros Mountains]] in Iran. He then headed south to [[Shiraz]], a large, flourishing city spared the destruction wrought by [[Mongol]] invaders on many more northerly towns. Finally, he returned across the mountains to Baghdad, arriving there in June 1327.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA100 100 Vol. 2]}}</ref> Parts of the city were still ruined from the damage inflicted by [[Hulagu Khan]]'s invading army in 1258.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|pp=41, 97}}

In Baghdad, he found [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Sa'id]], the last Mongol ruler of the unified Ilkhanate, leaving the city and heading north with a large retinue.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=98–100}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125 125 Vol. 2]}}</ref> Ibn Battuta joined the royal caravan for a while, then turned north on the [[Silk Road]] to [[Tabriz]], the first major city in the region to open its gates to the Mongols and by then an important trading centre as most of its nearby rivals had been razed by the Mongol invaders.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=100–101}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA128 128–131 Vol. 2]}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta left again for Baghdad, probably in July, but first took an excursion northwards along the river Tigris. He visited [[Mosul]], where he was the guest of the Ilkhanate governor,{{sfn|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|pp = [https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA134 134–139 Vol. 2]}} and then the towns of [[Cizre]] (Jazirat ibn 'Umar) and [[Mardin]] in modern-day Turkey. At a hermitage on a mountain near [[Sinjar]], he met a [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] mystic who gave him some silver coins.{{efn|Most of Ibn Battuta's descriptions of the towns along the [[Tigris]] are copied from [[Ibn Jabayr]]'s ''Rihla'' from 1184.{{sfn|Mattock|1981}}{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=102}}}}<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA142 142 Vol. 2]}}</ref> Once back in Mosul, he joined a "feeder" caravan of pilgrims heading south to Baghdad, where they would meet up with the main caravan that crossed the [[Arabian Desert]] to Mecca. Ill with diarrhoea, he arrived in the city weak and exhausted for his second ''hajj''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=102–03}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA149 149 Vol. 2]}}</ref>

====Arabia====
[[File:OldtownSanaa.JPG|thumb|[[Sana'a|Old City of Sana'a]], Yemen]]
Ibn Battuta remained in Mecca for some time (the ''[[Rihla]]'' suggests about three years, from September 1327 until autumn 1330). Problems with chronology, however, lead commentators to suggest that he may have left after the 1328 ''hajj''.{{efn|Ibn Battuta states that he stayed in Mecca for the ''hajj'' of 1327, 1328, 1329 and 1330 but gives comparatively little information on his stays. After the ''hajj'' of 1330 he left for East Africa, arriving back again in Mecca before the 1332 ''hajj''. He states that he then left for India and arrived at the Indus river on 12 September 1333; however, although he does not specify exact dates, the description of his complex itinerary and the clues in the text to the chronology suggest that this journey to India lasted around three years. He must have therefore either left Mecca two years earlier than stated or arrived in India two years later. The issue is discussed by {{harvnb|Gibb|1962|pp=528–537 Vol. 2}}, {{harvnb|Hrbek|1962}} and {{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=132–133}}.}}

After the ''hajj'' in either 1328 or 1330, he made his way to the port of [[Jeddah]] on the [[Red Sea]] coast. From there he followed the coast in a series of boats (known as a jalbah, these were small craft made of wooden planks sewn together, lacking an established phrase) making slow progress against the prevailing south-easterly winds. Once in [[Rasulids|Yemen]] he visited [[Zabīd]] and later the highland town of [[Ta'izz]], where he met the [[Rasulid]] dynasty king (''[[Malik]]'') Mujahid Nur al-Din Ali. Ibn Battuta also mentions visiting [[Sana'a]], but whether he actually did so is doubtful.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=115–116, 134}}</ref> In all likelihood, he went directly from Ta'izz to the important trading port of [[Aden]], arriving around the beginning of 1329 or 1331.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1962|p=373 Vol. 2}}</ref>

====Somalia====
[[File:Zeila, Somalia.jpg|thumb|right|The port and waterfront of [[Zeila]]]]
From [[Aden]], Ibn Battuta embarked on a ship heading for [[Zeila]] on the coast of [[Somalia]]. He then moved on to [[Cape Guardafui]] further down the Somali seaboard, spending about a week in each location. Later he would visit [[Mogadishu]], the then pre-eminent city of the "[[Land of the Berbers]]" (بلد البربر ''Balad al-Barbar'', the medieval Arabic term for the [[Horn of Africa]]).<ref name="Sanjay">Sanjay Subrahmanyam, ''The Career and Legend of Vasco Da Gama'', (Cambridge University Press: 1998), pp. 120–121.</ref><ref>J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver, Roland Anthony Oliver, ''The Cambridge History of Africa'' (Cambridge University Press: 1977), p. 190.</ref><ref>[[George Wynn Brereton Huntingford]], Agatharchides, ''The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: With Some Extracts from Agatharkhidēs "On the Erythraean Sea"'' (Hakluyt Society: 1980), p. 83.</ref>

When Ibn Battuta arrived in 1332, Mogadishu stood at the zenith of its prosperity. He described it as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, noted for its high-quality fabric that was exported to other countries, including [[Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Helen Chapin Metz |editor-link=Helen Chapin Metz |url=https://archive.org/details/somaliacountryst00metz |title=Somalia: A Country Study |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8444-0775-3}}</ref> Battuta added that the city was ruled by a [[Somalis|Somali]] sultan, Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh 'Umar.<ref name="Versteegh">{{cite book |last=Versteegh |first=Kees |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWQOAQAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics, Volume 4 |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-9004144767 |page=276 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016014246/https://books.google.com/books?id=OWQOAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Laisas">David D. Laitin, Said S. Samatar, ''Somalia: Nation in Search of a State'', (Westview Press: 1987), p. 15.</ref> He noted that Sultan Abu Bakr had dark skin complexion and spoke in his native tongue (Somali), but was also fluent in Arabic.<ref name="Bulliet 313">{{cite book |last=Bulliet |first=Richard |title=The Earth and Its Peoples, Brief Edition, Complete |year=2011 |publisher=Cengage Learning |page=313 |isbn=978-1133171102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bec8AAAAQBAJ&q=abu+bakr+had+skin+darker+than+his+own+and+spoke+a+different+native+language+%28Somali%29&pg=PA313 |access-date=6 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Laisas"/><ref>Chapurukha Makokha Kusimba, ''The Rise and Fall of Swahili States'', (AltaMira Press: 1999), p. 58</ref> The Sultan also had a retinue of [[Vizier|wazir]]s (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal [[eunuch]]s, and other officials at his beck and call.<ref name="Laisas"/>

====Swahili coast====
[[File:GreatMosque.jpg|upright=0.75|thumb|The Great Mosque of [[Kilwa Kisiwani]], made of [[Coral|coral stones]], is the largest Mosque of its kind.]]
Ibn Battuta continued by ship south to the [[Swahili coast]], a region then known in Arabic as the ''Bilad al-Zanj'' ("Land of the [[Zanj]]")<ref>{{harvnb|Chittick|1977|p=191}}</ref> with an overnight stop at the island town of [[Mombasa]].<ref>{{harvnb |Gibb|1962|p=379 Vol. 2}}</ref> Although relatively small at the time, Mombasa would become important in the following century.<ref>{{harvnb |Dunn|2005|p=126}}</ref> After a journey along the coast, Ibn Battuta next arrived in the island town of [[Kilwa]] in present-day [[Tanzania]],<ref>{{harvnb| Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA192 192 Vol. 2]}}</ref> which had become an important transit centre of the gold trade.<ref>{{harvnb |Dunn|2005|pp=126–127}}</ref> He described the city as "one of the finest and most beautifully built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with ''dīs'' reeds".<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1962|p=380 Vol. 2}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA193 193, Vol. 2]}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta recorded his visit to the [[Kilwa Sultanate]] in 1330, and commented favourably on the humility and religion of its ruler, [[Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman]], a descendant of the legendary [[Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi]]. He further wrote that the authority of the Sultan extended from [[Malindi]] in the north to [[Inhambane]] in the south and was particularly impressed by the planning of the city, believing it to be the reason for Kilwa's success along the coast. During this period, he described the construction of the [[Palace of Husuni Kubwa]] and a significant extension to the [[Great Mosque of Kilwa]], which was made of [[Coral rag|coral stones]] and was the largest mosque of its kind. With a change in the [[monsoon]] winds, Ibn Battuta sailed back to Arabia, first to [[Oman]] and the [[Strait of Hormuz]] then on to Mecca for the ''hajj'' of 1330 (or 1332).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Red Sea to East Africa and the Arabian Sea: 1328–1330 |url=https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/red-sea-east-africa-and-arabian-sea-1328-1330 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206203212/https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/red-sea-east-africa-and-arabian-sea-1328-1330 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=6 December 2017 |website=orias.berkeley.edu}}</ref>

===Itinerary 1332–1347===
<div style="overflow: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
{{Location map many|Asia (equirectangular)| width=800| float= none
| caption=Ibn Battuta Itinerary 1332–1346 (Black Sea Area, Central Asia, India, South East Asia and China)
| overlay_image=Battuta-path-1332-1346.png
| label1=[[Anatolia]] | lat1=39 | long1=32 | label1_size=75 | mark1size=6
| label2=[[Alanya]] | lat2=36.55 | long2=32 | label2_size=75 | mark2size=6
| label3=[[Konya]] | lat3=37.866667 | long3=32.483333 | label3_size=75 | mark3size=6
| label4=[[Sinop, Turkey|Sinop]] | lat4=42.033333 | long4=35.15 | label4_size=75 | mark4size=6| position4=top
| label5=[[Feodosiya]] | lat5=45.0488889 | long5=35.379167 | label5_size=75 | mark5size=6
| label6=[[Astrakhan]] | lat6=46.35 | long6=48.05 | label6_size=75 | mark6size=6
| label7=[[Constantinople]] | lat7=41.01224 | long7=28.976018 | label7_size=75 | mark7size=6
| label8=[[Hagia Sophia]] | lat8=41.008611 | long8=28.98 | label8_size=75 | mark8size=6| position8=left
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</div>

====Anatolia====
[[File:Андроник III Палеолог.jpg|upright=0.75|thumb|right|Ibn Battuta may have met [[Andronikos III Palaiologos]] in late 1332.]]

After his third pilgrimage to Mecca, Ibn Battuta decided to seek employment with the [[Delhi Sultanate|Sultan of Delhi]], [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]]. In the autumn of 1330 (or 1332), he set off for the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] controlled territory of [[Anatolia]] to take an overland route to India.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|pp=137–139}} He crossed the [[Red Sea]] and the [[Eastern Desert]] to reach the [[Nile valley]] and then headed north to [[Cairo]]. From there he crossed the [[Sinai Peninsula]] to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and then travelled north again through some of the towns that he had visited in 1326. From the Syrian port of [[Latakia]], a [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] ship took him (and his companions) to [[Alanya]] on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey.{{sfn|Gibb|1962|pp=413–416 Vol. 2}}

He then journeyed westwards along the coast to the port of [[Antalya]].{{sfn|Gibb|1962|p=417 Vol. 2}} In the town he met members of one of the semi-religious ''fityan'' associations.{{sfn|Gibb|1962|pp=418–16 Vol. 2}}{{verification needed|reason=This page range is nonsensical|date=March 2022}} These were a feature of most Anatolian towns in the 13th and 14th centuries. The members were young artisans and had at their head a leader with the title of ''Akhil''.{{sfn|Taeschner|1986}} The associations specialised in welcoming travellers. Ibn Battuta was very impressed with the hospitality that he received and would later stay in their hospices in more than 25 towns in Anatolia.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=146}} From Antalya Ibn Battuta headed inland to [[Eğirdir]] which was the capital of the [[Hamidids]]. He spent [[Ramadan]] (June 1331 or May 1333) in the city.{{sfn|Gibb|1962|pp=422–423 Vol. 2}}

From this point his itinerary across Anatolia in the ''Rihla'' becomes confused. Ibn Battuta describes travelling westwards from Eğirdir to [[Milas]] and then skipping {{cvt|420|km}} eastward past Eğirdir to [[Konya]]. He then continues travelling in an easterly direction, reaching [[Erzurum]] from where he skips {{cvt|1160|km}} back to [[Birgi]] which lies north of Milas.{{sfn|Gibb|1962|pp=424–428 Vol. 2}} Historians believe that Ibn Battuta visited a number of towns in central Anatolia, but not in the order in which he describes.<ref name="divag">{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=149–150, 157 Note 13}}; {{harvnb|Gibb|1962|pp=533–535, Vol. 2}}; {{harvnb|Hrbek|1962|pp=455–462}}.</ref>{{efn|This is one of several occasions where Ibn Battuta interrupts a journey to branch out on a side trip only to later skip back and resume the original journey. Gibb describes these side trips as "divagations".{{sfn|Gibb|1962|pp=533–535, Vol. 2}} The divagation through Anatolia is considered credible as Ibn Battuta describes numerous personal experiences and there is sufficient time between leaving Mecca in mid-November 1330 and reaching Eğirdir on the way back from Erzurum at the start of Ramadan (8 June) in 1331.<ref name=divag/> Gibb still admits that he found it difficult to believe that Ibn Battuta actually travelled as far east as Erzurum.{{sfn|Gibb|1962|p=535, Vol. 2}}}}

When Ibn Battuta arrived in [[İznik]], it had just been conquered by [[Orhan]], sultan of the [[Ottoman Beylik]]. Orhan was away and his wife was in command of the nearby stationed soldiers, Ibn Battuta gave this account of Orhan's wife: "A pious and excellent woman. She treated me honourably, gave me hospitality and sent gifts."<ref name="books.google.co.uk">Leslie P. Peirce (1993). [https://books.google.com/books?id=L6-VRgVzRcUC&q=ibn+battuta&pg=PA35 ''The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire'']. 
Oxford University Press.</ref>

Ibn Battuta's account of Orhan:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boyar |first1=Ebru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHd2OizxNCcC&q=%E2%80%9Cthe+greatest+of+the+kings+of+the+Turkmens+and+the+richest+in+wealth%2C+lands+and+military+forces&pg=PA21 |title=A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul |last2=Fleet |first2=Kate |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-48444-2 |language=en |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>

{{blockquote
| quote = The greatest of the kings of the Turkmens and the richest in wealth, lands and military forces. Of fortresses, he possesses nearly a hundred, and for most of his time, he is continually engaged in making a round of them, staying in each fortress for some days to put it in good order and examine its condition. It is said that he has never stayed for a whole month in any one town. He also fights with the infidels continually and keeps them under siege.
| author = Ibn Battuta}}

Ibn Battuta had also visited [[Bursa]] which at the time was the capital of the Ottoman Beylik, he described Bursa as "a great and important city with fine [[bazaar]]s and wide streets, surrounded on all sides with gardens and running springs".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kia |first=Mehrdad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JFxDwAAQBAJ&q=%E2%80%9Cthe+greatest+of+the+kings+of+the+Turkmens+and+the+richest+in+wealth%2C+lands+and+military+forces&pg=PA22 |title=The Ottoman Empire |year=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-34441-1}}</ref>

He also visited the [[Beylik of Aydin]]. Ibn Battuta stated that the ruler of the Beylik of Aydin had twenty Greek slaves at the entrance of his palace and Ibn Battuta was given a Greek slave as a gift.<ref name="books.google.co.uk" /> His visit to Anatolia was the first time in his travels he acquired a servant; the ruler of Aydin gifted him his first slave. Later, he purchased a young Greek girl for 40 [[dinars]] in [[Ephesus]], was gifted another slave in [[İzmir]] by the Sultan, and purchased a second girl in [[Balikesir]]. The conspicuous evidence of his wealth and prestige continued to grow.<ref>Ross E. Dunn, Muḥammad Ibn-ʿAbdallāh Ibn-Baṭṭūṭa, [https://books.google.com/books?id=h7IwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 ''The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century''], University of California Press.</ref>

====Central Asia====
[[File:Bactrian camel in Kazakhstan.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Bactrian camel]] (one of the symbols of [[Silk Road]] caravans) in front of [[Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi]] in the city of [[Turkistan (city)|Turkestan]], Kazakhstan]]
From [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]], he took a sea route to the [[Crimean Peninsula]], arriving in the [[Golden Horde]] realm. He went to the port town of [[Azov]], where he met with the emir of the Khan, then to the large and rich city of [[Majar (Golden Horde)|Majar]]. He left Majar to meet with [[Uzbeg Khan]]'s travelling court ([[ordo (palace)|''Orda'']]), which was at the time near [[Mount Beshtau]]. From there he made a journey to [[Bolghar]], which became the northernmost point he reached, and noted its unusually short nights in summer (by the standards of the subtropics). Then he returned to the Khan's court and with it moved to [[Astrakhan]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

Ibn Battuta recorded that while in Bolghar he wanted to travel further north into the land of darkness. The land is snow-covered throughout ([[northern Siberia]]) and the only means of transport is dog-drawn sled. There lived a mysterious people who were reluctant to show themselves. They traded with southern people in a peculiar way. Southern merchants brought various goods and placed them in an open area on the snow in the night, then returned to their tents. Next morning they came to the place again and found their merchandise taken by the mysterious people, but in exchange they found fur-skins which could be used for making valuable coats, jackets, and other winter garments. The trade was done between merchants and the mysterious people without seeing each other. As Ibn Battuta was not a merchant and saw no benefit of going there he abandoned the travel to this land of darkness.<ref>Safarname Ibn Battutah, vol. 1</ref>

[[File:Golden Horde flag 1339.svg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Flag of the [[Golden Horde]] during the reign of [[Öz Beg Khan]]]]
When they reached Astrakhan, [[Öz Beg Khan]] had just given permission for one of his pregnant wives, Princess Bayalun, a daughter of [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Andronikos III Palaiologos]], to return to her home city of [[Constantinople]] to give birth. Ibn Battuta talked his way into this expedition, which would be his first beyond the boundaries of the Islamic world.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=169–171}}</ref>

Arriving in Constantinople towards the end of 1332 (or 1334), he met the [[Byzantine]] emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. He visited the great church of [[Hagia Sophia]] and spoke with an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] priest about his travels in the city of Jerusalem. After a month in the city, Ibn Battuta returned to Astrakhan, then arrived in the capital city [[Sarai al-Jadid]] and reported the accounts of his travels to Sultan [[Öz Beg Khan]] (r. 1313–1341). Then he continued past the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and [[Aral Sea]]s to [[Bukhara]] and [[Samarkand]], the latter of which he praised as "one of the grandest and finest cities, and the most perfect of them". Here he visited the court of another Mongol khan, [[Tarmashirin]] (r. 1331–1334) of the [[Chagatai Khanate]].<ref name="hajjguide">{{cite web |title=The_Longest_Hajj_Part2_6 |url=http://www.hajjguide.org/The_Longest_Hajj_Part2/html/The_Longest_Hajj_Part2_6.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924095213/http://www.hajjguide.org/The_Longest_Hajj_Part2/html/The_Longest_Hajj_Part2_6.htm |archive-date=24 September 2014 |access-date=13 June 2015 |publisher=hajjguide.org}}</ref> He also noted the ruined state of the city walls, a result of the [[Siege of Samarkand (1220)|Mongol invasion in 1220]] and subsequent infighting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foltz |first1=Richard |title=A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East |date=2019 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |location=London |page=95 |chapter=Tajiks and Turks}}</ref> From there, he journeyed south to [[Afghanistan]], then crossed into India via the mountain passes of the [[Hindu Kush]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Khan Academy |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/ibn-battuta |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206202102/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/ibn-battuta |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=6 December 2017 |website=Khan Academy}}</ref> In the ''Rihla'', he mentions these mountains and the history of the range in slave trading.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=171–178}}</ref><ref name=sl2009/> He wrote,

{{blockquote|text=After this I proceeded to the city of [[Parwan Province|Barwan]], in the road to which is a high mountain, covered with snow and exceedingly cold; they call it the Hindu Kush, that is Hindu-slayer, because most of the slaves brought thither from India die on account of the intenseness of the cold.|sign=Ibn Battuta|source=Chapter XIII, Rihla{{snd}} Khorasan<ref name="sl2009">Ibn Battuta, The Travels of Ibn Battuta (Translated by Samuel Lee, 2009), {{ISBN|978-1-60520-621-9}}, pp. 97–98</ref>{{sfn|Lee|1829|p=191}}}}

Ibn Battuta and his party reached the [[Indus River]] on 12 September 1333.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1971|p=592 Vol. 3}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1855|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w_YHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA92 92 Vol. 3]}}; {{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=178, 181 Note 26}}</ref> From there, he made his way to Delhi and became acquainted with the sultan, [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]].

====Indian subcontinent====
[[File:Feroze Sha's tomb with adjoining Madrasa.JPG|right|thumb|Tomb of Feroze Shah Tughluq, successor of [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]] in Delhi. Ibn Battuta served as a ''[[qadi]]'' or judge for six years during Muhammad bin Tughluq's reign.]]

[[Muhammad bin Tughluq]] was renowned as the wealthiest man in the Muslim world at that time. He patronised various scholars, Sufis, [[qadi]]s, [[vizier]]s, and other functionaries in order to consolidate his rule. On the strength of his years of study in Mecca, Ibn Battuta was appointed a ''qadi'' (judge) by the sultan.{{sfn|Aiya|1906|p=328}} However, he found it difficult to enforce [[Islamic law]] beyond the sultan's court in [[Delhi]], due to lack of Islamic appeal in India.<ref>Jerry Bently, ''Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 121.</ref>

[[File:Darbar Hazrat Baba Farid ud Deen Ganj Shakar Rahmatullah Alaih - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|Ibn Battuta in 1334 visited the [[shrine of Baba Farid]] in [[Pakpattan]].<ref name=":0" />]]
It is uncertain by which route Ibn Battuta entered the [[Indian subcontinent]] but it is known that he was kidnapped and robbed by rebels on his journey to the Indian coast. He may have entered via the [[Khyber Pass]] and [[Peshawar]], or further south.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waines |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqH3AgAAQBAJ&q=ibn+battuta+peshawar&pg=PP60 |title=The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta: Uncommon Tales of a Medieval Adventurer |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-85773-065-7}}</ref> He crossed the [[Sutlej river]] near the city of [[Pakpattan]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bH4BAAAAQAAJ&q=timur+pakpattan&pg=RA1-PA113 |title=The land of the five rivers and Sindh |date=1883 |publisher=Chapman and Hall}}</ref> in modern-day Pakistan, where he paid obeisance at the [[shrine of Baba Farid]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Suvorova |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QK0aLjQtX2cC&q=ibn+battuta+pakpattan&pg=PA102 |title=Muslim Saints of South Asia: The Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-134-37006-1 }}</ref> before crossing southwest into Rajput country. From the [[Rajput]] kingdom of Sarsatti, Battuta visited [[Hansi]] in India, describing it as "among the most beautiful cities, the best constructed and the most populated; it is surrounded with a strong wall, and its founder is said to be one of the great non-Muslim kings, called Tara".<ref>André Wink, ''Al-Hind, the Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th–13th Centuries, Volume 2 of Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th–13th Centuries'' (Brill, 2002), p. 229.</ref> Upon his arrival in [[Sindh]], Ibn Battuta mentions the [[Indian rhinoceros]] that lived on the banks of the [[Indus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1971|p=596 Vol. 3}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1855|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w_YHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA100 100 Vol. 3]}}</ref>

The Sultan was erratic even by the standards of the time and for six years Ibn Battuta veered between living the high life of a trusted subordinate and falling under suspicion of [[treason]] for a variety of offences. His plan to leave on the pretext of taking another ''hajj'' was stymied by the Sultan. The opportunity for Battuta to leave Delhi finally arose in 1341 when an embassy arrived from the [[Yuan dynasty]] of China asking for permission to rebuild a [[Himalaya]]n [[Buddhist temple]] popular with Chinese pilgrims.{{efn|In the ''Rihla'' the date of Ibn Battuta's departure from Delhi is given as 17 Safar 743&nbsp;AH or 22 July 1342.{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|p=775 Vol. 4}}{{sfn|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1858|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AdUOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA4 4 Vol. 4]}} Dunn has argued that this is probably an error and to accommodate Ibn Battuta's subsequent travels and visits to the Maldives it is more likely that he left Delhi in 1341.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=238 Note 4}}}}<ref name="berkeley">{{cite web |title=The Travels of Ibn Battuta: Escape from Delhi to the Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka: 1341–1344 |url=http://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/escape-delhi-maldive-islands-and-sri-lanka-1341-1344 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116143959/http://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/travels-ibn-battuta/journey/escape-delhi-maldive-islands-and-sri-lanka-1341-1344 |archive-date=16 January 2017 |access-date=12 January 2017 |publisher=orias.berkeley.edu}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta was given charge of the embassy but en route to the coast at the start of the journey to China, he and his large retinue were attacked by a group of [[thuggee|bandits]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=215}}; {{harvnb|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|p=777 Vol. 4}}</ref> Separated from his companions, he was robbed, kidnapped, and nearly lost his life.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp=773–782 Vol. 4}}; {{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=213–217}}</ref> Despite this setback, within ten days he had caught up with his group and continued on to [[Khambhat]] in the Indian state of [[Gujarat]]. From there, they sailed to [[Calicut]] (now known as Kozhikode), where Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] would land two centuries later. While in Calicut, Battuta was the guest of the ruling [[Zamorin]].{{sfn|Aiya|1906|p=328}} While Ibn Battuta visited a mosque on shore, a storm arose and one of the ships of his expedition sank.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp=814–815 Vol. 4}}</ref> The other ship then sailed without him only to be seized by a local [[Sumatra]]n king a few months later.

Afraid to return to Delhi and be seen as a failure, he stayed for a time in southern India under the protection of Jamal-ud-Din, ruler of the small but powerful [[Nawayath Sultanate]] on the banks of the [[Sharavathi]] river next to the [[Arabian Sea]]. This area is today known as Hosapattana and lies in the [[Honnavar Taluk]] of [[Uttara Kannada]]. Following the overthrow of the sultanate, Ibn Battuta had no choice but to leave India. Although determined to continue his journey to China, he first took a detour to visit the [[Maldive Islands]] where he worked as a judge.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buchan |first=James |date=21 December 2002 |title=Review: The Travels of Ibn Battutah edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview2 |url-status=live |access-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207085518/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview2 |archive-date=7 December 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=This is a book review. Can't we cite the book instead?|date=March 2022}}

He spent nine months on the islands, much longer than he had intended. When he arrived at the capital, [[Malé]], Ibn Battuta did not plan to stay. However, the leaders of the formerly [[Buddhist]] nation that had recently [[Islam in the Maldives|converted to Islam]] were looking for a chief judge, someone who knew Arabic and the Qur'an. To convince him to stay they gave him pearls, gold jewellery, and slaves, while at the same time making it impossible for him to leave by ship. Compelled into staying, he became a chief judge and married into the royal family of [[Omar I of the Maldives|Omar I]].

Ibn Battuta took on his duties as a judge with keenness and strived to transform local practices to conform to a stricter application of Muslim law. He commanded that men who did not attend Friday prayer be publicly whipped, and that robbers' right hand be cut off. He forbade women from being topless in public, which had previously been the custom.<ref>Jerry Bently, ''Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 126.</ref> However, these and other strict judgements began to antagonise the island nation's rulers, and involved him in power struggles and political intrigues. Ibn Battuta resigned from his job as chief [[qadi]], although in all likelihood it was inevitable that he would have been dismissed.

Throughout his travels, Ibn Battuta kept close company with women, usually taking a wife whenever he stopped for any length of time at one place, and then divorcing her when he moved on. While in the Maldives, Ibn Battuta took four wives. In his ''Travels'' he wrote that in the Maldives the effect of small [[dowries]] and female non-mobility combined to, in effect, make a marriage a convenient temporary arrangement for visiting male travellers and sailors.

From the Maldives, he carried on to [[Sri Lanka]] and visited [[Sri Pada]] and [[Tenavaram temple]]. Ibn Battuta's ship almost sank on embarking from Sri Lanka, only for the vessel that came to his rescue to suffer an attack by pirates. Stranded onshore, he worked his way back to the [[Madurai]] kingdom in India. Here he spent some time in the court of the short-lived [[Madurai Sultanate]] under Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani,{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=245}} from where he returned to the Maldives and boarded a Chinese [[Junk (ship)|junk]], still intending to reach China and take up his ambassadorial post.

He reached the port of [[Chittagong]] in modern-day [[Bangladesh]] intending to travel to [[Sylhet]] to meet [[Shah Jalal]], who became so renowned that Ibn Battuta, then in Chittagong, made a one-month journey through the mountains of [[Kamarupa|Kamaru]] near Sylhet to meet him. On his way to Sylhet, Ibn Battuta was greeted by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come to assist him on his journey many days before he had arrived. At the meeting in 1345 CE, Ibn Battuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean, fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a cave, where his only item of value was a goat he kept for milk, butter, and yogurt. He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal were foreign and known for their strength and bravery. He also mentions that many people would visit the Shah to seek guidance. Ibn Battuta went further north into [[Assam]], then turned around and continued with his original plan.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

====Southeast Asia====
{{See also|Golden Chersonese}}

In 1345, Ibn Battuta travelled to [[Samudra Pasai]] Sultanate (called "al-Jawa") in present-day [[Aceh]], Northern [[Sumatra]], after 40 days voyage from Sunur Kawan.{{sfn|Yule|1916|pp=91–92}}{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp=873–874 Vol. 4}} He notes in his travel log that the ruler of Samudra Pasai was a pious Muslim named Sultan Al-Malik Al-Zahir Jamal-ad-Din, who performed his religious duties with utmost zeal and often waged campaigns against animists in the region. The island of [[Sumatra]], according to Ibn Battuta, was rich in [[camphor]], [[areca nut]], [[clove]]s, and [[tin]].<ref name="Berkeley">{{cite web |title=Ibn Battuta's Trip: Chapter 9 Through the Straits of Malacca to China 1345–1346 |url=http://ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu/9china.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317035650/http://ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu/9china.html |archive-date=17 March 2013 |access-date=14 June 2013 |website=The Travels of Ibn Battuta A Virtual Tour with the 14th Century Traveler |publisher=Berkeley.edu}}</ref>

The ''[[madh'hab]]'' he observed was Imam [[Al-Shafi‘i]], whose customs were similar to those he had previously seen in [[coastal India]], especially among the [[Mappila]] Muslims, who were also followers of Imam Al-Shafi‘i. At that time Samudra Pasai marked the end of [[Divisions of the world in Islam#Dar al-Islam|Dar al-Islam]], because no territory east of this was ruled by a Muslim. Here he stayed for about two weeks in the wooden walled town as a guest of the sultan, and then the sultan provided him with supplies and sent him on his way on one of his own [[junks]] to China.<ref name="Berkeley" />

Ibn Battuta first sailed for 21 days to a place called "Mul Jawa" (island of Java or [[Majapahit]] Java) which was a center of [[Mandala (political model)|a Hindu empire]]. The empire spanned 2 months of travel, and ruled over the country of Qaqula and Qamara. He arrived at the walled city named Qaqula/Kakula, and observed that the city had war junks for pirate raiding and collecting tolls and that elephants were employed for various purposes. He met the ruler of Mul Jawa and stayed as a guest for three days.{{sfn|Yule|1916|p=96–97}}{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp=880–883 Vol. 4}}{{sfn|Waines|2010|p=61}}

Ibn Battuta then sailed to a state called Kaylukari in the land of [[Tawalisi]], where he met [[Urduja]], a local princess. Urduja was a brave warrior, and her people were opponents of the [[Yuan dynasty]]. She was described as an "idolater", but could write the phrase [[Bismillah]] in [[Islamic calligraphy]]. The locations of Kaylukari and Tawalisi are disputed. Kaylukari might referred to [[Po Klong Garai]] in [[Champa]] (now southern Vietnam), and Urduja might be an aristocrat of [[Champa]] or [[Dai Viet]]. Filipinos widely believe that Kaylukari was in present-day [[Pangasinan Province]] of the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Balmaceda Guiterrez |first=Chit |title=In search of a Princess |url=http://www.urduja.com/princess.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927233532/http://www.urduja.com/princess.html |archive-date=27 September 2013 |access-date=26 September 2013 |website=Filipinas Magazine}}</ref> Their opposition to the Mongols might indicate 2 possible locations: Japan and Java (Majapahit).{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp=884–885 Vol. 4}} In modern times, Urduja has been featured in Filipino textbooks and films as a national heroine. Numerous other locations have been proposed, ranging from [[Java]] to somewhere in [[Guangdong Province]], China. However, Sir [[Henry Yule]] and [[William Henry Scott (historian)|William Henry Scott]] consider both Tawalisi and Urduja to be entirely fictitious. From Kaylukari, Ibn Battuta finally reached [[Quanzhou]] in [[Fujian]] Province, China.{{citation needed |date=May 2025}}

====China====
[[File:The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling.jpg|thumb|Ibn Battuta provides the earliest mention of the [[Great Wall of China]] with regard to medieval geographic studies, although he did not see it.]]

In the year 1345, Ibn Battuta arrived at [[Quanzhou]] in China's [[Fujian]] province, then under the rule of the Mongol-led [[Yuan dynasty]]. One of the first things he noted was that Muslims referred to the city as "Zaitun" (meaning [[olive]]), but Ibn Battuta could not find any olives anywhere. He mentioned local artists and their mastery in making portraits of newly arrived foreigners; these were for security purposes. Ibn Battuta praised the craftsmen and their [[silk]] and [[porcelain]], as well as fruits such as [[plums]] and [[watermelons]] and the advantages of paper money.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p = 258}}

He described the manufacturing process of large ships in the city of [[Quanzhou]].<ref>تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار,ابن بطوطة,ص 398</ref> He also mentioned Chinese cuisine and its use of animals such as frogs, pigs, and even dogs, which were sold in the markets, and noted that the chickens in China were larger than those in the west. Scholars however have pointed out numerous errors given in Ibn Battuta's account of China, for example confusing the [[Yellow River]] with the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] and other waterways, as well as believing that porcelain was made from coal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haw |first=Stephen G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSfvfr8VQSEC&pg=PA67 |title=Marco Polo's China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-27542-7 |page=67}}</ref>

In Quanzhou, Ibn Battuta was welcomed by the head of the local Muslim merchants (possibly a fānzhǎng or "Leader of Foreigners" {{zh|t=番長|s=番长|p=fānzhǎng}}) and Sheikh al-Islam ([[Imam]]), who came to meet him with [[flag]]s, [[drum]]s, [[trumpet]]s, and musicians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewel of Chinese Muslim's Heritage |url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/China%201.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102064316/http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/China%201.pdf |archive-date=2 January 2017 |access-date=14 March 2017 |website=Muslimheritage.com}}</ref> Ibn Battuta noted that the Muslim populace lived within a separate portion in the city where they had their own mosques, bazaars, and hospitals. In Quanzhou, he met two prominent Iranians, Burhan al-Din of [[Kazerun]] and Sharif al-Din from [[Tabriz]]<ref name="google">{{Cite book |last=Park, H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-2iWcxD2e8C |title=Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia |year=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01868-6 |page=237 |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> (both of whom were influential figures noted in the ''[[History of Yuan|Yuan History]]'' as "A-mi-li-ding" and "Sai-fu-ding", respectively).<ref name="google2">{{Cite book |last1=Wade |first1=G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNsk7tLkMU4C |title=Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past |last2=Tana |first2=L. |year=2012 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-4311-96-0 |page=131}}</ref> While in Quanzhou he ascended the "[[Mount Qingyuan|Mount of the Hermit]]" and briefly visited a well-known [[Taoist]] monk in a cave.

He then travelled south along the Chinese coast to [[Guangzhou]], where he lodged for two weeks with one of the city's wealthy merchants.{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=259}}

From Guangzhou he went north to Quanzhou and then proceeded to the city of [[Fuzhou]], where he took up residence with Zahir al-Din and met Kawam al-Din and a fellow countryman named Al-Bushri of [[Ceuta]], who had become a wealthy merchant in China. Al-Bushri accompanied Ibn Battuta northwards to [[Hangzhou]] and paid for the gifts that Ibn Battuta would present to the [[Emperor Huizong of Yuan]].<ref name="google4">{{Cite book |last=Dunn |first=R. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZF2spo9BKacC |title=The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century |year=1986 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05771-5 |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta said that [[Hangzhou]] was one of the largest cities he had ever seen,<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=260}}</ref> and he noted its charm, describing that the city sat on a [[West Lake|beautiful lake]] surrounded by gentle green hills.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Elliott |first=Michael |date=21 July 2011 |title=The Enduring Message of Hangzhou |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=5 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117180753/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |archive-date=17 January 2012}}</ref> He mentions the city's Muslim quarter and resided as a guest with a family of Egyptian origin.<ref name="google4" /> During his stay at Hangzhou he was particularly impressed by the large number of well-crafted and well-painted Chinese wooden ships, with coloured sails and silk awnings, assembling in the canals. Later he attended a banquet of the Yuan administrator of the city named Qurtai, who according to Ibn Battuta, was very fond of the skills of local Chinese [[Evocation|conjurers]].{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|pp = 904, 907}} Ibn Battuta also mentions locals who worshipped a [[solar deity]].<ref name="google5">{{Cite book |last1=Ibn Batuta |first1=S. |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_22IbAQAAMAAJ |title=The Travels of Ibn Batūta |last2=Lee |last3=Oriental Translation Fund |year=1829 |publisher=Oriental Translation Committee |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref>

He described floating through the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] on a boat watching crop fields, orchids, merchants in black silk, and women in flowered silk and priests also in silk.<ref name="google6">{{Cite book |last=Rumford |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-m4X84BBgwC |title=Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325–1354 |date=2001 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-56256-8}}</ref> In [[Beijing]], Ibn Battuta referred to himself as the long-lost ambassador from the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and was invited to the Yuan imperial court of Emperor Huizong (who according to Ibn Battuta was worshipped by some people in China). Ibn Batutta noted that the palace of [[Khanbaliq]] was made of wood and that the ruler's "head wife" ([[Empress Gi|Empress Qi]]) held processions in her honour.<ref name="google7">{{Cite book |last=Snodgrass |first=M. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXyyYs2cRDcC |title=Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire |year=2010 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-1-4381-1906-9}}</ref>{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=260}}

Ibn Battuta also wrote he had heard of "the rampart of [[Yajuj and Majuj]]" that was "sixty days' travel" from the city of Zeitun (Quanzhou);{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|p=896}} [[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb]] notes that Ibn Battuta believed that the [[Great Wall of China]] was built by [[Dhul-Qarnayn]] to contain Gog and Magog as mentioned in the [[Quran]].{{sfn|Gibb|Beckingham|1994|p = 896}} However, Ibn Battuta, who asked about the wall in China, could find no one who had either seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it.<ref>{{Citation |last=Haw |first=Stephen G. |title=Marco Polo's China: a Venetian in the realm of Khubilai Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSfvfr8VQSEC&pg=PA54 |pages=52–57 |year=2006|series=Volume 3 of Routledge studies in the early history of Asia |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-34850-8}}</ref>

Ibn Battuta travelled from [[Beijing]] to Hangzhou, and then proceeded to [[Fuzhou]]. Upon his return to Quanzhou, he soon boarded a Chinese junk owned by the [[Sultan]] of [[Samudera Pasai Sultanate]] heading for Southeast Asia, whereupon Ibn Battuta was unfairly charged a hefty sum by the crew and lost much of what he had collected during his stay in China.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|pp=259–261}}</ref>

Battuta claimed that the Emperor Huizong of Yuan had interred with him in his grave six slave soldiers and four girl slaves.<ref name="BonnettHolder2009">{{Cite book |last1=Bonnett |first1=Aubrey W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSQrAQAAIAAJ&q=battuta+slave+girl+damascus |title=Continuing Perspectives on the Black Diaspora |last2=Holder |first2=Calvin B.  |publisher=University Press of America |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7618-4662-8 |page=26}}</ref> Silver, gold, weapons, and carpets were put into the grave.<ref name="Harvey2007">{{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=L. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Px_AAAAMAAJ&q=battuta+slave+girl+damascus |title=Ibn Battuta |publisher=I. B. Tauris |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84511-394-0 |page=51}}</ref>