Overview

The era in which Ibn Battuta traveled to the East was exciting but turbulent, cursed by the Black Plague and the fall of mighty dynasties. His account provides a first-hand account of increased globalisation due to the rise of Islam, as well as the relationship between the Western world and India and China in the 14th century. There are insights into the complex power dynamics of the time, as well a personal glimpse of the author’s life as he sought to survive them, always staying on the move. The Ri?la contains great value as a historical document, but also for its religious commentary, especially regarding the marvels and miracles that Ibn Battuta encountered. It is also an entertaining narrative with a wealth of anecdotes, often humorous or shocking, and in many cases touchingly human. The book records the journey of Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan jurist who travels to the East, operating at high levels of government within the vibrant Muslim network of India and China. It offers fascinating details into the cultures and dynamics of that region, but goes beyond other travelogues due to the dramatic narrative of its author – tragedies and wonders fill its pages – shared for the greater glory of Allah and the edification of its contemporary audience in the West.

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9781558766341

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In summary, this book provides professors and students an invaluable primary source for topics related to world history, Middle East history, or Asian history. The colloquial language has also opened it up to a broader audience who are interested in the cultural exchanges and trade networks in the old world before the Great Discovery. - World History Bulletin

"In summary, this book provides professors and students an invaluable primary source for topics related to world history, Middle East history, or Asian history. The colloquial language has also opened it up to a broader audience who are interested in the cultural exchanges and trade networks in the old world before the Great Discovery."" - World History Bulletin"

Author Information

Ibn Battuta (1304-1377) was one of the first great travellers in world history – a century before Marco Polo. He was a scholar of Islamic law and found employment all over the Muslim world as a traveling judge or advisor to the rulers. He travelled to medieval Ghana, Mecca, India, and China and wrote his travel stories after his return to his native Tangier, Morocco, which were widely translated numerous times from Arabic. Noel King was a modern-day travelling scholar. Born and educated in British India, he taught first at Indian universities, before moving to East Africa, where he taught at universities in Kenya and Uganda before his final appointment in the 1960s as Chair of the Religion Department at the University of California in Santa Cruz.

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