Ibn Battuta Visits Mecca Background: Ideas as well as goods traveled along the Muslim trade routes that connected Asia, Europe, and Africa. Travelers like Ibn Battuta also spread ideas and information. Ibn Battuta was a Muslim traveler who spent 24 years traveling the Muslim world to meet scholars and rulers. His travel journal gives us a first- hand account of people, places, and historical events he witnessed. Read the journal entry below about Ibn Battuta s visit to Mecca and answer the questions on your notes sheet. Performing the Hajj pilgrimage We saw before our eyes the illustrious Kaaba, like a bride displayed on the bridal chair of majesty and the proud mantles of beauty... We made the seven- fold circulation of arrival and kissed the Holy [Black] Stone. We performed the prayer of two bowings at the Station of Abraham and clung to the curtains of the Kaaba between the door and the Black Stone, where prayer is answered. We drank of the water of the well of Zamzam which, if you drink it seeking restoration from illness, God restores you; if you drink it for satiation from hunger, God satisfies you; if you drink it to quench your thirst, God quenches it... Praise be to God Who has honored us by visitation to this Holy House. The pious kindness of the people of Mecca The inhabitants of Mecca are distinguished by many excellent and noble activities and qualities, by their kindness to the humble and weak, and by their kindness to strangers. When any of them makes a feast, he begins by giving food to those who are poor and without resources. The majority of these unfortunates are to be found by the bakeries, and when anyone has his bread baked and takes it away to his house, they follow him and he gives each one of them some bread, sending away none disappointed. Even if he has but a single loaf, he gives away a third or a half of it, cheerfully and without any grudgingness. The people here are so generous. The cleanliness of the people of Mecca The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white robes, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and make free use of toothpicks of green arak- wood. The Meccan women are extraordinarily beautiful and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their food. They visit the mosque every Thursday night, wearing their finest apparel; and the whole sanctuary is saturated with the smell of their perfume. When one of these women goes away the odor of the perfume clings to the place after she has gone.
Ibn Battuta Visits Mogadishu (East Africa) Ibn Battuta s visit to Mogadishu (East Africa) and answer the questions on your notes sheet. Treatment of Visiting Merchants On leaving Zayla we sailed for fifteen days and came to Maqdashaw (Mogadishu), which is an enormous town. [with] many resources; they own large numbers of camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day [for food], and also have many sheep. It is the custom of the people of this town that, when a vessel (ship) reaches port, it is met by sumbuqs, which are small boats, in each of which are a number of young men, each carrying a covered dish containing food. He presents this to one of the merchants on the ship saying, this is my guest, and all others do the same. Each merchant goes only to the house of the young man who is his host... The host then sells his goods for him and buys for him, and if anyone buys anything from him at too low a price, or sells to him in the absence of his host, they regard the sale as invalid (canceled). There is a profit for them in this routine Special Treatment on Friday We stayed three days and food was brought to us three times a day, for that is their custom. On the fourth day, which was a Friday, the Islamic judge and students and one of the rulers assistants came to me, bringing a set of robes. These official robes of theirs consist of a silk wrapper which one ties round his waist in place of trousers and a belt. We went to the grand mosque and made our prayers behind the area that was only for the ruler. When the leader came out of the door he said, You are heartily welcome, and you have honored our land and given us pleasure.
Ibn Battuta Visits Mali (West Africa) Ibn Battuta s visit to Mali (West Africa) and answer the questions on your notes sheet. Judgment the Character of the People of Mali The negroes possess some admirable qualities. They are fair, and have a greater hate of injustice than any other people. Their sultan (ruler) shows no mercy to anyone who is guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in their country. Visitors and people who live there have nothing to fear. There are no robbers or men of violence. The Religiousity of the Malians They are careful to observe the hours of prayer as well. On Fridays, if a man does not go early to the mosque, he cannot find a corner to pray in, on account of how it crowded it gets. It is a custom of theirs to send each boy to the mosque with his prayer- mat; the boy spreads it out for his master in a place befitting him [and remains on it] until he comes to the mosque. This is almost like reserving a spot to pray. Another of their good qualities is their desire to learn the Quran by heart. They put their children in chains if they show any backwardness in memorizing it, and they are not set free until they know it by heart. The Nakedness of the Women Among their bad qualities are the following. The women servants, slave- girls, and young girls go about in front of everyone naked, without a stitch of clothing on them. Women go into the ruler's presence naked and without coverings, and his daughters also go about naked. Court Ceremony of Mansa Sulayman The negroes are of all people the most submissive to their king and the most abject in their behavior before him If he summons any of them the person summoned takes off his clothes and puts on worn out garments, removes his turban and dons a dirty skullcap, and enters with his garments and trousers raised knee- high. He goes forward in an attitude of humility and dejection and knocks the ground hard with his elbows, then stands with bowed head and bent back listening to what [the king] says. If anyone addresses the king and receives a reply from him, he uncovers his back and throws dust over his head and back like a bather splashing himself with water. I used to wonder how it was they did not blind themselves. If the sultan delivers any remarks during his audience, those present take off their turbans and put them down, and listen in silence to what he says.
Ibn Battuta Visits Constantinople (Byzantine Empire) Background: Ideas as well as goods traveled along the Muslim trade routes that connected Asia, Europe, and Africa. Travelers like Ibn Battuta also spread ideas and information. Ibn Battuta was a 14th century Muslim traveler who spent 24 years traveling the Muslim world to meet scholars and rulers. His travel journal gives us a first hand account of people, places, and historical events he witnessed. Read the journal entry below about Ibn Battuta s visit to Constantinople and answer the questions on your notes sheet. Impressions of the City The city is enormous in size, and in two parts separated by a great river the city on the eastern bank of the river contains the residence of the Emperor, the nobles and the rest of the population. Its marketplaces and streets are spacious and paved with flagstones; each market has gates which are closed upon it at night, and the majority of the artisans and sellers in them are women. The city lies at the foot of a hill which projects about nine miles into the sea. On the top of the hill there is a small citadel and the Emperor's palace. Round this hill runs the city- wall, which is very strong and cannot be taken by assault from the ocean. Within it there are about thirteen inhabited villages. The great church is in this part of the city Visiting the Hagia Sophia Of the great church I can only describe the exterior (outside), for I did not see its interior (inside). They call it the Hagia Sophia It is one of the greatest churches of the Greeks, and is encircled by a wall so that it looks as if it were a town. It has thirteen gates and a sacred enclosure, which is about a mile long and closed by a great gate. No one is prevented from entering this enclosure, and indeed I went into it with the king's father; it resembles a concert hall with marble, and has a steam which comes from behind the Church. Outside the gate of this hall are platforms and shops. I was told that the number of monks and priests in this church runs into thousands and that inside there is another church just for women where a number of aged women who devote themselves to religious practices. It is the custom of the king, the nobles and the rest of the people to come every morning to visit this church
Ibn Battuta Visits Delhi (India) Ibn Battuta s visit to India and answer the questions on your notes sheet. On the next day we arrived at the city of Delhi, a vast and magnificent city, uniting beauty with strength. It is surrounded by a wall that has no equal in the world, and is the largest city in India, nay rather the largest city in the entire Muslim World The cathedral mosque occupies a large area The site used to be occupied by a temple, and was converted into a mosque. In the northern court is the minaret (tall tower), which is the highest in the lands of Islam. It is built of red stone decorated with sculptures. The ball on the top is of glistening white marble and other parts are of pure gold. The passage is so wide that elephants could go up by it. A person in whom I have confidence told me that when it was built he saw an elephant climbing with stones to the top The sultan's (rulers) palace at Delhi is called Dar Sara, and contains many doors. At the first door there are a number of guards, and beside it trumpeters and flute- players. When any important person arrives, they sound their instruments and say "So- and- so has come, so- and- so has come." The same takes place also at the second and third doors. Outside the first door are platforms on which the executioners sit, for the custom amongst them is that when the sultan orders a man to be executed, the sentence is carried out at the door of the audience hall, and the body lies there over three nights. Between the first and second doors there is a large waiting area. Between the second and third doors there is a large platform on which the banker sits; in front of him there is a gold staff, which he holds in his hand, and on his head he wears a jeweled tiara of gold, surmounted by peacock feathers. The second door leads to a huge hall in which the people sit. At the third door there are platforms occupied by the scribes of the door. One of their customs is that none may pass through this door except those with permission. The scribe keeps track of anyone who comes and goes. Another of their customs is that anyone who leaves from the palace for three days or more, with or without excuse, may not enter again without the rulers permission. If he has an excuse of illness or otherwise he presents the sultan with a gift suitable to his rank