I researched this story previously, and it really is fascinating--especially as counterpoint to the stories of Marco Polo, a lot of which are, if not actually fabricated by the man himself and his colleagues[1], definitely "stretched" for truth to the extreme.<p>On the other hand, the documentation on Ibn Battuta's travels, even accounting for a large amount of historical skew, is informed by a lot more primary source material and other parties' accounts than Marco Polo's.<p>Because his writings are (in translation at least) incredibly accessible as stories, I've always hoped to see them getting assigned as reading to young primary school kids. A long time ago, I lobbied for that at some private/public schools in Colorado (and offered to help formulate curricula or engage with the material in after school history clubs), but because of some pretty blatant Islamophobia, nothing came of it. Ah well, boring, unengaging textbooks it is, then.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/was-marco-polo-a-fraud/" rel="nofollow">http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/was-...</a>
I'm reading an abridged version of the <i>Rihla</i> right now and just finished the section on Syria. One interesting point is the system of "waqf" or charitable foundations, that apparently encompassed every aspect of society. He relates a story where he saw a servant boy in Damascus carrying a delicate Chinese plate down the street. He accidentally dropped the plate on the ground and it broke. A passerby told him to take the pieces to the "Charitable Foundation for Utensils" and they would give him the money to buy an equivalent plate. Ibn Battuta goes on to praise the person who set up this foundation, without knowing their identity, since if the boy had gone back home with the broken plate, he would have been scolded or whipped. It seems the sole purpose of the charity was to prevent these sorts of small mistakes from spoiling relations between people. I don't know why, but I just find this remarkable.<p>The way that Ibn Battuta adeptly navigates tricky social situations in faraway lands is notable as well. At one point he is pressured into being part of a mourning ritual which clearly offends him, but afterwards, still manages to secure a private meeting with the local governor, in which he advises him not to drink alcohol. He is thanked by the governor for this advice and the townspeople as well.
I recently read the IB text and loved it. Someone already mentioned the fact that IB has more historical material than Marco Polo, but there are a bunch of other contrasts as well.<p>Most importantly to me, Marco Polo follows a sort of ethnographic style which arranges the narrative around the description of all the peoples and regions he encountered. IB describes his journey linearly in chronological order, which makes more sense to the modern reader. Secondly, we get a much greater sense of the personality of IB in his travelogue. He talks about bursting into tears from loneliness, he talks about longing to be able to stay forever on an idyllic tropical islet, etc.<p>For those who are interested, my favorite medieval travelogues are:<p>- William of Rubruck [1] Friar who traveled to the court of the Mongols. Very sharp and strong personality. Featuring a three-way debate between Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists.<p>- Ibn Fadlan [2] Abbasid envoy to the Volga Bulgars. Featuring pre-Islamic Turks, Jewish Khazars, and of course the absolutely insane viking ship burial.<p>[1] <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html" rel="nofollow">https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html</a><p>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan</a>
<i>> They had been observing us (in the palace) and drawing our portraits without our noticing it. This is a custom of theirs, I mean making portraits of all who pass through their country. In fact they have brought this to such perfection that if a stranger commits any offence that obliges him to flee from China, they send his portrait far and wide. A search is then made for him and where so ever the person bearing a resemblance to that portrait is found is arrested.</i><p>Facial recognition! How did this craft/profession arise historically?
In college I researched Abd Allah Ibn Buluggin, the last of the Zirid rulers of Granada (ruled 1073-1090). He wrote a snarky memoir in exile (1091-1095) that describes his travels, a bit, but mostly lists all the people who did him wrong during his rule. It feels like you're reading the diary of a teenage girl who has been kicked out of the cool club. This led me down a rabbit hole of reading all sorts of Islamic scholars/travelers' works, and the overriding feeling in all of it is that we're all, deep down, pretty much the same. (you can read the diary here: <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ltcUAAAAIAAJ" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=ltcUAAAAIAAJ</a> )
I was enchanted by Ibn Battuta’s travels, but I came away from them feeling that he was a bit of a jerk. Multiple times on his journey he’d marry a local woman, get her pregnant, and then move on, leaving her only a paltry sum to support herself and their kid.
Another travelogue ~ 100 years earlier. Ibn Jubayr goes from Cordoba to the Haj and on to a crumbling Baghdad (pre-mongol - interesting).<p>Stops in norman sicily on the way back:
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Ibn-Jubayr-J-C-Broadhurst/dp/8187570555" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Ibn-Jubayr-J-C-Broadhurst/dp/...</a>
Ibn Fadlan is a similar Arab "travelogue": <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan</a><p>He gets to meet a bunch of Volga Vikings and sees a ship burial.
I had read Marco Polo's story as a kid. It was somewhat entertaining, IIRC, whether made up or not.<p>What are some other good travel tales from classical or medieval times?