1304-Circa 1378
Traveler

North African Muslim. Born in Tangier, Ibn Battuta spent more than thirty years of his life traveling throughout the Muslim world and recording his observations. His journeys covered more than seventy-five thousand miles and included visits to the capitals of every known Muslim ruler. Traveling by foot, on the backs of donkeys, camels, and horses, in boats and carts, and by any other means available, he reached as far away as Sri Lanka and parts of China in the east and north through Byzantium to Russia.

West African Travels. In 1352-1353 he visited Timbuktu and other parts of the Empire of Mali at a time when it was beginning to go into decline and the Songhai polity was coalescing to challenge it.

Later Life. Ibn Battuta spent the last two decades of his life as a qadi (judge) in...