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.
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.
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.
It would break both the "Muslim as cultural Other" narrative and, with all the accounts of saintly miracles, the scientific materialist narrative they are pushing as well. Unfortunately, the primary schools are going to prioritize goodthink over education.
I know people who would be interested in translating such writings for kids if they can get grants for it. I doubt the latter is hard.
Email me with address in profile. In short, we can discuss privately how Islamophobia will not be an issue with me and my clique. There is also a nascent Arabic pedagogy demand for private schools in the east coast US teaching to non natives and significant numbers non-Muslim I'll see if we can find you an audience.
because of some pretty blatant Islamophobia, nothing came of it
The Persians and Lysistrata were written and first performed during mortal conflicts with the Persian Empire and the city-state of Sparta, respectively and do not vilify the enemy. The Athenians were more advanced than the citizens of Colorado, it must be said.
I'm reading an abridged version of the Rihla 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.
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.
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.
For those who are interested, my favorite medieval travelogues are:
- 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.
- Ibn Fadlan [2] Abbasid envoy to the Volga Bulgars. Featuring pre-Islamic Turks, Jewish Khazars, and of course the absolutely insane viking ship burial.
> 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.
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: https://books.google.com/books?id=ltcUAAAAIAAJ )
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.
To IB's defense, he did make a point to seek after his lost progeny on the way home. One son of his in Damascus had died, and another in Maldives he decided was better off staying with his mother for reasons he doesn't mention. Moreover, there are at least three separate towns he visits where he mentions that it was the custom of the women of that place to marry travelers and then divorce them rather than leave (Oulata, the Maldives, and another town in Iraq I can't remember the name of). So you might be applying presentism there, even though I agree with the spirit of what you're saying.
Totally agree. And the amount of sexual access these upper class medieval Muslims had is pretty insane. Not only does IB marry women and leave them, he buys "slave girls" all the time on the cheap.
I have no idea what you wrote, but as somebody who grew through decades of bakeji and '?', I love how modern systems are finally mature enough to deal smoothly with non-ASCII languages.
[+] [-] zbentley|8 years ago|reply
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.
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.
[1] http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/was-...
[+] [-] tboyd47|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toomuchtodo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 616c|8 years ago|reply
Email me with address in profile. In short, we can discuss privately how Islamophobia will not be an issue with me and my clique. There is also a nascent Arabic pedagogy demand for private schools in the east coast US teaching to non natives and significant numbers non-Muslim I'll see if we can find you an audience.
[+] [-] DougBTX|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] asmx|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] HarryHirsch|8 years ago|reply
The Persians and Lysistrata were written and first performed during mortal conflicts with the Persian Empire and the city-state of Sparta, respectively and do not vilify the enemy. The Athenians were more advanced than the citizens of Colorado, it must be said.
[+] [-] tboyd47|8 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] agumonkey|8 years ago|reply
I feel that a lot of ways of the past had high values for the human existence and is never passed down.
[+] [-] boreas|8 years ago|reply
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.
For those who are interested, my favorite medieval travelogues are:
- 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.
- Ibn Fadlan [2] Abbasid envoy to the Volga Bulgars. Featuring pre-Islamic Turks, Jewish Khazars, and of course the absolutely insane viking ship burial.
[1] https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan
[+] [-] walterbell|8 years ago|reply
Facial recognition! How did this craft/profession arise historically?
[+] [-] toyg|8 years ago|reply
I suspect Battuta himself is suggesting why it started, right there - he's just swapping cause and effect, likely out of courtesy.
[+] [-] geverett|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mediterraneo10|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tboyd47|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toyg|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] boreas|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hnmullany|8 years ago|reply
Stops in norman sicily on the way back: https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Ibn-Jubayr-J-C-Broadhurst/dp/...
[+] [-] gadders|8 years ago|reply
He gets to meet a bunch of Volga Vikings and sees a ship burial.
[+] [-] vram22|8 years ago|reply
What are some other good travel tales from classical or medieval times?
[+] [-] fbn79|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alsadi|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomcooks|8 years ago|reply
Eg: I'd have read the first word as alif+ba+noon = ABN
[+] [-] toyg|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] duncan_bayne|8 years ago|reply