Teacher Development Quiz

Ibn Battuta came from a family of well-known Muslim qadis (judges) and was born in the year 1304 in Tangier, Morocco. He became the greatest medieval Muslim traveler and wrote one of the world’s most famous travel books, the Rihlah (“Travels”). His travels began at the age of 21, when he left his parents and went on the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. The journey to Mecca took 16 months – but then he decided to continue with his travels. He visited almost all the Muslim countries of the time. He eventually went to India, where the Sultan of Delhi, Mohammad bin Tughluq, gave him the position of grand qadi and later sent him to China with messages and gifts for the Chinese emperor. In 1345, after many adventures in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Sumatra, he finally arrived in China and traveled as far as Beijing. Ibn Battuta returned to his hometown in 1349, but after just a few days, he started on his travels once again. This time he went west and saw Granada in Spain and the great African kingdom of Mali. In 1353, the Sultan of Morocco, Abu Inan Faris, asked Ibn Battuta to write a book about his experiences. He told his stories to a writer, Ibn Juzayy, who made the Rihlah we have today.