Ibn Battuta in North Africa
I left Tangier, my birthplace, on Thursday, 2nd Rajab, 725 [14th June, 1325], being at that time twenty-two [lunar] years of age, with the intention of making the Pilgrimage to…
From: 1325 C.E. To: 1369 C.E.
Location: Tangier, Morocco, Béjaïa, Algeria
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa by ʾAbū ʿAbd al-Lāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Lāh l-Lawātī ṭ-Ṭanǧī ibn Baṭūṭah and H.A.R Gibb, 1929.
I left Tangier, my birthplace, on Thursday, 2nd Rajab, 725 [14th June, 1325], being at that time twenty-two [lunar] years of age, with the intention of making the Pilgrimage to the Holy House [at Mecca] and the Tomb of the Prophet [at Madina], I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse, and no party of travellers with whom to associate myself.
Swayed by an overmastering impulse within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those glorious sanctuaries, I resolved to quit all my friends and tear myself away from my home. As my parents were still alive, it weighed grievously upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow.
On reaching the city of Tilimsán [Tlemsen], whose sultan at that time was Abú Táshifin, I found there two ambassadors of the Sultan of Tunis, who left the city on the same day that I arrived. One of the brethren having advised me to accompany them, I consulted the will of God in this matter, and after a stay of three days in the city to procure all that I needed, I rode after them with all speed. I overtook them at the town of Miliana, where we stayed ten days, as both ambassadors fell sick on account of the summer heats. When we set out again, one of them grew worse, and died after we had stopped for three nights by a stream four miles from Miliana.
I left their party there and pursued my journey, with a company of merchants from Tunis. On reaching al-Jaza’ir [Algiers] we halted outside the town for a few days, until the former party rejoined us, when we went on together through the Mitija to the mountain of Oaks [Jurjiira] and so reached Bijdya [Bougie].
The commander of Bijaya at this time was the chamberlain Ibn Sayyid an-Nás. Now one of the Tunisian merchants of our party had died leaving three thousand dinars of gold, which he had entrusted to a certain man of Algiers to deliver to his heirs at Tunis, Ibn Sayyid an-Nás came to hear of this and forcibly seized the money. This was the first instance I witnessed of the tyranny of the agents of the Tunisian government.
At Bijaya I fell ill of a fever, and one of my friends advised me to stay there till I recovered. But I refused, saying, “If God decrees my death, it shall be on the road with my face set toward Mecca.” “If that is your resolve,” he replied, “sell your ass and your heavy baggage, and I shall lend you what you require. In this way you will travel light, for we must make haste on our journey, for fear of meeting roving Arabs on the way.” I followed his advice and he did as he had promised—may God reward him!
On reaching Qusantinah [Constantine] we camped outside the town, but a heavy rain forced us to leave our tents during the night and take refuge in some houses there. Next day the governor of the city came to meet us. Seeing my clothes all soiled by the rain he gave orders that they should be washed at his house, and in place of my old worn headcloth sent me a headcloth of fine Syrian cloth, in one of the ends of which he had tied two gold dinars. This was the first alms I received on my journey.
From Qusantinah we reached Bona where, after staying in the town for several days, we left the merchants of our party on account of the dangers of the road, while we pursued our journey with the utmost speed. I was again attacked by fever, so I tied myself in the saddle with a turban-cloth in case I should fall by reason of my weakness. So great was my fear that I could not dismount until we arrived at Tunis.
The population of the city came out to meet the members of our party, and on all sides greetings and questions were exchanged, but not a soul greeted me as no one there was known to me. I was so affected by my loneliness that I could not retrain my tears and wept bitterly, until one of the pilgrims realized the cause of my digress and coming up to me greeted me kindly and continued to entertain me with friendly talk until I entered the city.
The Sultan of Tunis at that time was Abd Yahyd, the son of Abd Zakariya II, and there were a number of notable scholars in the town.’ During my stay the festival of the Breaking of the Fast fell due, and I joined the company at the Praying-ground.
The inhabitants assembled in large numbers to celebrate the festival, making a brave show and wearing their richest apparel. The Sultan Abd Yahya arrived on horseback, accompanied by all his relatives, courtiers, and officers of state walking on foot in a lately procession. After the recital of the prayer and the conclusion of the Allocution the people returned to their homes.
Some time later the pilgrim caravan for the Hijáz was formed, and they nominated me as their qadi (judge). We left Tunis early in November, following the coast road through Súsa, Sfax, and Qábis, where we stayed for ten days on account of incessant rains.
Thence we set out for Tripoli, accompanied for several stages by a hundred or more horsemen as well as a detachment of archers, out of respect for whom the Arabs kept their distance. I had made a contract of marriage at Sfax with the daughter of one of the syndics at Tunis, and at Tripoli she was conducted to me, but after leaving Tripoli I became involved in a dispute with her father, which necessitated my separation from her. I then married the daughter of a student from Fez, and when she was conducted to me I detained the caravan for a day by entertaining them all at a wedding party.
At length on April 5th (1326) we reached Alexandria. It is a beautiful city, well-built and fortified with four gates and a magnificent port. Among all the ports in the world I have seen none to equal it except Kawlam [Quilon] and Cálicút in India, the port of the infidels [Genoese] at Súdáq in the land of the Turks, and the port of Zaytún in China, all of which will be described later.
I went to see the lighthouse on this occasion and found one of its faces in ruins. It is a very high square building, and its door is above the level of the earth. Opposite the door, and of the same height, is a building from which there is a plank bridge to the door; if this is removed there is no means of entrance. Inside the door is a place for the lighthouse-keeper, and within the lighthouse there are many chambers. The breadth of the passage inside is nine spans and that of the wall ten spans; each of the four sides of the lighthouse is 140 spans in breadth. It is situated on a high mound and lies three miles from the city on a long tongue of land which juts out into the sea from close by the city wall, so that the lighthouse cannot be reached by land except from the city.
On my return to the West in the year 750 [1349] I visited the lighthouse again, and found that it had fallen into so ruinous a condition that it was not possible to enter it or climb up to the door.“ Al-Malik an-Násir had started to build a similar lighthouse alongside it but was prevented by death from completing the work.
Another of the marvellous things in this city is the awe-inspiring marble column in its outskirts which they call the “Pillar of Columns.” It is a single block, skilfully carved, crested on a plinth of square ones like enormous platforms, and no one knows how it was erected there nor for certain who erected it.“
One of the learned men of Alexandria was the qádi, a master of eloquence, who used to wear a turban of extraordinary size. Never either in the eastern or the western lands have I seen a more voluminous headgear.
Another of them was the pious ascetic Burhán ad-Din, whom I met during my stay and whose hospitality I enjoyed for three days. One day as I entered his room he said to me “I see that you are fond of travelling through foreign lands.” I replied “Yes, I am” (though I had as yet no thought of going to such diilant lands as India or China). Then he said “You must certainly visit my brother Farid ad-Din in India, and my brother Rukn ad-Din in Sind, and my brother Burhán ad-Din in China, and when you find them give them greeting from me.”
I was amazed at his prediction, and the idea of going to these countries having been cast into my mind, my journeys never ceased until I had met these three that he named and conveyed his greeting to them.
During my stay at Alexandria I had heard of the pious Shaykh al-Murshidí, who bestowed gifts miraculously created at his desire. He lived in solitary retreat in a cell in the country where he was visited by princes and ministers. Parties of men in all ranks of life used to come to him every day and he would supply them all with food. Each one of them would desire to eat some flesh or fruit or sweetmeat at his cell, and to each he would give what he had suggested, though it was frequently out of season. His fame was carried from mouth to mouth far and wide, and the Sultan too had visited him several times in his retreat.
I set out from Alexandria to seek this shaykh and passing through Damanhúr came to Fawwá [Fua], a beautiful township, close by which, separated from it by a canal, lies the shaykh’s cell. I reached this cell about mid-afternoon, and on saluting the shaykh I found that he had with him one of the sultan’s aides-de-camp, who had encamped with his troops just outside. The shaykh rose and embraced me, and calling for food invited me to eat.
When the hour of the afternoon prayer arrived he set me in front as prayer-leader, and did the same on every occasion when we were together at the times of prayer during my stay. When I wished to sleep he said to me “Go up to the roof of the cell and sleep there” (this was during the summer heats). I said to the officer “In the name of God,” but he replied [quoting from the Koran] “There is none of us but has an appointed place.” So I mounted to the roof and found there a straw mattress and a leather mat, a water vessel for ritual ablutions, ajar of water and a drinking-cup, and I lay down there to sleep.
That night, while I was sleeping on the roof of the cell, I dreamed that I was on the wing of a great bird which was flying with me towards Mecca, then to Yemen, then eastwards, and thereafter going towards the south, then flying far eastwards, and finally landing in a, dark and green country, where it left me. I was astonished at this dream and said to myself “If the shaykh can interpret my dream for me, he is all that they say he is.”
Next morning, after all the other visitors had gone, he called me and when I had related my dream interpreted it to me saying: “You will make the pilgrimage [to Mecca] and visit [the Tomb of] the Prophet, and you will travel through Yemen, Iráq, the country of the Turks, and India. You will stay there for a long time and meet there my brother Dilshád the Indian, who will rescue you from a danger into which you will fall.”
Then he gave me a travelling-provision of small cakes and money, and I bade him farewell and departed. Never since parting from him have I met on my journeys aught but good fortune, and his blessings have stood me in good stead.
Battuta, Muḥammad. Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa. Translated by H.A.R Gibb, George Routledge & Sons, LTD., 1929.
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