Ibn Battuta – Traveler

Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveler, arrived in India in 1333 during Tughlaqi rule, under Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and spent years serving as a judge in Delhi, as well as being a diplomat to China. Here is a bit more information about his visit to India:

• Arrival and Purpose:

Ibn Battuta entered India in 1333, traveling into the northern regions of the sub-continent through the Hindu Kush Mountains, and the Indus River, for the purpose of working in the Delhi Sultanate.

• Delhi and Muhammad bin Tughlaq:

Ibn Battuta arrived in Delhi while Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the Sultan, and used his status as an educated scholar to become appointed as a judge (qazi) in Delhi.

• Service and Salary:

Ibn Battuta was awarded a welcoming gift of 2000 silver dinars and a comfortable home, as well as an offered salary of 5000 silver dinars per year (drawn from tenants taxes for the crops from the villages).

• Travels and Observations of Different Parts of India:

Ibn Battuta traveled extensively throughout the vast lands of India and visited many cities and regions, but some of the notable areas of appreciation were: Bengal, Daulatabad, the coastal cities of Kozhikode and Honnavar, which he chronicled in his travelogue called Rihla.

• Later Journeys:

After Ibn Battuta served formally as a judge in Delhi, he was sent by the Sultan to China (after a brief stay in the Maldives) in 1342, and made a trip across Sri Lanka.

• Back to Morocco:

Ultimately, he returned back to Morocco, where he relayed his travelogues to a scholar, providing us much about what the world looked like socially, culturally, and politically during the 14th Century.