H. A. R. Gibb

Remarkable contemporary account of early Crusades by one of Damascus' leading citizens covers events of 1097–1159. Based on both written and oral reports, colorful narrative relates every particular of life during wartime.

Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn Al-Qalanisi

The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades

Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 1304. Between 1324 and 1354 he journeyed through North Africa and Asia Minor and as far as China. On a separate voyage he crossed the Sahara to the Muslim lands of West Africa. His journeys are estimated to have covered over 75,000 miles and he is the only medieval traveller known to have visited every Muslim state of the time, besides the 'infidel' countries of Istanbul, Ceylon and China. The first two volumes recorded Ibn Battuta's earliest journeys through Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Iraq, Asia Minor and South Russia. In this volume he visits Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. There are detailed descriptions of the towns on the way and the customs of the inhabitants. Sir Hamilton Gibb's edition comprises four volumes with introduction and full notes. This first complete and scholarly edition in English has proved essential to orientalists and illuminating to medievalists. The travels are a major source for the political and economic life of large regions of Asia and Africa. The observations of this intelligent representative of Islamic culture on almost all the known inhabited world beyond Europe provide fruitful comparisons with the life and geographical knowledge of the West. Translated with revisions and new annotation from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B.R. Sanguinetti. Continued from Second Series 117, with continuous pagination. The first part is Second Series 110, and the fourth Second Series 178. The index to all four parts is provided in Second Series 190. This volume covers Turkestan, Khurasan, Sind, north-western India and Delhi, including an account of the reign of Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1971.

Volume III

The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325-1354

C. E. Bosworth

Joseph Schacht

E. van Donzel

P. J. Bearman

B. Lewis

Ch Pellat

W. P. Heinrichs

G. Lecomte

Th Bianquis

MIF-NAZ

The encyclopaedia of Islam

C. F. Beckingham

This volume completes the translation of Ibn Battuta's narrative. Volume III ended with Ibn Battuta's appointment by the Sultan of Delhi to accompany an embassy to China. In Volume IV he describes his journey to the coast where he embarked near Cambay and sailed to Calicut. Here the ships which were to take them to China were wrecked. Ibn Battuta joined the Sultan of Honavar in a temporarily successful attack on Goa, and then went to the Maldives, which had not long been converted to Islam by another North African. Here he functioned as a judge, married into the ruling elite, and became involved in a plot to bring the islands under the authority of a bloodthirsty Sultan in south India. On the way to join him, Ibn Battuta found himself in Ceylon and took the opportunity to climb Adam's Peak. He abandoned the planned invasion of the Maldives, to which he returned briefly, and the sailed to Bengal to visit an ascetic in Sylhet. He claims to have visited several countries in south-east Asia, including Sumatra and Java and some which cannot be satisfactorily identified, and arrived at Ch'Ã1⁄4an-chou in China. After going to Canton he travelled by a non-existent river to Hang-chou and Beijing. His return to Morocco, during which he witnessed the ravages of the Black Death in Syria and Egypt, and called at Cagliari in a Catalan ship, is described summarily. He made two more journeys, the first to part of Spain still under Muslim rule, which included Gibraltar, Ronda, MÃ¡laga and Granada, and the other across the Sahara to the kingdom of Mali on the upper Niger, from which he returned to Fez via Timbuktu, Gao, AÃ ̄r, the Hoggar country and Tuat. Translated with revisions and new annotation from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B.R. Sanguinetti. Continued from Second Series 141, with continuous pagination. The first two parts are Second Series 110 and 117. The index to all four parts is provided in Second Series 190. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1994.

The Travels of Ibn Battuta, AD 1325-1354

Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 1304. Between 1324 and 1354 he journeyed through North Africa and Asia Minor and as far as China. On a separate voyage he crossed the Sahara to the Muslim lands of West Africa. His journeys are estimated to have covered over 75,000 miles and he is the only medieval traveller known to have visited every Muslim state of the time, besides the 'infidel' countries of Istanbul, Ceylon and China. This first volume records the earliest journeys through Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, on pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Islam. Among the detailed descriptions of towns on the road and of their inhabitants, he gives a particularly circumstancial account of Medina and Mecca. Sir Hamilton Gibb's edition is in four volumes with introduction and full notes. This first complete and scholarly edition in English has proved essential to orientalists and illuminating to medievalists. The travels are a major source for the political and economic life of large regions of Asia and Africa. The observations of this intelligent representative of Islamic culture on almost all the known inhabited world beyond Europe provide fruitful comparisons with the life and geographical knowledge of the West. Translated with revisions and new annotation from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B.R. Sanguinetti. Covers travels in North-West Africa, Egypt, Syria, and to Mecca. Continued in Second Series 117, 141, and 178, and with the index in 190. The main pagination of all the volumes is continuous. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1958.

The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A. D. 1325-1354

Ibn Battúta was a geographer and traveller who spent decades roaming distant lands; these are his journeys, translated to English by celebrated scholar H.A.R. Gibb. Travelling in the 14th century, Ibn Battúta details a variety of world cultures and regions. Originally born in Morocco, the author traversed the Middle East, Spain, Africa, and vast swathes of Asia including India, Southeast Asia and China. In doing so, he met several local rulers, to whom he described his quest to explore and record his sights. Some of his hosts were generous, others not so, and a few even sought to betroth Battúta. At times in danger from bandits or militaries, at times marveling at the ancient cities and cultural majesties of nations, Ibn Battúta was an adventurer and writer of supreme capacity. Darker themes however also emerge; the shocking toll of the Black Death in 1347-1351 is related in somber detail. Modern scholars, while acknowledging Ibn Battúta's contribution to understandings of Medieval cultures, consider some of his journeys to be exaggerated or fabricated. The differences in tone between parts of the text - at times intimately anecdotal, at times brief, detached or scholarly - are cited in support of these ideas. Despite the doubts surrounding his journeys, Battúta remains a source cited by historians and a significant figure in history.

Explorations of the Middle East, Asia, Africa, China and India from 1325 to 1354, An Autobiography

The Travels of Ibn Battúta

"The Arab conquests in Central Asia" by H. A. R. Gibb is an academic text that aimed to provide readers with a concise history of conquests in central Asia. As a part of history that is often overlooked in the west, this book was an important text to give students and other readers a well-rounded education about the world's history.

The Arab conquests in Central Asia

J. van Lent

The Encyclopaedia of Islam

A. R. Gibb

Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354

H. A. R. Gibb

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