James Rumford - Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325–1354

The Pyramids, Egypt, 1326.

Pearl diving, Persian Gulf, 1330.

North of the Black Sea, 1333. Trying to keep warm by wearing all my clothes.

Dressed in pilgrim's clothes, 1326.

With my beautiful black horse, India, 1336.

Constantinople (Istanbul), 1332. With the Christian emperor's father, who touched my hands and feet because I had been to Jerusalem.

I fainted when I saw this yogi magician, Delhi, about 1340.

Native boats, filled with fresh fruit and fish, coming to greet us, Sumatra, 1346.

I walked around the Rock of Gibraltar, 1350.

I climbed this tower, called a minaret, and got a fine view, Marrakesh, 1351.

Gathering rainwater from a natural well inside the trunk of a baobab tree, Sahara, 1352.

Hipposthe first I had ever seenfeeding on the shore in the moonlight, Black Nile, 1353.

For my mother

Copyright 2001 by James Rumford

Arabic and Chinese calligraphy and illuminated maps and pages are by the author.
Arabic spellings of place names reflect fourteenth-century orthography.

All rights reserved. For information about permission
to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

The text of this book is set in Adobe Caslon.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rumford, James.
Traveling man : the journey of Ibn Battuta, 13251354 /
written and illustrated by James Rumford.
p. cm.
RNF ISBN 0-618-08366-9 PAP ISBN 0-618-43233-7
1. Ibn Batutta, 1304-1377JourneysJuvenile literature. 2. Voyages and travels
Juvenile literature. 3. AsiaDescription and travelJuvenile literature.
4. AfricaDescription and travelJuvenile literature. 5. TravelersIslamic
EmpireBiographyJuvenile literature. [1. Ibn Battuta, 13041377.
2. Travelers. 3. Voyages and travels.] I. Title.
G370.12 R86 2001
910'.92dc21
00-057257

Printed in Singapore
TWP 10 9 8 7

Traveling Man

The Journey of
Ibn Battuta, 13251354

Written, illustrated and illuminated by

James Rumford

H OUGHTON M IFFLIN C OMPANY
B OSTON

At the Edge of the World

I N THE DAYS when the earth was flat and Jerusalem was the center of the world, there was a boy named Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta lived on the very edge of the earth, near the shores of the Ocean of Darkness. Nothing but night lay to the west, but to the east lay the golden world, and he dreamed of traveling across it.

On maps, he would trace his finger along scarlet roads to reach the vermilion stars that marked the great cities of the world. On hot afternoons, in an imaginary boat, he would cross cool, peacock-colored seas to the eastern edge of the earth and sail fearlessly into the Ocean of Ignorance.

When he grew up, he wore the turban of a scholar and could recite the Koran. At twenty-one, he decided to go to Mecca as a pilgrim. Here begins his story.

The boy was Abu Abdullah

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Ibrahim of the Luwata tribe of Tangier, known as Ibn Battuta.

I kissed my mother and father goodbye and turned my donkey east to Mecca. "I'll be back," I called.

The Land of the Blacks

A Map of Morocco, 1325

I joined a group of merchants and they told me of the marvels that lay ahead.

The Lonely Road

B ANDITS ROAMED the countryside like wolves. They stalked stragglers and hunted down lonely pilgrims. I tried to keep up. I even got rid of my extra baggage.

Then I fell ill. Too weak to hold on, I unwound my turban and tied myself in the saddle.

At last, after hours of riding, we reached the gates of a large city and safety. People ran out to greet us. Friends found friends, but there was no one to greet me. Tears of loneliness filled my eyes.

Then a man turned to me and smiled, saying, "Welcome, pilgrim. Welcome to our home."

"Traveling," I said to myself later. "It makes you lonely, then gives you a friend."

They also told me of the dangers.

This old meeting place of caravansit's called the world! O MAR K HAYYM

I was well again. I joined a caravan, and with the jang-jarang of camel bells, we were off!

As I entered Egypt, I saw the wealth that the River Nile had brought to the peoplegold, incense, and abundant food.

A Night in the Land Watered by the Moon

T HE E GYPTIANS were as generous as the Nile. Because I was a scholar and a pilgrim, they gave me alms: food, money, and a place to sleep.

Near Alexandria, a holy man invited me to stay in his house and sleep on his roof. That night, a giant bird snatched me up and carried me on its back far beyond Mecca. Then I woke up.

"Not only will you go to Mecca," said the holy man when I told him my dream, "but you will also travel to the edge of the earth. When you get to India, my brother Dilshad will save your life."