Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (World History) [Paperback]

Ibn Battuta (Author), Said Hamdun (Author), Noel King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1995 | ISBN-10: 1558760881 | ISBN-13: 978-1558760882 | Edition: Rev Enl

Abu Abdalla ibn Battuta (1304-1354) was one of the greatest travelers of pre-modern times. He traveled to Black Africa twice. He reported about the wealthy, multi-cultural trading centers at the African East coast, such as Mombasa and Kilwa, and the warm hospitality he experienced in Mogadishu.

He also visited the court of Mansa Musa and neighboring states during its period of prosperity from mining and the trans-Saharan trade. He wrote disapprovingly of sexual integration in families and of a "hostility toward the white man." Ibn Battuta's description is a unique document of the high culture, pride, and independence of Black African states in the fourteenth century.

This book is one of the most important documents about Black Africa written by a non-European Medieval historian.

The new appendixes include reports by contemporary Arab travelers who witnessed events described by Ibn Battuta, such as Ibn Khaldun, al-Maqqari, Ibn al-Dawadari and Al-Maqrizi.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Everybody knows the names of European explorers such as Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus, but how many have heard of Ibn Battuta? This intrepid North African scholar first set out for Mecca in the year 1325 A.D. and became so smitten with life on the road that he just kept traveling for the next 29 years. Though Mecca was the object of most of his journeys, Ibn Battuta took different routes each time and thus managed to visit such far-flung places as the Maldive Islands, northern Turkey, and southern China. Ibn Battuta twice traveled south of the Sahara, once visiting the coast of East Africa during a voyage back to Morocco from Arabia, and once journeying to Mali by camel caravan--his last recorded adventure. As with all his journeys, Ibn Battuta kept a detailed account of the places he visited and the people he met. In Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, editors Noel King and Said Hamdun have selected and translated many of Ibn Battuta's writings about his travels in Africa. Anyone interested in the precolonial cultures that thrived in sub-Saharan Africa will find this highly personal account of the private lives and public institutions of the peoples of 14th-century East and West Africa fascinating reading. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Battuta penetrated black Africa during medieval times, documenting private lives, African cultures and religions, and politics with an eye to revealing the lively and rich West African kingdoms. His journeys in 1331 and in 1351-52 have been edited and translated into a fine, involving account for modern readers. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Markus Wiener Pub; Rev Enl edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558760881
• ISBN-13: 978-1558760882
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,468,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-Edited Collection of Battuta's Sub-Saharan Travels, August 9, 2000

By 

Ed Gibbon www.congocookbook.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (Hardcover)

Ibn Battuta (born in Tangier, Morocco, 1304 AD) probably traveled more miles overland than any person in history before the invention of motor vehicles. Beginning with a trip to Mecca for the Islamic pilgrimage, he spent nearly three decades traveling and working in almost every Islamic country in the Eastern Hemisphere (He also traveled in many non-Islamic countries). His "Rihlah" ("Travels") is the monumental achievement in travel writing, made all the more amazing by the fact that he accomplished his travels almost 700 years ago. Most of his writing covers his travels outside of Africa (Arabia, Persia, India, and China). However, his written accounts of his visits to the nascent Swahili city-states on Africa's East Coast and the West African kingdom of Mali are the only primary historical sources for these civilizations in medieval times. Battuta is truly a window to the past, giving modern readers a look at the social, cultural, and political history of medieval African Islamic civilization.

"Ibn Battuta in Black Africa" is a well-edited collection of Battuta's travels in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book is not a lengthy one (it can be easily read in an evening), but it is full of useful information in the introduction and notes on Battuta's text. This is a very good introduction to Ibn Battuta for the student of African history.

Also see "The Travels of Ibn Battuta" (three volumes) by Sir Hamilton Gibb: an unabridged translation with excellent notes.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Account in Battuta's own words, November 26, 2003

By 

Matthew Bailey (Sparta, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (Hardcover)

This book is worth going through in detail. It isn't a large book so that is easily possible. One gets to journey through sub-Sahara Africa with Battuta in Battuta's own words. Plus the book gives you counsel from experts in helping to understand Battuta's record.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ibn Battuta in Black Africa. Battuta, Noel King., February 29, 2008

By 

Wesley L. Janssen (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ibn Battuta in Black Africa (World History) (Paperback)

I was reading Dunn's commentary and historic amplification of Battuta's travels when my daughter noticed what I was reading and gave me this book (it had been an assigned text in a college history course). It happened that I was then reading Dunn's commentary on Ibn Battuta's travels in the western Arabian Sea and down the east coast of Africa (c. 1330 AD), so I set aside Dunn's book while I read this one. Aside from the obvious historical importance of Ibn Battuta's accounts (due to Ibn Juzayy), this was an excellent enlargement on Dunn's commentary. No matter the translation of Ibn Battuta's travels that you may read, Dunn's book is important to refining an understanding of IB's most impressive globetrotting, as well as to engaging the 14th century culture and politics of Africa and Asia.