These days mark the hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, the fifth of the five pillars of Islam, and here is an account of one former hajj pilgrim who approaches Mecca from the north. Just outside the holy city of Medina, at the place where he notes the Prophet Muhammad himself invested himself in the ihram, or pilgrim garb, for his own pilgrimage, this pilgrim reveals that following the prophet’s example: “Here I divested myself of my tailored clothes, bathed, put on the garment of my consecration, and made a prayer.”
In this way, he reveals: “I entered the pilgrim state under obligation to carry out the rites of the hajj,” and he is so filled with enthusiasm that “I did not cease crying Labbaika Allahumma” until nightfall. The translator of this pilgrim’s account, historian H. A. R. Gibb here notes that “the repetition of this formula is also one of the essential rites” of the hajj and that it means “At Thy service, O God!”
The pilgrim then makes his way southwards over a series of days until he arrives, in his own words, at “the City of Surety, Mecca (God Most High ennoble her).” As for the hajj itself, his account of it is mostly an impersonal description of a kind that can easily be found elsewhere so it is unnecessary to lay it out here. What is specific to his account, however, is the year in which he performs the hajj. It is in the Islamic year of 726, which accords with 1326.
In the Islamic calendar, the hajj begins on the eighth of the month of Dhul-Hijjah and ends on the 12th or 13th. The 10th is marked by Qurban Bayram, also known as Eid al-Adha, and this is the main religious holiday in the Islamic calendar for Muslims the world over. The pilgrim of above is, a few years later, at the time of Eid al-Adha, a visitor to Manisa in western Türkiye. In the morning, this visitor prays the Eid prayer alongside Saruhan, the Turkish conqueror of this city. However, the ruler is in deep mourning for the recent death of his son, at whose tomb he spends both the evening and morning of Eid. At the same time, one of the visitor’s slaves who is entrusted with the visitor’s belongings absconds with them. The visitor seeks the support of Saruhan in ensuring their return, but his account of events implies that the ruler was too distracted by grief to do much about it, although the thief is apprehended by others.
The pilgrim and visitor is Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Lawati al-Tanji who is better and more simply known as Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta (1304-1377) is also the subject of this, the 13th in the series of Famous Travellers to Türkiye. The unfortunate Eid tale should not, however, be seen as reflective in a general sense of Ibn Battuta’s travels in what is now Türkiye. Although he is also robbed by Turkmens soon afterward, his stay in Manisa is relatively exceptional, with Ibn Battuta mainly enjoying safe and secure travel on his Anatolian journey due to the ready support and generosity he generally receives from his hosts.
As for his hajj, although as he says he “enters the pilgrim state” just outside of Medina, he comes from much further away – Tangier in Morocco. From such a distance, in the conditions of the medieval world, had he just traveled from there to Mecca and returned, he would have become a highly experienced traveler. However, he becomes an exceptional traveler in that the journey for his pilgrimage, while including its original objective, morphs into an incredible one unparalleled in its time, which takes in much of what was then the known world, including what is today Türkiye and what will be the focus of this piece. It is the greatness of his travels that has led him to be dubbed “the Muslim Marco Polo.”
Here a point needs to be made concerning the definition of one person through another. Intentionally or not, it creates the impression that the definer is the archetype with the defined necessarily being somewhat lesser in status. This is not, of course, always a problem. I introduce the last piece in this series with a work by Sadegh Hedayat. While I do not mention it there, Hedayat is sometimes referred to as “the Iranian Kafka.” Even though I am a great admirer of Hedayat’s work, I have no issue with this label, as I feel that Hedayat himself would not either. However brilliant a writer Hedayat undoubtedly is, he is aware of his huge debt to Franz Kafka, who may be regarded as the greatest writer of the 20th century.
The case of Ibn Battuta vis-a-vis Marco Polo is different, though. It is true that Polo is the forerunner of Ibn Battuta; indeed, Polo dies just before Ibn Battuta sets out on the hajj. Yet, in the most significant senses, Ibn Battuta is Polo’s superior. His extensive travels are at least 20,000 kilometers longer than those of Polo, and he spends more years on them as well. What is more, the account of Ibn Battuta’s travels is also far more reliable than that of Polo with his flights of fancy, and Ibn Battuta proves himself to be much more tolerant than Polo too. Therefore, to designate Ibn Battuta as the Muslim Marco Polo is to commit an injustice to the Moroccan traveler. I believe it is time this label fell into disuse. I will not go so far as to suggest we should tag Marco Polo as “the Christian Ibn Battuta,” even if it would be more warranted than its opposite, but I will declare my own view that Ibn Battuta should simply be designated the greatest traveler in history, considering what he achieves in the era in which he achieves it.
Ibn Battuta himself is aware of his achievements. Evincing no false humility in his estimation of himself as a traveler, he relates, that in Bursa in Türkiye: "I met in this city the pious shaikh Abdullah al-Misri, the traveler, and a man of saintly life. He journeyed through the earth, but he never went into China nor the island of Ceylon, nor the Maghrib, nor al-Andalus, nor sub-Saharan Africa, so that I have outdone him by visiting these regions."
It is in light of this view that, for this series, exceptionally for this exceptional figure, I have designed a two-part piece, feeling that far too much is lost of Ibn Battuta if an attempt is made to limit even only his Anatolian travels to a regular single piece. The second part of the piece will appear a week from now and will continue from where this one leaves off.
As for the quote of Ibn Battuta evaluating his full achievements, he is able to make it because his travelogue was only transcribed after the full completion of his travels. The recorder of it is Ibn Jazzy, who is certainly impressed by the traveler calling him “the ranger of the earth,” although he reveals first that Ibn Battuta is a “Shaikh learned in the Law” which demonstrates that this great traveler is also, as the historian John Keay puts it “a distinguished Muslim scholar.” As for Ibn Battuta as a traveler, Ibn Jazzy credits him for his “attentive mind” and “observant eye” and for having “investigated the diversities of nations and probed the ways of life of Arabs and non-Arabs.”
As part of these investigations, before he reaches what is now Türkiye, his travels are already extensive. As the historian Albert Hourani notes: "His pilgrimage, undertaken when he was 21 years old, was only the beginning of a life of wandering. It took him from his native Tangier in Morocco to Mecca by way of Syria; then to Baghdad and southwestern Iran; to Yemen, east Africa, Oman and the Gulf; (and) to Asia Minor."
It is the last mentioned region that that this piece will now focus on.
His 1330-31 trip to what is now Türkiye commences when Ibn Battuta lands in the Mediterranean port of Alanya on a Genoese boat from Latakia in Syria. He is clearly impressed with Anatolia, describing it and its Turkish people as being: "One of the finest regions in the world; in it, God has brought together the good things dispersed through other lands. Its inhabitants are the comeliest of men in form, the cleanest in dress, the most delicious in food, and the kindliest of God’s creatures."
Being a pious Sunni Muslim scholar, Ibn Battuta is also pleased to discover no heresy from Sunnism in Türkiye.
As for Alanya itself, he describes it as “a large place on the sea coast” and reveals that it is a great entrepot for traders from across the Eastern Mediterranean. He also notes the city’s landmark – the “formidable citadel” which can still be visited today. From Alanya, Ibn Battuta travels along the coast to Antalya. Antalya he describes as “one of the finest of cities,” indeed, one of “the most handsome of cities to be seen anywhere” and also notes its extensive size, high population, and how well it is administered. He also adores “the delicious fruits” that are grown in the vicinity of the city and also mentions its “springs of excellent water, sweet and very cold in the summertime.”
He then sets off north through Isparta, “a well-built township with many fine bazaars and many orchards and streams, and with a fortress on a steep hill” to Eğridir which he describes as having “a lake of sweet water” and being “a great and populous city with fine bazaars and running streams, fruit-trees, and orchards.” Here Ibn Battuta is impressed by the piety of its ruler, Abu Ishak Beg, who treats his visitor with great respect. Next, he passes on to Gölhisar, a well-fortified town in Burdur province.
From there, he goes to Denizli, but in order to get there, Ibn Battuta has a protective guard provided by Mehmed Chelebi, the ruler of Gölhisar, owing to the risk of brigandage on this part of his road. Though a ruin today, when Ibn Battuta reaches Denizli, he describes it as “one of the most attractive and immense cities” with seven communal mosques and “fine” markets. He is also impressed by the fabrics that are locally produced mainly by Greek women. But he is disturbed by the prostitution he finds in this city.
Next, he travels on to Tavas, also today in Denizli Province, and makes the journey as part of a caravan still in fear of the dangers of the road. Tavas, he informs us “is a large fortress” and which Ibn Battuta notes is rumored to be the original home of Suhaib, one of the Companions of the Prophet. Ibn Battuta next returns westwards to Muğla and from there on to the Aegean city of Milas, which he finds to be “one of the finest and most extensive cities in the land,” although it is a ruin today.
Here it appears that Ibn Battuta once again heads inland to Konya, from which, as will be seen, he travels all the way to Erzurum before suddenly reappearing in the southern Aegean again. Having related his journeys many years later back in Morocco, it is very possible he confuses the steps of the exact route that he took. Bearing this in mind, we will continue to follow the text as it is laid out.
Ibn Battuta relates to Konya that it is “a great city with fine buildings and abundant watercourses, streams, gardens, and fruits.” What is particularly noteworthy to Ibn Battuta is the main sight of the city and one that is also visited reverently by Gertrude Bell some six centuries later; what Ibn Battuta calls “the mausoleum of the shaikh and pious imam, . . . Jalal al-Din, known as Mawlana,” or Sufi philosopher Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Ibn Battuta regards Rumi as “a saint of high rank” and notes that a mystic brotherhood, the Jalaliya, has been formed in connection to him and from his name. Ibn Battuta also notes that “over his mausoleum, there is a vast hospice in which food is served to all wayfarers.”
From Konya, he travels to Karaman, “a fine town with many watercourses and gardens.” From Karaman, Ibn Battuta moves on to Aksaray “which is one of the most beautiful and substantial towns” in Anatolia with its abundance of water and gardens. He also notes the local manufacture of rugs, which he affirms “have no equal in any country and are exported from it” all over the world.
He passes on to Kayseri, which he declares is “one of the chief cities in this land.” The next city he visits is Sivas, which at that time is the largest city he has visited in Anatolia. It is not only impressive in terms of size and its buildings but also in terms of its population. Ibn Battuta notes that “it is a city with fine buildings and wide streets, and its markets are choked with people.” He meets with the qadi of the city, who asks about Ibn Battuta’s travels and the rulers in the Near East that he has met. Ibn Battuta claims that the qadi’s “idea was that I would praise those of them who had been generous and find fault with the miserly, but I did nothing of the kind, and, on the contrary, praised them all.” This is clearly a good diplomatic maneuver on the part of Ibn Battuta, and he notes that this “pleased” the qadi who “commended” him “for it.”
From Sivas, Ibn Battuta heads northwest to Amasya, which he describes as “a large and fine city with streams and gardens, trees and abundance of fruit,” and where he is impressed by the noria watering system for the homes and gardens. Next, he moves on to Gümüşhane, noting the “silver mines” from which the city takes its name. Ibn Battuta, unlike Hadrian or Gertrude Bell, does not seem to be drawn to mountains though. There are some “lofty and steep” ones in the vicinity of Gümüşhane, and Ibn Battuta relates that he steers clear of them.
Next, he goes to Erzincan, “a large and populous city” whose majority population at that time was Armenian Christian, although there are Turkish Muslim residents as well. Of this city, Ibn Battuta declares that “it has well-organized bazaars,” the products of them being “fine fabrics” known by the name of the city as well as copper utensils lampstands which are made from the copper that is mined nearby.
From Erzincan, he moves on to Erzurum. Much like when Alexander Pushkin arrives there, the city is suffering from a conflict, in this case, one that has been fought between two rival Turkoman factions, which is why Ibn Battuta notes that it is “a place of vast extent” which is, however, “mostly in ruins.” It may also be added that Ibn Battuta differs from Pushkin in not belonging to one of the forces that caused the destruction.
As already mentioned, from here the narrative suddenly returns to the southern Aegean Region of Türkiye. It is where I will pick it up again next week for the second part of this piece on Ibn Battuta. Also, for those who may be wondering how and with whom he was accommodated during this extensive journey, that will also be covered in the second part.
