The Moroccan jurist Ibn Battuta left Tangier for the pilgrimage to Mecca and continued through interconnected scholarly, courtly, pilgrimage, and commercial networks across Africa and Eurasia. His journeys took him through the Middle East, East Africa, Central and South Asia, the Maldives, Southeast Asia, and China before later travels in al-Andalus and the Mali Empire.
Sources and further reading
Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University. Selected English translation of the Rihla supporting the departure date, pilgrimage purpose, major destinations, and return across the Sahara.
Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, Library of Congress. Digitized Arabic edition and catalogue essay covering Ibn Battuta’s life, journey, return to Morocco, and dictation of the Rihla to Ibn Juzayy.
Wikidata Geographic Coordinates, Wikimedia Foundation and Wikidata contributors. CC0 geographic coordinates used to verify unambiguous named places during the July 2026 coordinate audit. This source supports contemporary point placement only, not historical route or chronology claims.