Ibn Battuta was a Muslim legal scholar from Tangier who spent nearly thirty years travelling. Nobody sent him on this leg: he crossed the Black Sea to the lands of Uzbeg Khan, ruler of the Golden Horde, and then went on through Khwarazm and Transoxiana towards India. He dictated the story in Fez about twenty years later.
After travelling through Anatolia he waited here about forty days for a ship, and eleven more for a fair wind, then sailed north across the Black Sea. After storms the ship put him ashore on the open coast near Kerch in Crimea.
2about spring 1332
Kaffa
Feodosia, Crimea
From the landing place he went by hired wagon to Kaffa, a large port held by the Genoese. The sound of church bells on every side alarmed him.
He reached Azov after crossing the Kipchak steppe by wagon. On the way he saw great herds grazing with no herdsmen, and was told of the harsh law on theft that kept them safe.
Editorial contextCrossing the Kipchak steppe by hired cart (araba), Ibn Battuta noticed huge herds grazing with no herdsmen. He explains it by the harsh law on theft: a thief had to return the animal with nine more, and if he could not, his children were taken, or he himself killed. He also notes that the treeless steppe folk burned dung for fuel.
he is compelled to return it with nine others of equal value. But, if this is not in his power, his children are taken. If, however, he have no children, he is himself slaughtered just like a sheep.
He caught up with the khan's moving camp at the Five Mountains, four days beyond the town of Majar, and was presented to Uzbeg Khan. He says he rode from here to Bulghar on the Volga and back, and was told there of the Land of Darkness, but scholars agree he did not make that trip.
Editorial contextIbn Battuta reached Uzbek Khan's camp (the urdu, or horde) at the Five Mountains at the start of Ramadan. He describes it as a city on the move, with streets, mosques and cook-houses whose smoke rose as they travelled, all of which became stationary when the camp halted. He ranks Uzbek among the seven great kings of the world.
at this place, which is termed the urdu, or camp, we arrived on the first of the month Ramadan. Here we witnessed a moving city, with its streets, mosques, and cooking-houses, the smoke of which ascended as they moved along. When, however, they halted, all these became stationary.
Ibn Battuta (as redacted by Ibn Juzayy; abridged text translated by Samuel Lee, 1829)
Editorial contextAfter Friday prayer Uzbek Khan sat in a 'golden alcove' on a gilded, jewelled throne, with his four wives seated on the throne beside him in full view. When each wife came in, the khan rose and led her by the hand to her seat. Ibn Battuta, used to royal women being hidden, was struck by this, and a page earlier he notes that Turkish noblewomen here went unveiled and were highly respected. He was given sheep, a horse and a leather bag of kumiss.
Whenever one of these wives enters, he arises, and taking her by the hand, puts her into her place upon the throne. Thus they are exposed to the sight of all, without so much as a veil.
Editorial contextThe khan's welcome gift was practical steppe hospitality: sheep, a horse and a skin of kimiz (kumiss), fermented mare's milk, which Ibn Battuta notes was highly valued as a drink. He also explains that each of the khan's wives had her own household, and that a visitor was expected to call on every one of them.
Upon this day I was presented to the Sultan, who received me very graciously, and afterwards sent me some sheep and a horse, with a leathern bag of kimiz, which is the milk of a mare ; and very much valued among them as a beverage.
Silent trade with unseen people in the Land of Darkness
Editorial contextAt Bulgar he was told of a Land of Darkness forty days north, reached only by dog-sledges over ice, where there were no trees, stones or houses. Merchants left their goods and withdrew; next day they found sable and ermine in their place, and could take the furs or leave them. Nobody ever saw the other party, so the merchants did not know if they traded with men or demons. He did not go.
each man, leaving what he has brought with him, goes back to his appointed station. On the morrow they return to look for their goods, and find, instead of them, sable, ermine, and the fur of the sinjab. … for the merchants know not whether it is with mankind or demons that they have to do ; no one being seen during the transaction.
About Unknown northern peoples; Golden Horde merchants
Keep in mind
Hearsay; he says he decided not to make the journey. Modern scholars also doubt that he reached Bulgar itself.
6about June to July 1332
Astrakhan
Astrakhan, Russia
He travelled with the khan's court to Astrakhan on the Volga, where he says the khan had hay laid over the frozen river as a winter road. From here he set out west with one of the khan's wives, a Byzantine princess going to her father's court.
Astrakhan, where the khan wintered on a road of hay
Editorial contextIbn Battuta travelled with the khan's court to Astrakhan, 'one of his cities', on the Volga (Athal). The khan wintered there, and when the river froze the local people were ordered to lay thousands of bundles of hay on the ice as a roadway.
At this place the Sultan resides during the very cold weather ; and when this river, as well as the adjoining waters, are frozen, the King orders the people of the country to bring thousands of bundles of hay, which they do, and then place it upon the ice, and upon this they travel.
At the first Byzantine fortress, which he calls Mahtuli, the khan's emir and his troops turned back and the princess went on with her own people. She left her travelling mosque behind here.
Editorial contextIbn Battuta escorted Uzbek Khan's Byzantine wife on a visit to her father in Constantinople. Like her husband, she carried a mosque (evidently a tent) that was set up at every halt for daily prayers. At the first Byzantine fortress she left it behind, and from then on, he says with some dismay, the call to prayer stopped and wine appeared at her table.
The Queen had with her a mosque, which she set up at every stage, just as her husband used to do. In this she had daily prayers. She left it, however, at the fortress. After this the office of the Moazin ceased : wine was brought into the banquet and of this she drank.
He stayed just over a month in the Byzantine capital, was received by the emperor and saw Hagia Sophia from the outside only. Then he went back across the steppe in the depth of winter.
9winter of 1332 to 1333
Sarai
probably near Selitrennoye, lower Volga, Russia · rough position
He returned to Astrakhan, found the khan had moved on to his capital, and followed him for three days up the frozen Volga. He calls Sarai very handsome and very large.
Editorial contextReturning from Constantinople, Ibn Battuta found the khan had moved to his capital, El Sarai, which he calls very handsome and very large. He met its leading scholar, a Khwarezmian imam whom the khan visited every Friday. The abridged text gives little more about the city itself.
This city of El Sarai is very handsome and exceedingly large. Of its learned men is the Imam, the learned Nooman Oddin, El Khavarezmi. I met him in this place.
Ten days from Sarai he reached this town on the Ural river, which was crossed by a bridge of boats. Here he sold his horses and hired camels to pull the wagons across the desert to Khwarazm.
11about early 1333
Urgench (Khwarazm)
Konye-Urgench, Turkmenistan
After thirty more days of forced marches across the desert he reached the capital of Khwarazm, which he calls the largest city of the Turks. It was ruled by an emir for Uzbeg Khan.
Khwarezm, largest city of the Turks, where skipping prayers meant a whipping
Editorial contextAfter forty days across the steppe by camel cart, by way of Saraichuk with its bridge, Ibn Battuta reached Khwarezm (Urgench), which he calls the largest and most crowded city of the Turks, ruled by an emir for Uzbek Khan. He praises its people as the best-mannered he had met, and describes a whip hung in every mosque to punish those who missed prayers.
This is the largest city the Turks have, and is very much crowded, on account of the multitude of its inhabitants. It is subject to the sultan Uzbek Khan, and is governed on his part by a great Emir, who resides within it.
He crossed the desert between Khwarazm and Bukhara in eighteen days and found the city still in ruins from the Mongol conquest a century before. Here he retells a story about the origins of Genghis Khan.
Editorial contextBukhara, the chief city beyond the Oxus, had still not recovered, Ibn Battuta says, from being ravaged by the Tartars more than a century earlier. He found nobody there with any learning. Here 'Tartars' means the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan.
then, after one stage, we came to Bokhara, which is the principal city of the country beyond the Gihon. After it had been ravaged by the Tartars, it almost entirely disappeared : I found no one in it who knew any thing of science.
Editorial contextAt Bukhara Ibn Battuta retells what was said of the Tartars' founder: that Genghis Khan began as a blacksmith in the country of 'Khota', a big, generous man who won followers by feasting them, then conquered Khota, China, Kashgar and Almaliq before turning on Khwarezm. The translator notes that other histories give his origins very differently.
It is said that Jengiz Khan, who came with the Tartars into the countries of Islamism and destroyed them, was in his outset a blacksmith in the country of Khota.
A popular story ('it is said'); the blacksmith tale may have grown from Temujin's name, which resembles the Turkic word for iron. The rest of the story continues on the next page (n115).
He stayed 54 days, in bitter cold, at the camp of Tarmashirin, the Muslim khan of the Chagatai realm. He later heard that the khan was deposed and killed after he left.
Editorial contextIbn Battuta visited the camp of Sultan Tarmashirin, a devout Muslim khan who prayed in a mosque inside his camp. He explains that Genghis Khan's law book, the Yasa, required an annual assembly where nobles could depose a ruler who had broken its rules. Tarmashirin had abolished that assembly, so, after Ibn Battuta left, the Tartars and their nobles deposed him and he was killed.
Now, Tarmashirin had entirely abolished the observance of this day, which gave very great offence. Some time, therefore, after we had left the country, the Tartars, together with their nobles, assembled and deposed him, appointing for a successor one of his relations
He came south to Termez and crossed the Oxus river into Khurasan.
16about spring 1333
Balkh
Balkh, Afghanistan
He found Balkh in ruins, not rebuilt since Genghis Khan destroyed it. He then describes a tour of Khurasan, which scholars doubt, before crossing the Hindu Kush towards India.
Balkh's great mosque, broken open by Genghis Khan for treasure
Editorial contextBalkh lay in ruins, never rebuilt since Genghis Khan destroyed it; only the outline of the city could be traced. Its mosque had been one of the finest in the world, and Genghis had three of its pillars torn down because he was told treasure was hidden beneath them. Ibn Battuta then tells the legend behind that rumour: a governor's wife built the mosque from the price of a jewelled robe and buried a third of the money under a pillar for repairs.
It has not been rebuilt since its destruction by the cursed Jengiz Khan. … Its mosque was one of the largest and handsomest in the world. Its pillars were incomparable : three of which were destroyed by Jengiz Khan, because it had been told him, that the wealth of the mosque lay concealed
How sure is the line? The order of the main towns is clear from his book, but every date could be two years later, the Bulghar trip is rejected by scholars, and the steppe camps, the road to Constantinople and the site of Sarai can only be placed roughly. The line joins the stops. It is not the exact road.
What is still uncertain (14 notes)
Dates: the book's own dates do not fit together. It puts him at the khan's camp on 1 Ramadan 734 (May 1334) but on the Indus on 12 September 1333. H. A. R. Gibb's provisional chronology, followed by Ross Dunn and used here, moves this leg back two years: the camp on 27 May 1332, Constantinople in September and October 1332, Sarai in the winter of 1332 to 1333, Tarmashirin's camp until about May 1333. Ivan Hrbek kept the 1334 date for the camp, which would put every stop here two years later. Even on Gibb's scheme the months are estimates, and Dunn puts the arrival at Sarai in late November 1332 where Gibb has early January 1333.
Bulghar: he claims a ten night ride from the Beshtau camp to Bulghar on the middle Volga and back within Ramadan. The distance is about 800 miles (1,300 km) each way and the account has no detail of the road. Stephen Janicsek showed in 1929 that it was taken from older books, and Gibb, Hrbek and Dunn agree he did not go. The route line does not go to Bulghar. The Land of Darkness story he says he was told there is shown at the camp stop, where he says the trip began.
Constantinople: Gibb and Dunn accept the visit, though some earlier critics did not. He says he met the retired emperor, now a monk, whom he calls George. Andronikos II died in February 1332, before any possible date for the visit, and his name as a monk was Antonius, so Ibn Battuta misunderstood or was misled about who the monk was. The reigning emperor who received him was Andronikos III.
The frontier fortress he calls Mahtuli is not identified. Gibb notes that the Byzantine frontier town at the time was Diampolis (Yambol in Bulgaria) and that the travel times fit it. The stop is placed at Yambol as a rough position only.
The overland road from Astrakhan to Constantinople and back is not drawn in detail, and Gibb calls it impossible to define. The full text has him pass Ukek and Sudak on the way, which does not fit a road west from Astrakhan. Gibb and Dunn think he saw Sudak earlier, while in Crimea. The map line between Astrakhan and the Byzantine frontier is schematic.
Sarai: the site he visited is debated. It is placed here at Selitrennoye on the Akhtuba (about 47.18 N, 47.43 E), which more recent archaeological work identifies as the Sarai built up under Uzbeg Khan, and which fits his three days' travel from Astrakhan. Gibb and Dunn followed the older view that Uzbeg's capital was 'New Sarai' at Tsarev, about 225 miles above Astrakhan (about 48.68 N, 45.34 E), a site now often identified as Gulistan instead. The question is not settled. The atlas gazetteer point for Sarai (46.6 N, 47.8 E) is only approximate and was not used.
The Beshtau camp was a moving camp. The stop is placed at Pyatigorsk by the Beshtau mountain as a rough position. He went from Azov to the town of Majar (on the Kuma river, near modern Budyonnovsk) and found the camp four days further on. Majar is left off as a stop to keep the list short.
Astrakhan: he was there in summer on Gibb's dating and left on 10 Shawwal (5 July 1332). The hay road on the ice is what he was told of the khan's winter custom, not something he saw on that visit. Lee's abridged text says the khan stays there in the very cold weather. Gibb's full text says he stays until the cold grows severe.
Tarmashirin's camp was one day beyond Nakhshab (Qarshi) according to the full text. The exact spot is unknown and the stop is a rough position near Qarshi. The full text gives his stay as 54 days. Lee's abridged text says only 'some days'. Tarmashirin was overthrown and killed in about 1334, and Ibn Battuta says he heard of it about two years after reaching India.
After Balkh he describes a tour through Khurasan (Herat, Jam, Tus, Nishapur, Bistam) before Qunduz and the Hindu Kush. Gibb calls this stretch highly suspect and Dunn calls it doubtful, because it is thin on detail and hard to fit into the time available. The route here ends at Balkh.
The landing in Crimea was not in Kerch harbour. The ship turned away from it and put him ashore at an unnamed spot on the coast. Kerch is left off as a stop and mentioned at Sinope.
Why he took the northern road is not stated in his book. The summary gives no motive for that reason.
Details of Sinope, Kaffa, Solkhat, Majar, Constantinople, Saraichik, Samarkand and Termez come from the full text of the travels (Gibb's translations), not from Lee's 1829 abridgement that the atlas quotes. Those up to Sarai were checked against Gibb's 1962 volume 2. Those from Saraichik to Balkh were checked against Gibb's 1929 selected translation and Dunn, because volume 3 of the full translation could not be opened.
Urgench uses the gazetteer id for the Khwarazm region, because the atlas files this passage there. The point is the town of Konye-Urgench.