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The Travels of Ibn Battuta I left Tangier, my birthplace, the 13th of June 1325 with the intention of making the pilgrimage [ to Mecca]... to leave all my friends both female and male, to abandon my home as birds abandon their nests.So begins an old manuscript in a library in Paristhe travel journal of Ibn Battuta. Almost two centuries before Columbus, this young Moroccan set off for Mecca, returning home three decades later as one of historys great travelers. Driven by curiosity, he journeyed to remote comers of the Islamic world, traveling through 44 modem countries, three times as far as Marco Polo. Little celebrated in the West2, his name is well known among Arabs. In his hometown of Tangier, a square, a hotel, a cafe, a ferry boat, and even a hamburger are named after him. Ibn Battuta stayed in Mecca as a student for several years, but the urge to travel soon took over. In one adventure, he traveled to India seeking profitable employment with the Sultan of Delhi.3 On the way, he described his group being attacked in the open country by 80 men on foot, and two horsemen：we fought ... killing one of their horsemen and about twelve of the foot soldiers .I was hit by an arrow and my horse by another, but God in his grace preserved me .... We carried the heads of the slain to the castle of Abu Bak, har ... and suspended them from the wall.In Delhi, the sultan gave him the position of judge, based on his prior study at Mecca. But the sultan had an unpredictable character, and Ibn Battuta looked for an opportunity to leave. When the sultan offered to finance a trip to China, he agreed. Ibn Battuta set off in three ships, but misfortune struck while he was still on the shore. A sudden storm grounded and broke up two ships, scattering treasure and drowning many people and horses. As he watched, the third ship, with all his belongings and slaves一one carrying his childwas carried out to sea and never heard from again. | 
