Routes of Ibn Battuta's Three Journeys

What it is

Made in 2019, this map uses Arabic labels to summarise the three major journeys of Ibn Battuta across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Indian Ocean. Red, green and magenta routes are shown with a legend explaining each journey.

Why it matters

This map condenses decades of travel into a single image, showing the scale of Ibn Battuta's movement across three continents and the Indian Ocean world. Presenting it in Arabic also reflects the language and cultural world Ibn Battuta himself came from and wrote in.

Look closer

• Why might it matter that this map is labeled in Arabic rather than another language?
• What do the three separate routes suggest about how Ibn Battuta's travels were organized over time?
• What parts of the world are NOT covered by these routes, and why might that be?