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Primary sourceBook14th century

Tuhfat al-Nuzzar (The Rihla)

Ibn Battuta · 14th century

Ibn Battuta's original Arabic account of his travels, dictated in the 14th century and preserved as a foundational primary source.

This is Ibn Battuta's own original Arabic account of his travels, the primary source for his life story.

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Full text (Wikisource)

About this source

What it is

This is the original Arabic text of Ibn Battuta's travel account, known as the Rihla or Tuhfat al-Nuzzar. It is available in full on Arabic Wikisource. The text begins with his departure from Tangier and covers his journeys through Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and beyond.

Why it matters

This is Ibn Battuta's own account of his travels, dictated after his journeys ended, and is a cornerstone source for understanding the medieval Islamic world. It reveals his encounters with rulers, scholars, and places across Africa and Asia in his own words.

Look closer

  • Why might Ibn Battuta have chosen to describe certain cities, scholars, or stories in such detail?
  • What does the structure of the text—with its many short sections—tell us about how it was composed?
  • What parts of his journey might be missing or exaggerated, and how would we check?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ibn Battuta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scanned manuscript page in Arabic calligraphy on aged cream paper. The top has a line of black script with a decorative heading, and a red-ink title block in larger calligraphy reading the opening of the work. Below are about two dozen lines of brown-ink handwritten text in dense Arabic script, with a marginal note at the bottom left.Book

Primary source

The Rihla

Ibn Battuta · 1354-1356

Two facing pages of a handwritten Arabic manuscript on aged paper. The right page is written in dark ink in neat, flowing script; the left page is faded and more worn, with lines of script partly obscured. The pages show the text of the travel account.Book

Primary source

Manuscript of the Rihla by Ibn Juzayy

Ibn Juzayy · 14th century

Ruins of a stone fort on a dry, hazy hillside under a pale sky. Massive sloping stone walls with crenellated battlements stand on the left, and a long arched stone gallery with a flat roof runs across the right. Scrubby bushes and dry earth surround the site, with a distant city skyline on the horizon.Artifact

Secondary source

Tughlaqabad Fort

Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq · 1321

Photograph of an open handwritten Arabic manuscript with dense black ink script on cream pages, with some red-ink headings visible. The left page is in focus and the right page is angled and partly blurred.Book

Secondary source

Manuscript copy of the Rihla (1484)

Ibn Juzayy · 1484

Eight vertical panels of the Catalan Atlas side by side, showing an illuminated medieval world map with colored seas, decorated landmasses, compass roses, flags, rulers on thrones, and figures and animals.Painting

Primary source

Catalan Atlas

Cresques Abraham · c. 1375

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