Ibn Battuta was, without doubt, one of the world's truly great travellers. Born in 14th century Morocco, and a contemporary of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta has left us an account in his own words of his remarkable journeys throughout the Islamic world and beyond: journeys punctuated by adventure and peril, and stretching from his home in Tangiers to Zaytun in faraway China. Whether sojourning in Delhi and the Maldives, wandering through the mazy streets of Cairo and Damascus, or contesting with pirates and shipwreck, the indefatigable Ibn Battuta brings to vivid life a medieval world brimming with marvel and mystery. Carefully observing the great diversity of civilizations which he encountered, Ibn Battuta exhibits an omnivorous interest in such matters as food and drink, religious differences (between Christians, Hindus and Shi'a Muslims), ideas about purity and impurity, disease, women and sex. Recounting the many miracles which its author claims to have experienced personally, his al-rihla or 'Travelogue' is a fascinating mosaic of mysticism and reportage offering a prototype magic realism. David Waines discusses the subtleties of the al-rihla, revealing all the wonders of Ibn Battuta's world to the modern reader. This is a gripping treatment of the life and times of one of history's most daring, and at the same time most human, discoverers.
By:
Professor David Waines,
David Waines
Imprint: I B TAURIS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 228mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 346g
ISBN: 9781780763606
ISBN 10: 1780763603
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 August 2012
Audience:
General/trade
,
Adult education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
CONTENTS Frontispiece - al-Idrisi's world map Map - The Travels of Ibn Battuta Captions to illustrations Preface and acknowledgements Chapter 1 On Travel Tales, their creators and critics Chapter 2 The Travels Chapter 3 The Traveller's Tales of food and hospitality Chapter 4 The Traveller's Tales of sacred places, saints, miracles and marvels Chapter 5 The Traveller's Tales of the 'Other' Notes Select Bibliography Glossary
David Waines is Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies at Lancaster University. He wrote the bestselling textbook 'An Introduction to Islam', now in its second edition, and edited a volume entitled 'Patterns of Everyday Life' in the Formation of the Classical Islamic World series.
Reviews for The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta: Uncommon Tales of a Medieval Adventurer
'By highlighting Ibn Battuta's encounters with sex, strangeness and the sacred, David Waines makes this deservedly most famous of medieval travellers more intelligible, more enjoyable and more rewarding than ever.' (Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, William P Reynolds Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, and Professorial Fellow of Queen Mary, University of London)
