Muslim Explorer Visits The Mongols | Ibn Battuta's Travels

Summary

Ibn Battuta's travels are a testament to the human spirit of exploration. This video recounts his journey to the Mongol Golden Horde, describing the trials, landscapes, and cultures encountered. From a perilious sea journey to the bustling port town of Kapha, and an engagement with the powerful Uzbek Khan, Battuta's narrative is rich with historical and cultural insights. The video highlights the Mongols' unique customs, governance, and their interaction with travelers in a dynamically shifting world. It's a fascinating glimpse into a 14th-century explorer's adventure across vast and diverse territories.

Highlights

• Ibn Battuta's expeditions stretched across Asia, capturing the essence of 14th-century exploration. 🌍
• Encountered storms at sea and warnings of enemy vessels, yet pressed on with unyielding resolve. ⚔️
• Visited the vibrant town of Kapha, mingling with traders and witnessing harmony among diverse communities. 🕌
• Met with the Mongol ruler, Uzbek Khan, whose stronghold featured a moving town of tents and shops. ⛺
• Experienced rich Mongol customs, partaking in ceremonies, audiences, and traditional feasts. 🎉

Key Takeaways

• Ibn Battuta had a daring spirit, exploring unknown lands in the 14th century! 🧭
• Undeterred by tempests and treacherous seas, his journey to the Mongol Golden Horde was legendary. 🌊
• Highlights include the vibrant port town of Kapha, a melting pot of cultures and trades. 🏞️
• The Mongol's unique travel methods and hospitality showed their adaptability and warrior spirit. 🚚
• Uzbek Khan, a ruler among the world's mightiest, presented Battuta with rich traditions and audience. 👑

Overview

Ibn Battuta's travels have sparked imaginations for centuries, offering a vivid picture of uncharted territories. His thirst for adventure led him to the Mongol Golden Horde, where his chronicles reveal a glimpse into 14th-century life that continues to fascinate scholars and enthusiasts alike.

A tumultuous sea voyage marked the beginning of Battuta's journey, illustrating his unrelenting determination as he navigated through tempests and enemy threats. Reaching Kapha, he found a haven of cultural diversity where trade thrived, and various beliefs coexisted harmoniously, a testament to the region's historical richness.

As Ibn Battuta ventured further, he received a warm welcome from Uzbek Khan, a flourish of Mongol customs enveloping him. From feasts under starry skies to ceremonial gatherings, his narrative paints a picture of a land deeply rooted in community and tradition, challenging and inspiring with every turn.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Ibn Battuta's Background The chapter introduces the innate human desire to explore as a driving force for progress and knowledge expansion. It highlights Ibn Battuta, a 14th-century Moroccan explorer, known for his extensive travels over three decades across Asia. This sets the foundation for understanding his background and motivations for embarking on such remarkable journeys.
• 01:00 - 05:00: Journey to the Golden Horde The chapter 'Journey to the Golden Horde' covers the travel account to the Mongol Golden Horde located in Crimea, with an emphasis on the meeting with the powerful Uzbek Khan. The transcript hints at a broader context involving regions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean, setting the stage for the author's travels.
• 05:00 - 07:00: Experiences in the Kipchuk Desert and Kapha The narrator recounts an extended stay of about 40 days in Sinope, waiting for favorable weather conditions to sail to the town of Kiram in Crimea. Subsequently, they rented a Greek vessel and endured an additional wait of 11 days for the right wind to set sail. Once underway, their journey was abruptly disrupted by a severe storm after three nights, which left them adrift in open sea amid a tempest of unprecedented intensity.
• 07:00 - 10:30: Meeting with Sultan Uzbekhan The weather initially caused setbacks, forcing the travelers to retreat near Cenope due to strong winds. After the weather cleared, they encountered another tempest but eventually saw land and aimed for a harbor called Kirsch. However, upon reaching near the harbor, signs from people on a hill suggested danger, possibly from enemy vessels, prompting them to move away from the coast. The narrator expressed a desire to disembark.
• 10:30 - 15:00: Cultural Observations and Conclusion In the chapter titled 'Cultural Observations and Conclusion,' the narrator describes being put ashore in the Kipchak Desert, a green and verdant but flat and treeless area. Due to the lack of firewood, the locals, regardless of status, are seen collecting dung to use as a fuel source for fires. The primary method of travel across this vast desert, which spans six months of journey, is by wagon. This area includes territories governed by Sultan Muhammad Uzbeg, with the journey through his lands taking up half of the travel time.

Muslim Explorer Visits The Mongols | Ibn Battuta's Travels Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] the desire to explore is part and parcel of humanity's quest for progress seeking to broaden our horizons and further our knowledge mankind has traveled far and wide in the pre-modern era few have trekked as extensively as the 14th century explorer ibn batuta the adventurous moroccan set out on a three-decade-long expedition that saw him make his way across the span of asia
• 00:30 - 01:00 various parts of sub-saharan africa and throughout the mediterranean in this video we will revisit his account of traveling to the mongol golden horde in the crimea to meet the powerful uzbekhan [Music]
• 01:00 - 01:30 we stayed at sinope about 40 days waiting for the weather to become favorable for sailing to the town of kiram in the crimea then we hired a vessel belonging to the greeks and waited another 11 days for a favorable wind at length we set sail but after traveling for three nights we would be set in mid-sea by a terrible tempest the storm raged with unparalleled fury
• 01:30 - 02:00 then the wind changed and drove us back near to cenope the weather cleared and we set out again and after another tempest like the former we at length saw the hills on the land we made for a harbor called kirsch intending to enter it but some people on the hill made signs to us not to enter and fearing that they were enemy vessels in the port we turned back along the coast as we approached the land i said to the master of the ship i want to descend
• 02:00 - 02:30 here so he put me ashore the place was in the kipchuk desert which is green and verdant but flat and treeless there is no firewood so they make fires of dung and you will see even the highest of them picking it up and putting it in the skirts of their garments the only method of traveling in this desert is in wagons it extends for six months journey of which three are in the territories of sultan muhammad uzbeg
• 02:30 - 03:00 the day after our arrival one of the merchants in our company hired some wagons from the kip chucks who inhabited this step and who are christians and we came to kapha a large town extending along the sea coast inhabited by christians mostly genoese whose governor is called dimitrio we stayed at kapha in the mosque of the muslims an hour after our arrival we heard bells ringing on all sides as i had never heard bells before i was
• 03:00 - 03:30 alarmed and made my companions ascend the minaret and read the quran and issue the call to prayer they did so when suddenly a man entered wearing armor and weapons and greeted us he told us that he was the khadi of the muslims there and said when i heard the reading and the call to prayer i feared for your safety and came as you see then he went away but no evil befell us the next day the governor came to us and
• 03:30 - 04:00 entertained us to a meal then we went round the city and found it provided with fine bazaars all the inhabitants are infidels we went down to the port and saw a magnificent harbor with about 200 vessels in it ships of war and trading vessels small and large for it is one of the most notable harbors in the world we hired a wagon and traveled to the town of kiram which forms part of the territories of sultan uzbekhan and has a governor called talluqtumur
• 04:00 - 04:30 on hearing of our arrival the governor sent the imam to me with a horse he himself was ill but we visited him and he treated us honorably and gave us gifts he was on the point of setting out for the town of sari the capital of the khan so i prepared to travel along with him and hired wagons for that purpose on the wagon is put a light tent made of wooden lathes bound with strips of hide and covered with felt or blanket cloth
• 04:30 - 05:00 and it has grilled windows so that the person inside can see without being seen one can do anything one likes inside sleep eat read or write during the march we set out with the emir to look tamur and his brother and two sons at every halt the turks let loose their horses oxen and camels and drive them out to pasture at liberty night or day without shepherds or guardians this is due to the severity of their
• 05:00 - 05:30 laws against theft any person found in possession of a stolen horse is obliged to restore it with nine others if he cannot do this his sons are taken instead and if he has no sons he is slaughtered like a sheep we then prepared for the journey to the sultan's camp which was four days march to a place called bishtakh which means five mountains in these mountains there is a hot spring in which the turks bathe claiming that it prevents illness
• 05:30 - 06:00 we arrived at the camp on the first day of ramadan and found that it was moving to the neighborhood from which we had just come so we returned there i set up my tent on a hill there fixing a standard in the ground in front of it and drew up the horses and wagons behind there upon the mahala approached the name they gave to it is the urdu and we saw a vast town on the move with all of its inhabitants containing mosques and bazaars
• 06:00 - 06:30 the smoke from the kitchens rising in the air for they cook while on the march and horse-drawn wagons transporting them on reaching the encampment they took the tents off the wagons and set them up on the ground for they were very light and they did the same with the mosques and shops the illustrious sultan muhammad uzbekhan is the ruler of a vast kingdom and a most powerful sovereign victor over the enemies of god the people of constantinople the great and
• 06:30 - 07:00 diligent in warring against them he is one of the seven mighty kings of the world first the sultan of morocco our master the commander of the faithful may god strengthen his might and magnify his victory second the sultan of egypt and syria third the sultan of the two iraq's fourth the sultan uzbek fifth the sultan of turkistan and the lands beyond the yaksas sixth the sultan of india and 7th the
• 07:00 - 07:30 sultan of china [Music] the day after my arrival i visited him in the afternoon at a ceremonial audience a great banquet was prepared and we broke our fast in his presence these turks do not follow the custom of assigning a lodging to visitors and giving them money for their expenses but they send him sheep and horses for slaughtering and skins of kumiz which is their form of benefaction
• 07:30 - 08:00 every friday after the midday prayer the sultan holds an audience in a pavilion called the golden pavilion which is richly decorated in the center there is a wooden throne covered with silver guilt plates the legs being of pure silver set with jewels at the top the sultan sits on the throne having on his right the khatun taytorli with the khatun quebec on her right and on his left the khatun bayyalun with the khatun urduja on her left
• 08:00 - 08:30 below the throne stand the sultan's sons the elder on the right and the younger on the left and his daughter sits in front of him he rises to meet each ratun as she arrives and takes her by the hand until she mounts to the throne all this takes place in view of the whole people without any screening on the moral of my interview with the sultan i visited the principal khatun taytuhli who is the queen and the mother
• 08:30 - 09:00 of the sultan's two sons she was sitting in the midst of ten aged women who appeared to be servants of hers and had in front of her about 50 young maidens with gold and silver salvas filled with cherries which they were cleaning she ordered kim is to be brought and with her own hand poured out a cupful and gave it to me which is the highest of honors in their estimation i had never drunk chemists before but there was nothing for me but to accept it
• 09:00 - 09:30 i tasted it but found it disagreeable and passed it to one of my companions [Music] thank you guys for watching this video is a part of project exploration a collaborative effort by a bunch of history youtubers on discovery and exploration check out the playlist for more i want to thank my patrons for always supporting if you want to financially support hikmah history there's a link to my patreon in the description to this video
• 09:30 - 10:00 until next time peace