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Trace the Route of Ibn Battuta on a Map

Ibn Battuta, a 14th century Moroccan scholar, was one of the most prolific explorers in history, traveling 72,000 miles (117,000 kilometers), more than four times the distance covered by Marco Polo! Can you name all the countries he visited?
Dashed lines indicate places where the route he took or destinations he visited are uncertain.
If he travels through a country more than once, make sure to guess it every time he goes there!
Hint: The first country is Morocco
Quiz by JWatson24
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Last updated: September 29, 2022
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First submittedJuly 11, 2021
Times taken15,582
Average score74.4%
Rating4.97
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1325-1328
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Egypt
Israel
Jordan
Syria
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Iraq
Iran
Iraq
Iran
Iraq
Turkey
Syria
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
1328-1330
Sudan
Yemen
Somalia
Kenya
Tanzania
Oman
Iran
Saudi Arabia
1330-1333
Egypt
Israel
Jordan
Syria
Lebanon
Syria
Turkey
Russia
Ukraine
Russia
Ukraine
Romania
Bulgaria
Turkey
Bulgaria
Romania
Ukraine
Russia
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Afghanistan
1333-1346
Pakistan
India
Maldives
Sri Lanka
India
Maldives
Bangladesh
India
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Malaysia
Vietnam
Philippines
China
1346-1349
Indonesia
India
Oman
Iran
Iraq
Syria
Jordan
Israel
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Tunisia
Italy
Algeria
Morocco
1349-1354
Gibraltar (UK)
Spain
Gibraltar (UK)
Morocco
Algeria
Mali
Mauritania
Mali
Guinea
Mali
Niger
Algeria
Morocco
+61
Level 71
Jul 11, 2021
A few more notes on this quiz:

The greatest piece of uncertainty here is where Ibn Battuta visited between Malaysia and China. He claims to have gone to a place called "Tawalisi," but it is not clear where that is. Historians have focused on southern Vietnam and the Philippines as the two most likely locations. It's possible he visited both locations, or neither, or just one, hence the dotted line.

A place I chose not to include is Beijing. While he claimed to have gone there, his description is very inaccurate, and most historians believe he made that story up. The same can be said about Bolghar, Russia, which is much further north than he probably travelled.

Finally, if this piqued your interest and you want to learn more, I relied heavily on this site as a resource. This video series is also pretty good.

+11
Level 60
Jul 13, 2021
Great quiz!
+3
Level 88
Jul 13, 2021
Nice work!
+5
Level 73
Oct 14, 2021
I love this quiz! The route animates only up to Egypt. Is that a glitch?

Also, the flag of Earth will be announced today at 18:00 IST. I've also added a flag for the interplanetary association of the planets based on your suggestions. You can check them here. It will be visible from the same time. I hope you like the design. :)

+2
Level 71
Oct 14, 2021
Thanks! The reason the route only animates up to Egypt is just cuz I haven't had time to update the rest of it :/ I'll get around to animating the rest of it soon, I'm just a bit busy right now.
+2
Level 73
Oct 14, 2021
Oh, I didn't see the second pinned comment. Anyways, it's still a fun quiz to play. I've played it at least four times! Hope you have a good semester at college. :)
+5
Level 71
Oct 14, 2021
Glad you like it so much :D To be honest, among the quizzes I've made, this is probably one of my favorites. It was a lot of fun to both make and play, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned it. Hopefully it will be even better when I get around to animating it!
+3
Level 73
Oct 25, 2021
Loved it again! The animations are oddly satisfying. When I pause and resume the quiz, every line animates themselves. Loved it, definitely! Thanks for updating this quiz. :)
+2
Level 71
Oct 25, 2021
Once again, thanks :) Really makes me happy that you enjoy it so much!
+11
Level 65
Oct 25, 2021
Incredible. This has to be featured. I love when I know a few countries in a row, then they all animate at once lol
+4
Level 71
Oct 25, 2021
Thanks! I agree, the animations can be very satisfying :)
+8
Level 83
Oct 31, 2021
I love the animations. Nominated!
+1
Level 71
Oct 31, 2021
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy the animations so much :)
+9
Level 76
Nov 13, 2021
wow, amazing!
+5
Level 71
Nov 13, 2021
Thanks! I know I've said this on other quizzes before, but it always makes me really happy getting comments from accomplished quizmakers like you ^_^
+4
Level 88
Nov 13, 2021
Fantastic quiz!
+1
Level 71
Nov 13, 2021
Thanks! :)
+9
Level 70
Nov 14, 2021
This is excellent, well done! Simply astonishing how far he travelled, for a man of his era. If he had visited any more places I'm sure my computer would have exploded while taking this quiz :D
+6
Level 71
Nov 14, 2021
Thanks! You're right, it's insane how he covered most of the Old World in just the course of 30 years. Even today, there are very few people who have covered as much ground as he did. That's what made it so fun to make this quiz--it was absolutely fascinating reading his stories and experiences, especially in the places he was unfamiliar with!
+5
Level 75
Oct 23, 2022
Agreed both on the quality of the quiz and on how incredible Ibn Battuta's travels were. He's still well known in the Maldives, where he became chief judge (Ghazee - Qadi in Arabic) and had four wives. He is also the only person on record to have seen the production of Maldivian cowries - and then their use as currency in West Africa.
+2
Level 71
Oct 23, 2022
Cool! I didn't know the fact about the cowries. It's also nice that he wrote his whole story down--it tells us a lot about life at that time.
+3
Level 43
Mar 27, 2022
Trace me the route to the Nominate button. I need to press it :)

Btw, about the note of Crimea, I don’t think Quizmaster is being lenient. Actually, he cannot support an actual side on war terms, in a site with people with different views (you know, Cyprus, although he declared being pro-Asian). He cannot deny the truth. He cannot ignore the situation of Afghanistan, needing to change the flag to Taliban one according to standards. Same thing with Crimea. Dan get in a tight-spot in these situations. He need to accept what happened, us wanting or no. But I respect your opinion!

+2
Level 71
Mar 27, 2022
Thanks!

The quiz I was referencing was this one. If you scroll down, you can see that Quizmaster says, "...any quizmaker who wants to make a quiz can make a personal choice on whether to include Crimea or not [as part of Russia]." He also has never taken down or forcibly changed quizzes for showing Crimea as Ukrainian. If this quiz ever gets featured, I'll go back to JetPunk standards, but for now it doesn't seem to be causing any issues.

+1
Level 43
Mar 27, 2022
So I misunderstood something. Logically you can support a side, but he need to follow a side, and don’t deny the truth. Maybe I didn’t get totally what you meant :)
+2
Level 71
Mar 27, 2022
No problem :) Yes, just to explain what I meant is that this is my personal decision. I understand why Quizmaster recognizes Crimea as Russian, and if at any point he asks me to change it, I will. That being said, I don't think Quizmaster cares much so I'm just leaving it like this for now.
+2
Level 61
Sep 18, 2022
Don't bother changing it when this is featured, it'll just go back to being Ukrainian when Ukraine wins the war and takes it back
+1
Level 71
Sep 18, 2022
While I agree with you and hope that Ukraine does take back Crimea, I also don't want to start a major political discussion on a quiz that otherwise is non-political. I'm okay with making political choices when my quiz is private, but once it's public I want it to be a controversy-free environment. Not that I think this is that controversial, but I do think staying in line with JetPunk standards will cause less confusion. I guess this is something I could ask Quizmaster about if the quiz gets featured.
+7
Level 34
Mar 30, 2022
Much more confusing and underrated than the Marco Polo one. Nominated.
+4
Level 71
Mar 30, 2022
Yep! Definitely more confusing and convoluted, but I like to think that that's what makes it fun. :) Thanks for the nomination!
+2
Level 57
Apr 14, 2022
Superb quiz! Nominated!
+1
Level 71
Apr 14, 2022
Thanks!
+8
Level 76
Apr 14, 2022
I would have gone back to Maldives too.
+5
Level 71
Apr 14, 2022
Yeah, I've heard it's beautiful there. I'd love to go sometime, but unfortunately I'm not sure it will exist for much longer.
+2
Level 82
Apr 14, 2022
I was once going to make a quiz like this. You probably did a much better job than I would have.
+8
Level 82
Apr 14, 2022
my students in Saudi Arabia sometimes called me ibn Battuta
+4
Level 71
Apr 14, 2022
Thanks! Means a lot from a quizmaker of your caliber. And given how much you've been around, I think that's the perfect nickname :) (Also, you commented the same thing twice, might wanna delete one of them.)
+2
Level 82
Oct 23, 2022
You're welcome. Maybe you could make a similar quiz about Che Guevara. That was another one I was going to do but never got around to.
+2
Level 71
Oct 24, 2022
That's an interesting idea. I'm not sure I have time to do it now (I had several other plans that ended up falling through because I got busy), but if I ever have the time and patience again I'll consider it. Thanks for the suggestion!
+5
Level 55
Apr 21, 2022
This quiz is awesome! It's amazing that a man from that long ago managed to travel to the places he did.
+4
Level 71
Apr 21, 2022
Thanks! I really recommend looking into him more, he lived a very fascinating life :D
+3
Level 55
Apr 21, 2022
I definitely will!
+3
Level 78
Sep 14, 2022
Brilliant again.

Much harder than the Marco Polo one, but mainly because the scale of the map meant my perception of the movement of the graphics was lacking. Another interesting and beautifully crafted quiz. Nominated, of course.

+1
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
Thanks! Definitely more difficult and involved than the Marco Polo one, but I also think it's more satisfying to see it come together at the end!
+1
Level 62
Sep 18, 2022
Ooh! This is great, Nom.
+1
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
Thanks!
+1
Level 56
Sep 27, 2022
nominated for sure :)
+1
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
Thanks, I appreciate it :)
+3
Level 75
Oct 3, 2022
Best. Quiz. Ever.

At start of journey, blue lines are hard to see. Please consider changing to yellow.

+1
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
Thanks! I think it's too late for me to change that now that the quiz is featured, and I'm not sure changing it to yellow would make much of a difference anyways. Appreciate the suggestion though.
+3
Level 92
Oct 3, 2022
This is an example of an amazing person and story that gets left out of the history books that kids growing up in the U.S. read. I never heard of this gentleman. There's a limited amount of time in the school year, but I think every high school student should be required to take a world history course (didn't have one in my time) to expand their horizons and base of knowledge beyond Columbus, Marco Polo and the other usual suspects. Great job on this quiz and thank you for expanding my base of knowledge.
+1
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
Yeah, he definitely gets sidelined a lot. I think he was mentioned once in a history class I took, but I really only became interested in him because of a YouTube history series I was really into in high school (Extra History, link is posted in the pinned comment above). I honestly wasn't expecting this quiz on a little-known figure to get popular enough to be featured, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it is. I'm glad to see so many people are learning something new here!
+1
Level 74
Oct 23, 2022
I had world history multiple times throughout my schooling in the US, most extensively European and Asian history, but hadn't heard of this guy. He's definitely someone I'm going to look into. It's a sad testament that you didn't have even one world history class. Public school? I only went to private schools and am always amazed by what the public school fails to teach, and deteriorating every year.
+2
Level 71
Oct 23, 2022
@kapulani, may I ask why you think public schools are getting worse? I think they're getting better if anything. Plenty of my high school teachers said they missed out on a lot of courses because they weren't mandatory when they went to school in the '80s or '90s, but the curriculum by the time I was in high school in the 2010s was very well-rounded and covered just about every subject. I don't think you had bad intentions when you posted your comment, but to be frank, I found it condescending.
+2
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
The design of the route is confusing. Sometimes it stops/starts on dot, and other times at a border.
+5
Level 71
Oct 3, 2022
It always stops on a border. If it stops on a dot, there's a city on the border. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
+1
Level 76
Oct 4, 2022
I've seen maps of where he travelled before, but seeing each line appear one by one/seeing where he travelled back and forth really makes it clear just how crazy his journey was.
+2
Level 71
Oct 4, 2022
Crazy it certainly was. I'm really glad I got a chance to add animations, I think it enhances how we understand his journey.
+4
Level 90
Oct 4, 2022
Wow, he really make a terrible job planning his route. So much gas wasted!
+1
Level 71
Oct 4, 2022
Haha :)
+1
Level 74
Oct 8, 2022
Could be a great quiz, but for goodness sake - or rather for the sake of those of us with less than ideal eyesight - use a lighter color for the seas/oceans and preferably a different color entirely to the route!
+1
Level 71
Oct 8, 2022
I'm sorry for your eyesight problems, but now that the quiz has been featured, I don't want to make any major changes to it unless absolutely necessary. Most people have not complained about this color scheme, and the fact is I tried to do my best to make the lines pop out as best as I can while keeping a unique theme for this quiz. And at any rate, you do realize you can zoom in if you struggle to see the lines, right? So to answer your question, no, I am not planning on changing this color scheme.
+2
Level 68
Oct 10, 2022
Great quiz, congratulations for the nomination!

By the way, which program did you use to make this? That is wonderful!

+2
Level 71
Oct 10, 2022
Thanks! The program I used is Inkscape, and it can be downloaded for free. It's a lot to explain, so instead I'll post the JetPunk SVG Guide here so that you can get an idea of how it works.
+2
Level 68
Oct 13, 2022
Thank you very much!
+1
Level 71
Oct 13, 2022
No problem!
+1
Level 81
Oct 13, 2022
Finally took this quiz and this is so well-made! Great job!
+1
Level 71
Oct 13, 2022
Hah, I know that feeling of saving up a quiz for the perfect time :) Thanks!
+1
Level 68
Oct 23, 2022
Too fiddly for me. If only we could zoom the map and then slide around I would have enjoyed it.
+1
Level 71
Oct 23, 2022
Not sure what you mean? You can already zoom into the map at different points. "Sliding around" isn't possible with JetPunk SVGs. I appreciate constructive criticism, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about this.
+1
Level 67
Oct 24, 2022
Was anyone else confused when he did a 180 in Constantinople? I spent a solid 30-45 seconds trying to figure out where he went lol
+1
Level 64
Oct 24, 2022
Fantastic quiz.

Does anybody know why he wouldn't have visited Greece? Seems like it would have been an important destination.

+1
Level 82
Oct 24, 2022
In the 14th century when ibn Battuta was alive it really wasn't. The Balkans were mostly a mess of warring fiefdoms going through a series of succession wars as the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire crumbled during this and the following century. Athens during Battuta's lifetime was a mostly deserted backwater that had been taken over by a company of Aragonese mercenaries called the Catalan Company. It would decline even further after being occupied by Ottomans a while later.
+1
Level 82
Oct 24, 2022
Also, I'm not sure how easy it was (or wasn't) to travel between Muslim and Ottoman-held lands this century and the parts of the Balkans still in Christian hands as the two sides were in a state of active war. I mean, I'm sure people did go back and forth, but, maybe this was a factor. Thessaloniki would have been the most important city in Greece during the period. It was captured by the Ottomans after a protracted siege in 1387.. though it later passed back into Christian hands in 1403.. until being captured again by Ottomans in 1430.
+2
Level 78
Oct 24, 2022
This quiz would have been a lot more straightforward if Ibn Battuta had just used his GPS.
+1
Level 82
Oct 26, 2022
Or if he was a woman and so stopped to ask for directions.
+1
Level 45
Oct 24, 2022
Amazing quiz, sometimes it was hard to see where the line went when it kept going back and forward on the same track, maybe make it a darker or lighter shade of the color so people can see it easier. But amazing quiz!
+1
Level 61
Oct 24, 2022
Dull. Too much time spent zooming in & out and replacing the cursor in the text box.
+1
Level 50
Oct 24, 2022
Love this quiz!
+1
Level 43
Oct 24, 2022
Fantastic quiz!
+1
Level 78
Oct 24, 2022
A tour de force. Walking us through his peregrinations one leg at a time makes me understand the breadth of his travels so much better than a mere list.
+1
Level 68
Oct 24, 2022
So cool!
+1
Level 28
Nov 17, 2022
so intereting
+1
Level 71
Nov 21, 2022
Nice work. Thanks for the lesson
+1
Level 62
Jan 6, 2023
Absolutely brilliant and fun. Thank you!
+1
Level 71
Jan 6, 2023
Yeah no problem. Thanks for taking it!
+1
Level 48
Mar 19, 2023
Bro would’ve went to mars if he could’ve
+1
Level 48
Apr 8, 2023
Amazing quiz! But for the Crimean Peninsula, please accept Ukraine.
+2
Level 71
Apr 8, 2023
Thanks! I did initially accept Crimea for Ukraine but I switched back when the quiz was featured, since most featured quizzes on JetPunk recognizes it as Russian. I appreciate and agree with your view, but to prevent people from getting confused I think keeping it as Russian is a better idea.
+1
Level 38
Apr 24, 2023
Please change it back to Ukraine, it is legally part of Ukraine.
+2
Level 71
Apr 24, 2023
I'm sorry but it's not *legally* part of any country. There's no international body that can really enforce having Ukraine in control of Crimea. Believe me, I'd love to see Crimea returned to Ukraine, but that's not the situation on the ground now. This isn't an endorsement of any one side, it's just the reality of the situation, and its what the rest of JetPunk follows.
+4
Level 65
Apr 28, 2023
"Tangier"

Incorrect

"Casablanca"

Incorrect

"Marrakesh"

Incorrect

"Rabat"

Incorrect

......

Oh wait, I should guess the COUNTRY.

+2
Level 79
Jul 10, 2023
I can only hope to one day be as well travelled as this man was 700 years ago!
+1
Level 65
Nov 14, 2023
I'm as tired as if I'd made the whole trip myself xD
+1
Level 43
Mar 28, 2024
I love this quiz, had no idea who this was so now I HAVE TO do my own investigation on him, thanks!