Kassi (fl. 1352) (also called Qasa ) was an empress of the Kingdom of Mali and one of the wives of Mansa Suleyman (r. 1341–1360). She was called Qasa, which means 'the Queen'.
110-443: Principal wife and paternal cousin of Suleyman, Kassi ruled jointly with her husband, as was traditional. Ibn Battuta wrote, "the queen is his partner in the kingship, following the custom of the blacks. Her name is mentioned in the pulpit ". Having one's name read in the pulpit during Muslim services in the mosque is an honor due only to an actual sovereign , not a mere consort. Qasa was one of twenty female Muslim rulers who met
220-521: A Somali sultan, Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh 'Umar. He noted that Sultan Abu Bakr had dark skin complexion and spoke in his native tongue (Somali), but was also fluent in Arabic. The Sultan also had a retinue of wazirs (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs , and other officials at his beck and call. Ibn Battuta continued by ship south to the Swahili coast , a region then known in Arabic as
330-401: A chief judge and married into the royal family of Omar I . Ibn Battuta took on his duties as a judge with keenness and strived to transform local practices to conform to a stricter application of Muslim law. He commanded that men who did not attend Friday prayer be publicly whipped, and that robbers' right hand be cut off. He forbade women from being topless in public, which had previously been
440-562: A coin from AH 17, the first surviving attested use of a Hijri calendar date alongside a date in another calendar ( Coptic ) is on a papyrus from Egypt in AH 22, PERF 558 . Due to the Islamic calendar's reliance on certain variable methods of observation to determine its month-start-dates, these dates sometimes vary slightly from the month-start-dates of the astronomical lunar calendar, which are based directly on astronomical calculations. Still,
550-574: A country says it does is impossible. Due to the somewhat variable nature of the Islamic calendar, in most Muslim countries, the Islamic calendar is used primarily for religious purposes, while the Solar-based Gregorian calendar is still used primarily for matters of commerce and agriculture . If the Islamic calendar were prepared using astronomical calculations, Muslims throughout the Muslim world could use it to meet all their needs,
660-470: A day of rest. A few others (e.g., Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria, Malaysia) have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a long midday break to allow time off for worship. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle. Traditionally, this is based on actual observation of the moon's crescent ( hilal ) marking the end of
770-468: A feature of most Anatolian towns in the 13th and 14th centuries. The members were young artisans and had at their head a leader with the title of Akhil . The associations specialised in welcoming travellers. Ibn Battuta was very impressed with the hospitality that he received and would later stay in their hospices in more than 25 towns in Anatolia. From Antalya Ibn Battuta headed inland to Eğirdir which
880-722: A guest for three days. Ibn Battuta then sailed to a state called Kaylukari in the land of Tawalisi , where he met Urduja , a local princess. Urduja was a brave warrior, and her people were opponents of the Yuan dynasty . She was described as an "idolater", but could write the phrase Bismillah in Islamic calligraphy . The locations of Kaylukari and Tawalisi are disputed. Kaylukari might referred to Po Klong Garai in Champa (now southern Vietnam), and Urduja might be an aristocrat of Champa or Dai Viet . Filipinos widely believe that Kaylukari
990-667: A large caravan of pilgrims returning to Iraq across the Arabian Peninsula . The group headed north to Medina and then, travelling at night, turned northeast across the Najd plateau to Najaf , on a journey that lasted about two weeks. In Najaf, he visited the mausoleum of Ali , the Fourth Caliph . Then, instead of continuing to Baghdad with the caravan, Ibn Battuta started a six-month detour that took him into Iran . From Najaf, he journeyed to Wasit , then followed
1100-529: A number of towns in central Anatolia, but not in the order in which he describes. When Ibn Battuta arrived in İznik , it had just been conquered by Orhan , sultan of the Ottoman Beylik . Orhan was away and his wife was in command of the nearby stationed soldiers, Ibn Battuta gave this account of Orhan's wife: "A pious and excellent woman. She treated me honourably, gave me hospitality and sent gifts." Ibn Battuta's account of Orhan: The greatest of
1210-460: A particular season. The Qur'an links the four forbidden months with Nasī ' , a word that literally means "postponement". According to Muslim tradition, the decision of postponement was administered by the tribe of Kinanah , by a man known as the al-Qalammas of Kinanah and his descendants (pl. qalāmisa ). Different interpretations of the concept of Nasī ' have been proposed. Some scholars, both Muslim and Western, maintain that
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#17327797158301320-407: A peculiar way. Southern merchants brought various goods and placed them in an open area on the snow in the night, then returned to their tents. Next morning they came to the place again and found their merchandise taken by the mysterious people, but in exchange they found fur-skins which could be used for making valuable coats, jackets, and other winter garments. The trade was done between merchants and
1430-420: A place called "Mul Jawa" (island of Java or Majapahit Java) which was a center of a Hindu empire . The empire spanned 2 months of travel, and ruled over the country of Qaqula and Qamara. He arrived at the walled city named Qaqula/Kakula, and observed that the city had war junks for pirate raiding and collecting tolls and that elephants were employed for various purposes. He met the ruler of Mul Jawa and stayed as
1540-594: A result of the Mongol invasion in 1220 and subsequent infighting. From there, he journeyed south to Afghanistan , then crossed into India via the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush . In the Rihla , he mentions these mountains and the history of the range in slave trading. He wrote, After this I proceeded to the city of Barwan, in the road to which is a high mountain, covered with snow and exceedingly cold; they call it
1650-561: A small monthly variation of 44 minutes to account for, which adds up to a total of 24 hours (i.e., the equivalent of one full day) in 2.73 years. To settle accounts, it is sufficient to add one day every three years to the lunar calendar, in the same way that one adds one day to the Gregorian calendar every four years. The technical details of the adjustment are described in Tabular Islamic calendar . The Islamic calendar, however,
1760-671: A synonym to the Arabic word for "intercalation" ( kabīsa ). The Arabs, according to one explanation mentioned by Abu Ma'shar, learned of this type of intercalation from the Jews. The Jewish Nasi was the official who decided when to intercalate the Jewish calendar. Some sources say that the Arabs followed the Jewish practice and intercalated seven months over nineteen years, or else that they intercalated nine months over 24 years; there is, however, no consensus among scholars on this issue. Nasi'
1870-455: A variety of offences. His plan to leave on the pretext of taking another hajj was stymied by the Sultan. The opportunity for Battuta to leave Delhi finally arose in 1341 when an embassy arrived from the Yuan dynasty of China asking for permission to rebuild a Himalayan Buddhist temple popular with Chinese pilgrims. Ibn Battuta was given charge of the embassy but en route to the coast at
1980-578: A world traveller. He spent several weeks visiting sites in the area, and then headed inland to Cairo , the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate . After spending about a month in Cairo, he embarked on the first of many detours within the relative safety of Mamluk territory. Of the three usual routes to Mecca, Ibn Battuta chose the least-traveled, which involved a journey up the Nile valley, then east to
2090-604: A year of 12 lunar months is 354.37 days long. In this calendar system, lunar months begin precisely at the time of the monthly "conjunction", when the Moon is located most directly between the Earth and the Sun. The month is defined as the average duration of a revolution of the Moon around the Earth (29.53 days). By convention, months of 30 days and 29 days succeed each other, adding up over two successive months to 59 full days. This leaves only
2200-502: A young man, he would have studied at a Sunni Maliki school, the dominant form of education in North Africa at that time. Maliki Muslims requested that Ibn Battuta serve as their religious judge, as he was from an area where it was practised. On 2 Rajab 725 AH (14 June 1325 AD), Ibn Battuta set off from his home town at the age of 21 on a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca , a journey that would ordinarily take sixteen months. He
2310-411: Is Rajab , month 7. These months were considered forbidden both within the new Islamic calendar and within the old pagan Meccan calendar. Traditionally, the Islamic day begins at sunset and ends at the next sunset. Each Islamic day thus begins at nightfall and ends at the end of daylight. The days in the seven-day week are, with the exception of the last two days, named after their ordinal place in
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#17327797158302420-573: Is 1446 AH. In the Gregorian calendar reckoning, 1446 AH runs from 7 July 2024 to approximately 26 June 2025. For central Arabia, especially Mecca , there is a lack of epigraphical evidence but details are found in the writings of Muslim authors of the Abbasid era. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars. At least some of these South Arabian calendars followed
2530-550: Is also the Qur'anic meaning of Nasī ' . The Encyclopaedia of Islam concludes "The Arabic system of [Nasī'] can only have been intended to move the Hajj and the fairs associated with it in the vicinity of Mecca to a suitable season of the year. It was not intended to establish a fixed calendar to be generally observed." The term "fixed calendar" is generally understood to refer to the non-intercalated calendar. Others concur that it
2640-413: Is an increase in disbelief, by which the disbelievers are led ˹far˺ astray. They adjust the sanctity one year and uphold it in another, only to maintain the number of months sanctified by Allah, violating the very months Allah has made sacred. Their evil deeds have been made appealing to them. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people. The prohibition of Nasī' would presumably have been announced when
2750-448: Is based on a different set of conventions being used for the determination of the month-start-dates. Each month still has either 29 or 30 days, but due to the variable method of observations employed, there is usually no discernible order in the sequencing of either 29 or 30-day month lengths. Traditionally, the first day of each month is the day (beginning at sunset) of the first sighting of the hilal (crescent moon) shortly after sunset. If
2860-470: Is doubtful. In all likelihood, he went directly from Ta'izz to the important trading port of Aden , arriving around the beginning of 1329 or 1331. From Aden , Ibn Battuta embarked on a ship heading for Zeila on the coast of Somalia . He then moved on to Cape Guardafui further down the Somali seaboard, spending about a week in each location. Later he would visit Mogadishu , the then pre-eminent city of
2970-535: Is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram. A similar if not identical concept to the forbidden months is also attested by Procopius , where he describes an armistice that the Eastern Arabs of the Lakhmid al-Mundhir respected for two months in the summer solstice of 541 CE. However, Muslim historians do not link these months to
3080-499: Is interpreted to signify either the postponement of the pre-Islamic month of Hajj, or the (also pre-Islamic) practice of intercalation – periodic insertion of an additional month to reset the calendar into accordance with the seasons. In the tenth year of the Hijra, as documented in the Qur'an ( Surah At-Tawbah (9) :36–37), Muslims believe God revealed the "prohibition of
3190-570: Is known about Ibn Battuta's life comes from the autobiographical information included in the account of his travels, which records that he was of Berber descent, born into a family of Islamic legal scholars (known as qadis in the Muslim traditions of Morocco ) in Tangier on 24 February 1304, during the reign of the Marinid dynasty . His family belonged to a Berber tribe known as the Lawata . As
3300-577: Is surrounded with a strong wall, and its founder is said to be one of the great non-Muslim kings, called Tara". Upon his arrival in Sindh , Ibn Battuta mentions the Indian rhinoceros that lived on the banks of the Indus . The Sultan was erratic even by the standards of the time and for six years Ibn Battuta veered between living the high life of a trusted subordinate and falling under suspicion of treason for
3410-582: The Arabian Desert to Mecca. Ill with diarrhoea, he arrived in the city weak and exhausted for his second hajj . Ibn Battuta remained in Mecca for some time (the Rihla suggests about three years, from September 1327 until autumn 1330). Problems with chronology, however, lead commentators to suggest that he may have left after the 1328 hajj . After the hajj in either 1328 or 1330, he made his way to
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3520-512: The Bilad al-Zanj ("Land of the Zanj ") with an overnight stop at the island town of Mombasa . Although relatively small at the time, Mombasa would become important in the following century. After a journey along the coast, Ibn Battuta next arrived in the island town of Kilwa in present-day Tanzania , which had become an important transit centre of the gold trade. He described the city as "one of
3630-513: The Golden Horde realm. He went to the port town of Azov , where he met with the emir of the Khan, then to the large and rich city of Majar . He left Majar to meet with Uzbeg Khan 's travelling court ( Orda ), which was at the time near Mount Beshtau . From there he made a journey to Bolghar , which became the northernmost point he reached, and noted its unusually short nights in summer (by
3740-564: The Hijrah . In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH ( Latin : Anno Hegirae , lit. 'In the year of the Hijrah';). In Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form ( سَنَة هِجْرِيَّة , abbreviated ھ ). In English, years prior to the Hijra are denoted as BH ("Before the Hijra"). Since 7 July 2024 CE, the current Islamic year
3850-677: The Iberian Peninsula . Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling , but commonly known as The Rihla . Ibn Battuta travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around 117,000 km (73,000 mi), surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km (31,000 mi) and Marco Polo with 24,000 km (15,000 mi). There have been doubts over
3960-627: The Khyber Pass and Peshawar , or further south. He crossed the Sutlej river near the city of Pakpattan , in modern-day Pakistan, where he paid obeisance at the shrine of Baba Farid , before crossing southwest into Rajput country. From the Rajput kingdom of Sarsatti, Battuta visited Hansi in India, describing it as "among the most beautiful cities, the best constructed and the most populated; it
4070-626: The Levant and Mesopotamia ( Iraq , Syria , Jordan , Lebanon and Palestine ), but the religious calendar is the Hijri one. This calendar enumerates the Hijri era , whose epoch was established as the Islamic New Year in 622 CE . During that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina and established the first Muslim community ( ummah ), an event commemorated as
4180-485: The Mappila Muslims, who were also followers of Imam Al-Shafi‘i. At that time Samudra Pasai marked the end of Dar al-Islam , because no territory east of this was ruled by a Muslim. Here he stayed for about two weeks in the wooden walled town as a guest of the sultan, and then the sultan provided him with supplies and sent him on his way on one of his own junks to China. Ibn Battuta first sailed for 21 days to
4290-484: The Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual fasting and the annual season for the great pilgrimage . In almost all countries where the predominant religion is Islam, the civil calendar is the Gregorian calendar , with Syriac month-names used in
4400-624: The Rashid Caliph Umar ( r. 634–644 ) in Basra , complained about the absence of any years on the correspondence he received from Umar, making it difficult for him to determine which instructions were most recent. This report convinced Umar of the need to introduce an era for Muslims. After debating the issue with his counsellors, he decided that the first year should be the year of Muhammad's arrival at Medina (known as Yathrib, before Muhammad's arrival). Uthman then suggested that
4510-482: The Red Sea port of ʿAydhab . Upon approaching the town, however, a local rebellion forced him to turn back. Ibn Battuta returned to Cairo and took a second side trip, this time to Mamluk-controlled Damascus . During his first trip he had encountered a holy man who prophesied that he would only reach Mecca by travelling through Syria . The diversion held an added advantage; because of the holy places that lay along
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4620-543: The Sinai Peninsula to Palestine and then travelled north again through some of the towns that he had visited in 1326. From the Syrian port of Latakia , a Genoese ship took him (and his companions) to Alanya on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. He then journeyed westwards along the coast to the port of Antalya . In the town he met members of one of the semi-religious fityan associations. These were
4730-744: The Strait of Hormuz then on to Mecca for the hajj of 1330 (or 1332). After his third pilgrimage to Mecca, Ibn Battuta decided to seek employment with the Sultan of Delhi , Muhammad bin Tughluq . In the autumn of 1330 (or 1332), he set off for the Seljuk controlled territory of Anatolia to take an overland route to India. He crossed the Red Sea and the Eastern Desert to reach the Nile valley and then headed north to Cairo . From there he crossed
4840-521: The historicity of some of Ibn Battuta's travels, particularly as they reach farther East. "Ibn Battuta" is a patronymic , literally meaning 'son of the duckling'. His most common full name is given as Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta. In his travelogue , The Rihla , he gives his full name as " Shams al-Din Abu’Abdallah Muhammad ibn’Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf Lawati al- Tanji ibn Battuta". All that
4950-509: The lunisolar system . Both al-Biruni and al-Mas'udi suggest that the ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah , Hejaz , and Najd distinguished between two types of months, permitted ( ḥalāl ) and forbidden ( ḥarām ) months. The forbidden months were four months during which fighting
5060-512: The pre-Islamic calendar used in central Arabia was a purely lunar calendar similar to the modern Islamic calendar. According to this view, Nasī ' is related to the pre-Islamic practices of the Meccan Arabs, where they would alter the distribution of the forbidden months within a given year without implying a calendar manipulation. This interpretation is supported by Arab historians and lexicographers, like Ibn Hisham , Ibn Manzur , and
5170-509: The " Land of the Berbers " (بلد البربر Balad al-Barbar , the medieval Arabic term for the Horn of Africa ). When Ibn Battuta arrived in 1332, Mogadishu stood at the zenith of its prosperity. He described it as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, noted for its high-quality fabric that was exported to other countries, including Egypt . Battuta added that the city was ruled by
5280-399: The 20th century. These names were collectively referred to as the "Turki lunar year" or "Turki lunar calendar". or ربيع الأولى , rabīʿa l-ʾūlā or ربيع الآخر , rabīʿa l-ʾākhir or جمادى الأولى , jumādā l-ʾūlā or جمادى الآخرة , jumādā l-ʾākhirah or برات آی , bärât ay Twelver Shia Muslims believe the Islamic new year and first month of
5390-461: The Hijra, the calendar was named the Hijri calendar. F A Shamsi (1984) postulated that the Arabic calendar was never intercalated. According to him, the first day of the first month of the new fixed Islamic calendar (1 Muharram AH 1) was no different from what was observed at the time. The day the Prophet moved from Quba' to Medina was originally 26 Rabi' I on the pre-Islamic calendar. 1 Muharram of
5500-480: The Hijri calendar is Rabi' al-Awwal rather than Muharram, due to it being the month in which the Hijrah took place. This has led to difference regarding description of the years in which some events took place, such as the Muharram-occurring battle of Karbala , which Shias say took place in 60 AH, while Sunnis say it took place in 61 AH. The mean duration of a tropical year is 365.24219 days, while
5610-646: The Hindu Kush, that is Hindu-slayer, because most of the slaves brought thither from India die on account of the intenseness of the cold. Ibn Battuta and his party reached the Indus River on 12 September 1333. From there, he made his way to Delhi and became acquainted with the sultan, Muhammad bin Tughluq . Muhammad bin Tughluq was renowned as the wealthiest man in the Muslim world at that time. He patronised various scholars, Sufis, qadis , viziers , and other functionaries in order to consolidate his rule. On
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#17327797158305720-426: The Islamic calendar roughly approximates the astronomical-lunar-calendar system, seldom varying by more than three days from it. Both the Islamic calendar and the astronomical-lunar-calendar take no account of the solar year in their calculations, and thus both of these strictly lunar based calendar systems have no ability to reckon the timing of the four seasons of the year. In the astronomical-lunar-calendar system,
5830-482: The Maldives, Ibn Battuta took four wives. In his Travels he wrote that in the Maldives the effect of small dowries and female non-mobility combined to, in effect, make a marriage a convenient temporary arrangement for visiting male travellers and sailors. From the Maldives, he carried on to Sri Lanka and visited Sri Pada and Tenavaram temple . Ibn Battuta's ship almost sank on embarking from Sri Lanka, only for
5940-579: The Muslim criteria of sovereignty. She was extremely popular with the royal court, which counted many of her relations among its members. But she soon fell out of favor with her husband, who preferred a commoner named Bendjou . Eventually, he divorced her to marry the latter. The noble ladies of the court took Kassi's side, continuing to recognize her legitimacy and refusing to honor the new royal wife. Such insubordination – they threw earth on their heads to honor Kassi while throwing earth on their hands to insult Bendjou – soon angered Suleyman and his new wife, to
6050-566: The Nasī ' ". Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve—in Allah's Record since the day He created the heavens and the earth—of which four are sacred. That is the Right Way. So do not wrong one another during these months. And together fight the polytheists as they fight against you together. And know that Allah is with those mindful ˹of Him˺. Reallocating the sanctity of ˹these˺ months
6160-532: The accounts of his travels to Sultan Öz Beg Khan (r. 1313–1341). Then he continued past the Caspian and Aral Seas to Bukhara and Samarkand , the latter of which he praised as "one of the grandest and finest cities, and the most perfect of them". Here he visited the court of another Mongol khan, Tarmashirin (r. 1331–1334) of the Chagatai Khanate . He also noted the ruined state of the city walls,
6270-652: The banks of the Sharavathi river next to the Arabian Sea . This area is today known as Hosapattana and lies in the Honnavar Taluk of Uttara Kannada . Following the overthrow of the sultanate, Ibn Battuta had no choice but to leave India. Although determined to continue his journey to China, he first took a detour to visit the Maldive Islands where he worked as a judge. He spent nine months on
6380-479: The beginning of months. Thus, Malaysia , Indonesia , and a few others begin each month at sunset on the first day that the moon sets after the sun (moonset after sunset). In Egypt, the month begins at sunset on the first day that the moon sets at least five minutes after the sun. A detailed analysis of the available data shows, however, that there are major discrepancies between what countries say they do on this subject, and what they actually do. In some instances, what
6490-475: The bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation. He travelled to Mecca overland, following the North African coast across the sultanates of Abd al-Wadid and Hafsid . The route took him through Tlemcen , Béjaïa , and then Tunis , where he stayed for two months. For safety, Ibn Battuta usually joined a caravan to reduce
6600-539: The boundaries of the Islamic world. Arriving in Constantinople towards the end of 1332 (or 1334), he met the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. He visited the great church of Hagia Sophia and spoke with an Eastern Orthodox priest about his travels in the city of Jerusalem. After a month in the city, Ibn Battuta returned to Astrakhan, then arrived in the capital city Sarai al-Jadid and reported
6710-451: The corpus of Qur'anic exegesis . This is corroborated by an early Sabaic inscription, where a religious ritual was "postponed" ( ns'w ) due to war. According to the context of this inscription, the verb ns'’ has nothing to do with intercalation, but only with moving religious events within the calendar itself. The similarity between the religious concept of this ancient inscription and the Qur'an suggests that non-calendaring postponement
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#17327797158306820-493: The custom. However, these and other strict judgements began to antagonise the island nation's rulers, and involved him in power struggles and political intrigues. Ibn Battuta resigned from his job as chief qadi , although in all likelihood it was inevitable that he would have been dismissed. Throughout his travels, Ibn Battuta kept close company with women, usually taking a wife whenever he stopped for any length of time at one place, and then divorcing her when he moved on. While in
6930-424: The finest and most beautifully built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with dīs reeds". Ibn Battuta recorded his visit to the Kilwa Sultanate in 1330, and commented favourably on the humility and religion of its ruler, Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman , a descendant of the legendary Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi . He further wrote that the authority of the Sultan extended from Malindi in
7040-402: The hilal is not observed immediately after the 29th day of a month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the day that begins at that sunset is the 30th. Such a sighting has to be made by one or more trustworthy men testifying before a committee of Muslim leaders. Determining the most likely day that the hilal could be observed
7150-498: The intercalated month had returned to its position just before the month of Nasi' began. If Nasī' meant intercalation, then the number and the position of the intercalary months between AH 1 and AH 10 are uncertain; western calendar dates commonly cited for key events in early Islam such as the Hijra , the Battle of Badr , the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench should be viewed with caution as they might be in error by one, two, three or even four lunar months. This prohibition
7260-464: The islands, much longer than he had intended. When he arrived at the capital, Malé , Ibn Battuta did not plan to stay. However, the leaders of the formerly Buddhist nation that had recently converted to Islam were looking for a chief judge, someone who knew Arabic and the Qur'an. To convince him to stay they gave him pearls, gold jewellery, and slaves, while at the same time making it impossible for him to leave by ship. Compelled into staying, he became
7370-485: The kings of the Turkmens and the richest in wealth, lands and military forces. Of fortresses, he possesses nearly a hundred, and for most of his time, he is continually engaged in making a round of them, staying in each fortress for some days to put it in good order and examine its condition. It is said that he has never stayed for a whole month in any one town. He also fights with the infidels continually and keeps them under siege. Ibn Battuta had also visited Bursa which at
7480-483: The last Mongol ruler of the unified Ilkhanate, leaving the city and heading north with a large retinue. Ibn Battuta joined the royal caravan for a while, then turned north on the Silk Road to Tabriz , the first major city in the region to open its gates to the Mongols and by then an important trading centre as most of its nearby rivals had been razed by the Mongol invaders. Ibn Battuta left again for Baghdad, probably in July, but first took an excursion northwards along
7590-430: The long-term average duration of a synodic month is 29.530587981 days. Thus the average lunar year (twelve new moons) is 10.87513 days shorter than the average solar year (365.24219 − (12 × 29.530587981)), causing months of the Hijri calendar to advance about eleven days earlier each year, relative to the equinoxes. "As a result," says the Astronomical Almanac , "the cycle of twelve lunar months regresses through
7700-453: The lunar crescent becomes visible only some 17 hours after the conjunction, and only subject to the existence of a number of favourable conditions relative to weather, time, geographic location, as well as various astronomical parameters. Given the fact that the moon sets progressively later than the sun as one goes west, with a corresponding increase in its "age" since conjunction, Western Muslim countries may, under favorable conditions, observe
7810-686: The meeting in 1345 CE, Ibn Battuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean, fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a cave, where his only item of value was a goat he kept for milk, butter, and yogurt. He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal were foreign and known for their strength and bravery. He also mentions that many people would visit the Shah to seek guidance. Ibn Battuta went further north into Assam , then turned around and continued with his original plan. In 1345, Ibn Battuta travelled to Samudra Pasai Sultanate (called "al-Jawa") in present-day Aceh , Northern Sumatra , after 40 days voyage from Sunur Kawan. He notes in his travel log that
7920-457: The months begin with Muharram, in line with the established custom of the Arabs at that time. The years of the Islamic calendar thus began with the month of Muharram in the year of Muhammad's arrival at the city of Medina, even though the actual emigration took place in Safar and Rabi' I of the intercalated calendar, two months before the commencement of Muharram in the new fixed calendar. Because of
8030-667: The months of the Hijri calendar, one of which was used by the Pashtuns and the other by the Hazaras . They were in use until the time of Amanullah Khan 's reign, when the usage of the Solar Hijri Calendar was formalized across Afghanistan. In Xinjiang , the Uyghur Muslims traditionally had different names for the months of the Hijri calendar, which were in use until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in
8140-494: The mysterious people without seeing each other. As Ibn Battuta was not a merchant and saw no benefit of going there he abandoned the travel to this land of darkness. When they reached Astrakhan, Öz Beg Khan had just given permission for one of his pregnant wives, Princess Bayalun, a daughter of Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos , to return to her home city of Constantinople to give birth. Ibn Battuta talked his way into this expedition, which would be his first beyond
8250-566: The new fixed calendar corresponded to Friday, 16 July 622 CE, the equivalent civil tabular date (same daylight period) in the Julian calendar . The Islamic day began at the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July. This Julian date (16 July) was determined by medieval Muslim astronomers by projecting back in time their own tabular Islamic calendar , which had alternating 30- and 29-day months in each lunar year plus eleven leap days every 30 years. For example, al-Biruni mentioned this Julian date in
8360-458: The new moon one day earlier than eastern Muslim countries. Due to the interplay of all these factors, the beginning of each month differs from one Muslim country to another, during the 48-hour period following the conjunction. The information provided by the calendar in any country does not extend beyond the current month. A number of Muslim countries try to overcome some of these difficulties by applying different astronomy-related rules to determine
8470-584: The north to Inhambane in the south and was particularly impressed by the planning of the city, believing it to be the reason for Kilwa's success along the coast. During this period, he described the construction of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant extension to the Great Mosque of Kilwa , which was made of coral stones and was the largest mosque of its kind. With a change in the monsoon winds, Ibn Battuta sailed back to Arabia, first to Oman and
8580-567: The point that Kassi was forced to seek sanctuary in the mosque. Civil war soon erupted, as she encouraged the nobility, including her relations, to revolt. The war was a struggle between two ideological factions; one group supported Suleyman, while the other supported not only Kassi but sons of the former ruler, Maghan . Suleyman and his chiefs eventually defeated Kassi and her cousins, discrediting her by showing that she and her cousin, Djathal, who had been banished for treason, were in league together. The coup d'état happened in 1352 or 1353. Kassi
8690-470: The port of Chittagong in modern-day Bangladesh intending to travel to Sylhet to meet Shah Jalal , who became so renowned that Ibn Battuta, then in Chittagong, made a one-month journey through the mountains of Kamaru near Sylhet to meet him. On his way to Sylhet, Ibn Battuta was greeted by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come to assist him on his journey many days before he had arrived. At
8800-657: The port of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. From there he followed the coast in a series of boats (known as a jalbah, these were small craft made of wooden planks sewn together, lacking an established phrase) making slow progress against the prevailing south-easterly winds. Once in Yemen he visited Zabīd and later the highland town of Ta'izz , where he met the Rasulid dynasty king ( Malik ) Mujahid Nur al-Din Ali. Ibn Battuta also mentions visiting Sana'a , but whether he actually did so
8910-525: The previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the Moon, astronomical positioning of the Earth and weather conditions. Four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred: Rajab (7), and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa'dah (11), Dhu al-Ḥijjah (12) and Muḥarram (1), in which battles are forbidden. The "Afghan lunar calendar" refers to two distinct naming systems for
9020-405: The religious authorities also allow the testimony of less experienced observers and thus often announce the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official committees could see it. Each Islamic state proceeds with its own monthly observation of the new moon (or, failing that, awaits the completion of 30 days) before declaring the beginning of a new month on its territory. However,
9130-546: The risk of being robbed. He took a bride in the town of Sfax , but soon left her due to a dispute with the father. That was the first in a series of marriages that would feature in his travels. In the early spring of 1326, after a journey of over 3,500 km (2,200 mi), Ibn Battuta arrived at the port of Alexandria , at the time part of the Bahri Mamluk empire . He met two ascetic pious men in Alexandria. One
9240-657: The river Tigris south to Basra . His next destination was the town of Isfahan across the Zagros Mountains in Iran. He then headed south to Shiraz , a large, flourishing city spared the destruction wrought by Mongol invaders on many more northerly towns. Finally, he returned across the mountains to Baghdad, arriving there in June 1327. Parts of the city were still ruined from the damage inflicted by Hulagu Khan 's invading army in 1258. In Baghdad, he found Abu Sa'id ,
9350-533: The river Tigris. He visited Mosul , where he was the guest of the Ilkhanate governor, and then the towns of Cizre (Jazirat ibn 'Umar) and Mardin in modern-day Turkey. At a hermitage on a mountain near Sinjar , he met a Kurdish mystic who gave him some silver coins. Once back in Mosul, he joined a "feeder" caravan of pilgrims heading south to Baghdad, where they would meet up with the main caravan that crossed
9460-459: The ruler of Samudra Pasai was a pious Muslim named Sultan Al-Malik Al-Zahir Jamal-ad-Din, who performed his religious duties with utmost zeal and often waged campaigns against animists in the region. The island of Sumatra , according to Ibn Battuta, was rich in camphor , areca nut , cloves , and tin . The madh'hab he observed was Imam Al-Shafi‘i , whose customs were similar to those he had previously seen in coastal India , especially among
9570-656: The sacred months, but in fact they profane that which God has declared to be inviolable, and sanctify that which God has declared to be profane. Assuredly time, in its revolution, has returned to such as it was at the creation of the heavens and the earth. In the eyes of God the number of the months is twelve. Among these twelve months four are sacred, namely, Rajab, which stands alone, and three others which are consecutive. The three successive sacred (forbidden) months mentioned by Muhammad (months in which battles are forbidden) are Dhu al-Qa'dah , Dhu al-Hijjah , and Muharram , months 11, 12, and 1 respectively. The single forbidden month
9680-539: The seasons over a period of about 33 [ solar ] years". In pre-Islamic Arabia, it was customary to identify a year after a major event which took place in it. Thus, according to Islamic tradition, Abraha , governor of Yemen, then a province of the Christian Kingdom of Aksum of Northeast Africa and South Arabia , attempted to destroy the Kaaba with an army which included several elephants. The raid
9790-481: The standards of the subtropics). Then he returned to the Khan's court and with it moved to Astrakhan . Ibn Battuta recorded that while in Bolghar he wanted to travel further north into the land of darkness. The land is snow-covered throughout ( northern Siberia ) and the only means of transport is dog-drawn sled. There lived a mysterious people who were reluctant to show themselves. They traded with southern people in
9900-589: The start of the journey to China, he and his large retinue were attacked by a group of bandits . Separated from his companions, he was robbed, kidnapped, and nearly lost his life. Despite this setback, within ten days he had caught up with his group and continued on to Khambhat in the Indian state of Gujarat . From there, they sailed to Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama would land two centuries later. While in Calicut, Battuta
10010-429: The start-date of the month is still followed in the overwhelming majority of Muslim countries. For instance, Saudi Arabia uses the sighting method to determine the beginning of each month of the Hijri calendar. Since AH 1419 (1998/99), several official hilal sighting committees have been set up by the government to determine the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent at the beginning of each lunar month. Nevertheless,
10120-487: The strength of his years of study in Mecca, Ibn Battuta was appointed a qadi (judge) by the sultan. However, he found it difficult to enforce Islamic law beyond the sultan's court in Delhi , due to lack of Islamic appeal in India. It is uncertain by which route Ibn Battuta entered the Indian subcontinent but it is known that he was kidnapped and robbed by rebels on his journey to the Indian coast. He may have entered via
10230-590: The time was the capital of the Ottoman Beylik, he described Bursa as "a great and important city with fine bazaars and wide streets, surrounded on all sides with gardens and running springs". He also visited the Beylik of Aydin . Ibn Battuta stated that the ruler of the Beylik of Aydin had twenty Greek slaves at the entrance of his palace and Ibn Battuta was given a Greek slave as a gift. His visit to Anatolia
10340-550: The town, he journeyed on to Mecca while visiting holy sites along the way; upon his arrival to Mecca he completed his first pilgrimage, in November, and he took the honorific status of El-Hajji . Rather than returning home, Ibn Battuta decided to continue travelling, choosing as his next destination the Ilkhanate , a Mongol Khanate , to the northeast. On 17 November 1326, following a month spent in Mecca, Ibn Battuta joined
10450-529: The vessel that came to his rescue to suffer an attack by pirates. Stranded onshore, he worked his way back to the Madurai kingdom in India. Here he spent some time in the court of the short-lived Madurai Sultanate under Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani, from where he returned to the Maldives and boarded a Chinese junk , still intending to reach China and take up his ambassadorial post. He reached
10560-405: The way they use the Gregorian calendar today. But, there are divergent views on whether it is licit to do so. A majority of theologians oppose the use of calculations (beyond the constraint that each month must be not less than 29 nor more than 30 days) on the grounds that the latter would not conform with Muhammad's recommendation to observe the new moon of Ramadan and Shawal in order to determine
10670-575: The way, including Hebron , Jerusalem , and Bethlehem , the Mamluk authorities kept the route safe for pilgrims. Without this help many travellers would be robbed and murdered. After spending the Muslim month of Ramadan , during August, in Damascus, he joined a caravan travelling the 1,300 km (810 mi) south to Medina , site of the Mosque of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . After four days in
10780-529: The week. On the sixth day of the week, the "gathering day" ( Yawm al-Jumʿah ), Muslims assemble for the Friday-prayer at a local mosque at noon. The "gathering day" is often regarded as the weekly day off. This is frequently made official, with many Muslim countries adopting Friday and Saturday (e.g., Egypt, Saudi Arabia) or Thursday and Friday as official weekends , during which offices are closed; other countries (e.g., Iran) choose to make Friday alone
10890-459: The year 1000 CE. Although not used by either medieval Muslim astronomers or modern scholars to determine the Islamic epoch, the thin crescent moon would have also first become visible (assuming clouds did not obscure it) shortly after the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July, 1.5 days after the associated dark moon (astronomical new moon ) on the morning of 14 July. Though Michael Cook and Patricia Crone in their book Hagarism cite
11000-516: Was Sheikh Burhanuddin, who is supposed to have foretold the destiny of Ibn Battuta as a world traveller and told him, "It seems to me that you are fond of foreign travel. You must visit my brother Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind, and Burhanuddin in China. Convey my greetings to them." Another pious man, Sheikh Murshidi, interpreted the meaning of a dream of Ibn Battuta as being that he was meant to be
11110-408: Was a motivation for Muslim interest in astronomy, which put Islam in the forefront of that science for many centuries. Still, due to the fact that both lunar reckoning systems are ultimately based on the lunar cycle itself, both systems still do roughly correspond to one another, never being more than three days out of synchronisation with one another. This traditional practice for the determination of
11220-516: Was eager to learn more about far-away lands and craved adventure. He would not return to Morocco again for 24 years. I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in
11330-1168: Was in present-day Pangasinan Province of the Philippines . Their opposition to the Mongols might indicate 2 possible locations: Japan and Java (Majapahit). In modern times, Urduja has been featured in Filipino textbooks and films as a national heroine. Numerous other locations have been proposed, ranging from Java to somewhere in Guangdong Province , China. However, Sir Henry Yule and William Henry Scott consider both Tawalisi and Urduja to be entirely fictitious. (See Tawalisi for details.) From Kaylukari, Ibn Battuta finally reached Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China. Islamic calendar (refresh if needed) The Hijri calendar ( Arabic : ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ , romanized : al-taqwīm al-hijrī ), or Arabic calendar , also known in English as
11440-459: Was mentioned by Muhammad during the farewell sermon which was delivered on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah AH 10 (Julian date Friday 6 March 632 CE) on Mount Arafat during the farewell pilgrimage to Mecca. Certainly the Nasi' is an impious addition, which has led the infidels into error. One year they authorise the Nasi', another year they forbid it. They observe the divine precept with respect to the number of
11550-562: Was originally a lunar calendar, but suggest that about 200 years before the Hijra it was transformed into a lunisolar calendar containing an intercalary month added from time to time to keep the pilgrimage within the season of the year when merchandise was most abundant. This interpretation was first proposed by the medieval Muslim astrologer and astronomer Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi , and later by al-Biruni , al-Mas'udi , and some western scholars. This interpretation considers Nasī ' to be
11660-582: Was the capital of the Hamidids . He spent Ramadan (June 1331 or May 1333) in the city. From this point his itinerary across Anatolia in the Rihla becomes confused. Ibn Battuta describes travelling westwards from Eğirdir to Milas and then skipping 420 km (260 mi) eastward past Eğirdir to Konya . He then continues travelling in an easterly direction, reaching Erzurum from where he skips 1,160 km (720 mi) back to Birgi which lies north of Milas. Historians believe that Ibn Battuta visited
11770-593: Was the first time in his travels he acquired a servant; the ruler of Aydin gifted him his first slave. Later, he purchased a young Greek girl for 40 dinars in Ephesus , was gifted another slave in İzmir by the Sultan, and purchased a second girl in Balikesir . The conspicuous evidence of his wealth and prestige continued to grow. From Sinope , he took a sea route to the Crimean Peninsula , arriving in
11880-435: Was the guest of the ruling Zamorin . While Ibn Battuta visited a mosque on shore, a storm arose and one of the ships of his expedition sank. The other ship then sailed without him only to be seized by a local Sumatran king a few months later. Afraid to return to Delhi and be seen as a failure, he stayed for a time in southern India under the protection of Jamal-ud-Din, ruler of the small but powerful Nawayath Sultanate on
11990-544: Was the mother of Kassa , who succeeded Suleyman briefly before being replaced by his cousin Mari Diata II . Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta ( / ˌ ɪ b ən b æ t ˈ t uː t ɑː / ; 24 February 1304 – 1368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of thirty years from 1325 to 1354, Ibn Battuta visited much of Africa , the Middle East , Asia , and
12100-508: Was unsuccessful, but that year became known as the Year of the Elephant , during which Muhammad was born (surah al-Fil ). Most equate this to the year 570 CE, but a minority use 571 CE. The first ten years of the Hijra were not numbered, but were named after events in the life of Muhammad according to al-Biruni : In c. 638 (17 AH), Abu Musa al-Ash'ari , one of the officials of
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