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87-593: Termez ( / t ɜːr ˈ m ɛ z / tər-MEZ ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan . Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great 's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center of early Buddhism , as a site of Muslim pilgrimage , and as a base of Soviet Union military operations in Afghanistan , accessible via

174-521: 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

261-401: 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

348-468: 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

435-722: 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

522-667: 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

609-529: 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

696-407: 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

783-662: A period of Seleucid rule, Termez became part of the breakaway Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . The Ionian Greek language persisted in the area through the Tocharian period, being phased out of administrative use during the time of the Kushan Empire , in favor of the Bactrian language . It was during this period that Termez, named Ta-li-mi (迭里迷) in Chinese sources, became an important center of Mahāsāṃghika Buddhism . Termez

870-420: 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

957-594: 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

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1044-455: 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

1131-928: A well-developed transport infrastructure, with 300 km of railways and 2,700 km of surfaced roads. Central Asia 's only river port is located at Termez on the Amudarya River. Bitter debates accompanied the Soviet allocation of Surkhandarya Region to the Uzbek SSR rather than the Tajik SSR in 1929, as that region, as well as the areas of Bukhara and Samarkand , had sizable, if not dominant, Tajik populations. The Surxondaryo Region consists of 14 districts (listed below) and one district-level city: Termez . There are 8 cities ( Termez , Boysun , Denov , Jarqoʻrgʻon , Qumqoʻrgʻon , Shargʻun , Sherobod , Shoʻrchi ) and 112 urban-type settlements in

1218-578: 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

1305-502: 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

1392-471: Is continental , with mild wet winters and hot dry summers. The southern part of the region is in the Badkhiz-Karabil semi-desert ecoregion (PA0808), characterized by a savanna of pistachio and desert sedge. The northern portion is characterized by open woodlands (Gissaro-Alai open woodlands ecoregion, PA1306), with characteristic plants being pistachio, almond, walnut, apple, and juniper. Sagebrush

1479-640: Is common at lower elevations Natural resources include petroleum , natural gas , and coal . Light industry , mainly cotton ginning and food processing , is also an important part of the regional economy, particularly in the production of consumer goods . Agriculture is based primarily on cotton and cereals , supplemented with horticulture and viticulture . Surxondaryo is the country's largest supplier of long-fiber cotton. Livestock accounts for 40% of regional agricultural product. The climatic conditions of this region also make it possible to cultivate subtropical crops such as sugarcane . The region has

1566-470: 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

1653-623: 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

1740-496: Is not open for passengers. The estimated population of Termez in 2021 was 182,800. Uzbeks and Tajiks are the largest ethnic groups. An undetermined number of Lyuli live in Termez. A 2014 World Bank report found that the population of Termez grew by 50% in the period between 1990 and 2014. Using satellite data, Termez was classified as a "Type 3" city, having a "Growing Population & Declining Economic Activity." This report

1827-469: Is one of the main railroad hubs of southern Uzbekistan. It is from Termez that the international freight railroad leading to the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif begins. In fact, the railroad goes all the way to Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport , 8 km east of that city. The distance between Termez and Mazar-i-Sharif is about 80 km by road or rail . As of 2024, the Afghan part of this line

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1914-577: 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

2001-569: Is the main southern gateway of Uzbekistan. 12 km east of Termez, the Amu Darya River is crossed by the pedestrian , highway and railroad cross-border bridge Hairatan (also known as the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge ), which is the only border crossing between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan . Every day, people, cars , trucks and freight trains pass over the bridge in both directions. The city

2088-519: The Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge , a combined bridge over the Amu Darya , were built. In 1989, Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan via the Termez bridge, bringing the conflict to an end. In 2001, Germany began operating a base in Termez. The military airfield was the main support base for German and Dutch forces operating with the ISAF for transiting goods into Afghanistan. It

2175-582: 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

2262-512: 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

2349-513: 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

2436-627: 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

2523-485: 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

2610-482: 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

2697-626: The Russian language . A presidential school opened in 2021. Termez has a cool arid climate ( Köppen BWk ) bordering upon a hot arid climate ( BWh ) with long, sweltering summers and short, cool winters. Termez hosts the Surkhon Termez football club, which plays in Alpomish Stadium. Termez also has a kurash training facility, and a hippodrome where kupkari is played. Various competitions are often held here. At

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2784-543: 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

2871-744: 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

2958-590: The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic . In 1928, as part of the Soviet Union , Pattakesar was renamed and took the city's ancient name of Termez. In 1929, the village became a town. During the years of Soviet rule, as Termez became a hub of Russian military activity, many industries were developed, and a pedagogical institute and a theatre were opened. Termez saw a significant increase in industrial development during World War II , as

3045-521: 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

3132-509: 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

3219-646: 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

3306-482: 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

3393-606: The Soviet Union replaced industrial centers in the western regions that had been disrupted by Nazi attacks. For many years after the Second World War the 108th Motor Rifle Division , the former 360th Rifle Division, was based in the town. During the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989), Termez became an increasingly important military post, with over 100,000 Soviet troops stationed there. A military airfield and

3480-706: The Surxondaryo Region. Agriculture accounts for 42% of total employment in Surxondaryo Region and produces 8% of Uzbekistan’s agricultural output. Agricultural production is 56% crops and 44% livestock (like the country’s average). Milk yields are less than 1,700 kg per cow per year, on a par with the national average. Main characteristics of agriculture in Surxondaryo Region Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta ( / ˌ ɪ b ən b æ t ˈ t uː t ɑː / ; 24 February 1304 – 1368/1369),

3567-499: The Termez Airport. In August 2021, Russia and Uzbekistan held joint military exercises outside of Termez. The river Amu Darya divides the two countries of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge crosses the river to Hairatan in Afghanistan. Termez is also served by Termez Airport , with flights to Tashkent and Moscow . Termez is connected with Uzbek Railways to other cities of

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3654-532: 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,

3741-648: The area. The Emirate of Bukhara acquiesced to increasing demands from the Tsarist government for more lands, until on January 27, 1900, over nine thousand acres were donated to Russia, and the Russian military began a program of Russian resettlement to the area. In the immediate aftermath of the Russian Revolution , Pattakesar became a part of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic , and then

3828-652: 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

3915-415: The bath with milk instead of fuller's earth ; the proprietor of every bath-house has large jars filled with milk, and each man as he enters takes a cupful to wash his head. It makes the hair fresh and glossy . . . The old town of Tirmidh was built on the bank of the Oxus, and when it was laid in ruins by Tinklz [Chingiz] this new town was built two miles from the river. The restored Termez soon came under

4002-475: 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

4089-594: 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

4176-432: The city, represented by buses and marshrutkas . There are also public and private taxi services. Termez river port (Termiz daryo bandargohi) is located in the south-eastern part of the city. The city has an international airport " Termez ", which has regular air connections with Tashkent , with some other major cities of Uzbekistan, as well as with some Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg . Termez

4263-494: The country and Mazar-i-Sharif , Afghanistan. The Tashkent–Termez (no. 379) and Termez–Tashkent (no. 380) trains run every day. Dushanbe – Kanibadam (no. 367) and Kanibadam-Dushanbe (No: 368) trains also pass through Termez. Plans exist to connect Termez to Peshawar by rail, as a part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor , and China 's larger Belt and Road Initiative . There is public transportation in

4350-493: 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

4437-485: The end of May 2022, Termez now hosted the Uzbekistan kurash championship among juniors born in 2007–2008. Surxondaryo Region The regional capital is Termez with a population of 122,900 (2021), and the second largest city is Denov ( Denau ) with 78,300 inhabitants (data for 2016). Other towns include Boysun , Jarqoʻrgʻon , Qumqoʻrgʻon , Shargʻun , Sherobod , Shoʻrchi , and Sariosiyo . The climate

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4524-488: 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

4611-636: The images of the honoured Buddha are noted for various spiritual manifestations. In the three decades that followed, as the Umayyads conquered the Persians , Termez found itself across the river from the caliphate . In 676 the city was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate . It again rose to religious significance during the Abbasid and Samanid Empires, producing notable scholars such as

4698-464: 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

4785-485: 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

4872-483: 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

4959-686: 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

5046-494: 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

5133-407: The nearby Hairatan border crossing. Some link the name of the city to the Greek word Θέρμος ( thermos ), meaning "hot", and date the toponym to the rule of Alexander the Great . Others suggest that it came from Sanskrit तर्मतो ( tarmato ), meaning "on the river bank". One of Central Asia's oldest towns, Old Termez, located a few kilometers west of the modern city along the Amu Darya river,

5220-427: The nearby villages of Salavat and Pattakesar (Pattagissar). In 1887, the Russian Empire began to operate a brown water navy on the Amu Darya River. In December 1894, the Amu Darya Fleet was joined by the 31st Amu Darya Border Brigade. In the coming years troop levels were increased, as the 4th Orenburg Cossack Regiment, the 13th Turkestan Special Battalion, and the 2nd Orenburg Cossack Battery were relocated to

5307-472: 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

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5394-441: The plain, and divided in accordance with their [the Mongols '] usual custom, then they were all slain." Ibn Battuta found the city reconstructed in the early 14th century: We set out from Samarqand and reached Tirmidh [Termez], a large town with fine buildings and bazaars and traversed by canals . It abounds in grapes and quinces of an exquisite flavour, as well as in flesh-meats and milk. The inhabitants wash their heads in

5481-411: 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

5568-503: 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

5655-411: The renowned hadith scholar al-Tirmidhi and Sufi master and theologian al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi . Termez passed through the hands of the Ghaznavid , Seljuk , Karakhanid , and Khorezmshah kingdoms from the 11th to 13th centuries. In 1220 after a two-day siege, the city was destroyed by the troops of Genghis Khan . According to one account, "all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto

5742-427: 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

5829-489: 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 ,

5916-424: 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

6003-420: The rule of Tamerlane 's Timurid Empire with the backing of the Tirmidh Sayyids , a local religious aristocracy claiming descent from Muhammad through Sayyid Ali Akbar . The Timurids held the territory until it became a part of the independent Emirate of Bukhara in the 16th century. By the second half of the 18th century the city was again abandoned, and the ruins of the reconstituted Termez laid outside

6090-459: 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

6177-426: 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

6264-589: 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

6351-487: 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

6438-590: 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

6525-550: 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

6612-529: 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

6699-575: 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

6786-516: 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

6873-905: 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 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

6960-583: Was closed in 2015. Following the 2021 Taliban offensive and resultant Fall of Kabul , the Biden administration reached out to Uzbekistan, as well as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan , to ask if they might temporarily accommodate up to 9,000 Afghans who might face reprisals for working with U.S. military forces. By the 5th of July, the state security services had constructed a refugee camp in Termez to brace for an Afghan refugee crisis . Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev reported that 494 Afghans were evacuated through

7047-516: 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

7134-499: Was established sometime before the 3rd century BC. The city may have been known to the Achaemenids (the 10th century Shahnameh purports its existence during the mythological Zoroastrian Kayanian dynasty ). In 329 BC Alexander the Great conquered the surrounding region, known as Sogdia . Most recent scholarship argues that Termez is the site of Alexandria on the Oxus, though some identify this site with Ai-Khanoum . After

7221-604: Was incorporated into the Sassanid Persian Empire in the 3rd century AD, and elements of Zoroastrian-Buddhist religious syncretism appear in the archaeological record, with Buddhist monasteries containing fire altars , and a graffiti inscription referencing "Buddha- Mazda ." During the 7th century Termez played host to the Buddhist monk and traveler Xuanzang , who reported: There are about ten Sangharamas with about one thousand monks. The stupas and

7308-561: Was issued, however, before the presidency and economic reforms of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev . In 1992 the Pedagogical Institute was upgraded to Termez State University . Termez is also served by the Termez Branch of Tashkent Medical Academy , Termez Technical University, and the Termez Branch of Tashkent State Agrarian University . There are 26 secondary schools in Termez, six of which offer instruction in

7395-582: 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

7482-593: 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

7569-435: 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

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