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Ibn Battuta visited Shiraz after traveling another 300 miles south. Shiraz had not been destroyed by the Mongols. (It was too far south and too hot for the steppe herdsmen.) So the city survived and opened its gates to the refugees fleeing from the north. The arrival of well-educated fugitives stimulated a cultural flowering in literature and art. Ibn Battuta said, "its inhabitants are handsome in figure and clean in their dress. In the whole East there is no city except Shiraz which approached Damascus in the beauty of its bazaars, fruit-gardens and rivers." Ibn Battuta also told of a Muslim hero who lived there.
When the ruler converted to Shi'ia from Sunni, he ordered at the beginning of every Friday mosque service that the name of 'Ali be praised. When the people of Shiraz refused to cooperate, he commanded that the leader (Majd al-Din) "be executed by being thrown to a pack of ferocious dogs trained to eat humans. But when the dogs were let loose, Ibn Battuta relates, 'they fawned on him and wagged their tails before him without attacking him in any way.' [Dunn, p. 96] And so the ruler prostrated himself (lay face down) at the holy man's feet, kissed them, then showered him with honors, and returned to the Sunni faith.
Ibn Battuta stayed in a dormitory attached to a mosque (perhaps the one below, left), while he visited mosques and tombs. Here he praised the piety of the women.
"The people of Shirza are distinguished by piety, sound religion, and purity of manners, especially the women. These wear boots, and when out of doors are swathed in mantles and head-veils, so that no part of them is to be seen, and they are noted for their charitable alms [money given in charity] and their liberality. One of their strange customs is that they meet in the principal mosque every Monday, Thursday and Friday... sometimes one or two thousand of them... I have never seen in any land an assembly of women in such numbers." [Gibb, p. 300.]
It was here that he heard of a miracle of a shaikh (a leader) who was saved by an elephant.
Below - an image of Atigh Mosque. To learn more about the history of Shiraz, press [here].
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Afghanistani women in full veil as described by Ibn Battuta. (Photo by Powell)
Baghdad
Photograph courtesy of Iraq, Past and Future
Ibn Battuta continued on with other traveling companions and arrived at Baghdad, the one-time capital of the whole Abbasid Empire. But Baghdad had been destroyed by the Mongol Invasion. He had gone there to honor its past and walk among the ruins, imagining the ghosts of those who had lived in the once magnificent capital city with a population of about a million people. "Her outward lineaments have departed and nothing remains of her but the name ... There is no beauty in her that arrests the eye, or summons the busy passer-by to forget his business and to gaze." [Ibn Jabayr in Dunn, p. 97.]
But it wasn't as bad as that. The Mongols had left many of the public buildings standing and quite a few of its people alive. In fact, Hulegu's army had barely finished sacking the place when he ordered that a restoration program should begin. But Baghdad was no longer an important stop on a Middle Eastern tour. Even though most colleges were in ruins, one college built in 1234 was still operating. [Pictured on the right above; it has been rebuilt. It is one of the oldest universities in the world.]
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Ibn Battuta told of hospitality shown to him. One courtesy to the traveler was to take him/her to a hamam (public bath house). Ibn Battuta describes several fine bath houses in Baghdad. (Cleanliness was encouraged by the Qur'an and it was a duty of every Muslim to be as clean as possible.) To the left is a bath house that has been redecorated, but was in existance at Ibn Battuta's time. Men wore towels around their waists, had two for drying, and brought a small pail with them to hold water. A servant sometimes helped bathe the visitors. Most bath houses had both hot and cold water. For a Turkish miniature painting of a bath house, click here. For more examples of bath houses in Baghdad, click here and here. [Then return by pressing the BACK button.] |
Traveling with the King
In Baghdad he learned that Abu Sa'id, the Il-Khan himself (the great king), was staying there and would soon leave to his summer palaces in Sultaniya. Ibn Battuta jumped at the chance to meet yet another ruler, and got himself invited on the royal caravan. The Il-Khan was about a year younger than Ibn Battuta. He described the king as being "the most beautiful of God's creatures." Ibn Battuta admired him as a true Muslim who wrote both Arabic and Persian, played the lute, composed songs and poems, and ruled wisely. Unlike several of his Mongol predecessors who were alcoholics, he prohibited the use of spirits throughout his kingdom as the Koran required. This Il-khan was an example of how the Mongol warrior descendants had become Persian and Muslim. "Perhaps if he had reigned longer," says Dunn, "he would have been a great builder... As it was, the political foundations he laid during his last eight years were not strong enough to ensure the survival of the regime, which utterly collapsed at his death in 1335, leaving Persia to face the remainder of the century in fragmentation and war." [Dunn, p. 99] Ibn Battuta later told of the murder of Abu Sa'id by one of his wives who poisoned him out of jealousy of his love of another of his wives! After his death the amirs (military leaders) fought among themselves for leadership. (Gibb, vol. II, p. 340-345)
Ibn Battuta described the procession he joined: "When [the military leaders come up with their troops, drummers and flagbearers] and their ranks are set in perfect order, the king mounts, and the drums, trumpets, and fifes are sounded for the departure. Each of the amirs [military leaders] advances, salutes the king... Ahead of the the musicians there are ten horsemen, with ten drums carried on slings round their necks, and five [other] horsemen carrying five reed-pipes... On the sultan's right and left during his march are the great [military leaders] who number about fifty." [Gibb, p. 342]
[The procession shown on the left is from a Turkish miniature, but would be similar to the one observed by Ibn Battuta.]
Tabriz [now part of Azerbaijan]
Ibn Battuta continued with the royal caravan for ten days, and then decided to join a part of the caravan that was going north to Tabriz, one of the most important cities in Persia - the first capital of the Il-Khans. With the advance of the Mongol army, the inhabitants of Tabriz had been wise enough to welcome them into their city without a fight. Tabriz became the capital of the conquering army. This city had become an important place along the Silk Road with colonies of people from Venice, Genoa, and other European countries as well as Armenians, Arabs, and even Chinese traders. There were also several Christian churches there. This international city was one of the greatest centers of learning and culture during the 14th century after the Mongol Invasion.
Ibn Battuta spent almost no time exploring Tabriz because he had to get back to Baghdad to join a hajj caravan. On his way back he toured other places - some of the same ones described by Marco Polo, an Italian traveler who visited this area about 55 years earlier on his way to China.
Back in Baghdad, the governor showed him charity by giving him a camel litter. He was expecting an easy return trip, but unfortunately on the way he again became sick with diarrhea. During the long journey he had to get down from his litter many times a day. By the time he got to Mecca, he was very weak.
Ibn Battuta needed a rest. In a year he had traveled more than 4,000 miles, crossed mountains and deserts, visited most of the great cities of Iraq and western Persia, met scholars, saints, judges, and even a Mongol king! After about one year in Mecca where he led a life of prayer, fellowship, and learning, he was ready to travel again.
To return to the previous section, [press here]
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Additional pictures of Shiraz from Silk Road Tours (including the tomb of Saadi, Iran's greatest poet, and the Atigh Mosque, both seen by Ibn Battuta). (These tombs have been rebuilt, however, since Ibn Battuta's time.)
See a photo album of Tabriz and learn more of its history.
See a set of pictures of Isfahan and more pictures.
Virtual Tour of Isfahan, Iran - a tour of the capital city in medieval Iran (16th century, well after Ibn Battuta's trip). This is now a UNESCO world heritage site and is being preserved as a "treasure" of architecture. It shows large mosques and mosjids (smaller mosques), palaces, etc. You can tour the city by clicking on buildings from a map, clicking on doors of buildings to get inside, or by following the text and clicking on highlighted words.
Learn more about the History of Iraq
Sufism and Religious Experiences
For more on the Mongol Empire, see
