Trace the Route of Ibn Battuta on a Map

Ibn Battuta, a 14th century Moroccan scholar, was one of the most prolific explorers in history, traveling 72,000 miles (117,000 kilometers), more than four times the distance covered by Marco Polo! Can you name all the countries he visited?

Dashed lines indicate places where the route he took or destinations he visited are uncertain.

If he travels through a country more than once, make sure to guess it every time he goes there!

Hint: The first country is Morocco

Quiz by

Rate:

Featured Quiz

Last updated: September 29, 2022

You have not attempted this quiz yet.

More quiz info >>

First submitted	July 11, 2021
Times taken	17,091
Average score	74.4%
Rating	4.98

Quiz and answer stats >>

Friends stats >>

10:00

Enter answer here

/ 90 guessed

The quiz is paused. You have remaining.

Scoring
You scored / = %

      This beats or equals
      % of test takers
      also scored 100%
      
The average score is 

        Your high score is
        
      
Your fastest time is 
more stats >>
friends stats >>

Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...

1325-1328

Morocco

Algeria

Tunisia

Libya

Egypt

Israel

Jordan

Syria

Jordan

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Iran

Iraq

Iran

Iraq

Turkey

Syria

Iraq

Saudi Arabia

1328-1330

Sudan

Yemen

Somalia

Kenya

Tanzania

Oman

Iran

Saudi Arabia

1330-1333

Egypt

Israel

Jordan

Syria

Lebanon

Syria

Turkey

Russia

Ukraine

Russia

Ukraine

Romania

Bulgaria

Turkey

Bulgaria

Romania

Ukraine

Russia

Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Afghanistan

1333-1346

Pakistan

India

Maldives

Sri Lanka

India

Maldives

Bangladesh

India

Bangladesh

Indonesia

Malaysia

Vietnam

Philippines

China

1346-1349

Indonesia

India

Oman

Iran

Iraq

Syria

Jordan

Israel

Egypt

Saudi Arabia

Egypt

Tunisia

Italy

Algeria

Morocco

1349-1354

Gibraltar (UK)

Spain

Gibraltar (UK)

Morocco

Algeria

Mali

Mauritania

Mali

Guinea

Mali

Niger

Algeria

Morocco

Suggested Quizzes See all >>

Biggest Countries by Population

Countries of the World in 1914 with a Map

Brand Logos Quiz #7

Modern Day Countries of Nazi Germany on a Map

More from JWatson24 See all >>

Famous Anti-War Songs

Countries by Tobacco Consumption

Famous Leaders on a Political Compass

Russian Empire Quiz

95 Comments

+65

Level 71

Jul 11, 2021

A few more notes on this quiz:

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

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

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

+12

Level 60

Jul 13, 2021

Great quiz!

Level 89

Jul 13, 2021

Nice work!

Level 73

Oct 14, 2021

I love this quiz! The route animates only up to Egypt. Is that a glitch?

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

Level 71

Oct 14, 2021

Thanks! The reason the route only animates up to Egypt is just cuz I haven't had time to update the rest of it :/ I'll get around to animating the rest of it soon, I'm just a bit busy right now.

Level 73

Oct 14, 2021

Oh, I didn't see the second pinned comment. Anyways, it's still a fun quiz to play. I've played it at least four times! Hope you have a good semester at college. :)

Level 71

Oct 14, 2021

Glad you like it so much :D To be honest, among the quizzes I've made, this is probably one of my favorites. It was a lot of fun to both make and play, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned it. Hopefully it will be even better when I get around to animating it!

Level 73

Oct 25, 2021

Loved it again! The animations are oddly satisfying. When I pause and resume the quiz, every line animates themselves. Loved it, definitely! Thanks for updating this quiz. :)

Level 71

Oct 25, 2021

Once again, thanks :) Really makes me happy that you enjoy it so much!

+12

Level 65

Oct 25, 2021

Incredible. This has to be featured. I love when I know a few countries in a row, then they all animate at once lol

Level 71

Oct 25, 2021

Thanks! I agree, the animations can be very satisfying :)

Level 84

Oct 31, 2021

I love the animations. Nominated!

Level 71

Oct 31, 2021

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy the animations so much :)

Level 77

Nov 13, 2021

wow, amazing!

Level 71

Nov 13, 2021

Thanks! I know I've said this on other quizzes before, but it always makes me really happy getting comments from accomplished quizmakers like you ^_^

Level 88

Nov 13, 2021

Fantastic quiz!

Level 71

Nov 13, 2021

Thanks! :)

Level 70

Nov 14, 2021

This is excellent, well done! Simply astonishing how far he travelled, for a man of his era. If he had visited any more places I'm sure my computer would have exploded while taking this quiz :D

Level 71

Nov 14, 2021

Thanks! You're right, it's insane how he covered most of the Old World in just the course of 30 years. Even today, there are very few people who have covered as much ground as he did. That's what made it so fun to make this quiz--it was absolutely fascinating reading his stories and experiences, especially in the places he was unfamiliar with!

Level 76

Oct 23, 2022

Agreed both on the quality of the quiz and on how incredible Ibn Battuta's travels were. He's still well known in the Maldives, where he became chief judge (Ghazee - Qadi in Arabic) and had four wives. He is also the only person on record to have seen the production of Maldivian cowries - and then their use as currency in West Africa.

Level 71

Oct 23, 2022

Cool! I didn't know the fact about the cowries. It's also nice that he wrote his whole story down--it tells us a lot about life at that time.

Level 43

Mar 27, 2022

Trace me the route to the Nominate button. I need to press it :)

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

Level 71

Mar 27, 2022

Thanks!

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

Level 43

Mar 27, 2022

So I misunderstood something. Logically you can support a side, but he need to follow a side, and don’t deny the truth. Maybe I didn’t get totally what you meant :)

Level 71

Mar 27, 2022

No problem :) Yes, just to explain what I meant is that this is my personal decision. I understand why Quizmaster recognizes Crimea as Russian, and if at any point he asks me to change it, I will. That being said, I don't think Quizmaster cares much so I'm just leaving it like this for now.

Level 61

Sep 18, 2022

Don't bother changing it when this is featured, it'll just go back to being Ukrainian when Ukraine wins the war and takes it back

Level 71

Sep 18, 2022

While I agree with you and hope that Ukraine does take back Crimea, I also don't want to start a major political discussion on a quiz that otherwise is non-political. I'm okay with making political choices when my quiz is private, but once it's public I want it to be a controversy-free environment. Not that I think this is that controversial, but I do think staying in line with JetPunk standards will cause less confusion. I guess this is something I could ask Quizmaster about if the quiz gets featured.

Level 34

Mar 30, 2022

Much more confusing and underrated than the Marco Polo one. Nominated.

Level 71

Mar 30, 2022

Yep! Definitely more confusing and convoluted, but I like to think that that's what makes it fun. :) Thanks for the nomination!

Level 59

Apr 14, 2022

Superb quiz! Nominated!

Level 71

Apr 14, 2022

Thanks!

Level 79

Apr 14, 2022

I would have gone back to Maldives too.

Level 71

Apr 14, 2022

Yeah, I've heard it's beautiful there. I'd love to go sometime, but unfortunately I'm not sure it will exist for much longer.

Level 82

Apr 14, 2022

I was once going to make a quiz like this. You probably did a much better job than I would have.

Level 82

Apr 14, 2022

my students in Saudi Arabia sometimes called me ibn Battuta

Level 71

Apr 14, 2022

Thanks! Means a lot from a quizmaker of your caliber. And given how much you've been around, I think that's the perfect nickname :) (Also, you commented the same thing twice, might wanna delete one of them.)

Level 82

Oct 23, 2022

You're welcome. Maybe you could make a similar quiz about Che Guevara. That was another one I was going to do but never got around to.

Level 71

Oct 24, 2022

That's an interesting idea. I'm not sure I have time to do it now (I had several other plans that ended up falling through because I got busy), but if I ever have the time and patience again I'll consider it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Level 55

Apr 21, 2022

This quiz is awesome! It's amazing that a man from that long ago managed to travel to the places he did.

Level 71

Apr 21, 2022

Thanks! I really recommend looking into him more, he lived a very fascinating life :D

Level 55

Apr 21, 2022

I definitely will!

Level 81

Sep 14, 2022

Brilliant again.

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

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

Thanks! Definitely more difficult and involved than the Marco Polo one, but I also think it's more satisfying to see it come together at the end!

Level 62

Sep 18, 2022

Ooh! This is great, Nom.

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

Thanks!

Level 56

Sep 27, 2022

nominated for sure :)

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

Thanks, I appreciate it :)

Level 75

Oct 3, 2022

Best. Quiz. Ever.

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

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

Thanks! I think it's too late for me to change that now that the quiz is featured, and I'm not sure changing it to yellow would make much of a difference anyways. Appreciate the suggestion though.

Level 93

Oct 3, 2022

This is an example of an amazing person and story that gets left out of the history books that kids growing up in the U.S. read. I never heard of this gentleman. There's a limited amount of time in the school year, but I think every high school student should be required to take a world history course (didn't have one in my time) to expand their horizons and base of knowledge beyond Columbus, Marco Polo and the other usual suspects. Great job on this quiz and thank you for expanding my base of knowledge.

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

Yeah, he definitely gets sidelined a lot. I think he was mentioned once in a history class I took, but I really only became interested in him because of a YouTube history series I was really into in high school (Extra History, link is posted in the pinned comment above). I honestly wasn't expecting this quiz on a little-known figure to get popular enough to be featured, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it is. I'm glad to see so many people are learning something new here!

Level 74

Oct 23, 2022

I had world history multiple times throughout my schooling in the US, most extensively European and Asian history, but hadn't heard of this guy. He's definitely someone I'm going to look into. It's a sad testament that you didn't have even one world history class. Public school? I only went to private schools and am always amazed by what the public school fails to teach, and deteriorating every year.

Level 71

Oct 23, 2022

@kapulani, may I ask why you think public schools are getting worse? I think they're getting better if anything. Plenty of my high school teachers said they missed out on a lot of courses because they weren't mandatory when they went to school in the '80s or '90s, but the curriculum by the time I was in high school in the 2010s was very well-rounded and covered just about every subject. I don't think you had bad intentions when you posted your comment, but to be frank, I found it condescending.

Level 72

Oct 3, 2022

The design of the route is confusing. Sometimes it stops/starts on dot, and other times at a border.

Level 71

Oct 3, 2022

It always stops on a border. If it stops on a dot, there's a city on the border. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

Level 76

Oct 4, 2022

I've seen maps of where he travelled before, but seeing each line appear one by one/seeing where he travelled back and forth really makes it clear just how crazy his journey was.

Level 71

Oct 4, 2022

Crazy it certainly was. I'm really glad I got a chance to add animations, I think it enhances how we understand his journey.

Level 91

Oct 4, 2022

Wow, he really make a terrible job planning his route. So much gas wasted!

Level 71

Oct 4, 2022

Haha :)

Level 75

Oct 8, 2022

Could be a great quiz, but for goodness sake - or rather for the sake of those of us with less than ideal eyesight - use a lighter color for the seas/oceans and preferably a different color entirely to the route!

Level 71

Oct 8, 2022

I'm sorry for your eyesight problems, but now that the quiz has been featured, I don't want to make any major changes to it unless absolutely necessary. Most people have not complained about this color scheme, and the fact is I tried to do my best to make the lines pop out as best as I can while keeping a unique theme for this quiz. And at any rate, you do realize you can zoom in if you struggle to see the lines, right? So to answer your question, no, I am not planning on changing this color scheme.

Level 68

Oct 10, 2022

Great quiz, congratulations for the nomination!

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

Level 71

Oct 10, 2022

Thanks! The program I used is Inkscape, and it can be downloaded for free. It's a lot to explain, so instead I'll post the JetPunk SVG Guide here so that you can get an idea of how it works.

Level 68

Oct 13, 2022

Thank you very much!

Level 71

Oct 13, 2022

No problem!

Level 86

Oct 13, 2022

Finally took this quiz and this is so well-made! Great job!

Level 71

Oct 13, 2022

Hah, I know that feeling of saving up a quiz for the perfect time :) Thanks!

Level 68

Oct 23, 2022

Too fiddly for me. If only we could zoom the map and then slide around I would have enjoyed it.

Level 71

Oct 23, 2022

Not sure what you mean? You can already zoom into the map at different points. "Sliding around" isn't possible with JetPunk SVGs. I appreciate constructive criticism, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about this.

Level 67

Oct 24, 2022

Was anyone else confused when he did a 180 in Constantinople? I spent a solid 30-45 seconds trying to figure out where he went lol

Level 64

Oct 24, 2022

Fantastic quiz.

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

Level 82

Oct 24, 2022

In the 14th century when ibn Battuta was alive it really wasn't. The Balkans were mostly a mess of warring fiefdoms going through a series of succession wars as the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire crumbled during this and the following century. Athens during Battuta's lifetime was a mostly deserted backwater that had been taken over by a company of Aragonese mercenaries called the Catalan Company. It would decline even further after being occupied by Ottomans a while later.

Level 82

Oct 24, 2022

Also, I'm not sure how easy it was (or wasn't) to travel between Muslim and Ottoman-held lands this century and the parts of the Balkans still in Christian hands as the two sides were in a state of active war. I mean, I'm sure people did go back and forth, but, maybe this was a factor. Thessaloniki would have been the most important city in Greece during the period. It was captured by the Ottomans after a protracted siege in 1387.. though it later passed back into Christian hands in 1403.. until being captured again by Ottomans in 1430.

Level 78

Oct 24, 2022

This quiz would have been a lot more straightforward if Ibn Battuta had just used his GPS.

Level 82

Oct 26, 2022

Or if he was a woman and so stopped to ask for directions.

Level 45

Oct 24, 2022

Amazing quiz, sometimes it was hard to see where the line went when it kept going back and forward on the same track, maybe make it a darker or lighter shade of the color so people can see it easier. But amazing quiz!

Level 63

Oct 24, 2022

Dull. Too much time spent zooming in & out and replacing the cursor in the text box.

Level 50

Oct 24, 2022

Love this quiz!

Level 42

Oct 24, 2022

Fantastic quiz!

Level 80

Oct 24, 2022

A tour de force. Walking us through his peregrinations one leg at a time makes me understand the breadth of his travels so much better than a mere list.

Level 71

Jul 19, 2024

Peregrinations :) never seen that before. Interesting word!

Level 68

Oct 24, 2022

So cool!

Level 28

Nov 17, 2022

so intereting

Level 71

Nov 21, 2022

Nice work. Thanks for the lesson

Level 62

Jan 6, 2023

Absolutely brilliant and fun. Thank you!

Level 71

Jan 6, 2023

Yeah no problem. Thanks for taking it!

Level 48

Mar 19, 2023

Bro would’ve went to mars if he could’ve

Level 49

Apr 8, 2023

Amazing quiz! But for the Crimean Peninsula, please accept Ukraine.

Level 71

Apr 8, 2023

Thanks! I did initially accept Crimea for Ukraine but I switched back when the quiz was featured, since most featured quizzes on JetPunk recognizes it as Russian. I appreciate and agree with your view, but to prevent people from getting confused I think keeping it as Russian is a better idea.

Level 37

Apr 24, 2023

Please change it back to Ukraine, it is legally part of Ukraine.

Level 71

Apr 24, 2023

I'm sorry but it's not *legally* part of any country. There's no international body that can really enforce having Ukraine in control of Crimea. Believe me, I'd love to see Crimea returned to Ukraine, but that's not the situation on the ground now. This isn't an endorsement of any one side, it's just the reality of the situation, and its what the rest of JetPunk follows.

Level 65

Apr 28, 2023

"Tangier"

Incorrect

"Casablanca"

Incorrect

"Marrakesh"

Incorrect

"Rabat"

Incorrect

......

Oh wait, I should guess the COUNTRY.

Level 79

Jul 10, 2023

I can only hope to one day be as well travelled as this man was 700 years ago!

Level 67

Nov 14, 2023

I'm as tired as if I'd made the whole trip myself xD

Level 52

Mar 28, 2024

I love this quiz, had no idea who this was so now I HAVE TO do my own investigation on him, thanks!

Countries of the World Quiz

US States Quiz

United States Map Quiz

Country Flags Quiz #1

12 Months in 15 Seconds

World Capitals Quiz

Fast Typing A to Z

Fast Typing 1 to 100

Counties of England Quiz

Countries that Start with G

Fruits by Picture

All Major North American Pro Sports Teams

Countries that Start with N

Countries of Africa

Elements of the Periodic Table Quiz

Save Your Progress

Quiz series by JWatson24

Trace the Route of Abel Tasman on a Map

Countries Visited by Christopher Columbus

Trace the Route of Francis Drake on a Map

...

Trace the Route of Marco Polo on a Map

Trace the Route of Vasco da Gama on a Map!

Tracez la route de Christophe Colomb sur une carte