MISSIONS OF MARCO POLO AND IBN BATTUTA
arohi srivastav
COMPARE THE MISSIONS OF MARCO POLO AND IBN BATTUTA
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was an Italian merchant and explorer. He was not the first person to explore East Asia, but was one of the first. He was born into a family of merchants in Venice.
- He went on a 24-year trip to China with his father and uncle during the Mongol dynasty and served in Kublai Khan's court for 17 years.
What he brought back to Italy:
- Polo returned to Venice with treasures like ivory, jade, jewels, porcelain and silk.
- He brought noodles back from China from which Italians came up with different sizes and shapes and called it pasta.
- He also brought the idea of paper money from China to Europe. Paper money is light, foldable and much easier to carry around which proved to be a huge asset to Europe.
Soon after Polo returned from his journeys he fought in a war against Genoa, got captured and put in prison, When he was in prison he became friendly with a prisoner, Rusticello, who was a writer of romances and novels. He told the writer about all his adventures. Rusticello wrote down his words which became a book called The Travels of Marco Polo, and became famous throughout Europe.
(On top) Video of Marco Polo's journeys
(Below) Picture of Ibn Battuta the traveler
IBN BATTUTA
Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan explorer who traveled parts of the globe to spread the Islamic faith. Ibn Battuta was considered the greatest traveler of the medieval period .
- At age 21, Ibn Battuta started his long exploration when he went to Mecca, the year-long pilgrimage that brings Muslims closer to God.
- He traveled for nearly 30 years and covered most of the Islamic world.
- He also explored West Africa, Southern and Eastern Europe, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Ibn Battuta first went across North Africa (Maghreb), to the great port Alexandria in 1326.
- This distance was more than Marco Polo traveled 47,000 miles.
- He spread Islam and its practices and beliefs as well as commenting and observing how it is practiced varies from region to region.
- He recorded details about the social and political life he saw on his journeys
- In the book he also includes several examples of discrimination based on religion
Analysis: Marco Polo was a merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Khubilai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Though not the first European to explore China—his father and uncle, among others, had already been there—he became famous for his travels due to to a popular book he co-authored.
bn Battuta traveled to countries that were primarily Muslim, the areas inside the black border marking the Dar al-Islam. Ibn Battuta would rarely be far from fellow Muslims on his travels, and would greatly benefit from the charity and hospitality offered to Muslim travelers and pilgrims.
----Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta differed in the ways that while Ibn Battuta was an educated, upper-class man who traveled within a familiar Muslim culture, meeting like-minded people wherever he went, Polo was a merchant, not formally educated, who traveled to strange, unfamiliar cultures, where he learned new cultures and traditions
----Ibn’s main purpose of travel was to spread his religion. Polo’s main purpose of travel was for trade.
---- Ibn Battuta told more about himself, the people he met, and the importance of the positions he held. Marco Polo, on the other had, focused on reporting accurate information about what he had observed.
Connection: When Ibn Battuta visited Mali in the fourteenth century, he took offense at the casual way in which men and women interacted with each other. Even his hosts paid no attention to the lectures he delivered about the proper behavior and dressing of women in an Islamic society.
Mansa Musa the wealthy ruler of the Mali empire also embarked on the journey to Mecca, as did Ibn Battuta.
Mansa Musa the wealthy ruler of the Mali empire also embarked on the journey to Mecca, as did Ibn Battuta.
Video on the missions of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta
This map shows the different routes embarked upon by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta
Picture of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta
:Made using PicCollage: |
Sources:
Lambert, A. "Introduction." The Travels of Ibn Battuta. N.p., 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. Maraini, Fasco. "Marco Polo | Italian Explorer." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Dec. 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. Wiki. "Marco Polo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. Matt Rotensburg - Geography Home Page - Geography at About.com - June 14 2010 - http://geography.about.com/cs/marcopolo |