Xuanzang & Ibn Battuta
Traveler’s Tales and Observations in
the Post-Classical Period
Background
• Each of these documents was written by an
outsider to the people or society he is
describing.
– Ibn Battuta mostly travelled throughout the MUSLIM
world (75,000 miles in all)
• At the time was WAY bigger than the Christian world
• He was born in Morocco
• Often not too happy about the way Islam was being
practiced by “newer” converts
• In this document, he is in West Africa (Mali) in 1354 after
crossing the Sahara with a caravan.
–Xuanzang was a Buddhist monk who
travelled to India with the goal of getting
a better understanding of the religion
from its source.
• Spends 10 years travelling around India
• Returns to China and spends the remainder
of his life translating Buddhist texts into
Chinese
• Some of his writings are observations of life
in India in the 8th Century
Today’s Class
• Using the Venn diagram and the documents
provided, find at least three differences for each
document, two similarities between each. Pay
special attention to:
– How their journey and observations show the extent and
limitations of cultural interactions
– the purpose of the trips
– where they went
– how they viewed the people that they came across
– the point of view of each author
– what they chose to write about an even what they chose
NOT to write about – it’s all fair game.
•
This is a difficult assignment - take your time and
really try to analyze each document.