# Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila, 1331: what the Rihla says > What Ibn Battuta wrote about Mogadishu and Zeila in 1331: hosting merchants, the sultan's court, food and cloth, with the Gibb translation free online. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/history/ibn-battuta-in-mogadishu-and-zeila-1331/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## The traveller and the book Ibn Battuta (1304 to about 1369) was a scholar from Tangier in Morocco who travelled for almost thirty years across Africa and Asia. In 1355 he dictated his travels to the writer Ibn Juzayy, and the result is known as the **Rihla** ("The Journey") ([The Rihla, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rihla)). In 1331 he sailed from Aden down the East African coast. He stopped at **Zeila** on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) and then at **Mogadishu**, before going on to Mombasa and Kilwa ([Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325 to 1354, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, 1929, Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). ## What he wrote about Zeila Ibn Battuta called Zeila "a large city with a great bazaar". He also wrote that it smelled strongly of fish and of the blood of camels slaughtered in the streets, and that he and his companions chose to sleep on their ship ([Gibb translation, Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). He wrote that the land of the [Berberah](/en/history/early-berbera-before-1300/) stretched for two months' journey from Zeila to Mogadishu, and that his ship sailed for fifteen days from Zeila to Mogadishu ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)). ## What he wrote about Mogadishu **A city of merchants.** He described Mogadishu as an "enormous town" whose people were merchants who owned many camels and slaughtered hundreds a day for food ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). **Hosting traders.** When a ship arrived, small boats called sumbuqs came out to meet it. Young men in each boat brought covered dishes of food and each chose a merchant, saying "This is my guest." The host lodged the merchant, and bought and sold on his behalf. A sale made without the host, or at too low a price, was not accepted ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). **The qadi and the students.** As a scholar, Ibn Battuta was taken to the qadi (judge) and lodged in the students' house. Food was brought three times a day for three days. On the fourth day, a Friday, the qadi and a wazir (minister) gave him a set of clothes ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). **The sultan's court.** He prayed at the main mosque behind the sultan's screen. He wrote that the people called their sultan "the Shaykh", that the sultan's name was Abu Bakr, that he was "of Berberah origin", and that "he talks in the Maqdishi language, though he knows Arabic" ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)). Later historians give his full name as Abu Bakr ibn Shaykh Umar ([Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/general%2Fibn-battuta-a-legendary-traveller-1.1158141)). After prayers the Shaykh walked to his palace in sandals while everyone else went barefoot, under four silk canopies each topped with a golden bird ([Fordham](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp)). When he first reached the palace, a palace servant brought out betel leaves and areca nuts as a welcome gift, and a wazir whose duty was to look after guests greeted him for the sultan ([Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353)). ## Why historians use it The passage is the fullest description of a Somali city before 1500. It shows Mogadishu in the 14th century as a Muslim city with its own ruler, judges and scholars, trading by sea with Arabia, Egypt and India ([AramcoWorld, The Traveler: Ibn Battuta](https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.traveler.ibn.battuta.htm)). It is read with the inscriptions and mosques of the city, such as the Fakhr al-Din mosque of 1269, described on [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/), and with other records on [The Somali coast towns, 1331 to 1586](/en/history/somali-coast-towns-1331-1586/). ## Where to read it - Gibb's English translation, the Mogadishu and Zeila passages: [Fordham Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/source/ibnbattuta-africa14C.asp) - Gibb's 1929 selection, scanned in full (the Somali passages are on pages 110 to 111): [Gibb 1929, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.16353) - The complete Hakluyt Society translation, volume III (for India and beyond): [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta) - The full Hakluyt Society edition in a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Travels+of+Ibn+Battuta+Gibb+Hakluyt) ## Related pages - [Books about Somalis before 1500](/en/history/books-about-somalis-before-1500/) - [Books about Somalis: every era](/en/history/books-about-somalis/) --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. 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