Lecture on Ibn Battuta

Introduction

• Focus on historical question: Who ran things in Afro-Eurasia?
  • Power beyond personal life in social, political, economic, religious contexts
  • Previous discussions: Rulers and merchants
  • Today's focus: Ibn Battuta as a merchant and investor

Ibn Battuta's Background

• Context: Afro-Eurasian trade and commerce expansion (10th-14th centuries)
• Social Mobility:
  • Movement within social hierarchies (rich, poor, aristocrats, commoners)
  • Clerics vs. laity distinction
• Social Hierarchization: Boundaries and social order

Religious Solidarities and Emic Boundaries

• Multiple Christianities, Islams, and Buddhisms
• Intra-Islam boundaries in Ibn Battuta's writings
  • Proper vs. improper conduct
  • Example: Maldive Islands

Law vs. Reality

• Importance of legal ideals versus lived reality
• Example: Legal theory vs. social practice
  • Speed limits analogy and historical interpretation
  • U.S. sex laws example

Ibn Battuta's Travels

• Traveled from Atlantic to Pacific, Sahara to Central Asia
• Map Reference: International Commerce in Afro-Eurasia (1150)
• Importance of the Maldives in maritime trade

Ibn Battuta's Social Trust Networks

• Captain Ibrahim and Captain Omar as part of his networks
• Rare use of state legal institutions for disputes
• Trust networks from Hadhramaut, Zafar, Delhi, Maghreb

Cultural and Religious Context

• Maritime Silk Road and monsoonal winds
• Influence of various geographic and social elements
• Ibn Battuta's narrative: Transliminal comparisons

Ibn Battuta's Influence and Challenges in the Maldives

• Marriages into the royal family
• Example of social networks turning into distrust
• Role of the Mamluks in military and governance

Gender and Social Practices

• Ibn Battuta's marriages and social dynamics
• Gendered narrative and view on Islamic law
• Comparison of dowries in different jurisdictions

Education and Intellectual Context

• Education in Islamic law in Damascus and beyond
• Importance of female professors in his education
• Legal qualifications and societal role

Legal and Social Dynamics in the Maldives

• Acquired job as qadi (judge)
• Transliminal comparisons of Islamic practices
• Orthodoxy vs. heterodoxy in Islamic practices

Wider Islamic World Context

• Fragmented political reality despite unified Islamic identity
• Role of dhimmi (people of the book)
• Syncretization of local customs with Islamic practices

Conclusion

• Ibn Battuta's narrative as a window into social, legal, and religious dynamics
• Continued exploration of rulers, jurists, investors, merchants, intellectuals, and poets in future lectures.