Manuscript Copies of Ibn Battuta’s “Travelogue”

The project investigates the manuscript tradition of Ibn Battuta’s travel account, an important source for a medieval vision of the cultural, political and geographical diversity of the Islamic world. Through an examination of the manuscripts – their provenance, divergences, and historical settings – the research investigates how knowledge was transmitted and preserved in the Islamicate. This work also deals with the issues of textual inconstancy and its effects on historical interpretation. Ultimately, the study intends to offer broader persp-ectives on the place of manuscript in historiopaphey and their relationship with world history.