{{Italic title}}{{Short description|Genre of Arabic travel literature}}'''''Riḥla''''' ({{langx|ar|رحلة}}) refers to both a journey and the written account of that journey, or travelogue. It constitutes a genre of Arabic literature. Associated with the medieval Islamic notion of "travel in search of knowledge" (الرحلة في طلب العلم), the ''riḥla'' as a genre of medieval and early-modern Arabic literature usually describes a journey taken with the intent of performing the Hajj, but can include an itinerary that vastly exceeds that original route.<ref name=":0">Netton, I.R., [https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_6298 “Riḥla]”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 12 July 2018 </ref> The classical ''riḥla'' in medieval Arabic travel literature, like those written by Ibn Battuta (known commonly as ''The Rihla'') and Ibn Jubayr, includes a description of the "personalities, places, governments, customs, and curiosities" experienced by the traveler, and usually within the boundaries of the Muslim world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century|last=Dunn|first=Ross E.|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|pages=4}}</ref> However, the term rihla can be applied to other Arabic travel narratives describing journeys taken for reasons other than pilgrimage; for instance, the 19th–century ''riḥla''s of Muhammad as-Saffar<ref>{{Cite book|title=Disorienting Encounters: Travels of a Moroccan Scholar in France in 1845-1846. The Voyage of Muhammad As-Saffar|last=as-Saffar|first=Muhammad|publisher=University of California Press|year=1992|editor-last=Miller|editor-first=Susan Gilson|location=Berkeley}}</ref> and Rifa'a al-Tahtawi<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by an Egyptian Cleric (1826-1831)|last=al-Tahtawi|first=Rifa'a Rafi'|publisher=Saqi Books|year=2012|translator-last=Newman|translator-first=Daniel L.}}</ref> both follow conventions of the riḥla genre by recording not only the journey to France from Morocco and Egypt, respectively, but also their experiences and observations.
== As travel == The ''Rihla'' travel practice originated in Middle Ages Morocco and served to connect Muslims of Morocco to the collective consciousness of the ''ummah'' across the Islamic world, thereby generating a larger sense of community. ''Rihla'' consists of three types:<ref name="Travellers">{{cite book |last1=Eickelman |first1=Dale F. |last2=Piscatori |first2=James P. |title=Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration and the Religious Imagination |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pwuAh0ujPMC&q=rihla&pg=PA69 |year= 1990|publisher=University of California Press |isbn= 9780520072527|pages=69–71 }}</ref> #''Rihla'' — journey within Morocco, typically to meet with other pilgrims before traveling beyond the local area. #''Rihla hijaziyya'' - journey to the ''Hejaz'' which would be transmitted via an oral or written report. #''Rihla sifariyya'' — journey to foreign lands including to embassies and missions in territories in ''Dar al-Harb''. Events on these journeys would be the basis of the extant travel literature. The performance of ''Rihla'' was considered in Moorish al-Andalus as a qualifier for teachers and political leaders.<ref>Michael Karl Lenker, “The Importance of the Rihla for the Islamization of Spain,” Dissertations Available from ProQuest (January 1, 1982): 1–388</ref> These journeys also coincided with the end of the Mongol invasions and a new opportunity for Islamic expansion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tolmacheva|first1=Marina|title=Ibn Battuta in Black Africa|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|volume=28|issue=3|year=1995|pages=696–697|doi=10.2307/221221|jstor=221221}}</ref>
==As literature== The travel narratives of Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta are perceived as "archetypical exponents of the flowering of [the ''riḥla''] genre,"<ref name=":0" /> but should not be perceived as its founders. Concerning Ibn Jubayr's voyage to Mecca in 1183, one writer claimed that "...his two-year journey made a considerable impact on literary history. His account of his travels and tribulations in the East served as the foundational work of a new genre of writing, the rihla, or the creative travelogue: a mix of personal narrative, description, opinion and anecdote. In following centuries, countless people emulated and even plagiarized him."<ref>Grammatico, Daniel and Werner, Louis. 2015. [http://www.aramcoworld.com/issue/201501/travelers.of.al-andalus.part.1.the.travel.writer.ibn.jubayr.htm The Travel Writer Ibn Jubayr.] ''Aramco World''. Volume 66, No. 1, January–February 2015. Page 40.</ref> Travel narratives were written prior to Ibn Jubayr's; for example, the 12th–century ''riḥla'' of Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, and accounts of foreign lands visited by merchants and diplomats (such as the 9th century accounts of India and China by Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, and the 10th–century ''riḥla'' by Ibn Fadlan with the Abbasid mission to the Volga) long predate Ibn Jubayr's travelogue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, Two Arabic Travel Books: Accounts of China and India, and Ahmad ibn Fadhlan, Mission to the Volga|publisher=New York University Press|year=2014|location=New York, London|translator-last=Mackintosh-Smith|translator-first=Tim|translator-last2=Montgomery|translator-first2=James}}</ref>
The best-known ''rihla'' narrative is Ibn Battuta's ''Masterpiece to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling'' ({{lang|ar|تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار}}, or {{Transliteration|ar|''Tuḥfat an-Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār''}}), often referred to as the ''Travels of Ibn Battuta'' ({{lang|ar|رحلة ابن بطوطة}}, or {{Transliteration|ar|''Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah''}}). The ''Travels'' was dictated to Ibn Juzayy on orders from the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris, who was impressed by the story of Ibn Battuta.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunn |first=Ross E. |title=The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century |year=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-24385-4 |pages=310 }}</ref> Although Ibn Battuta was an accomplished and well-documented explorer, his travels had been unknown outside the Islamic world for many years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tolmacheva|first1=Marina|title=The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|volume=21|issue=1|year=1988|pages=149–150|doi=10.2307/219908|jstor=219908}}</ref>
The ''Rihla'' of Abdallah al-Tijani describes his 970-day round trip from Tunis to Tripoli between 1306 and 1309.<ref>{{citation |author=Michael Brett |year=1976 |title=The Journey of al-Tijānī to Tripoli at the Beginning of the Fourteenth Century A.D./Eighth Century A.H. |journal=Libyan Studies |volume=7 |pages=41–51 |doi=10.1017/s0263718900008992|s2cid=164780725 }}.</ref>
==See also== * ''Journey to Mecca'' (2009 film)
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Euben |first1=Roxanne L. |title=Journeys to the Other Shore: Muslim and Western Travelers in Search of Knowledge|url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8308.html|date= 21 July 2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691138404}}
==External links== * [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7470/ Ibn Battuta's ''Rihla'' (Arabic online text)] World Digital Library
{{Islamic geography}}
Category:Hajj accounts Category:Geographical works of the medieval Islamic world Category:Travel books Category:14th-century books Category:Arabic words and phrases Category:Medieval Arabic literature Category:Education in the medieval Islamic world