Ibn Battuta dictated his experiences to Ibn Juzayy who also added here and there his own comments on certain places that Battuta had visited which he had also been to himself. Luckily for me, one of these was Gibraltar. He was particularly adamant on the importance and glory of the Rock - at least from a Moorish point of view. His extremely blunt and aggressive writing style leaves us in no doubt as to what he thought of the Rock.
The Scottish historian on Orientalism, Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb translated and wrote The Travels of Ibn Battuta. The quotes below are taken from his translation
1349 – Ibn Battuta
TangierI arrived at my home town of Tangier and visited her and went to the town of Sabta (Ceuta) where I stayed for some months. While I was there, I suffered from an illness for three months, but afterwards God restored me to health.
I then proposed to take part in a Jihad and the defence of the frontier so I crossed the sea from Ceuta in a barque belonging to the people of Asilá (Asilah) and reached the land of Andalucía - may God Almighty guard her! - where the reward of the traveller is abundant and a recompense is laid up for the settler and visitor. p 311
There was after the death of the Christian tyrant Adfúnus (Alfonso XI) and his ten months siege of the Jebel when he thought that he would capture all that the Muslims still retain of Andalucía; but God took him where he did not reckon, and he, who of all men stood in the most mortal terror of the plague, died of it. p311
Notes: The 5th Siege of Gibraltar was an attempt by the Christians to retake the Rock. It was lifted when Alfonso XI died of the bubonic plague while besieging the place.
Yabal al-FathThe first part of Andalucía that I saw was the Mount of the Conquest. I walked round the mountain and saw the marvellous works executed on it by our master (Abu Inan Faris) may God strengthen him, and I should have liked to remain as one of its defenders to the end of my days. P311
Notes: The Mount of the Conquest or Yabal al-Fath was the name given to the Rock by Abd al-Mu’min when founding the town of Gibraltar. Distinguishing it from the Rock itself, he named the town Madinat-al-Fath. It is interesting that nearly 200 years after the event, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Juzayy were still using this name and not Yabal Tariq.
The first town I saw in the Andalusian country was the Mountain of Victory. I met there the excellent preacher Abu Zakariya’ Yahya b. al-Siraj of Runda [Ronda], and the qadi Isa al-Barbari, with whom I stayed. With him I made the circuit of the mountain and saw the wonderful works constructed by our master Abu l-hasan. God be pleased with him, the preparations he had made and the military equipment, and what our master, God strengthen him, had added [935] further. I would have liked (355) to be one of those serving there till the end of my life.) p311
Ibn Juzayy adds the following describing his own experiences.
Tariq ibn ZiyadThe Mountain of conquest is the citadel of Islam, an obstruction stuck in the throats of the idolaters. From it began the great conquest and at it disembarked Tariq Ibn Ziyad, the freedman of Musa Ibn Nusayr, when he crossed (the Straits) in (711 AD)
Notes: Musa Ibn Nusayr was the governor of the North African provinces of the Umayyad Caliphate and was responsible for sending Tariq ibn Ziyad on his way to the conquest of Spain. He is often referred to colloquially in Spain as el 'Moro Musa' and in Gibraltar his name was often used to threaten with his imminent arrival children who were behaving badly
Wall of the ArabsIts name was linked with his and it was called Jabal Tariq. It is called also the Mount of Conquest because the conquest began there. The remains of the wall built by Tariq and his army are still in existence; they are known as the Wall of the Arabs,and I myself have seen them during my stay at the time of the Siege of Algeciras (may God restore it (to Islam)! P312
Notes: This wall is one of those elusive Moorish ones that keep cropping up in the literature. See more detailed notes on Sur al-Arab (The Wall of the Arabs) in my article on José Beneroso Santos, not included in this series. (See LINK)
Abu l-hasanGibraltar was recaptured by our late master Abu l-hasan) who recovered it from the hands of the Christians after they had possessed it for over twenty years. He sent his son, the noble prince Abu Malik, to besiege it, aiding him with large sums of money and powerful armies . . . It was taken after a six month's siege (in 1333 A.D.) p312At that time, it was not in its present state. Our late master, Abu l-hasan built in it the huge keep at the top of the fortress, before that it was a small tower, which was laid in ruins by the stones from the catapults 13 and he built a new one in its place. He built the arsenal there too (for there was no arsenal in the place before) as well as the great wall which surround the red mound, starting from the arsenal and extending to the tileyard. p312
Notes: Abu l-hasan was a Berber leader of the Marinid Dynasty. His disastrous defeat at the Battle of Rio Salado or Tarifa in 1340 doomed any further Marinid pretensions to Spain and Portugal - but they kept Gibraltar for quite a while.
The Battle of Rio Salado – lost by the Marinids and their Nasrid Granada allies against the combined forces of Alfonso XI of Castile and Alfonso VI of Portugal
The Marinid Abu l-hasan and the Nasrid Yusuf I of Granada on the left and Alfonso XI of Castile and Alfonso VI of Portugal on the right
Notes: H.T. Norris footnote:
Tile yard - 'a place of doubtful locality, perhaps in the vicinity of Scud Hill in central-south Gibraltar.
The 'great wall' refers to the sea wall defences built by Abu'l Hasan that ran right round the western sea line from edge of the northern Barcina area of the main town to an unknown “tileyard” probably situated at Europa point. The red mound refers to the entire area that lie south of today's Charles V wall which in those days consisted mainly of red sand. The foundations of the town of Gibraltar itself are also built on red sand so the “mound' may have also included a large part of la Turba as that part of town probably did not reach as far south as it does nowadays.
Abu l-hasan’s sea “Line Wall” after it had been added to and improved upon by Spanish and British engineers during the next 500 odd years years (Late 19th century photograph)
The “huge keep at the top of the fortress” may very well have been the precursor of the Moorish Castle of today
The Rihla continues:
Abu Inan Faris
Later on, our master, the Commander of the faithful, Abu Inan (May God strengthen him) again took in hand its fortifications and embellishments and strengthened the walls of the extremity of the mount, which is the most formidable and useful of its walls. He also sent thither, large quantities of munitions, foodstuffs and provisions of all kinds, and thereby acquainted himself of his duty to God Most High with singleness of purpose and sincere devotion. p312
Notes: It would be Abu Inan Faris when he became the 7th Marinid Sultan of Fez and Morocco who made possible the writing of the Rihla.
His concern for the affairs of the Jebel reached such lengths that he gave orders for the construction of a model of it 14 , on which he had represented models of its walls, towers, citadel, gates, arsenal, mosques, munition-stores and corn-granaries, together with the shape of the Gebel itself and the adjacent red mound. This model was executed in the palace precincts; it was a marvellous liking and a piece of fine craftsmanship. Anyone who has seen the jebel and then sees this copy will recognise its merits. This was due solely to his eagerness (may God strengthen him) to learn how matters stood there, and his anxiety to strengthen its defences and equipment. p312/313
Notes: H.T. Norris also mentions this model, quoting most of the above. Abu Inan’s model no longer exists, as far as I know, but it is not the only model of the Rock ever made. The most recent – a 19th century one - can be found in the Gibraltar Museum. Ibn Juzayy continues:
May God most high grant victory to Islam in the Western Peninsula (Iberia) at his hands and bring to pass his hope of conquering the lands of the infidels and breaking the strength of the adorers of the cross. To resume the narrative . . . I (ibn Battuta) went out of Gibraltar to the town of Ronda . . .
Notes: H.T. Norris also wrote extensively on Battuta’s travels in his Ibn Battuta’s Andalusian Journey without really adding anything much to the above.
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