The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Prior to the modern era, very few people traveled anywhere.

It was rare for anyone to travel more than about 20 miles from where they were born.

However, there were a few people who managed to travel quite extensively.

In particular, there was one man in the 14th century who might have traveled more than any other person up to that

point in history. In fact, he was better traveled than most people even alive today.

Learn more about Ibn Batuta and his extensive journeys around the known world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. There's a lot that we know about the life of Ibn Batuta, but one of the things we know very little is about his upbringing.

We know that he was born a Berber, who was born in the city of Tanger's, and what is today Morocco in 1304.

He came from a family of Islamic legal scholars and

his father served as a judge known as a katy. Based on his future life he must

have received an extensive education in the Maliki School of Islamic Law.

Before I get too much further into the story, I should explain his name.

For the rest of the episode, I'll be calling him Ibn Batuda.

However, his full name was much longer and much more complicated.

His full name during his life would probably have been Abu Abdullah Muhammad

Ibn Batuda.

In Arabic, Ibn simply means son of and Abu means father of.

And it's common for a child to be named Abu when they are born, even if they don't have children,

on the assumption that they will be the name of their firstborn son.

His complete full name would have been

Shams Eldin Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibrahim

Ibn Muhammad Youssef al-Lati El Tange, Ibin Batuta.

...