Not sure which category this question can be put, I chose Nature. You have to guess who this person is.
He was a muslim born more than 500 years. He travelled more than 115,000 km. He travelled almost from one end of the known world to another.
His travel may be considered fiction, as the source of authenticity are his own journals, discovered in the 1800s.

He must have been one of the earliest muslim travel writers, His name was Ibn Battuta (1325-1354).

Here is a part of his writing ina link to The Internet Medieval Source Book.
What I wanted to know is are these writings generally well respected ? Were they written at the time? Or are they a 19th century creation?

I think those dates actually refer to the dates of his travels.
His date of birth was 1304, and date of death is uncertain.

quote:

Originally posted by dance girl:
He must have been one of the earliest muslim travel writers, His name was Ibn Battuta (1325-1354).

Here is a part of his writing ina link to The Internet Medieval Source Book.
What I wanted to know is are these writings generally well respected ? Were they written at the time? Or are they a 19th century creation?

Ibn Battuta is right. I believe he is generally well respected. The writings were discovered in 19th century & not created is the general belief. However a common man/muslim may not be in a position to accept or reject his work.
I decided to ask about it as I recently saw an old National Geographic Magzine, with the title 'price of travellers' about him. They seem to have accepted his travels as authentic. This site shows the map/limits of his travel. If all that is written is true, then Ibn Battuat would have travlled more than Marco Polo (i think).

http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Ibn_Battuta_Rihla.html