IBN-BATTUTA, TRAVEL GEOGRAPHY, KARST AND THE SACRED UNDERGROUND

Abstract

This study is intended to address, under a new approach, the contributions of Ibn-Battuta to the development of certain areas of geography, especially the anthropogenic use of karst as well as the cultural use of caves. Noteworthy to mention is that, most likely, the geographers from medieval Islam were a kind of missing “bridge” in the evolution of geographical thought among the ancient Greeks and the precursors of the great European classical schools in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Thus, this article presents an alternative approach to the work of Ibn-Battuta not only for the study of travel literature but also to the study of karstology.

Key words:
Travel Geography; Ibn Battuta; Sacred Caves; Karst