Module 046 · Comparative Intelligence
Who Is the
GOAT?
Everyone knows Marco Polo. Fewer know the man who travelled nearly five times farther. A Venetian merchant who served the Mongol emperor for 17 years. A Moroccan scholar who left Tangier at 21 and didn't come home for 29 years. One book changed Europe's understanding of Asia. The other was nearly lost to history. Both dictated their stories to other men. Both were accused of lying. The data settles it.
117,000
km — Ibn Battuta
24,000
km — Marco Polo
44
modern countries (Battuta)
29
years on the road (Battuta)
17
years at Khan's court (Polo)
4.9×
distance ratio (B ÷ P)
1492
Columbus carries Il Milione
1829
Rihla rediscovered in Algeria
Section I
The Routes
Marco Polo's path was a long loop: Venice to Beijing via the Silk Road, back by sea through Southeast Asia. Ibn Battuta's was a web: North Africa, East Africa, the Steppe, India, China, the Sahara, and Muslim Spain — crisscrossing the known world.
Section II
Tale of the Tape
Marco Polo
Ibn Battuta
Section III
By the Numbers
Total distance
Ibn Battuta travelled nearly 5× farther
Duration
Modern countries visited
Continents
Polo: Europe, Asia. Battuta: Africa, Europe, Asia
Age at departure
Polo left younger and with his father. Battuta left alone
Time at a single court
Polo: Kublai Khan. Battuta: Delhi Sultanate
Languages spoken
Book written
Book survival
Polo's book was a medieval bestseller. Battuta's was nearly lost
Section IV
Two Lives, One Century
Marco Polo died in 1324 — the same year Ibn Battuta left Tangier. They never overlapped. But Ibn Battuta visited Hangzhou and confirmed Polo's description of it as the greatest city in the world. The Venetian merchant and the Moroccan scholar, separated by a generation, saw the same wonders.
Born in Venice
Departs Venice age 17 with father and uncle
Arrives at Kublai Khan's court in Shangdu
Visits Hangzhou — "finest city in the world"
Leaves China by sea with 14 ships, 600 passengers
Returns to Venice after 24 years
Dictates Il Milione from Genoese prison
Born in Tangier, Morocco
Dies in Venice. "I have not told half of what I saw"
Departs Tangier age 21 for his first Hajj
First Hajj. Cairo, Damascus, Mecca
Reaches Kilwa on the Swahili coast
Visits Constantinople. Crosses the frozen steppe to Saray
Arrives in Delhi. Serves as qadi for 8 years
Chief judge of the Maldives. Married 6 times by now
Reaches Quanzhou, China — confirms Marco Polo's descriptions
Returns to Morocco. Mother died of plague during his absence
Crosses the Sahara to Timbuktu and the Mali Empire
Final return to Tangier. Dictates the Rihla
Dies in Morocco, largely unknown to the wider world
Section V
The Verdict
Ten categories. Scored 1–10. Distance, range, courage, cultural depth, literary impact, historical influence. The data renders the verdict that history wouldn't.
117,000 vs 24,000 km. Not close.
44 vs 16 modern countries. 3 vs 2 continents.
24 vs 29 years. Both lifetimes on the road.
Battuta served as judge, married locally, learned languages. Polo observed from court.
Both faced bandits and storms. Battuta was shipwrecked twice, robbed, nearly executed.
Il Milione inspired Columbus and the Age of Exploration. The Rihla was nearly lost.
Polo reshaped European understanding of Asia. Battuta was rediscovered in the 1800s.
Both embellished. Polo may never have been to China (debated). Battuta borrowed stories.
Polo travelled with family and resources. Battuta: "I set out alone."
Polo brought back knowledge of paper money, coal, gunpowder. Battuta brought ethnography.
65
Marco Polo
vs
80
Ibn Battuta
“Marco Polo told Europe about Asia.
Ibn Battuta told the world about itself.”
Polo wins on influence because Europe won on power. His book reached Columbus. Battuta wins on everything a traveller actually does: going farther, going alone, immersing deeper, surviving more. The GOAT left from Tangier.
Sources
Distance and country counts: Wikipedia, “List of places visited by Ibn Battuta”; Britannica, “Ibn Battuta”; World History Encyclopedia. Marco Polo distances from Wikipedia and Brilliant Maps. Biographical data: Britannica, Encyclopedia.com, ORIAS (UC Berkeley). Route coordinates reconstructed from historical itineraries and modern atlases. Scoring methodology is editorial — the numbers are real, the weights are ours.
Ibn Battuta's Rihla was rediscovered by French scholars in Algeria in 1829 and first translated into French by Defrémery and Sanguinetti (1853–58). English translation by H.A.R. Gibb for the Hakluyt Society (1958–1994). Marco Polo's Il Milione survives in approximately 150 manuscript copies across European libraries.
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