The International Ibnu Battuta Conference on ‘travel, trade, traditions and trajectories’ will begin on Tuesday at Hilite Conference hall at Kozhikode. The two day conference is being organized by Madin Academy, Malappuram in association with various foreign universities, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and Hamdard Foundation, Delhi. Morocco ambassador to India H.E. Mr. Mohamed Maliki will inaugurate the conference. The event named after medieval era Moroccan scholar and explorer Ibn Battuta will be marked with presentation of various research papers on civilization and intercontinental trade links of historical Malabar region which stretches across coastline of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The conference will focus on early century Malabar and its international connection with global trading communities.
Scholars from USA, Caneda, Itlay, UK, China, UAE, Malaysia, Netherlands, Bangladesh will present papers on varied aspects of Ibn Battuta’s travel and its history. Prof. Ross Dunn from San Deigo State University, USA, will speak on Battuta’s social interactions. Dr. Sebastian Prange of the University of British Colombia, Canada will speak of the development of Islam on the Malabar Coast. Dr. Morgan Davis, Maxwell Institute, USA, Prof. Scott Kugle, Emori University, USA, Prof. Marco Ventura, University of Siena, Italy, Prof. Mehrsdad Shokooy of University of Greenwich, Prof. Baharul Islam, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Dr. Zhang Yuvanpeng, Director, Institute of World Economy, China, Dr. Shaojin Chai, Ministry of Culture, UAE, Dr. Mahmood Kooria, Leiden University, Netherlands, K.P Fabian, Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi, Dr. Ophira Gamliel, University of Glasgow Dr. Khoundkar Alamgir, National University, Bangladesh, and others will talk in various sessions of the conference.
The first International Ibnu Battuta Conference was held at Agadir University, Morocco in 2017. The Kozhikode which is hosting the second edition of the conference has significance in travels of Ibn Battuta who introduced the port city as one of the safest in the world during that time.