Who Was Alive

Were Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta alive at the same time?

Yes. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta were alive at the same time for 19 years, from 1304 to 1324.

Marco Polo was 49 when Ibn Battuta was born.

Ibn Battuta was 19 when Marco Polo died, aged 69.

Marco Polo

Venetian explorer and merchant who travelled through Asia

Born 15 September 1254 · died 8 January 1324, aged 69

Ibn Battuta

14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer

Born 24 February 1304 · died c. 1368

  1. Rumi
  2. Thomas Aquinas
  3. Marco Polo
  4. Dante Alighieri
  5. Ibn Battuta
  6. Petrarch
  7. Hafez
  8. Ibn Khaldun
  9. Geoffrey Chaucer
Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.