Write the information about geographical discoveries and explorers –(a) Ibn Batuta(b) Captain James Cook(c) Bartholomew Dias

Answer:

(a) Ibn Batuta:

• A traveller born at Tangier in Morocco (1304).
• For about 30 years he travelled through North Africa, Arabia, Persia, Central Asia, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and China.
• In India Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq appointed him Qazi of Delhi and sent him as envoy to China.
• His travelogue ‘Rihla’ gives valuable information about the places and people of his time.

(b) Captain James Cook:

• A British navigator who led three voyages in the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779.
• He charted the coasts of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia (1770) and claimed it for Britain.
• He was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle and reached the Hawaiian Islands, where he was killed in 1779.
• His accurate maps helped British colonisation of Australia and New Zealand.

(c) Bartholomew Dias:

• A Portuguese sailor sent by King John II to find a sea route around Africa.
• In 1487–88 he rounded the southern tip of Africa, which he named the Cape of Storms; the king renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.
• His voyage proved that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were connected and opened the way for Vasco da Gama to reach India in 1498.