Ibn Battuta (24 February 1304 – 1368/1369) was a Muslim Berber-Moroccan scholar and explorer who widely travelled the Old World, travelling more than any other explorer in history, totaling around 117,000 km (72,000 miles), surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km (30,000 miles) and Marco Polo with 24,000 km (15,000 miles). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the Old World, including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and the Iberian Peninsula.

The book the character is reading is based on his travel logs.