Sailing down the Red Sea to Mecca, Ibn Battuta initially crossed the vast Arabian Desert and travelled to Iraq and Iran. In 1330, he set off again, down the Red Sea to Aden and then to Tanzania.

OLLIE: Who shall we look up today? FATIMA: My grandmother told me about this amazing explorer, Ibn Battuta. He was a Moroccan explorer from way, way back; the 1300s, I think. Can we look him up?

What were famed Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta’s first impressions of Sharjah more than 700 years ago? And how did Emirati navigator Ahmad Ibn Majid shape the course of maritime history?