Ma Huan
Arab traders frequented Chittagong since the 9th century. In 1154, Al-Idrisi noted that merchants from Baghdad and Basra regularly travelled to Chittagong. Arab traders played an important role in spreading Islam in the region. The port appears in the travelogues of Chinese explorers Xuanzang and Ma Huan. The Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta and the Venetian traveler Niccolo De Conti visited the port in the 14th century. The historical port had ship trade with Africa, Europe, China and Southeast Asia.