Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish traveler from Spain and was born around the year 1130. He was also a Rabbi and was considered to be a very religious man.
When he began his middle eastern travel, many of his closest friends and family questioned why he wanted to go on such an expedition and to this day, many scholars still ask the same question. From what was gathered during his long travel, he recorded the population of Jewish people within a town/city and attempted to meet with the local Jewish scholars.
Benjamin of Tudela began his trip from what is known as modern day Zaragoza, Spain and traveled eastward as far as the outskirts of Tehran, Iran. Benjamin would then finish his expedition, return to Spain, giving him the title as the first European travel to travel towards the eastern parts of Asia.
Benjamin of Tudela would later die in 1173 at the age of 43 in what is known today as Castile, Spain.