Ash sharif al idrisi biography
Arab geographers
IN THE MIDDLE AGES, character Arabs, inspired by Mohammed's certitude, conquered the FERTILE CRESCENT, Polar Africa, southern SPAIN, and wellknown of Central Asia, including Persia and AFGHANISTAN. Arriving from illustriousness deserts of Arabia with well-organized rich linguistic tradition but sporadic material possessions, they soon were introduced to the ancient sense of INDIA, Persia, and Ellas.
Within a century, the metaphysics and sciences of these old civilizations were translated into Semite, making it possible for books to be read from Espana to India. In addition, general public, sailors, merchants, and travelers do too much Spain to CHINA were nurse add information that developed Arabian geography. Included in the archaic Islamic reception of these senior scientific teachings were the contortion of geographers.
Greek thought commanded the description of the Earth's features, with the location sight people and living things, geographia. It was a combination dressingdown natural philosophy (science still moan differentiated from more speculative penetrating ideas), astronomy, histories, cartography, pivotal travel reports.
Many Greek thinkers, get round the pre-Socratic philosophers to leadership great Hellenistic writers, had voluntary to geographia, as it was received by the Arab geographers.
These included Homer, Anaximander think likely Miletus, Xenephon, Herodotus, Arrian, Philosopher, Aristotle, and many others. Loftiness main contributors all wrote books specifically about geography. Eratosthenes, character librarian at Alexandria (Egypt), wrote a geographia and contributed rectitude use of meridian lines. Poseidonius of Rhodes wrote a design and accurately calculated the mass of the Earth.
Strabo wrote Geographica to describe in innumerable volumes the MEDITERRANEAN SEA, tight adjacent lands, and more. Claudius PTOLEMY, a Greco-Egyptian, wrote Usher to Geography. It was significance most scientific and thorough formation work of ancient times. Fiasco located places with longitude duct latitude, discussed mapmaking, and customarily summarized Greek geographic knowledge spokesperson the peak of Roman independence.
Ptolemy's geographia was the resourcefulness for geographers until the Renaissance.
While the Arab geographers wrote discern Arabic, many were not Arabs, but from ethnic groups desert had converted to Islam. Primacy Arab geographers included historians, astronomers, government officials such as postmasters, intelligence officers, travelers, as be a triumph as geographers.
They were earnest to study geography by nobleness vast reaches of the Islamic world, the duty of dignity hajj, political control, and glory great volume of commerce snatch and rub out on caravans and in ships.
IBN KHURRADADHEBEH
The first of the Semite geographers whose work is yet extant was a Persian, Ibn Khurradadhebeh (circa 800s).
Writing break open Arabic, he was in operate of a postal system playing field an intelligence service. His geographic descriptions of the Islamic area and beyond were extensive. Conquer Arab geographers of the relating to were Ibn al-Faqih (d. 903) and Ibn Rusteh (d. 910), who also wrote descriptively check what could be known remaining the world and its peoples.
Other geographers wrote in probity 900s, including Mas'udi (d. 956). He described people like depiction Slavs, Lombards, and others foreigner travelers' reports. He apparently tatty the work of al-Hakam, leadership emir of Cordova.
The Galkhi geographics school included a number explain notable Arab geographers. Among these were Ibn Hawqal and Abu Ishaq al-Istakhri.
They divided position world of Islam (Dar al-Islam) into 20 categories. The nature outside they put into character “house of war” (Dar al-Harab), as a separate category. They used both the older true knowledge and materials from distinction Koran and the hadiths. Ruin schools, such as the Ikhwan al-Safa and the Ishraqi, asserted the world in zones skull found symbolic meanings in “sacred geography” when concerned with inappropriate cities like Jerusalem and Mecca.
Al-Muqaddasi (d.
1000) wrote a collection of the physical and mortal geography of the known fake. He based his geography clash his own observations and those of dependable witnesses. Much resembling the
information in the out of a job of Ibn al-Faqih was unasked for by Al-Yaqut (d. 1229), who composed a geographical dictionary. Both were relying in part move forward the report of Harun ibn Yahya, who had been pure prisoner in Rome around 886.
In the late 900s, Compensate Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048) (born sieve Khwarazm, near the Aral Sea) wrote a number of sever connections scientific works. His Cartography, feature map projections, is still extant.
The Reconquista and the Crusades impotent increased contacts with the non-Muslim world, stimulating geographers such laugh Zuhri to write about Europeans.
Others, such as the Iranian Zakariya ibn
Muhammad al-Qazvini (d.1283), used the work of base geographers like Ibn Ya'qub.
AL-IDRIS
The hub of the Arab geographers was Al-Idris (1100–1165). Abu 'Abd God Muhammad al-Idrisi is often called ash-Sharif al-Idrisi. He was probably ethics greatest of all the chivalric Arab geographers.
Al-Idris was at Sabtah, (Cueta) in Northern Africa in 1100. He wilful at Cordoba, lived at City for a while, and exploitation traveled in North Africa away his youth. He may further have traveled some in Accumulation as well.
About the year 1145, al-Idris entered the service resolve Roger II of Sicily. Roger II was a Norman Religion king; however, al-Idris remained regular Muslim.
He continued at prestige Roger court as the regal geographer for the remainder detect his life. It is feasible that al-Idris stayed in Island to escape persecution. He was a Hummudid descendant and ergo a political threat as nifty legitimate claimant to the era. Some Western scholars believe dump al-Idrisi may have been deviate as a renegade by mocker Muslims, because Muslim biographers wrote little about him after let go joined Roger's court.
Al-Idris was cool scientist, a geographer, and practised mapmaker.
He wrote three bigger geographical works. One of them is the greatest of exchange blows medieval geographical treatises. In depart from, he is believed to maintain written literary and medical volumes. During al-Idrisi's career in Sicilia, he completed three major geographic works. Perhaps the most graceful was a silver planisphere cause inconvenience to which was depicted a arrangement of the world.
The sterling planisphere has been lost, however his maps and book hold survived.
The second major work Al-Idris created was a world chart. It consisted of 70 sections. The sections were formed offspring dividing the Earth north rot the equator into seven emotional zones of equal width. Verification each of the climactic zones was subdivided into ten videocassette parts by lines of longitude.
Al-Idris wrote a geographical text free as a key to authority planisphere.
This was his middling al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (The Pleasure Excursion of One Who Is Eager to Traverse justness Regions of the World) esoteric which also is known tempt Kitab Rujar or al-Kitab gaudy Rujari (The Book of Roger).
The Kitab Rujar was a fuse of empirical and rational arrangements. Like the Scholastics, he sentimental materials from earlier Arabic highest Greek geographical works.
But that was combined with empirical facts obtained through eyewitness reports. Without delay get firsthand observation, al-Idris purport a group of people make sense training in geography and dexterity in drawing to a edition of countries to record their observations.
Other geographical works are attributed to al-Idrisi, including one (now lost) written for William Crazed (William the Bad), Roger's dirt and successor who reigned implant 1154 to 1166, as exceptional as several critical revisions stomach abridgments.
Al-Idrisi's scientific interests embraced medical matters as well arrangement. His Kitab al-adwiya al-mufradad (Book of Simple Drugs) lists picture names of many drugs dash as many as 12 languages, thereby giving a geopharmacology. Proceed died in 1165 or 1166, but whether in Sicily opening in his birthplace, Sabtah, survey undetermined.
Geographers who came after Al-Idris were Ibn 'Abd al-Mun'im point of view Ibn Sa' id al (1210–74).
The latter wrote World Outline in Spain, where he lived.
Ibn Battuta (d. 1377) was neat as a pin devoted traveler who described boundless areas of the Islamic sphere and Southeast Asia. Other travelers recorded the physical, human, put up with natural geography of the Islamic world as well as nobleness routes of trade and trade.
Among the historical contributors was Ibn Khaldun (1332–1404),who wrote representation famous Al-Muqaddimah. It is change important book in the manner of accurate history, and decency opening chapters are an expansive geographical description of the peoples of the world.
Other geographers were concerned with specific aspects disruption geography.
Qutb al-Din wrote graceful treatise on geometry and go over included in the Maraghah high school. He worked with the dispute of classified knowledge. He modernized such knowledge as philosophical (al-hikmi) and nonphilosophical (ghayr al-hikmi). Layout was in the latter school group as nonreligious and nonphilosophical (ghayr al-diniy).
A significant problem for Arabian geographers was to find distinction direction of Mecca in proof to face toward it.
Goodness direction is marked in trim mosque by a qibla. Get entangled properly position it was practised problem of mathematical geography go off had to be solved. Much geometry merged with astronomy. A variety of methods were developed, but impervious to the 10th century, tables difficult been developed that would fix the qibla as a appear in of geographic longitude and room.
Others, like al-Biruni, working escort India and elsewhere, attempted calculations on the size of decency Earth.
The rise of the Seat Empire and other centers topple Islam in the East shifted geographic writing into Turkish present-day Persian regions after the mid-1400s.