(I) The term

, Geography. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.

and the Arabs' conception of geography

The term
(or
, etc.), the title of the works of Marinos of
Tyre (c. 70-130) and Claudius Ptolemy (c.A.D. 90-168) was translated into Arabic as at ala which was used by some Arab geographers as the title of their works. Al-Masd (d.
345/956) explained the term as aal-a , 'survey of the Earth'. However, it was used for the
first time in the a
l
al-a in the sense of 'map of the world and the climes'. The
Arabs did not conceive of geography as a well-defined and delimited science with a specific
connotation and subject-matter in the modern sense. The Arabic geographical literature was
distributed over a number of disciplines, and separate monographs on various aspects of
geography were produced under such headings as K t b al-B l
at al-a al-Ma l
a
'l-mam l lm al- , etc. Al-Brn considered al-Ma l as the science which dealt with
fixing the geographical position of places. Al-Muaddas came nearest to dealing with most
aspects of geography in his work A a al-ta m ma at al-a lm. The present use of the
term
a for geography in Arabic is a comparatively modern practice.
(II) Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Periods
In pre-Islamic times the Arabs' knowledge of geography was confined to certain traditional and
ancient geographical notions or to place-names of Arabia and the adjacent lands. The three main
sources where these are preserved are: the urn, the Prophetic Tradition (a t ) and ancient
Arabic poetry. Many of these notions must have originated from Babylonia in ancient times or
were based on Jewish and Christian traditions and indigenous Arab sources.
The geographical concepts or information contained in ancient Arabic poetry reflect the level of
understanding of the pre-Islamic Arabs of geographical phenomena and the limits of their
knowledge. The urn preserves traces of some geographical and cosmographical ideas which
resemble ancient Babylonian, Iranian and Greek concepts and the Jewish and Christian Biblical
traditions. Verses like 'the heavens and the earth were joined together before we clove them
asunder' (XXI, 30); 'God is He Who created seven Firmaments and of the earth a similar number'
(LXV, 12); 'God is He who raised the heavens without any pillars' (XIII, 2); 'And we have made
the heavens as a canopy well guarded' (XXI, 32); 'He withholds the sky from falling on the earth
except by His leave' (XXII, 65); and verses that describe the earth as being spread out and the
mountains set thereon firm so that it may not shake, all form a picture which resembles the
ancient Babylonian concept of the universe in which the Earth was a disc-shaped body
surrounded by water and then by another belt of mountains upon which the Firmanent rested.
There was water under the Earth as well as above it. Again, concepts like that of 'the Sun setting
in a spring of murky water' (XVIII, 86) referring to the Atlantic, and of the earth's being flat must
have had their origin in Greek geography. The concept of the two seas, one of sweet water and
the other saline (XXV, 53), referring to the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea, and that of alba a , 'the barrier' between them (a by-form of a a 'parasang', from Pahlavi frasang) were
most probably of Iranian origin. Besides, certain terms in the urn,
b (= Gr. ,

Latin burgus), baladun or baladatun (a Semitic borrowing from the Latin palatium: Gr.
), a a (> Syriac t a , a town or village), indicate the non-Arab origin of the
concepts with which these terms are associated in the urn.
There are some traditions attributed to Al b. Ab lib (d. 40/660), Ibn Abbs (d. 66-9/686-8),
AbdAllh b. Amr b. and others, which deal with cosmogony, geography and other related
questions, but it seems that these traditions which reflect the ancient geographical notions of the
Arabs were concocted in a later period to counteract the scientific geographical knowledge that
was becoming popular among the Arabs of the period, although they were presented as authentic
knowledge by some geographers in their works. Though scientific knowledge advanced, some of
the traditions exercised deep influence on Arab geographical thought and cartography, e.g., the
tradition according to which the shape of the land-mass was compared to a big bird whose head
was China, right wing India, left wing al- ha ar, chest Mecca, id , yria, Ir and gypt
and tail orth Africa (Ibn al- ah, -4) became the basis of the geographical writings of the
Balkh chool. It is not unlikely that this concept had its origin in some ancient Iranian maps
observed by the Arabs.
The political expansion of the Arabs, after the rise of Islam, into Africa and Asia, afforded them
opportunities to collect information and to observe and record their experiences of the various
countries that had come under their sway or were adjacent to the Arab Empire. Whether such
information was gathered for military expeditions or for other purposes, it is very likely that it
was also utilized in the topographical works that were produced during the early Abbsid
period.
(III) The Transmission of Indian, Iranian and Greek Geographical Knowledge to the
Arabs
It was not until the beginning of the Abbsid rule and the establishment of Baghdd as the
capital of the empire that the Arabs began acquainting themselves with scientific geography in
the true sense. The conquest of rn, gypt and Sind gave the Arabs the opportunity to gain first
hand knowledge of the scientific and cultural achievements of the peoples of these ancient
cradles of civilization, as well as giving them ownership of, or easy access to their centres of
learning, laboratories and observatories. But the process of acquiring and assimilating foreign
knowledge did not begin until the time of the aliphAb afarManr (
- /
- ), the
founder of Baghdd. e took a keen interest in the translation of scientific works into Arabic,
which activity lasted for nearly two hundred years in the Islamic world. The Barmakid [q.v.]
a s also played an important role in the promotion of scientific activity at the court. Quite
often the translators were themselves eminent scientists whose efforts enriched the Arabic
language with Indian, Iranian and Greek geographical, astronomical and philosophical
knowledge.
Indian Influences.

Indian geographical and astronomical knowledge passed on to the Arabs through the first
translation into Arabic of the Sanskrit treatise S ata (not B a ma
ta
ta as
believed by some scholars) during the reign of Manr. The work showed some earlier Greek
influences (see A. B. Keith, History of Sanskrit literature, 517-21), but once translated into

Arabic it became the main source of the Arabs' knowledge of Indian astronomy and geography,
and formed the basis of many works that were produced during this period,
K t bal- by
Ibrhm b. abb al- a r (wrote after 0/ 6), al-S
al- a by Mu ammad b. Ms
al- hwri m (d. after 2 2/ 4 ), al-SindHind by abash b. AbdAllh al-Marwa Baghdd
(second half of the 3rd/9th century) and others.
Among other Sanskrit words translated into Arabic during this period were:
ab at a (Ar.:
A ab a ) by ryabhaa of Kusumapura (b.A.D. 4 6) who wrote in A.D. 499; then,
K a a
a a of Brahmagupta son of
shnu of Bhillamla (near Multn). e was born in
A.D. 598 and wrote this work in A.D. 665. It was a practical treatise giving material in a
convenient form for astronomical calculations, but this was based on a lost work of ryabhaa,
who again agreed with the S a
ta. The Sanskrit literature translated into Arabic
belonged mainly to the Gupta period.
The influence of Indian astronomy on Arab thought was much deeper than that of Indian
geography, and although Greek and Iranian ideas had a deeper and more lasting effect, Indian
geographical concepts and methods were well known. Indians were compared to the Greeks in
their talent and achievements in the field of geography, but the Greeks were considered more
accomplished in this field (al-Brn, , 536).
Among the various geographical concepts with which the Arab scientists became acquainted
were: the view of ryabhaa that the daily rotation of the heavens is only apparent, being
caused by the rotation of the earth on its own axis; that the proportion of water and land on the
surface of the Earth was half and half; that the land-mass, which was compared to a tortoise, was
surrounded by water on all sides, and was shaped like a dome whose highest point had Mount
Meru (an imaginary mountain) on it directly under the North Pole; the northern hemisphere was
the inhabited part of the Earth and its four limits were amakt in the ast, m in the est,
Lank ( eylon) which is the upola and dpr, and the division of the inhabited part of the
Earth into nine parts. The Indians calculated their longitudes from Ceylon and believed that this
prime meridian passed through d d ayn q.v. ( ain). The Arabs took over the idea of
eylon s being the upola of the arth, but later believed that d d ayn was the upola,
mistakenly thinking that the Indians calculated longitudes from that point.
Iranian Influences.

There is sufficient evidence in Arabic geographical literature to point to Iranian influences on

Arab geography and cartography, but the actual process of the transmission of rn s knowledge
to the Arabs has not been worked out in detail. J. H. Kramers correctly points out that during the
9th century Greek influence was supreme in Arab geography, but from the end of the 9th century
the influence was more from the east than from the west, and it was from rn that these
influences mainly came, for most of the authors came from the Iranian provinces (Analecta
Orientalia, i, 4 - ). undaysbr was still a great centre of learning and research and there is
little doubt that the Arabs were acquainted with some of the Pahlavi works on astronomy,
geography, history and other sub ects which were e tant in some parts of Irn during this period.
ome of these works were translated into Arabic and formed the basis of the Arabic works on the
sub ect. Al-Masd ascribes to abash b. AbdAllh al-Marwa Baghdd an astronomical
treatise
S
which was based on the Persian style. He also recorded a Persian work entitled

K - ma which dealt with the various grades of kings and formed a part of the larger work
entitled - ma, 'Book of Customs'. Again, he mentions having seen at Iakhr in 02/9 a
work that dealt with the various sciences of the Iranians, their histories, monuments, etc. and
other information that was not found either in
- ma
- ma or K - ma. This
work was discovered among the treasures of the Persian kings and was translated from Persian
into Arabic for ishm b. Abd al-Malik b. Marwn ( 0 -25/724-43). It is not unlikely that
works of this nature formed part of the sources of the Arabs' knowledge on the geography and
topography of rn and on the limits of the snian mpire, its administrative divisions and
other details.
Among the various Iranian geographical concepts and traditions followed by Arab geographers,
the concept of the Seven K
a s (Haft Ilm) was the most important. In this system the world
was divided into seven equal geometric circles, each representing a
a , in such a manner
that the fourth circle was drawn in the centre with the remaining si around it, and included
rnshahr of which the most central district was al- awd. The Arab geographers continued to be
influenced by this system for a long time, and in spite of the view of al-Brn that it had no
scientific or physical basis and that the Greek division of the Climes was more scientific, the
Greek division of the world into three or four continents never appealed to them. The concept of
the two main seas, namely, the Ba r al- m and the Ba r rs (the Mediterranean and the Indian
Ocean) which entered the land from the Ba ral-Mu (the ncircling Ocean), one from the
north-west, i.e., the Atlantic and the other from the east, i.e., the Pacific, but were separated by
al-Bar akh ( the Barrier , i.e., the Isthmus of Suez), also dominated Arab geography and
cartography for several centuries. As pointed out by J. H. Kramers, although it is very probable
that the notion rests in the last resort on Ptolemy, the fact that the Indian Ocean is most often
called Ba r rs, seems to prove that this sea, at least, formed part of the original geographic
sketch of the Persians. As to the origin of this sketch itself we find ourselves in uncertainty
(Analecta Orientalia, i, 153).
Persian traditions deeply influenced Arab maritime literature and navigation also, as is evident
from the use of words of Persian origin in the nautical vocabulary of the Arabs, e.g., bandar
(port),
(shipmaster), a m (book of nautical instructions), daftar (sailing
instructions), etc. Certain Persian names like a (rhumb), b al(pole), etc., also
indicate Persian influences on the Arab windrose. Such examples can be multiplied. Persian
influences are apparent in Arab cartography as well, an indication of which is found in the use of
terms of Persian origin,
a la
b a
a, etc., to describe certain formations of
coasts. These terms, originally indicating certain garments, were used right down to the 7th/13th
century. They also point to the e istence of maps in ancient rn (J. . Kramers, op. cit. 148-9).
As for the 'Indian map which is at al-awdhiyn (Ibn awal, ed. Kramers, 2) Kramers
pointed out that al-awdhiyn must contain here an allusion to more primitive maps of the
Balkh-Iakhr series, because the maps of Ibn awal are partly in conformity with this series
and partly different (Kramers, op. cit.,
). A correct identification of these maps or their
discovery would certainly help to solve the problem of the origin of the maps of the Balkh
school. Here it may be pointed out that if we read Ibn awal s te t as the geometrical map at
al-awdhiyn (a town near Tirmidh in entral Asia), then he must have been referring to some
map that was there and was used by geographers as a basis for cartography. It is quite likely that
it was based on the Persian
a system, for al-Brn remarks that the term
a was

derived from 'the line' ( a) which really indicated that these divisions were as distinct from
each other as anything that was drawn in lines would be ( at, ed. Togan, 61).
Greek Influences.

More positive data are available on how Greek geographical and astronomical knowledge passed
on to the Arabs in the mediaeval period. The process began with the translations of the works of
Claudius Ptolemy and other Greek astronomers and philosophers into Arabic either directly or
through the medium of Syriac.
Ptolemy's Geography was translated several times during the Abbsid period, but what we
possess is the adaptation of Ptolemy s work by Mu ammad b. Ms al- hwri m (d. after
2 2/ 4 ) with contemporary data and knowledge acquired by the Arabs incorporated into it. Ibn
hurraddhbih mentions having consulted and translated Ptolemy s work (perhaps it was in the
original Greek or in Syriac translation) and al-Masd also consulted a copy of the Geography
and also the world map by Ptolemy. It seems that some of these translations had become corrupt,
and foreign material was interpolated into them which did not belong to the original work, e.g.,
the copy consulted by Ibn awal (ed. Kramers, ). Among other works of Ptolemy translated
into Arabic and utilized by Arab geographers were: Almagest (Ar.: Alma ); Tetrabiblon (Ar.:
al-Ma l t al-a baa); Apparitions of fixed stars, etc. (Ar.: K t bal-A
).
Among other works translated into Arabic were: the Geography of Marinos of Tyre (c. A.D. 70130) consulted by al-Masd who also consulted the world map by Marinos; the Timaeus (Ar.:
a m ) of Plato; the Meteorology (Ar.: al- t
al- l
a), De caelo (Ar.: al-Sam
a 'l lam) and Metaphysics (Ar.: M ba al-aba) of Aristotle.
The works of these writers and of several other Greek astronomers and philosophers, when
rendered into Arabic, provided material in the form of concepts, theories and results of
astronomical observations which ultimately helped Arab geography to evolve on a scientific
basis. Persian influences were no doubt marked in regional and descriptive geography as well as
in cartography, but Greek influence dominated practically the whole canvas of Arab geography.
Even in fields where it may be said that there was a kind of competition between Persian and
Greek ideas or methodology, e.g., between the Persian
a system and the Greek system of
Climes, the Greek were more acceptable and remained popular. The Greek basis of Arab
geography was most prominent in mathematical, physical, human and bio-geography. The Greek
impact had a very lasting influence, for it remained the basis of Arab geography as late as the
19th century (traces found in 9th century Persian and even rd works on geography written in
India), even though on European minds Ptolemaic influence had decreased much earlier. It
cannot, however, be denied that throughout this period there was an undercurrent of conflict
between the theoretical concepts of the Greek masters on the one hand and the practice and
observation of the merchants and sailors of this period on the other. Al-Masd refers to it in the
case of the Ptolemaic theory of the existence of an unknown land in the southern hemisphere. On
the other hand Ibn awal considered Ptolemy almost infallible. The fact was that Greek
information when transmitted to the Arabs was already outdated by about five centuries, and so
difficulty arose when Arab geographers tried to incorporate fresh and contemporary information
acquired by them into the Ptolemaic frame-work and to corroborate it with Greek data. The result

was confusion and often misrepresentation of facts in geographical literature and cartography, as
is evident from the works of geographers like al-Idrs.
(IV) The Classical Period (3rd-5th/9th-11th centuries)
(a) The Period of al-Mamn
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197-218/813-33

Over half a century of Arab familiarity with, and study of Indian, Iranian and Greek geographical
science, from the time of the aliphManr ( 6-57/754-74) up to the time of al-Mamn,
resulted in completely revolutionizing Arab geographical thought. Such concepts as that the
Earth was round and not flat, and that it occupied the central position in the Universe, were
introduced to them for the first time properly and systemati- cally. enceforth, the urnic
verses dealing with cosmogony, geography, etc. and the Traditions were utilized only to give
religious sanction to geographical works or to exhort the believers to study geography and
astronomy. Thus, by the beginning of the 3rd/9th century the real basis was laid for the
production of geographical literature in Arabic and the first positive step in this regard was taken
by the Caliphal-Mamn, who successfully surrounded himself with a band of scientists and
scholars and patronized their academic activities. Whether al-Mamn s interest in astronomy
and geography was genuine and academic, or whether it was political is not certain. During his
reign, however, some very important contributions were made towards the advancement of
geography: the measurement of an arc of a meridian was carried out (the mean result gave 6
Arabic miles as the length of a degree of longitude, a remarkably accurate value); the
astronomical tables called al- al-m mtaa (The verified tables) were prepared by the
collective efforts of the astronomers; lastly, a World Map called al- a al-Ma m
a was
prepared, which was considered superior to the maps of Ptolemy and Marinos of Tyre by alMasd who had consulted and compared all three (Ta b , ed. De Goeje, 33). It was most
probably based on the Greek system of climes.
(b) The Astronomers and Philosophers:

The Arab astronomers and philosophers made equally important contributions to mathematical
and physical geography through their observations and theoretical discussions. From the time of
the introduction of Greek philosophy and astronomy in the second half of the 2nd/8th century up
to the first half of the 5th/11th century a galaxy of philosophers and astronomers worked on
various problems of mathematical, astronomical and physical geography. The works of the
Greek scientists had already provided enough basis and material for this. Thus the results of the
experiments, observations and theoretical discussions of the Arab scientists were recorded in
their more general works on astronomy and philosophy or in monographs on special subjects like
tides, mountains, etc. The contemporary and later writers on general geography in Arabic often,
though not always, reproduced these results in their works and sometimes discussed them. Some
of these writers reproduced various current theories, Greek or otherwise, about a problem in the
introductory parts of their works. Thus a tradition was established of writing on mathematical,
physical and human geography in the beginning of any work dealing with geography. This is
noticeable, for example, in the works of Ibn Rusta, al-Yab, al-Masd, Ibn awal, etc.

Among the outstanding Arab philosophers and astronomers whose works were utilized and
theories discussed by Arab geographers were: Yab b. Is al-Kind (d. 260/ 4), to whom
two works on geography are attributed, (1) Rasm al-mam m al-a and (2)
la 'l-b
a 'l-ma
a 'l- azr. One of al-Kind s pupils, A mad b. Mu ammad b. al-ayyib al- arakhs
(d. 286/899), is also said to have written two works, (1) al-Ma l
a 'l-mam l and (2)
la
'l-b
a 'l-m
a 'l- b l. Neither the works of al-Kind nor those of al- arakhs are
extant, and what we know of their geographical views are from other sources which used them. It
seems that the two authors utilized the works of Ptolemy and other Greek writers, as we find in
al-Masd that their works did contain Ptolemaic information on physical and mathematical
geography and on oceanography. Al-Kind s work Rasm al-mam m al-a may have been a
version of Ptolemy's Geography as the title of the work itself suggests; al-Masd consulted a
work of Ptolemy's entitled Ma al-a and a world map called at mam al-a (alMasd, M , i, 275-7; Ta b , 25, 30, 51).
Among other philosophers and astronomers whose writings served as a source of information on
mathematical and physical geography were: al- a r (second half of the 2nd/ th century);
A mad b. Mu ammad b. Kathr arghn (d. after 24 / 6 ) author of all al-t al t (alMasd, M , iii, 443; Ta b , 199) and al-M
l l lm a at al-a l ; Ab Mashar
afar b. Mu ammad al-Balkh (d. 2 / 6), author of al-M
l al- ab l lm
m; alMasd consulted another work by him entitled K t b al- l 'l- a
l a 'l-b
al-am;
then AbAbdAllhMu ammad b. bir al-Battn (d.
/929) and others. The fourth
la
of the a
l
al-a deals with
. Written in about 370/980, it simply deals
with elementary knowledge about mathematical and physical geography based on Greek
geography, since the main purpose of the writers was to guide the reader to achieve union with
God through wisdom.
(c) General Geographical Literature:

By the 3rd/9th century a considerable amount of geographical literature had been produced in
various forms in the Arabic language, and it appears that the Arabs had at their disposal some
Pahlavi works, or translations thereof, dealing with the snian mpire, its geography,
topography, postal routes and details essential for administrative purposes. These works must
have become available to those interested in geography and topography. It is not surprising,
therefore, to find that early writers like Ibn hurraddhbih, udma and others were heads of
postal departments or government secretaries, besides being men of learning. During the 3rd/9th
century, therefore, a number of works were produced that were given the generic title al-Maslik
wa 'l-mam l . In all probability the first work bearing this title was that of Ibn hurraddhbih.
The first draft of his work was prepared in 231/846 and the second in 272/885; it became the
basis and model for writers on general geography and was highly praised by almost all
geographers who utilized it. He was the Director of the Post and Intelligence Department and
was a man of learning and erudition. What prompted him to write a geographical treatise may be
explained from his own statement that it was in fulfilment of the desire of the Caliph, for whom
he also translated the work of Ptolemy (from Greek or yriac) into Arabic (Ibn hurraddhbih,
). owever, the desire of the aliph may itself have arisen from the practical needs of the
government. e find that udma b. afar al-Ktib considered the science of roads ( lm al ) not only useful for general guidance in the D
, but also essential for the Caliph who
might need it for his travels or for despatching his armies (185).

The geographical works produced during the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries may be divided into
two broad categories: ( ) works dealing with the world as a whole but treating the Abbsid
Empire (Mamlakat al- l m) in greater detail. They attempted to give all such secular
information as could not find a place in the general Islamic literature, and hence this category is
called 'the secular geographical literature of the period'. The writers described the topography
and the road-system of the Abbsid mpire and covered mathematical, astronomical, physical,
human and economic geography. Among the representatives of this class of geographers were:
Ibn hurraddhbih, al-Yab, Ibn al- ah, udma and al-Masd. ince Ir was the most
important centre of geographical learning at this time and many of the geographers belonged to
it, we may for the sake of convenience use the term Ir chool for them. ithin this chool,
however, two groups of writers may be discerned: those who present the material following the
four directions, viz., north, south, east and west, and tend to consider Baghdd as the centre of
the world, and those who arrange it according to various lms (regions) and for the most part
treat Mecca as the centre. (2) To the second category of works belong the writings of al-Iakhr,
Ibn awal and al-Muaddas, for whom the term Balkh chool has been used, as they followed
Ab ayd al-Balkh (see below). They confined their accounts to the world of Islam, describing
each province as a separate lm, and hardly touching upon non-Islamic lands except the frontier
regions.
( ) T e I Sc ool.

The works of Ibn hurraddhbih, al-Yab and al-Masd are distinguished from the writings
of other geographers of this School by two special features: first, they follow the Iranian
a
system, and second, they equate Ir with rnshahr and begin their descriptions with it, thus
placing Ir in a central position in Arab regional and descriptive geography. According to alBrn the even
a s were represented by seven equal circles. The central
a was
rnshahr which included hursn, rs, ibl and Ir. e considered that these divisions
were arbitrary and had been made primarily for political and administrative reasons. In ancient
times the great kings lived in rnshahr, and it was necessary for them to live in the central zone
so that they would be equidistant from other kingdoms and therefore find it easy to deal with
matters. Such a division had no relation either to the physical systems or to astronomical laws,
but was based on political changes or ethnological differences ( a, ed. Togan, , 60-62). ith
the foundation of Baghdd as the capital of the Abbsid mpire, Ir naturally occupied a
central and politically important position in the world of Islam. Ibn hurraddhbih equated Ir
with rnshahr and the district of al- awd which was called la in ancient times
occupied the central position in his system of geography, and he begins his account with its
description. Similarly, al-Yab considered Ir as the centre of the world and 'the navel of the
earth' (surrat al-a ), but for him Baghdd was the centre of Ir, for it was not only the
greatest city of the world unparalleled in its glory, but it was also the seat of government of the
Ban shim. Because it occupied a central position in the world, Ir had a moderate climate,
its inhabitants were handsome and intelligent and possessed high morals. But in his system of
geographyBaghdd is grouped with marr, and the description begins with these two towns. A
similar note of the superiority of Ir is struck by the historian and geographer al-Masd, who
thought of Baghdd as the best city in the world (Ta b , 34; cf. Ibn al- ah, 9 ff.).
As against these writers, udma, Ibn usta and Ibn al- ah display no enthusiasm for Ir or
rnshahr. In their system Mecca and Arabia are given precedence. In udma Mecca is given

absolute precedence and all roads leading to Mecca are described before an account of roads
leading out of Baghdd is given. e did give importance to Ir, but as the capital province of
the Mamlakat al- l m. Thus he considered it important, but only from a political and
administrative point of view. In his system of geography, therefore, there is a slight shift of
emphasis from the Iranian concept to what might be termed an 'Islamic approach' to geography.
A similar tendency is also noticeable in Ibn Rusta (beginning of 4th/10th century) who departed
completely from the Iranian traditions and assigned to Mecca and Medina the foremost place in
his arrangement of geographical material. In his description of the Seven lms he prefers to
describe them according to the Greek pattern and not according to the
a system. In the
geographical work of Ibn al- ah also, the description of Mecca takes precedence, but a
considerable portion of the work is devoted to rs, hursn, etc. and the lms are described
according to the
a system.
An important feature of the works of Ibn hurraddhbih, al-Yab and udma is that the
material in them is arranged and described following the four directions, namely, east, west,
north and south according to the division of the world into four quarters. Such a method of
description must have had its origin in some Iranian geographical tradition, and the Arab
geographers must have had some pattern before them to copy. According to al-Masd the
Persians and the Nabataeans divided the inhabited part of the world into four parts, viz.,
hursn (east), Bkhtar (north), hurbarn (west) and mr (south) (Ta b , 31; cf. alYab, 26 ). owever, udma points out the arbitrariness of such a division. or him the
terms east, west, north and south had only a relative value. In Ibn Rusta and Ibn al- ah, the
arrangement is by regions.
Ibn hurraddhbih, who may be called the father of geography, laid down the pattern and style
for writing geography in the Arabic language. But, as J. H. Kramers pointed out, he was not an
inventor of this style or pattern. He must have had some pattern or sample of an earlier work on
the subject before him. There is a great likelihood that an Arabic translation of some earlier
Pahlavi work on ancient rn was accessible to him. is work covers not only the Mamlakat all m, but describes its frontiers and kingdoms and the peoples bordering on them. He was well
acquainted with Ptolemy's work as is evident from his description of the limits of inhabited parts
of the world and from the description of the Greek conception of the continents, namely, Ar
Lb a t
and t .
A mad b. AbYab b. i al-Ktibal-Yab (d. 2 4/ 9 ) claims to have travelled a great
deal. He emphasized the fact of having obtained information from the inhabitants of the regions
concerned, and of having verified it from trustworthy persons (232-3). His object in writing the
book was to describe the routes leading to the frontiers of the Empire and the territories adjacent
to them. It is for this reason that he dealt in a separate monograph with the history and geography
of m (the By antine mpire), and devoted another work to the conquest of Ifriya ( orth
Africa). Al-Yab s work deals mainly with topography and itineraries, and his arrangement
of the material is similar to that of Ibn hurraddhbih.
udma b. afar al-Ktib (4th/ 0th century) devoted the eleventh chapter of his work K t bala
a a at al- t b to a description of the postal stations and routes of the Abbsid
Empire. The main objective of his work was to describe the Mamlakat al- l m and its frontiers,

especially the frontiers with the By antine empire ( m) which he considered the greatest
enemy of Islam (252). In his geography the 'Islamic approach' is perceptible, but a political
attitude like the defence of the frontiers is also discernible. His work also covers descriptions of
peoples and kingdoms surrounding the Mamlaka. He deals with general and physical geography
and seems to have borrowed information on regional and descriptive geography from the Greek
sources.
Ibn Rusta's work (beginning of 4th/10th century) entitled al-Al al- a a resembles that of
udma in that it describes Mecca and Medina in the very beginning of the portion dealing with
regional geography. The main purpose of the work, however, seems to have been to provide
general information about the world as a whole, and hence one finds in it, besides a description
of the Islamic lands, descriptions on a regional basis of several countries lying outside the limits
of Islam. He dealt with mathematical geography in a systematic and exhaustive way and
collected varied theories and opinions about various problems (23-4). He presents material on
general and physical geography and describes the lms after the Greeks. Considering the
variety of information accumulated in it, his work may be described as a 'small encyclopaedia of
historical and geographical knowledge'.
Like Ibn usta, Ibn al- ahal- amadhn also arranged his geographical material on a regional
basis in his K t b al-B l
(written c. 290/90 ). The description of Mecca takes precedence
over other places, and the general arrangement of the sub ect-matter resembles that of al-Iakhr
and Ibn awal. e incorporated the account of the merchant ulaymn on India and hina, but
the special feature of his work is that, along with trustworthy and authentic information, it
records long pieces of verse, various traditions and information of a legendary character. The
work is poor in the treatment of general and mathematical geography.
Abu 'l- asan Al b. al- usayn al-Masd (d. 4 /9 6), the celebrated historian, combined the
qualities of an experienced traveller with those of a geographer of high distinction. Unfortunately
his own account of his travels (K t b al-a
a 'l-ta
b) is not extant, but an approximate
idea of his travels can be formed from his extant works, namely, M al- a ab a ma
a a and al-Ta b
a 'l(the work entitled A b al- am , etc. ed. AbdAllh alw, airo 9 , and a M of the Maulana A ad Library, Muslim niversity, Algah
(Qutbuddin Collection, MS No. 36/1) entitled K t bA
bal(in the colophon K t balA
b) are both wrongly attributed to al-Masd and have nothing to do with his great work
K t bA b al- am which is lost). Al-Masd regarded geography as a part of history, which
explains the fact that his works deal with geography as an introduction to history. He drew upon
the earlier geographical writings in Arabic as well as upon contemporary travel accounts and
maritime literature. This he reinforced by the information collected by himself during his travels
or from people whom he met. He does not give any systematic topographical account of the
Abbsid mpire or deal with routes of the kingdom or postal stations, but he presents an
excellent survey of contemporary Arab knowledge on mathematical and physical geography.
However, al-Masd s main contribution was in the field of human and general geography. e
advanced geographical science by challenging certain theories and concepts of Arab geographers
which he found baseless in the light of his own experience and observation. He did not hesitate
even to question the age-old theories of the Greek masters like Ptolemy, e.g., the existence of
land in the southern hemisphere. In the field of human and physical geography he emphasized

the influence of the environment and other geographical factors on the physique and character of
animals, plants and human beings. Al-Masd was also influenced by Iranian geographical
traditions, e.g., the Seven
a system, considering Ir as the central and the best lm in
the world and Baghdd as the best city, etc.
An outstanding geographer of this period whose influence on the development of Arab
geography was as varied and deep as that of Ibn hurraddhbih was the mnid
a AbAbdAllhMu ammad b. A mad al- ayhn (earlier part of the 4th/ 0th century).
Unfortunately, his work K t bal-Ma l
a 'l-mam l (the Kbul M has nothing to do with
the great work of ayhn, see . Minorsky, A al Ja
, in BSOAS, iii, 949- 0, 9-96)
has not come down to us; but it is quite likely that al- ayhn used the original te t of Ibn
hurraddhbih s K t bal-Ma l . Being in the privileged position of a a and writing in
Bukhr he could e tend the field of his investigation much deeper into central Asia and the ar
East than was possible for his Arab contemporaries' (Minorsky, Ma va , etc. 6-7, London 1942).
e collected first-hand information from different sources, hence the importance of his work. A
large number of later Arab geographers utili ed al- ayhn s work which, in the opinion of alMasd, was interesting because of its novel information and interesting stories'.
The anonymous al- lam, written in Persian in 372/982 is one of the earliest works in
Persian on world geography. The author utilized numerous earlier Arabic authorities on the
subject and he had undoubtedly a copy of the work of al-Iakhr before him. There is a tendency
in the work towards completeness and numerical exactitude. Besides, the author is independent
of other geographers in his geographical generalizations and terminology. The originality of the
author lies in his conception of the division of the inhabited world into 'parts of the world' and
separate 'countries' (see Barthold, Preface to al- lam, 21-33). The work appeared in an
English translation with an excellent commentary by V. Minorsky (London 1937), one of the
most exhaustive ever written on any Persian or Arabic geographical work in modern times.
( ) T e al

Sc ool.

To the second main category of writers on general geography belonged al-Iakhr, Ibn awal
and al-Muaddas as well as Ab aydA mad b. ahl al-Balkh (d. 22/9 4) after whom this
chool is named. Al-Balkh wrote his geographical work a al-a lm (primarily a
commentary on maps) in 0 /920 or a little later. e spent some eight years in Ir and had
studied under al-Kind. He had travelled widely before his return to his native place and had
acquired a high reputation for knowledge and erudition. However, probably in the later part of
his life he held orthodox views and wrote several treatises which were highly appreciated in
orthodo circles. Although the te t of al-Balkh s geographical work has not yet been separately
established, and the M , at one time attributed to al-Balkh, have now been proved to be of alIakhr, the view of De Goe e still seems to hold good that the work of al-Iakhr represents a
second and greatly enlarged edition of al-Balkh s work, compiled between
/9 0 and 2 /9 ,
in al-Balkh s lifetime.
The geographers of the Balkh chool gave a positive Islamic colouring to Arab geography. In
addition to restricting themselves mainly to Islamic lands, they laid emphasis on such
geographical concepts as found concurrence in the urn or were based on the traditions and
sayings of the Companions of the Prophet and others, e.g., they compared the land-mass with a

big bird (see above). This was in conformity with a tradition attributed to AbdAllh b. Amr b.
(Ibn al- ah, -4). Again, the land-mass, round in shape, was encompassed by the
'Encircling Ocean' like a neck-ring, and from this Ocean the two gulfs (the Mediterranean and
the Indian Ocean) flowed inwards without oining each other, being separated by al- Bar akh
[q.v.], the 'barrier' at al-ul um, a concept found in the urn (see above). Again, unlike some
geographers of the Ir chool, the geographers of the Balkh chool assigned to Arabia the
central place in the world, for it had Mecca and the Kaba in it. These new trends in the
methodology and treatment of the subject-matter became the dominant feature of the
geographers of this School, and must in all probability have been a culmination of the early
process wherein Mecca was given precedence over Ir by one group of geographers. The
prime object of these later geographers was to describe exclusively the b l d al- l m which they
divided into twenty lms, except that they discussed the non-Islamic lands in general in their
introductory notes. The basis of the division of these 'provinces' was neither the Iranian
a
system nor the Greek system of Climes. It was territorial and purely physical. This was a positive
advancement on previous methods and in a way modern . As pointed out by Ibn awal (2-3) he
did not follow the pattern of the 'seven lms (of the map at al-awdhiyn, see above), for
although it was correct, it was full of confusion, with some overlapping of the boundaries of the
'provinces'. Hence he drew a separate map for each section describing the position of each
'province', its boundaries and other geographical information. An important contribution made by
these geographers was that they systematized and enlarged the scope of geography by including
in it new topics with a view to making it more useful and interesting, for they believed that a
much wider range of people were interested in it, like the kings, the people of muruwwa and the
leading sections of all classes (Ibn awal, ). In cartography, besides drawing the regional
maps on a more scientific basis, they may be said to have introduced the element of perspective.
They drew a round map of the world showing the various 'regions' of the b l al- l m and other
non-Islamic 'regions' of the world. The aim was to bring them in proper perspective and to show
the relative position and size of each. But since it did not represent the true size and shape
(round, square or triangular) of the respective lms, they mapped each in a magnified form.
Their drawing these on a purely physical basis was probably the first e periment of its kind in
Arab cartography. The maps of al-Iakhr and Ibn awal are, in this respect, superior to those
of al-Idrs, who divided the seven latitudinal limes into ten longitudinal sections each and drew
a map for each section separately with the result that these sectional maps do not represent
geographical units but geometrical divisions. Al-Iakhr, Ibn awal and al-Muaddas present
for the first time the concept of a country as defined in geographical terms, and even go so far as
to delimit the boundaries of each, just as they define the boundaries of the four main kingdoms of
the world.
Ab Is Ibrhm b. Mu ammad al- ris al-Iakhr (first half of the 4th/ 0th century) seems to
have been mainly responsible for spreading the ideas of the Balkh chool. Little is known of his
life, but he travelled a good deal and incorporated the experiences of his travels in his work alMa l
a 'l-mam l (a new edition of this work has appeared recently, ed. by M. bir Abd
al-l al- n, airo 96 ). There is little doubt that the work was based on that of Ab ayd alBalkh. Al-Iakhr s work served as an authentic source of information for the geographers of
this School. It was translated into Persian and became the basis of many Persian works on
geography.

Abu 'l-simMu ammad b. awal, a native of Baghdd, completed his geography entitled
K t b at al-a (2nd ed. J. H. Kramers, Leiden 1938) in c. 366/977. From his childhood, Ibn
awal was interested in geography and had travelled widely between
/94 and
/96 . e
was so devoted to geography that the works of al- ayhn, Ibn hurraddhbih and udma
never parted from him during his travels. About the first two he says that they so engaged him
that he was unable to devote any attention either to the other useful sciences or to the Traditions.
owever, what prompted him to write his work was that he found none of the e isting works on
the sub ect satisfactory. e claims to have improved the work of al-Iakhr whom he had met.
owever, the claims of Ibn awal may not be accepted unequivocally, for the similarity
between the works of the two geographers itself suggests that Ibn awal must have been
considerably indebted to al-Iakhr. There is little doubt, however, that he ranks among the most
outstanding geographers of the period, for in cartography he shows independence and
individuality and does not follow others slavishly. Besides, he incorporated new information
based on his travels or acquired from hearsay. He remained an authentic source of information
for the succeeding geographers for several centuries to come.
AbAbdAllhMu ammad b. A mad al-Muaddas (d. 90/ 000), the author of A a alta m ma at al-a lm was a very original and scientific geographer of his time. He rightly
claims to have put Arab geography on a new foundation and given it a new meaning and wider
scope. Since he considered the subject useful to many sections of society, as also to the followers
of various vocations, he widened its scope, including in it a variety of subjects ranging from
physical features of the lm (region) under discussion to mines, languages and races of the
peoples, customs and habits, religions and sects, character, weights and measures and the
territorial divisions, routes and distances. He believed that it was not a science that was acquired
through conjecture (
), but through direct observation and first-hand information. Hence he
laid his main emphasis on what was actually observed and was reasonable. From the earlier
writers he borrowed what was most essential 'without stealing from them'. Thus, according to the
nature of the sources of information, his work may be divided into three parts: what he observed
himself; what he heard from trustworthy people; and what he found in written works on the
subject. Al-Muaddas is one of the few Arab geographers who discusses geographical
terminology and specific connotations of certain phrases and words used, besides giving a
synopsis and an index of the lms districts, etc., in the introduction of his work for the benefit
of those who want to get an idea of the contents quickly or wish to use it as a traveller s guide.
nlike Iakhr and Ibn awal, al-Muaddas divided the Mamlakat al- l m into fourteen
lms (seven a ab and seven a am) perhaps to conform to the belief that there were seven
climes north of the Equator and seven others to its south, an idea attributed to Hermes, the
legendary figure known to the Arabs as an ancient philosopher of Egypt. In this respect he
differed from Ab ayd al-Balkh and al- ayhn, whom he however considered m ms (here
authorities). An important feature of his work is that like a mufassir he discusses at length certain
questions relating to general geography, e.g., the number of the seas, etc., in order to bring them
into conformity with the urnic verses relating to them.
(d) Trade and exploration: the maritime literature:

An important aspect of the development of Arabic geographical literature of this period was the
production of the maritime literature and travel accounts, which enriched the Arabs' knowledge
of regional and descriptive geography. This became possible firstly, because of the political

expansion of the Muslims and the religious affinity felt by them towards one another irrespective
of nationality or race, and secondly, because of the phenomenal increase in the commercial
activities of the Arab merchants. Incentive to travel and exploration was provided by several
factors, viz., pilgrimage to Mecca, missionary zeal, deputation as envoys, official expeditions,
trade and commerce, and, last but not least, the mariners' profession.
From very ancient times the Arabs played the rle of intermediaries in trade between the East
(India, China, etc.) on the one hand and the West (Egypt, Syria, Rome, etc.) on the other. But
with the foundation of Baghdd as the capital of the Abbsid mpire and the development of the
ports of Bara and rf, the actual and personal participation of the Arabs now e tended as far
as China in the east and Sofala on the east coast of Africa. They had learned and mastered the art
of navigation from the Persians, and by the 3rd/9th century Arab navigators had become quite
familiar with the monsoon and trade winds, and their boats sailed not only along the coasts but
direct to India from Arabia. They had become intimate with the various stretches of the sea
between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of China, which they divided into the Seven Seas giving
each a specific name. Again, they sailed from Aden to East Africa as far south as Sofala and
freely sailed on the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Caspian and also on a
number of navigable rivers including the Nile and the Indus. Although their boats were small as
compared to those of the Chinese, and the Indian Ocean was infested with whales, they
performed long and hazardous voyages with courage and fortitude. They used sea-charts
( a m s and a t ). Al-Masd (M , i, 233-4) records names of certain captains of boats
whom he knew and expert sailors of the Indian Ocean; similarly, al-Muaddas ( 0- ) gives the
name of an e pert merchant-sailor whom he consulted on the question of the shape of the Indian
Ocean. A mad b. Md id ( q.v.], see also below) speaks of an old a m composed by
Mu ammad b. hdn, ahl b. Abbn and Layth b. Kahln (lived in the later part of the rd/9th
century), but he considered them much below the standard (see Hourani, Arab seafaring, 107-8).
Since none of these charts is extant, it is not possible to make a correct assessment of the
contribution made by these early Arab navigators to nautical geography.
With the development of Arab navigation, Arab trade also expanded. With a strong political
power in the Middle East and a developing economy at home, the Arabs acquired considerable
importance as traders in the East. The sphere of their trade not only widened, but became more
intensive. They even traded by barter with the primitive tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, whose languages they did not understand. Arab trade with China declined from about the
end of the 3rd/9th century, for it is said that in the peasant rebellion under Huang Ch'ao (A.D.
878) large numbers of foreigners were massacred in China. From this time onwards Arab boats
went only as far as Kala, a port on the western coast of the Malay Peninsula, no longer existing.
The Arabs' urge to explore new lands was mainly prompted by a desire for trade and rarely for
the sake of exploration. Although some instances of early Arab adventures and exploration are
recorded, many of these seem to have been 'wonder tales' (e.g., the interpreter allm s account
of his trip to the wall of Gog and Magog under the orders of the aliph thi (22 -32/842-7),
see Minorsky, al- lam, 225). The story of a certain young man of Cordova (Spain) who
sailed with a group of young friends on the Atlantic Ocean and then returned after some time,
laden with booty, may have had some historical truth in it (al-Masd, i, 2 -9). On the whole
the Arabs of this period did not make any substantial contribution to or improve upon the

knowledge acquired from the Greeks. There is no doubt however that in regard to certain
regions, viz., North and East Africa, West Asia, Middle Asia, India and a few other countries,
their information was much more authentic and intimate.
The fact that the Arabs did not explore the regions unknown to them, even those of which they
had a theoretical knowledge, may be explained by several factors: wherever the trade incentive
was satisfied, they did not proceed beyond that point; secondly, certain notions or preconceived
ideas continuously dominated their thought and dissuaded them from taking a bold step, e.g., the
Atlantic was a Sea of Darkness and a Muddy Spring (a al-am a). For the same reason they
did not sail further south along the east coast of Africa, for they believed that there were high
tidal waves and sea commotion there, although al-Brn, on the basis of certain evidence
discovered in the 3rd/9th century, namely, the discovery in the Mediterranean of planks from
boats of the Indian Ocean (see above), had conceived that the Indian Ocean was connected with
the Atlantic by means of narrow passages south of the sources of the Nile ( a, 3-4). Lastly, the
fear of encountering aboriginal tribes and cannibals of the East Indies must have prevented the
Arabs from sailing further east.
Among the travel accounts of this period that have survived, one of the earliest is that attributed
to the merchant ulaymn, who performed several voyages to India and China and described his
impressions of the lands and the peoples in the travelogue A b al-
a 'l-Hind (235/850).
The work is a testimony of the keen but academic interest taken by Arab merchants in conveying
to the Arabic-reading peoples of the time unique and interesting information about the distant
lands of the ast. This account was first published in 02/9 6 by Ab aydal- asan of rf
along with other accounts collected and verified by him in a work entitled S l lat al-ta
.
Ab ayd was apparently a well-to-do person, and although he had not himself travelled, he was
keenly interested in gathering information from travellers and merchants and in recording it. He
met al-Masd at least twice and e changed much information with him. Al-Masd, who
represented the finest spirit of exploration of his time, had travelled very widely and sailed on
many seas including the aspian and the Mediterranean. e must have discussed with Ab ayd
the discovery near Crete of the planks of a boat belonging to the Arabian Sea. This was a unique
phenomenon for it was believed that the Arabian Sea had no connexion with the Mediterranean.
Al-Masd came to the conclusion that the only possibility was that these planks may have
flowed towards the East into the Eastern Sea (the Pacific) and then northwards and finally,
through the al (an imaginary channel flowing down from the northern Encircling Ocean into
the Black Sea) into the Mediterranean (M , i, 365-6). The fact that they both recorded this
unique discovery is evidence of their concern about geographical problems. It also shows that
interest in geography was dynamic during this period, and had not become static as in the later
period.
An interesting writer of this period was Buzurg b. hahriyr, the captain of mhurmu (299399/912-1009) who compiled a book of maritime tales, entitled K t b A
bal-Hind in about
342/953. The book relates a number of very amusing and very strange stories concerning the
adventures of the sailors in the Islands of the East Indies and other parts of the Indian Ocean.
These were apparently composed for the general reader, and though mostly fantastic, they cannot
be completely brushed aside as untrue and ignored in any serious study of Arab geography and
exploration. It seems that during this period there was a great demand for wonderful and amusing

tales, which fact is borne out by the existence of several MSS in Arabic dealing with
a
bliterature.
This period was on the whole marked by a spirit of enquiry and investigation and exploration
among the Arabs. But the maritime literature, most of which seems to have perished, posed itself
against the theoretical knowledge derived from the Greek and other sources. Hence at times there
was a contradiction between theory and practice, and this was the fundamental problem with
which the Arab geographers and travellers were faced. It was this conflict between theory and
practice that finally determined the course of the development of Arab geography in the later
period. When the 'practicalists' gave way to the theoreticians, the decline of Arab geography
became certain. Why the word of the sailor, the traveller and the merchant was not given due
credence is difficult to explain, but a large amount of maritime literature must have perished
through either neglect or animosity.
(e) Al- n and

s contempo a es:

The 5th/11th century may be taken as the apogee of the progress of Arab geography. The
geographical knowledge of the Arabs, both as derived from the Greeks and others and as
advanced by themselves through research, observation and travel, had, by this period, reached a
very high level of development. Besides, geographical literature had acquired a special place in
Arabicliterature, and various forms and methods of presenting geographical material had been
standardized and adopted. The importance of al-Brn s contribution to Arab geography is twofold: firstly, he presented a critical summary of the total geographical knowledge up to his own
time, and since he was as well-versed in Greek, Indian and Iranian contributions to geography
and in that of the Arabs, he made a comparative study of the subject. He pointed out that the
Greeks were more accomplished than the Indians, thereby implying that the methods and
techniques of the former should be adopted. But he was not dogmatic, and held some important
views that were not in conformity with Greek ideas. Secondly, as an astronomer he not only
calculated the geographical positions of several towns, but measured the length of a degree of
latitude, thus performing one of the three important geodetic operations in the history of Arab
astronomy. He made some remarkable theoretical advances in general, physical and human
geography. On the basis of the above-mentioned discovery in the Mediterranean of the planks of
an Arabian Sea boat a hundred years earlier, he conceived the theoretical possibility of the
existence of channels connecting the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic south of the Mountains of
the Moon and the Sources of the Nile. But these were difficult to cross because of high tides and
strong winds. He argued that just as towards the east, the Indian Ocean had penetrated the
northern continent (Asia) and had opened up channels, similarly, to balance them, the continent
has penetrated the Indian Ocean towards the west; the sea there is connected through channels
with the Atlantic. Thus, although theoretically he laid down the possibility of circum-navigating
the South African coast, in practice it was never accomplished by the Muslims. The idea,
however, persisted until the time of the arrival of the Portuguese, when it was hinted by alahrwl that the Portuguese might have taken this route. Al-Brn conceived that the land-mass
was surrounded by water, that the centre of 'Earth's weight' shifted and caused physical changes
on its surface, e.g., fertile lands turned barren, water turned into land and vice versa. He
described very clearly various concepts and the limits of the inhabited parts of the earth of his
time, for which he seems to have had recourse to some contemporary sources which were not

available to the earlier geographers. He made an original contribution to regional geography by

describing India in detail.
Among the astronomers of the 5th/11th century one who deserves mention was Ibn Ynus, Abu
'l- asan Al b. Abd al- a mn (d. 99/ 009). hile al-Brn was working in India and other
places, Ibn Ynus made valuable observations in the observatory on the Mt. al-Muaam in
Egypt under the patronage of the imid caliphs al-A and al- akm. The results of his
observations recorded in the al- al- ab al- m became an important source of up-todate astronomical and geographical knowledge for the scientists of the Islamic East.
Among the geographers and travellers contemporary to al-Brn there was the Isml poettraveller ir-i husraw (d. 4 2/ 060 or 4 / 06 ) whose travel account entitled Safar- ma
written in Persian covers the author's personal experiences in and descriptions of Mecca and
Egypt.
Ab bayd AbdAllh b. Abd A al-Bakr (d. 4 / 094) was the best representative of
lexicography of the period in as far as place-names were concerned. His geographical dictionary
M am m ' ta am m a m al-b l
wa 'l-ma is an excellent literary-cumgeographical work. It discusses the orthography of place-names of the Arabian peninsula mainly,
furnishing literary evidence from Arabicliterature, ancient Arabian poetry, a t , ancient
traditions, etc. His second geographical treatise K t bal-ma l
a 'l-mam l has not survived
in its entirety. Al-Bakr was, however, more a litterateur than a geographer see ab ubayd albakr].
(V) The period of consolidation (6th/12th-10th/16th centuries)
From the 6th/12th to the 10th/16th century Arab geography displayed continuous signs of
decline. The process was chequered and with some exceptions like the works of al-Idrs and
Abu 'l- id the general standard of works produced was low compared to those of the earlier
period. The scientific and critical attitude towards the subject and emphasis on authenticity of
information that was the mark of the earlier writers gave place to mere recapitulations and
rsums of the traditional and theoretical knowledge found in the works of earlier writers. This
was, in a way, the period of consolidation of geographical knowledge, and the literature may be
divided into eight broad categories:
(a) World geographical accounts:

The tradition of describing the world as a whole as practised by the geographers of the classical
period continued to be followed by some geographers of this period, but works dealing
e clusively with the world of Islam had become rare, for the Abbsid mpire had itself
disintegrated. The pattern of description and arrangement was also different from the earlier
works. There was a tendency towards rapprochement between astronomical and descriptive
geography in these works, and Greek influence was still prominent in some works, while Persian
influence had comparatively diminished probably because of the production of geographical
literature in Persian as well. But geographical activity had expanded and places like Syria, Sicily
and Spain had become important centres of geographical learning, and some very important
works were produced there.

Among the important works on world geography and astronomy produced during this period we
may mention M ta al ta m al-a l by Mu ammad b. A madal- hara (d.
533/1138-9); K t b alby Mu ammad b. Ab Bakr al- uhr of Granada (lived
towards 531/1137);
at al-m t ' t al- by al- harf al-Idrs (d. 6 / 66);
K t b alfi 'l-a lm al- aba by Ibn ad (d. 672/1274); Ta m al-b l
by Abu
'l- id (d.
/
).
Al- uhr s work was based on the Greek system of lms and represented the trend of
rapprochement between astronomical and descriptive geography. The work of al-Idrs, which
also represents this tendency, is a fine example of Arab-Norman cooperation in geographical
activities. It was produced at Palermo under the patronage of the Norman king Roger II. AlIdrs, who was a prince, and belonged to the ammdid dynasty, was neither a renowned
traveller nor a trained geographer before he joined the court of Roger. The aim of Roger in
calling him to his court seems to have been to utilize his personality for his own political
objectives. There is little doubt, however, that Roger was interested in geography and he was
able to collect a team of astronomers and geographers in his court. As a result of their efforts, for
the first time in the history of Arab cartography, seventy regional maps based on the Ptolemaic
system of climes were drawn, and a large silver map of the world constructed. The total
geographical information acquired from contemporary as well as earlier Greek or Arab sources
was classified according to the relevant sections each of which formed a description of one of
these maps. The work was an important contribution to physical and descriptive geography. The
work of Ibn ad was based on the clime-system. It also gives the latitudes and longitudes of
many places which facilitates their reconstruction into a map. By this time Syria had become an
important centre of geographical activities. Abu 'l- id, the yrian prince, historian and
geographer, completed his important compendium on world geography in 721/1321. The work
gives latitudes and longitudes of places and treats the subject-matter on a regional basis. It is
arranged in a systematic way and covers descriptive, astronomical and human geography. The
author seems to have utilized some contemporary sources, for we find some new information
which is not available in earlier works.
(b) Cosmological works:

During this period several works were produced which dealt not only with geography but also
with cosmology, cosmogony, astrology and such other topics. The main purpose of these works
seems to have been to present in a consolidated and systematic form world knowledge for the
benefit of the average reader. No doubt the authors utilized earlier Arabic sources, but on the
whole the material is presented uncritically, and there is hardly any question of investigation or
research, and the zeal of enquiry is totally lacking. The tendency to produce such works was
mainly due to the decline in education and learning which affected the progress of geographical
knowledge.
The following are some of the works that belong to this category: T at al-alb b (or al-ab b)
a
bat al-a
b by Ab mid al-Gharn (d. 6 / 69-70); A
b al-b l
and
t
al-b l by a wn (d. 6 2/ 2 );
bat al- a
a
b al-barr wa 'l-ba by alDimash (d. 2 / 2 );
a at al-a
b a a at al- a
b by Ibn al- ard (d.
861/1457).

(c) The z

tliterature:

A special feature of this period was that a number of works dealing with the towns and places of
religious significance or places of pilgrimage were produced. These were not purely descriptive
or topographical works. They dealt with the holy spots of Islam, tombs of saints, the takyas of
the fs and b ts along with educational institutions (madrasas) speciali ing in various schools
of the hara and other such topics. One finds in them detailed accounts of place-names in
various towns like Mecca, Damascus, etc. On the whole such works were meant to be religious
guides for pilgrims and devotees, and represent the period of religious reaction in Islam. Among
the representative works of this type of literature are:
t l ma at alt by al- araw
(d. 611/1214); al-D
ta
al-ma
by Abdal-dirMu ammad al- uaym (d.
64 / 20); in the Maulana A ad Library, Algah Muslim niversity, there exists a MS
( hrwn ollection, M
o. 2 / 4) which, in all probability, is an abridgment of al- uaym s
original work, written 50 years after his death.
(d)

literature or Geographical dictionaries:

The traditions of geographical studies developed in Syria bore many fruitful results. Besides the
Compendium of Abu 'l- id and the
tliterature, Ytal- amaw (d. 626/ 229) produced
one of the most useful works in Arabic geographical literature, namely, M am al-b l
.
Completed in 621/1224, this geographical dictionary of place-names, which includes other
historical and sociological data, was in keeping with the literary and scientific traditions of the
earlier period, and represents the consummation of geographical knowledge of the time. As a
reference book it is indispensible even to-day for the student of Arab historical geography. The
fact that Yt crowned the work with an introduction on Arab geographical theories and
concepts and physical and mathematical geography shows the depth of knowledge of the author.
The work also represents that period of Arab geographical development when scholars thought
in terms of compiling geographical dictionaries, which would not have been possible without the
vast amount of geographical literature that had already come into existence by this time and
without the geographical tradition that was present in yria. Another important work of Yt is
the K t bal-M ta
aan a'l-m tal aan, composed in 623/1226.
(e) Travel accounts:

During this period the Arabs' knowledge of regional and descriptive geography was considerably
enriched by the production of travel literature in Arabic on a large scale. Besides the usual
incentives for travel like the pilgrimage to Mecca or missionary zeal, the extension of Muslim
political and religious influences, especially in the East, had opened up for Muslims new vistas
of travel and more opportunities for earning a livelihood.
Among the outstanding travel accounts may be included the work of al-M in (d. 64/ 69); the
la of Ibn
ubayr (d. 6 4/ 2 ); Ta al-M ta
(written in c. 62 / 2 0) by Ibn
Mud wir; then the las of al- abt (d. 6 6/ 2 9), al-Abdr (d. 6 / 2 9), al-ayyib
(69 / 299) and al-Td n ( 0 / 0 ) and others. Whereas these accounts are of great
importance for the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe, for they furnish

contemporary and often important information, the work of Ibn Baa q.v.] (d. 779/1377)
entitled T at al- remains the most important mediaeval travel account in Arabic for the
lands of India, South-East Asia and other countries of Asia and North Africa.
(f) Maritime literature:

During the period under consideration Arab maritime activities were confined to the
Mediterranean and the Arabian Seas. In the Mediterranean the Arab navies, using the term in a
broader sense, could never really become all-powerful. They were always busy in sea-wars with
the Christian navies and sometimes as many as a hundred men-of-war were employed in the
forays. Again, although the Arab navigators were quite familiar with the Mediterranean, sailing
on the Atlantic was still dreaded, and there is only one instance of Arab adventure, namely, that
of Ibn ima (64 / 2 0). rom the account of his voyage preserved in Ibn ad it appears that
he had reached as far as White mountain (identified with Cape Branco) along the West African
coast. On the whole it is difficult to assess the amount of the contribution made by the Arabs of
this Sea to nautical geography, for very little is known of their accounts. But with the rise of the
Ottoman power in Asia Minor, the Ottoman Navy ultimately became very powerful in the
Mediterranean (see VI below).
In the Indian Ocean, however, the Arab navigators maintained their importance until the arrival
of the Portuguese. It was hihb al-Dn A mad b. Md id (the date of his birth or death is not
known) who piloted the boat of Vasco da Gama from Malindi on the east coast of Africa to
Calicut in India in 1498. This incident indeed marks the turning point in the history of Arab
navigation and trade in the East. The advent of the Portuguese had an adverse effect on the trade
and commerce of the Arabs. Their maritime strength was destroyed and their trade systematically
ruined by the Portuguese.
Ibn Md id, who spent more than fifty years of his life on the high seas, may be considered as
one of the greatest Arab navigators of all times. He wrote thirty nautical texts and was one of the
most important Arab writers on oceanography, navigation, etc. His contributions bring him in
line with the leading scientists of the period. His most important contribution is the work K t b
al- a
l lm ba a 'l-a .
ulaymn b. A madal-Mahr, a younger contemporary of Ibn Md id, was another important
navigator of this period. He was also author of five nautical works written in the first half of the
10th/16th century. Among these may be mentioned of special importance: al-Um a al-mahriyya
ab al- lm ba
a compiled in 917/1511-2 and K t bS a t at al- l tam
l.
The works of Ibn Md id and ulaymn al-Mahr represent the height of the Arabs knowledge of
nautical geography. These navigators used excellent sea-charts, which are supposed to have had
the lines of the meridian and parallels drawn on them. They also used many fine instruments and
made full use of astronomical knowledge for navigation. There is little doubt that their
knowledge of the seas was considerably advanced, especially of the Indian Ocean, for in their
works they describe in details the coastlines, routes, etc. of the countries they visited. They were
familiar with the numerous islands of the East Indies.
(g) Astronomical literature:

During this period some very important works were produced on astronomy, and one of the most
outstanding astronomers of this period was the Tmrid prince-mathematician lugh Beg (d.
/ 449). But with the death of lugh BegMuslim astronomical literature may be said to have
come to an end, for this was the last scientific effort on the part of a Muslim prince, before the
period of decline in Islamic society set in, to revise the data of Ptolemy and to perform
independent astronomical observations. The results of lugh Beg s observations in which his
collaborators also participated were included in the - a - S l .
(h) Regional geographical literature:

Between the 7th/13th and the 10th/16th centuries a large amount of geographical literature, both
in Arabic and Persian, came into existence on a regional or 'national' basis. Although no
outstanding contributions were made by the geographers of this period, regional geographical
knowledge was enriched by the efforts of several historians and geographers. Geographical
traditions of the classical period were kept up, but there was no originality in thought or practice.
In astronomical, physical or human geography no substantial advances were made. The
production of literature on regional geography during this period was closely connected with the
extension of Islam and Muslim political power in the East, and due to the attention paid by
Muslim potentates to historiography and geography mainly for political purposes.
In Ir and Mesopotamia, the old centre of geographical activity, little was produced in
geographical literature; M at
by Bar Hebraeus (d. 685/1286) showed much influence
of Islamic tradition and has a semi-circular world map. In Egypt and Syria the
a-literature
was produced under the Ayybids and the Mamlks. Interest in the a
bliterature and ancient
gypt from the time of the Ayybids resulted in the production of and collection of some
fantastic accounts and stories about ancient Egyptian kings (!) and other tales of common
interest. However, some new and fresh information on the Muslim states of the ast, India and
other countries, was also incorporated in these accounts. Authors who wrote on such sub ects
were Ibrhm b. af hh (wrote in 60 / 209); uwayr (d. 629/
2); Mar (d. 4 / 44 2); Ibn al Allhal- mar (d. 49/ 4 ); al-alashand (d. 2 / 4 ) and others. In orth
Africa, asan b. Alal-Marrkush wrote
m al-mab a 'lt which gives latitudes
and longitudes partly compiled by the author. Ibn haldn s M a ma contains a chapter on
geography, representing the tradition of some Arab historians of describing the world as a
prelude to history.
In rn, entral Asia and India some historical works in Persian dealt with regional and
descriptive geography, and some monographs on world geography were also produced. The
geographical works were mainly based on earlier Arabic authorities; additional contemporary
information was included in general histories and accounts of conquests. Among the important
works we may mention: Ibn al-Balkh,
rs- ma, written in the beginning of the 6th/12th
century; amdallh Mustawf (d. 40/ 40), Nuzhat al- lb; Mu ammad b. ad b Bakrn
(wrote for the hwri m-shh Mu ammad, 96-617/1200-20),
- ma, which contains
some 'interesting information on the geography of Transo ania ; Abd a amarand (d.
887/1482), Mala al- a a ; AmnA mad , a t lm, written in 1002/1594, a
biographical work, but contains much valuable geographical information.
(S. Maqbul Ahmad)

VI. The Ottoman geographers

The Ottoman Turks do not seem to have begun to write geographical works until the middle of
the 9th/14th century. The first of these were small cosmographies in the style of Books of
Marvels, which treat of the wonders of Creation. The best known of these works is probably the
ell-preserved Pearl (Drr- m ) by Ya d -oghlu A medBd n (d. ca. 60/ 4 6) q.v. ,
the brother of the early Ottoman poet Ya d -oghluMe emmed (died
/ 4 . The same
A medBd n was also the first to make a translation of extracts from an Arabic cosmographical
work, the A
b al-ma l t of a wn ( 20 -1283), under the same title, in which the
stress likewise is less upon scientific knowledge than upon the wonders of Creation (see Rieu,
Catal. of Turkish Mss. in the Brit. Mus., 106 ff.).
a wn s A
b al-ma l t was translated several times into Turkish (Brockelmann, S I,
882, indicates four Turkish translations of the work). Likewise under the same title there were in
circulation Turkish translations of Ibn al- ard s (d. 4 )
a at al-a
b (indicated in
Beitrge zur historischen Geographie .... vornehmlich des Orients, ed. ans Mik, Festband
Eugen Oberhummer, Leipzig and Vienna 1929, 86 ff.), among them one with some
contemporary additions by a man of the early Ottoman period called Al b. Abdal- a mn (see
my articles Der Bericht des arabischen Geographen Ibn al-Wa b Ko ta t o l in
Festband Eugen Oberhummer, 84-91, and Ein altosmanischer Bericht ber das vorosmanische
Konstantinopel in AION, N.S., i, 1940, 181-9). urther, after iph de Me emmed b. Al (d.
997/1588) had produced a new Arabic edition of Abu 'l- id s Ta m al-b l
under the title
A a al-ma l l ma at al-b l
a'l-mam l with the material arranged in alphabetical
order and supplemented (Brockelmann, II, 46), he translated extracts of the work into Turkish
under the same title (Brockelmann, S II, 44).
One of the last of the translations from earlier geographical works is the iews of the orlds
(M al-a l m) by Me med b. mer (not Othmn), b. Bye d sh (b. 964/
, date
of death unknown; the book was completed 1006/1598). It consists of two parts, of which the
first treats the world above, that is, heaven, its inhabitants and the celestial bodies, and, in
appendi , a part of the world below, that is, hell and its inhabitants. Apart from astronomy,
which indeed is only summarily included, this section consists almost exclusively of theology
and mythology. But this first part is actually only an introduction. The bulk of the work is
contained in the second part, which describes the world below, that is, the earth and its
inhabitants. It contains first a universal geography, that is, a little general knowledge of the earth,
followed by separate descriptions arranged in the mediaeval manner according to natural objects:
oceans, islands, swamps and lakes, rivers, springs, warm springs, mountains and finally,
comprising the main section of the descriptive geography, cities. In this section all of the
geographical material is arranged according to the seven climates of Ptolemy, the actual
climates (a lm- a
). Within this framework the localities represented are arranged
according to the 2 traditional climates (a lm-
) or regions, a principle which sh
had borrowed from the work of Abu 'l- id, with result that some of the cities treated, according
to their location, appear in more than one of the a lm- a
, the applications of the two
principles thus overlapping. nder each heading sh indicates in order the reports of his
authorities translated into Turkish, of the mediaeval Arabic and Persian writers such as Ibn
hurraddhbih, Ibn al- aw , Yt, a wn, amdullh Mustawf and Ibn al- ard, each

with a precise indication of the source. sh supplements these with his own reports, especially
for Anatolia, Rumelia and Hungary, also with precise indication that this particular information
derived from the writer ( m ), with the date of his visit to the city in question, thus
affording a chronological sequence of his travels.
The geography is followed by a universal descriptive natural science, that is, the solid, liquid and
gaseous minerals, scents, metals, plants, animals and man. The work in its totality is a broadly
sketched compendium of traditional geography and natural science.
Belonging in a wider sense to the translation of geographical literature is the manual of
astronomy and mathematics written in Persian by Al ushd i (d. 9/ 4 4), formerly director
of lugh Beg s observatory in amarand and later the court astronomer of Me emmed II, which
was several times translated into Turkish (see ZDMG, lxxvii, 1923, 40 note 2). To this category
also belongs the hina Book ( t - ma) written originally in Persian by ayyid Al Akbar
hit in
6, in which the author describes his ourney to hina in 9 2-4/1506-8 and his stay
of three years there, and which he dedicated to elm I. nder Murd III, probably in 990/
2,
it was translated into Turkish (see P. Kahle in AO, xii, 91 ff, and Opera Minora 322-3).
In the fields of marine geography and navigation the Ottoman Turks produced original works. In
this respect special mention should to made of the work of PrMu yi l-Dn es (d. 962/
4),
a nephew of the famous naval hero Keml es who knew every corner of the Mediterranean. In
919/1513 he produced a map of the world in two parts, of which only the western part has been
preserved, which he presented to ultan elm I in airo (92 /
). or that portion of his work
treating the west Pr es used as sources maps containing the Portuguese discoveries up to
1508, as well as a map, since lost, containing the discoveries made by Christopher Columbus
during his third voyage (1498). He had got the latter from a Spanish sailor who had gone with
Columbus to America three times and who in 1501 at Valencia had been made a Turkish
prisoner by Pr es s uncle Keml es (see P. Kahle, Die verschollene Columbus-Karte vom
Jahre 1498 in einer trkischen Weltkarte von 1513, Berlin-Leipzig 1933; idem, A lost map of
Columbus, in Opera Minora, Leiden 1956, 247-6 ; Ibrahim akk , E
a tala , Istanbul
e
1936; Afet, Un Amiral Gographe turc du XVI sicle, Piri Res, auteur de la plus ancienne carte
de l'Amrique in Belleten, i (1937), 333-49; Sadi Selen, Die Nord-Amerika-Karte des Piri Res
(1528), ibid. 519-23).
Pr es then wrote a nautical handbook of the Mediterranean, the Ba
, containing 129
chapters each provided with a map in which he gives an exact description of the Mediterranean
and all its parts. His models are Italian portulans and other navigational handbooks, the major
part of which have disappeared. He first dedicated the work to ultan elm I in 92 / 2 . After
the latter's death he prepared a second edition with many additional maps, a modified text, and a
poetical introduction of some 1200 verses in Turkish on the lore of the sea and the sailor, which
he presented in 9 2/ 2 -26 to ultan leymn by means of the Grand i ier Ibrhm Pasha
(see P. Kahle, P

Ba in Beitrge zur historischen Geographie ..., Festband

E. Oberhummer, Leipzig-Vienna 1929, 60-76; idem, Ba
a a t
c S l a buch fr
das Mittellndische Meer vom Jahre 1521, the first part of an unfinished edition, Berlin-Leipzig
1926; the complete work in facsimile, Kitabi Bahriye, Istanbul 1935).

A similar work of marine geography and navigation on the Indian Ocean was written in
96 /
4 by eyyid Al es b.
seyn, known as Ktib-i m (died 9 0/ 62), entitled
The Ocean (al-M ). Al es made use of the e perience of outhArabian sailors who had
served as guides for Vasco de Gama on his voyage to Calicut, and also translated parts of
uleymn al-Mahr s al-Um a al-Mahriyya into Turkish in his work (see W. Tomaschek and M.
Bittner, Die topographischen Kapitel des indischen Seespiegels Mohit, Vienna 1897; for the
Arabic precursors see Gabriel Ferrand, Relations de Voyages et textes gographiques ..., ii, Paris
1914).
Yet another work of marine geography from a later period is the Book of the Black and hite
eas (K t bBa al-aswad wa 'l-ab a) written by eyyid during the reign of Me emmed
IV (see F. Babinger, S
a
T
al
a boo in Imago Mundi, xii (1955),
180-2).
A kind of terrestrial counterpart to these works of marine geography is the ollection of
Stations (M m- m
l), an illustrated book by a al-Mar (dates unknown) in
which he describes briefly and depicts separately the stages of ultan leymn nn s first
Persian expedition (940-2/1534-5). It exists only in a single manuscript, in all probability the
dedication copy for the sultan, in the University Library in Istanbul, and constitutes an important
source for the military routes used by the sultans for their eastern expeditions (see Albert
Gabriel, Les tapes d'une campagne dans les deux Irak d'aprs un manuscrit turc du XVIesicle
in Syria (1928), 328-41; Franz Taeschner, The itinerary of the first Persian campaign of Sultan
Suleyman 1534-36 acco
to a al-Ma in Imago Mundi xiii (1956), 53-5; idem, Das
Itinerar des ersten Persienfeldzuges des Sultans Sleyman Kanuni nach Matraki Nasuh, in
ZMDG, 1961).
The campaign itineraries of sultans elm I and leymn I, as well as those of Murd I are
contained, moreover, in the collection of documents called M
t al-S l of
erdnA med Beg (d. 99 /
), or his continuator (only the two volume second edition of the
M
t contains the itineraries, Istanbul 1274-75/1857-59; the itineraries there are
enumerated in F. Taeschner, Das anatolische Wegenetz nach osmanischen Quellen, i, Leipzig
1924, 20).
The most important comprehensive geographical work, constituting at the same time the
transition in Turkey from the mediaeval oriental to the modern European point of view, is the
iew of the orld (
m ) of the famous scholar Muaf b. Abdallh, known as Ktib
elebi q.v. or ad d halfa ( 0 -67/1609-57). The work has a complicated history. Ktib
elebi began it twice and twice it remained uncompleted. In 0 / 64 he had begun it as
cosmography in the medieval style of such works as the one mentioned above of Me med
sh , which he used and acknowledged. After he had described oceans, rivers and lakes, he
started on lands, of which the western came first, Muslim Spain and North Africa. The lands of
the Ottoman Empire were to follow as the main section, which he began with the three imperial
capitals, Bursa, Edirne and Constantinople, followed by the provinces of the European half of the
empire, Rumelia, Bosnia and Hungary (from a manuscript of this version in Vienna, J. von
Hammer translated Rumeli und Bosna, Vienna 1812; see F. Taeschner, Die Vorlage von
Hammers Rumeli und Bosna in MOG, i (1923-25), 308-10).

hen Ktibeleb had reached the heading atvn in writing the description of ungary he
came across a copy of the Atlas Minor of Gerhard Mercator, edited by Jodocus Hondius in 1621
at Arnheim. He abandoned the
m and from 064/ 6 4 on, with the help of a rench
renegade, Me med fendi Ikhl, he worked at a translation of the atlas, to which he gave the
title L
m al- l m t- Al M .
When this work was two-thirds finished Ktib elebi began again to write his
m ,
according to a new plan based on the western model. This time however he began in east Asia
for which he used, in addition to European, Oriental sources as well, such as the
t - m of
Al Akbar; these preponderated the further west he moved. hen he had progressed in his
description from east to west as far as Armenia ( ylet of n), death hastened on by an accident
stayed his hand (1067/1657). Thus the second version of his work also remained unfinished.
Yet another European work was to provide the impulse for the continuation of the
m
and eventually its completion. On 14 August 1668 the Dutch envoy Colier presented to Sultan
Me emmed I in dirne on behalf of his government a copy of the Latin edition in eleven
volumes of Blaeu's Atlas Maior sive Cosmographia Blaviana (1662). A few years later, in
1086/1675, the Sultan had this work translated into Turkish by Ab Bakr b. Bahrm alDimash (d. 02/ 69 ). Ab Bakr published his translation under the title
at al- l m a
'l- ta - Ala M , and based on it, with the further use of other, especially, Oriental
sources, produced a Ma or Geography (
b ) (see P. Kahle, The Geography of
Abu Bekr Ibn Behram ad-Dimashki: Ms. A.S. 575 of the Chester Beatty Collection).
hen later, in 40/ 2 , the ungarian renegade Ibrhm M teferria established the first
printing-press in Istanbul, the
m of Ktib elebi became the eleventh product (in
4 /
2) in the new Turkish art of printing. As a basis for this edition Ibrhm used the second
version of the work, that is, the description of Asia begun by Ktib elebi, and supplemented
this with the corresponding portions (insertions, l a) from the work of Ab Bakr, so that the
printed edition included the complete description of Asia. In the introductory chapters containing
astronomical, mathematical and geographical data, he brought the work up to date by means of
series of printer s addenda (ta l al- b ) (see F. Taeschner, Zur Geschichte des
D
m in MSOS ii, 29 (1926), 99-111; idem., Das Hauptwerk der geographischen
Literatur der Osmanen, Ktib elebis Gihannma in Imago Mundi 1935, 44-7; Kt l b
a at v
l
a a c l m l , Ankara 1957: on the
m the essay by Hamit
Sadi Selen, 121-36).
In
/ 40 one hehr de A med b. M dhehhib ad (d. 1178/1764-5) undertook a further
continuation of Ktib elebi s
m with the title a at al-anfus. But the work was
never printed owing on the one hand to the death of Ibrhm M teferria (
/ 44) after
which the press was silenced and, on the other hand, to the influx of original European literature
in the face of which Turkish productions in the geographical field lost in originality and thereby
in interest.
oncerning travel descriptions those of Al Akbar from hina and his so ourn there have been
mentioned. orthy also of indication is the brief description by eyyid Al es of his ourney
to India and, after the unsuccessful Ottoman naval expedition against the Portuguese in the

Indian Ocean, his fortunate return to the sultan's court in Edirne. These are contained in the tiny
book M t al-mam l (completed 964/1557 and printed Istanbul 1313; Eng. tr., A. Vambry,
Travels and adventures of the Turkish Admiral SidiAli Res .... during the years 1553-1556,
London 1899).
The major work, however, in the field of travel description is the great, ten-volume Travel
Book (S at m ) or istory of the Traveller (Ta ) of wliy b.
DerwshMe emmed ill, usually known as wliy elebi q.v.]. It is a unique work in the entire
literature of the Islamic peoples. For forty years (1631- 6 0) wliy elebi travelled in every
direction throughout the Ottoman Empire and its neighbouring lands, largely as field chaplain in
the retinues of dignitaries, governors and ambassadors, as well as with divisions of the army. His
work is thus a kind of memoir and contains in addition to a knowledge of the lands which he
visited many insights into the higher politics of his period. Besides his own experiences he has
mingled the results of his reading and the manifold products of his lively imagination in the
work. Through his contacts with political personalities and his participation in their destinies,
wliy elebi s book has become an important record for the history of his times.
A stimulation to travel description was provided by the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. There are
indeed, especially from the 18th century, a series of texts which describe the journey from
skdar, the point of departure on the Asiatic coast of the Bosphorus for pilgrims to Mecca, and
the ceremonies accomplished in Mecca. Most of the pilgrims limited their descriptions to the
latter and touched only in passing the voyage itself. Some, however, did describe the journey and
for that reason are of importance from the point of view of geography. The most detailed of these
is The ceremonies of the pilgrimage (Ma
al-a
) by Me emmed db ( 9 /
9)
(printed in Istanbul 1232/1816-17; Fr. tr. by M. Bianchi, Itinraire de Constantinople la
Mecque in Recueil des Voyages et des Mmoires publis par la Socit de Gographie, ii, Paris
1825, in which the work is wrongly dated 1093/1682 instead of 1193/1779).
To travel literature in a certain sense belong also the reports from the ambassadors of the Porte to
European courts ( S
t m ). These belong at the same time to the category of historical
literature, for which reason they are generally included by the historiographers of the Empire in
their works (enumerated by me in ZDMG, lxxvii (1923), 75- ; more completely by aik eit
Unat in Ta V
ala , reprinted in
ml Ta M cm a , 8 August 1950) (see further eli).
A brief word may also be said concerning cartography. Pr es s world map of
, originally
in two parts, has already been described above. In his sailing manual for the Mediterranean (the
Ba
), Pr es included in each chapter, after the fashion of the Italian portulans and
probably based on them, a map representing the region of the Mediterranean treated in the
respective chapter. The late editor of the periodical Imago Mundi, Leo Bagrov, had in his
possession such a map of the entire Mediterranean with parallel meridians, based on a mistaken
planispheric concept.
The manuscripts of the first version of Ktib elebi's
m have in the margins finely
sketched maps of the L
(Sa a) in question. The 1145/1732 printing of the
m is
provided with full-page maps, obviously in the style of contemporary European cartography, but
with inverse orientation (north at the bottom). rom the workshop of the printer Ibrhm

M teferria came as well a manuscript map of the ear and Middle ast, now preserved in the
Austrian Military Archives, dated either 1139/1726-7 or 1141/1728-9 (see F. Taeschner, Das
anatolische Wegenetz nach osmanischen Quellen, ii, Leipzig 1926, 62 ff.).
In conclusion brief reference may be made to the world map known as that of ad d A med of
Tunis, dated 967/1559, in the Marciana in Venice. At one time believed to be of Muslim origin,
this has now been shown to be of European manufacture, prepared for the Muslim market (V. L.
Mnage, 'The Map of Hajji Ahmed' and its makers, in BSOAS, xxi, 1958, 271-314; see also
George Kish, The suppressed Turkish map of 1560, Ann Arbor (William L. Clements library,
1957 [includes facsimile]).
(Fr. Taeschner)

Bibliography
Arabic geographical literature is too vast to allow any brief survey here. Hence only a select
bibliography is given below:
. Te ts, translations and commentaries: Ab Dulaf Misar b. al-Muhalhil,
V. Minorsky, Cairo 1955
al-Brn, K t b
vols., 1955

al-Ma , published by the Dirat al-Marif,

la al-t

a, ed.

aydarbd (India), 2

idem, B ' ct
o t
o l ( at al-mam a al al-B ), ed. A. Zeki Velidi Togan,
Memoir ASI, liii, New Delhi 1941 (the work contains texts pertaining to geography selected from
al-Brn s: . al-Ma , 2. Ta
t al-am
l -ta ma
t al-ma
, 3.
al- am
ma at al- a
, and 4. al-a a a)
amdallh Mustawf, Nuzhat al- lb, ed. Mu ammad Dabr iy, Tehrn 1958
al- amdn, K t b at

a at al-A ab, ed. Mu ammad b. Balhd al- ad d, airo 9

al- araw, Al b. Ab Bakr, alThomine, Damascus 1953-7

t l ma at al-

t, ed. and French transl. J. Sourdel-

al- lam

Ibn Baa ( ng. tr. H. A. R. Gibb, i -, Cambridge 1958- )

Ibn aln,
la, second edition of the translation and commentary by A. P. Kovalevsky 1955
(transl. Canard, in AIEO Alger, xvi, 1958)
Ibn awal

Ibn haldn-Rosenthal
Ibn Md id, Three unknown nautical instructions on the Indian Ocean, published by T. A.
Shumovsky, Moscow 1957
al-Idrs, Pol a
a a
o, c e i, Krakw, 94
c e ii,

tl Ksiegi Rogera, geografa arabskiego z XII w. al-

arsaw 9 4

al-Idrs, India and the neighbouring t

to
t Kt b
at al-m t
o al-S a al- , tr. and commentary by S. Maqbul Ahmad, Leiden 1960
al-Idrs,
1954

a a

al-Iakhr, al-Ma l

bo

to

a 'l-mam l , ed. M.

c b

b t

' t

S a al-

al-

, Algah

bir Abd al-l al- n, airo 96

T. Lewicki, Zrodla arabskie de dziejow stowianszczyzny, i, Wroclaw, Cracow 1956

Mu ammad b.
1960

ad b Bakrn,

al- uaym, Abdal-dir, al-D

- ma, reproduced with translation by Y. Borshevsky

ta

al-ma

Marwa , S a a al- am

Ma va o
commentary by V. Minorsky, London 1942

, 2 vols., Damascus 1948-51

a t

a, text, tr. and

A b al-
a 'l-Hind, Relation de la Chine et de l'Inde, rdige en 851, text, French tr. and
Notes by Jean Sauvaget, Paris 1948
Yt, T
t o cto
Jwaideh, Leiden 1959

c a t

o Y qt' M am al-b l

, tr. and annotated by Wadie

R. Blachre and H. Darmaun, Extraits des principaux gographes arabes du moyen ge2, Paris
1957.
2. General Works: Nafis Ahmad, Muslim contribution to geography, Lahore 1947
Barthold, Turkestan
G. F. Hourani, Arab seafaring, Princeton 1951
d asan, A history of Persian navigation, London 1928
G. H. T. Kimble, Geography in the middle ages, London 1938

J. H. Kramers, Geography and Commerce in The legacy of Islam, ed. T. Arnold and A.
Guillaume, London 1943
Analecta Orientalia, posthumous writings and selected minor works of J. H. Kramers, Leiden
1954
I. Y. Krakovskiy, A ab a a
Moscow 1957

o a

a a l t at a (vol. iv of his collected works),

Al-Ma comm mo at o vol m , ed. . Maqbul Ahmad and A. ahman, Algah 960
S. Muzaffar Ali, Arab geography, Algah 960 (being the tr. of ection II of M. Reinaud's
Introduction gnrale la gographie des Orientaux).
3. Articles: Ziauddin Alavi, Physical geography of the Arabs in the Xth Century A.D., in Indian
Geographical Journal, xxii/2, Madras 1947
idem, Arab geography in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D., in Muslim University Journal,
Algah 94
Leo Bagrow, The Vasco Gama's Pilot, in Studi Colombiani, Genoa 1951
. Q. im, In quest of Kalah, in Journal of Southeast Asian History, i/2, September 1960
V. Minorsky, A al

Ja

, in BSOAS, xiii, 1949-50, 89-96

S. Maqbul Ahmad, Al-Ma ' co t b t o to m

a val A ab

o a

, in IC, xxvii/2, 1953

IC, xxviii/1, 1954

idem. Travels of Abu 'l-a a Al b al- a al-Ma , in IC, xxviii/4, 1954
C. Schoy, Geography of the Muslims of the Middle Ages, in Geographical Review (American
Geographical Society), xiv, 1924, 257-69. Other articles in Pearson, pp. 269-79
idem, Supplement 1956-60, pp. 82-5.
in the article, and general: F. Taeschner, Die geographische Literatur der Osmanen, in ZDMG,
lxxvii (1923), 31-80
F. Babinger, Die Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke, Leipzig 1927, in which the
geographical writers are also discussed
Abdlhak Adnan-Ad var, O ma l T l

l m, Istanbul 1943

idem, La science chez les Turcs Ottomans, Paris 1939.

[The entry ' Jughrfiy' was originally published in print in 1963 (fascicule 30-34, pp. 575587).]
[Print Version: Volume II, page 575, column 2]