Geography and cartography in medieval Islam

Geography and cartography in medieval Islam
The world map of Al-Idrisi (12th century)
This map of the Indian Ocean and the China Sea was engraved in 1728 by the Hungarian-born Ottoman cartographer and publisher Ibrahim Müteferrika; it is one of a series that illustrated Katip Çelebi’s Cihannuma (Universal Geography), the first printed book of maps and drawings to appear in the Islamic world.

Geography and cartography in medieval Islam refers to the advancement of geography, cartography and the earth sciences in the medieval Islamic civilization.

After its beginnings in the 8th century based on Hellenistic geography,[1] Islamic geography was patronized by the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Various Islamic scholars contributed to its development, and the most notable include Al-Khwārizmī, Abū Zayd al-Balkhī (founder of the 'Balkhī school') and Abu Rayhan Biruni. Muslim geography reached its apex with Muhammad al-Idrisi in the 12th century. Later developments took place under Turks, particularly under the Ottoman Empire, with notable scholars such as Mahmud al-Kashgari and Piri Reis.

Contents

Impetus

Previous learning

Islamic cartographers inherited Ptolemy's Almagest and Geographia in the 9th century which is said to have stimulated an interest in geography and map-making, however, they made almost no direct use of the latter in map-making.[2] The way in which earlier knowledge reached Muslim scholars is crucial. For example, since Muslims inherited Greek writings directly without the influence of the Latin west, T-O maps play no role in Islamic cartography though popular in the European counterpart.[2] Muslim scientists then made many of their own contributions to geography and the earth sciences.

See also

Notes and references

Notes
Citations
  1. ^ Gerald R. Tibbetts, The Beginnings of a Cartographic Tradition, in: John Brian Harley, David Woodward: Cartography in the Traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies, Chicago, 1992, pp. 90-107 (97-100), ISBN 0-226-31635-1
  2. ^ a b Edson & Savage-Smith 2004, pp. 61–63.
Bibliography
  • Alavi, S. M. Ziauddin (1965), Arab geography in the ninth and tenth centuries, Aligarh: Aligarh University Press
  • Edson, Evelyn; Savage-Smith, Emilie (2004). Savage-Smith, Emilie. ed. Medieval Views of the Cosmos. Oxford: Bodleian Library. ISBN 9781851241842. 
  • King, David A. (1983), "The Astronomy of the Mamluks", Isis 74 (4): 531–555, doi:10.1086/353360 
  • King, David A. (2002), "A Vetustissimus Arabic Text on the Quadrans Vetus", Journal for the History of Astronomy 33: 237–255 
  • King, David A. (December 2003), "14th-Century England or 9th-Century Baghdad? New Insights on the Elusive Astronomical Instrument Called Navicula de Venetiis", Centaurus 45 (1-4): 204–226, doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.2003.450117.x 
  • King, David A. (2005), In Synchrony with the Heavens, Studies in Astronomical Timekeeping and Instrumentation in Medieval Islamic Civilization: Instruments of Mass Calculation, Brill Publishers, ISBN 900414188X 
  • McGrail, Sean (2004), Boats of the World, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199271860 
  • Mott, Lawrence V. (May 1991), The Development of the Rudder, A.D. 100-1337: A Technological Tale, Thesis, Texas A&M University
  • Rashed, Roshdi; Morelon, Régis (1996), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, 1 & 3, Routledge, ISBN 0415124107 
  • Sezgin, Fuat (2000) (in German), Geschichte Des Arabischen Schrifttums X–XII: Mathematische Geographie und Kartographie im Islam und ihr Fortleben im Abendland, Historische Darstellung, Teil 1–3, Frankfurt am Main 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam — Alchemy and chemistry in Islam refers to the study of both traditional alchemy and early practical chemistry (the early chemical investigation of nature in general) by scholars in the medieval Islamic world. The word alchemy was derived from the… …   Wikipedia

  • Geography in medieval Islam — Islamic geography includes the advancement of geography, cartography and earth sciences under various Islamic civilizations. During the medieval ages, Islamic geography was driven by a number of factors: the Islamic Golden Age, parallel… …   Wikipedia

  • Science in medieval Islam — In the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science developed under the Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries, during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age. [cite journal|first=A. I.|last=Sabra|authorlink=A. I.… …   Wikipedia

  • Astronomy in medieval Islam — An 18th century Persian Astrolabe, kept at The Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge, England. Islamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the… …   Wikipedia

  • Cosmology in medieval Islam — Islamic cosmology refers to cosmology in Islamic societies. It is mainly derived from the Qur an, Hadith, Sunnah, and current Islamic as well as other pre Islamic sources. The Qur an itself mentions seven heavens[1] and a vast universe sustained… …   Wikipedia

  • Physics in medieval Islam — is the development of physics in the medieval Islamic world in the history of physics. In the course of the expansion of the Islamic world, Muslim scholars encountered the science, mathematics, and medicine of antiquity through the works of… …   Wikipedia

  • Science in the medieval Islamic world — This article is about the history of science in the Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries. For information on science in the context of Islam, see Islam and science …   Wikipedia

  • Cartography of India — The cartography of India begins with early charts for navigation[1] and constructional plans for buildings.[2] Indian traditions influenced Tibetan[3] and Islamic traditions,[4] and in turn, were influenced by the British cartographers who… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of Islamic science and engineering — This timeline of Islamic science and engineering covers the general development of science and technology in the Islamic world during the Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the 7th to 16th centuries.From the 17th century onwards, the advances …   Wikipedia

  • History of cartography — The Fra Mauro map, one of the greatest memorial of medieval cartography, was made around 1450 by the Venetian monk Fra Mauro. It is a circular world map drawn on parchment and set in a wooden frame, about two meters in diameter Cartography (from… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”