Islamic world History of geography

in latter 7th century, adherents of new religion of islam surged northward out of arabia taking on lands in jews, byzantine christians , persian zoroastrians had been established centuries. there, preserved in monasteries , libraries, discovered greek classics included great works of geography egyptian ptolemy s almagest , geography, along geographical wisdom of chinese , great accomplishments of roman empire. arabs, spoke arabic, employed christians , jews translate these , many other manuscripts arabic.

the primary geographical scholarship of era occurred in persia, today’s iran, in great learning center house of wisdom @ baghdad, today s iraq. caliphs did not follow orthodoxy , encouraged scholarship. under rule, native non-arabs served mawali or dhimmi, , geographers in period syrian (byzantine) or persian, i.e. of either zoroastrian or christian background.

persians wrote on geography or created maps during middle ages included:

jābir ibn hayyān (geber or jabir) (721– c. 815) wrote extensively on many subjects, expanded on wisdom of greek classics , engaged in experimentation in natural science. unclear whether persian or syrian.
al-khwārizmī (780–850) wrote image of earth (kitab surat al-ard), in used geography (ptolemy) of ptolemy improved upon values mediterranean sea, asia, , africa.
ibn khurdadhbih (820–912) authored book of administrative geography book of routes , provinces (kitab al-masalik wa’l-mamalik), earliest surviving arabic work of kind. made first quadratic scheme map of 4 sectors.
sohrab or sorkhab (died 930) wrote marvels of 7 climes end of habitation describing , illustrating rectangular grid of latitude , longitude produce world map.
al-balkhi (850–934) founded balkhī school of terrestrial mapping in baghdad.
al-istakhri (died 957) compiled book of routes of states, (kitab masalik al-mamalik) personal observations , literary sources
al-biruni (973–1052) described polar equi-azimuthal equidistant projection of celestial sphere.
abu nasr mansur (960–1036) known work spherical sine law. wrote book of azimuths no longer extant.
avicenna (980–1037) wrote on earth sciences in book of healing.
ibn al-faqih (10th century) wrote concise book of lands (mukhtasar kitab al-buldan).
ibn rustah (10th century) wrote geographical compendium known book of precious records.

further details of these given below:

in 10th century, abū zayd al-balkhī, persian balkh, founded balkhī school of terrestrial mapping in baghdad. geographers of school wrote extensively of peoples, products, , customs of areas in muslim world, little interest in non-muslim realms. suhrāb, late 10th-century persian geographer, accompanied book of geographical coordinates instructions making rectangular world map, equirectangular projection or cylindrical equidistant projection. in 11th century, avicenna hypothesized on geological causes of mountains in book of healing (1027).

the tabula rogeriana, drawn al-idrisi roger ii of sicily in 1154. note in original map, north @ bottom , south @ top, in contrast modern cartographic conventions.

in mathematical geography, persian abū rayhān al-bīrūnī, around 1025, first describe polar equi-azimuthal equidistant projection of celestial sphere. regarded skilled when came mapping cities , measuring distances between them, did many cities in middle east , western indian subcontinent. combined astronomical readings , mathematical equations record degrees of latitude , longitude , measure heights of mountains , depths of valleys, recorded in chronology of ancient nations. discussed human geography , planetary habitability of earth, suggesting quarter of earth s surface habitable humans. solved complex geodesic equation in order accurately compute earth s circumference. estimate of 6,339.9 km earth radius 16.8 km less modern value of 6,356.7 km.

by 12th century normans had overthrown arabs in sicily. palermo had become crossroads travelers , traders many nations , norman king roger ii, having great interest in geography, commissioned creation of book , map compile wealth of geographical information. researchers sent out , collection of data took 15 years. al-idrisi, 1 of few arabs had ever been france , england spain, central asia , constantinople, employed create book mass of data. utilizing information inherited classical geographers, created 1 of accurate maps of world date, tabula rogeriana (1154). map, written in arabic, shows eurasian continent in entirety , northern part of africa.

an adherent of environmental determinism medieval afro-arab writer al-jahiz (776–869), explained how environment can determine physical characteristics of inhabitants of community. used theory of evolution explain origins of different human skin colors, particularly black skin, believed result of environment. cited stony region of black basalt in northern najd evidence theory.