Contributions of Muslims

in Geography
SUBMITTED TO: SIR ZULQURNAIN
SUBMITTED BY: M.HAFEEZ ULLAH KHAN
Contributions of Muslim Scientists in Geography

Islamic geography began in the 8th century, influenced by Hellenistic

geography, combined with what explorers and merchants learned in
their travels across the Old World (Afro Eurasia).Muslim scholars
engaged in extensive exploration and navigation during the 9th-12th
centuries, including journeys across the Muslim World in addition to
regions such as China, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. Various
Islamic scholars contributed to the development of geography and
cartography, with the most notable including Al-Khwarizmi, Abu-Zayd al
Balkhi (founder of the "Balkhi School"), Al Masudi, Abu Reyhn
Beruni and Muhammad Al-Idreesi.
Islamic geography was patronized by the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad.
An important influence in the development of cartography was the
patronage of the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma’mun, who reigned from 813 to
833. He commissioned several geographers to re-measure the distance
on earth that corresponds to one degree of celestial meridian. Thus his
patronage resulted in the refinement of the definition of the mile used
by Arabs in comparison to the stadion used in the Hellenistic world.
These efforts also enabled Muslims to calculate the circumference of
the earth. Al-Ma’mun also commanded the production of a large map
of the world, which has not survived, though it is known that its map
projection type was based on Marinus of Tyre rather than Ptolemy.
Islamic cartographers inherited Ptolemy's Almagest and Geography in
the 9th century. These works stimulated an interest in geography but
were not slavishly followed. Instead, Arabian and Persian cartography
followed Al-Khwarizmi in adopting a rectangular projection, shifting
Ptolemy's Prime Meridian several degrees eastward, and modifying
many of Ptolemy's geographical coordinates.
Having received Greek writings directly and without Latin
intermediation, Arabian and Persian geographers made no use of T-O
maps.
In the 9th century, the Persian mathematician and geographer, Habash
al-Hasib al-Marwazi, employed spherical trigonometry and
map methods in order to convert polar coordinates to a different
coordinate system centered on a specific point on the sphere, in this
the Qibla, the direction to Mecca. Abu Reyhn Beruni (973–1048) later
developed ideas which are seen as an anticipation of the polar
coordinate system. Around 1025, he describes a polar equi-azimuthal
equidistant projection of the celestial sphere. However, this type of
projection had been used in ancient Egyptian star-maps and was not to
be fully developed until the 15 and 16th centuries.
In the early 10th century, Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, originally from Balkh,
founded the "Balkhi School" of terrestrial mapping in Baghdad. The
geographers of this school also wrote extensively of the peoples,
products, and customs of areas in the Muslim world, with little interest
in the non-Muslim realms. The "Balkhi School", which included
geographers such as Estakhri, al-Muqaddasi and Ibn Hawqal, produced
world atlases, each one featuring a world map and twenty regional
maps.
Suhrab, a late 10th-century Muslim geographer, accompanied a book of
geographical coordinates with instructions for making a rectangular
world map, with equirectangular projection or cylindrical equidistant
projection. The earliest surviving rectangular coordinate map is dated
to the 13th century and is attributed to Hamdallah al-Mustaqfi Al-
Qazwini, who based it on the work of Suhrab. The orthogonal parallel
lines were separated by one degree intervals, and the map was limited
to Southwest Asia and Central Asia. The earliest surviving world maps
based on a rectangular coordinate grid are attributed to Al-Mustawfi in
the 14th or 15th century, and to Hafiz-I Abru (died 1430).
In the 11th century, the Karakhanid Turkic scholar Mahmud al-
Kashgari was the first to draw a unique Islamic world map, where he
illuminated the cities and places of the Turkish
peoples of Central and Inner Asia. He showed the lake Issyk-Kul (in
nowadays Kyrgyzstan) as the centre of the world.
Ibn Battuta (1304–1368?) wrote "Rihlah" (Travels) based on three
decades of journeys, covering more than 120,000 km through northern
Africa, southern Europe, and much of Asia.
Muslim astronomers and geographers were aware of magnetic
declination by the 15th century, when the Egyptian astronomer 'Abd
al-'Aziz al-Wafa' (1469/1471) measured it as 7 degrees from Cairo.

Book on the appearance of the Earth

Muhammad ibn Musa Al Khwarizmi Kitab Surat al-Arḍ ("Book on the
appearance of the Earth") was completed in 833. It is a revised and
completed version of Plotemy’s Geography, consisting of a list of 2402
coordinates of cities and other geographical features following a
general introduction.

Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Mamun’s most famous geographer, corrected

Ptolemy's gross overestimate for the length of the Mediterranian
Sea (from the Canary Islands to the eastern shores of the
Mediterranean); Ptolemy overestimated it at 63 degrees of longitude,
while al-Khwarizmi almost correctly estimated it at nearly 50 degrees of
longitude. Al-Ma'mun's geographers "also depicted the Atlantic
and Indian Oceans as open bodies of water, not land-locked seas as
Ptolemy had done.
Al-Khwarizmi thus set the Prime Meridian of the Old World at the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean, 10–13 degrees to the east of
Alexandria and 70 degrees to the west of Baghdad. Most medieval
Muslim geographers continued to use al-Khwarizmi's prime
meridian. Other prime meridians used were set by Abu Muhammad Al
Hassan Al Hamdani, and Habash Al Hasib Al Marwazi at Ujjain, a centre
of Indian Astronomy and by another anonymous writer at Basra.

Al-Biruni
Abu-Reyhn Al Beruni (973–1048) gave an estimate of 6,339.6 km for the
Earth Radius, which is only 17.15 km less than the modern value of
6,356.7523142 km. In contrast to his predecessors who measured the
Earth's circumference by sighting the Sun simultaneously from two
different locations, Al-Biruni developed a new method of using
trigonometry calculations based on the angle between a plain
and mountain top which yielded more accurate measurements of the
Earth's circumference and made it possible for it to be measured by a
single person from a single location. Al-Biruni's method's motivation
was to avoid "walking across hot, dusty deserts" and the idea came to
him when he was on top of a tall mountain in India. From the top of the
mountain, he sighted the dip angle which, along with the mountain's
height, he applied to the law of sines formula. This was the earliest
known use of dip angle and the earliest practical use of the law of sines.
Around 1025, Al-Biruni was the first to describe a polar equal-azimuthal
equidistance projection of the celestial sphere.
In his Codex Masudicus (1037), Al-Biruni theorized the existence of a
landmass along the vast ocean between Asia and Europe, or what is
today known as the Americas. He deduced its existence on the basis of
his accurate estimations of the Earth’s circumference and Afr-Eurasia’s
size, which he found spanned only two-fifths of the Earth's
circumference, and his discovery of the concept of specific gravity from
which he deduced that the geological processes that gave rise to
Eurasia must've also given rise to lands in the vast ocean between Asia
and Europe. He also theorized that the landmass must be inhabited by
human beings, which he deduced from his knowledge of humans
inhabiting the broad north-south band stretching from Russia to South
India and Sub-Saharan Africa theorizing that the landmass would most
likely lie along the same band. He was the first to predict "the existence
of land to the east and west of Eurasia, which later on was discovered
to be America and Japan.

Muhammad Bin Musa Al-Khwarizmi

Al-Khwarizmi was one of the greatest mathematicians ever lived. He
was the founder of several branches and basic concepts of
mathematics. He is also famous as an astronomer and geographer. Al-
Khwarizmi influenced mathematical thought to a greater extent than
any other medieval writer. He is recognized as the founder of Algebra,
as he not only initiated the subject in a systematic form but also
developed it to the extent of giving analytical solutions of linear and
quadratic equations. The name Algebra is derived from his famous
book Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah. He developed in detail trigonometric
tables containing the sine functions, which were later extrapolated to
tangent functions. Al-Khwarizmi also developed the calculus of two
errors, which led him to the concept of differentiation. He also refined
the geometric representation of conic sections
The influence of Al-Khwarizmi on the growth of mathematics,
astronomy and geography is well established in history. His approach
was systematic and logical, and not only did he bring together the then
prevailing knowledge on various branches of science but also enriched
it through his original contributions. He synthesized Greek and Hindu
knowledge and also contained his own contribution of fundamental
importance to mathematics and science. He adopted the use of zero, a
numeral of fundamental importance, leading up to the so-called
arithmetic of positions and the decimal system. His pioneering work on
the system of numerals is well known as "Algorithm," or "Algorizm." In
addition to introducing the Arabic numerals, he developed several
arithmetical procedures, including operations on fractions.
In addition to an important treatise on Astronomy, Al-Khwarizmi wrote
a book on astronomical tables. Several of his books were translated into
Latin in the early l2th century by Adelard of Bath and Gerard of
Cremona. The treatises on Arithmetic, Kitab al-Jam'a wal-Tafreeq bil
Hisab al-Hindi, and the one on Algebra, Al-Maqala fi Hisab-al Jabr wa-
al-Muqabalah, are known only from Latin translations. It was this later
translation which introduced the new science to the West "unknown till
then." This book was used until the sixteenth century as the principal
mathematical text book of European universities. His astronomical
tables were also translated into European languages and, later, into
Chinese.
The contribution of Al-Khwarizmi to geography is also outstanding. He
not only revised Ptolemy's views on geography, but also corrected
them in detail. Seventy geographers worked under Khwarizmi's
leadership and they produced the first map of the globe (known world)
in 830 C.E. He is also reported to have collaborated in the degree
measurements ordered by khalifah (Caliph) Mamun al-Rashid were
aimed at measuring of volume and circumference of the earth. His
geography book entitled "Kitab Surat-al-Ard," including maps, was also
translated. His other contributions include original work related to
clocks, sundials and astrolabes. He also wrote Kitab al-Tarikh and Kitab
al-Rukhmat (on sundials).
Al-Masudi
Al-Masudi made an in-depth study of the Greek and Roman sources
and gathered information through travels. He sought to overcome local
and regional prejudices and visited numerous places to investigate the
geographical reality and facts for himself and for his writings. He tried
to describe the geographical reality as he saw it. Some of the major
contributions made by Al-Masudi to the various branches of geography
have been described below.

The Christians, during the Dark Age, tried to prove that the earth is flat,
triangular, and rectangular, twice as long west and east as to north and
south, which is surrounded by water on all sides

The medieval European mind, clouded with religious fanaticism, was

not prepared to accept the idea of sphericity. Al-Masudi had a clear
conception of the sphericity of the earth. He believed that the surface
of the sea is curved, since when a ship approached the land, the coast
and the objects thereon gradually become more and more visible. He
compared the merits and demerits of the earth being spherical instead
of flat, saying that had it been flat, all lands would have remained
eternally submerged under the sea.

Al-Masudi also tried to determine limits of the oceans and continents

and followed the Greek tradition, taking Japan and the Eternal Islands
as the eastern and western limits of the world, respectively. To
determine the southern limit, he navigated up to Sofala and agreed
with Al-Battani that the shape of Africa was approximately the same as
we know it today.

Expressing his opinion about the Encircling Ocean, he stated that

according to many authors the Encircling Ocean is the principal sea and
that all other seas are derived from it; in the east it is connected with
the China Sea. About the Arabian Sea, Al-Masudi considered it as the
largest in the world. Moreover, he gives details regarding the location
and size of the seven seas of the east. These seven seas were situated
between the Arab states and China.

The Arab traders who were having trade relations with China had to
cross the seven seas. The first of these seven seas was the Persian Gulf.
The names of the seven seas were as under: (i) Sea of Persia, (ii) Larevy
Sea, (iii) Sea of Herkend, (iv) Sea of Shelahet or of Kalabar, (v) Sea of
Kedrenj, (vi) Sea of Senf, and (vii) Sea of Senjy.

The Sea of Persia comprised the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Makran.
The Sea of Larevy stretched from the Delta of the Indus to the Cape
Comorin. The third sea is that of Herkend (Hari Kund or Bay of Bengal).
The Sea of Shelahet is the Sea of Malacca. The fifth sea Kedrenj or
Kerdenj is on the eastern coast of the Peninsula of Malacca in the south
of Gulf of Siam (Thailand). The sixth sea Sent corresponds to the coast
of Vietnam (Cochin, China). The seventh and the last sea was that of
Senjy, or the Sea of China which, according to Al-Masudi, stretched
indefinitely towards the north and east.
Al-Muqaddasi
The full name of our scholar is Shams al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad
b. Ahmad b. Abi Bakr al-Banna’ al-Shami al-Muqaddasi. His name Al-
Muqaddasi is also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and al-Mukaddasi. He is
the best representative of Arabic geography in the second half of the
4th/10th century.

The events of his life story, which are not well known, are only available
to us through his main book, the famous Ahsan at-taqasim fi ma’rifat
al-aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions). He lived in
the 10th century. Very much attached to the Palestine of his birth and
to the town whose name he bears (Muqaddasi or Maqdisi, from Al-
Quds or Bayt al-Maqdis, Jerusalem), he probably belonged to a middle-
class family. His paternal grandfather, Abu Bakr, an architect and/or
builder, has his claim to fame for having built, on the orders of Ibn
Tulun, the maritime defences of Acre. His mother’s family came
originally from Biyar, a small town of Khurasan. The author’s maternal
grandfather, being himself an expert in the art of construction,
immigrated to Jerusalem.

Al-Muqaddasi’s intellectual life began early, around his twentieth year,

when he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. He determined then to
devote himself to the study of geography. For the purpose of acquiring
the necessary information, he undertook a series of journeys which
lasted over a score of years, and carried him in turn through all the
countries of Islam. In 985 CE that he set out to write his book Ahsan at-
taqasim fi ma’arifat al-aqalim, which gives us a systematic account of
all the places and regions he visited. The book was translated into
several languages. A good summary of it is given by Kramers, and
extracts can be found in Dunlop’s classical book.

Ahsan a-Taqasim fi Ma’rifat al-Aqalim is the outcome of the journeys

undertaken by the author over two decades, and which took him in
turn through all the countries of Islam. The book came out as a detailed
report and a systematic account of all the places and regions he had
visited. Setting out from Jerusalem, Al-Muqaddasi visited nearly every
part of the Muslim world.

In Ahsan al-taqasim, Al-Muqaddasi gives an overall view of the lands he

visited, and gives the approximate distances from one frontier to the
other. Al-Muqaddasi divides the Islamic world in 14 “Iqlim-s” (climes or
regions) [22]; then, he deals with each region separately. The book is
divided in two parts. The first enumerates localities and provides
adequate descriptions of each, especially the main urban centres. He
then proceeds, in the second part, to other subjects: population, its
ethnic diversity, social groups, commerce, natural and mineral
resources, archaeological monuments, currencies, markets and
weights, and the political situation. This approach is in contrast to that
of his predecessors, whose focus was much narrower, whilst Al-
Muqaddasi wanted to encompass aspects of interest to merchants,
travelers, and people of culture.[23] Thus, departing from the usual
traditional geography’, Al-Muqaddasi’s approach seeks to understand
and explain the foundations of Islamic society and it’s very functioning.
Out of this, excellent information may be gleaned, regarding many
subjects such as water management, fiscal issues and finance, weights
and measures, and city and urban developments.

Al-Bakri
Al-Bakri wrote about Europe, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Only two of his works have survived. His Mu'jam ma ista'jam contains a
list of place names mostly within the Arabian Peninsula with an
introduction giving the geographical background. His most important
work is his Kitab al-Masalik wa-al-Mamalik ("Book of Highways and of
Kingdoms"). This was composed in 1068, based on literature and the
reports of merchants and travellers, including Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-
Warraq (904-973) and Abraham ben Jacob. It is one of the most
important sources for the history of West Africa and gives crucial
information on the Ghana Empire, the Almoravid dynasty and the Trans
Saharan trade. Although the material borrowed from Yusuf al-Warraq
dated from the 10th century, he also included information on events
that occurred close to the time that he wrote.
Al-Bakri mentions the earliest urban centers in the Trans Saharan
trade to embrace Islam, late in the 10th century, GAO was one of the
very few along the Niger River to have native Muslim inhabitants. Other
centres along the serpentine bends of the great river eventually
followed: Takrur (Senegal); Songhay (Mali); Kanem-Bornu (Chad); and
Hausa-territories (Nigeria). By the 11th century, reports on these and
other flourishing Islamic cities made their way north to Al-Andalus in
southern Iberia, enabling Al-Bakri to write in his Kitab al-Masalik WA al-
Mamalik (Book of Highways and Kingdoms):
"The city of Ghana consists of two towns situated on a plain", "One of
these towns, which is inhabited by Muslims, is large and possesses
twelve mosques in one of which they assemble for the Friday prayer.
There are salaried Imams and Muezzins, as well as Jurists and Scholars."
His works are noted for the relative objectiveness with which they
present information. For each area, he describes the people, their
customs, as well as the geography, climate and main cities. Similar
information was also contained in his written geography of the Arabian
Peninsula, and in the encyclopedia of the world in which he wrote. He
also presented various anecdotes about each area. Unfortunately, parts
of his main work have been lost, and of the surviving parts, some have
never been published.
Compass
Earliest reference to a compass the Muslim World occurs in a Persian
tale book from 1232, where a compass is used for navigation during a
trip in the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. The fish-shaped iron leaf
described indicates that this early Chinese design has spread outside of
China. The earliest Arabic reference to a compass, in the form of
magnetic needle in a bowl of water, comes from a work by Baylak al-
Qibjaqi, written in 1282 while in Cairo. Al-Qibjaqi described a needle-
and-bowl compass used for navigation on a voyage he took from Syria
to Alexandria in 1242.
Since the author describes having witnessed the use of a compass on a
ship trip some forty years earlier, some scholars are inclined to
antedate its first appearance in the Arab Worls accordingly. Al-Qibjaqi
also reports that sailors in the Indian Ocean used iron fish instead of
needle.
Late in the 13th century, the Yemini Sultan and astronomer Al-Malik Al-
Ashraf described the use of the compass as a "Qibla indicator" to find
the direction to Mecca. In a treatise about astrolabels and sundials al-
Ashraf includes several paragraphs on the construction of a compass
bowl. He then uses the compass to determine the north point,
the meridian (khaṭṭ niṣf al-nahar), and the Qibla.
This is the first mention of a compass in a medieval Islamic scientific
text and its earliest known use as a Qibla indicator, although al-Ashraf
did not claim to be the first to use it for this purpose.
In 1300, an Arabic treatise written by the Egyptian astronomer
and muezzin Ibn Sim’un describes a dry compass used for determining
qibla. Like Peregrinus' compass, however, Ibn Sim’un's compass did not
feature a compass card. In the 14th century, the Syrian astronomer and
timekeeper Ibn-al Shatir (1304–1375) invented a timekeeping device
incorporating both a universal sundial and a magnetic compass. He
invented it for the purpose of finding the times of prayers. Arab
Navigators also introduced the 32-point compass-rose during this time.
In 1399, an Egyptian reports two different kinds of magnetic compass.
One instrument is a “fish” made of willow wood or pumpkin, into which
a magnetic needle is inserted and sealed with tar or wax to prevent the
penetration of water. The other instrument is a dry compass.
In the 15th century, the description given by Ibn Majid while aligning
the compass with the pole star indicates that he was aware of magnetic
declination. An explicit value for the declination is given by “Izz al-Din
al-Wafa’I”.
Pre modern Arabic sources refer to the compass using the term ṭasa for
the floating compass, or alat al-qiblah ("qibla instrument") for a device
used for orienting towards Mecca.
Friedrich Hirth suggested that Arab and Persian traders, who learned
about the polarity of the magnetic needle from the Chinese, applied the
compass for navigation before the Chinese did.
However, Needham described this theory as "erroneous" and "it
originates because of a mistranslation" of the term found in Zhu Yu’s
book Pingchow Table Talks.
Quranic Verses Reference
“Have they not travelled in the earth and seen how was the end of
those before them? They were stronger than these in powers...” (30:9)

“Indeed there have been examples before you; Therefore travel in the
earth...” (3:136)

“...Therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the
rejecters.” (16:36)
“Say: Travel in the earth, then see how was the end of the guilty.”
(27:69)

“But we will this day deliver you with your body that you may be a sign
to those after you, and most surely the majority of the people are
heedless of our communications.” (10:92)

"(God) is the One who made the earth a couch for you and the
heavens an edifice, and sent down water from the sky. He brought
forth therewith fruits for your sustenance. Do not join equals with
God when you know." (2:22)

"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth,

In the disparity of night and day,
In the ship which runs upon the sea for the profit of mankind,
In the water which God sent down from the sky thereby reviving the
earth after its death,
In the beasts of all kinds He scatters therein,
In the change of the winds and the subjected clouds between the sky
and earth,
Here are Signs for people who are wise." (2:164)

"(God is) the One Who made the earth docile to you. So walk upon
its shoulders! Eat of His sustenance! Unto Him will be the
Resurrection." (67:15)

"After that (God) spread the earth out. Therefrom He drew out its
water and its pasture. And the mountains He has firmly fixed. Goods
for you and for your cattle." (79:30-33)

"We sent down water from the sky in measure and lodged it in the
ground. And We certainly are able to withdraw it. Therewith for you
We gave rise to gardens of palm-trees and vineyards where for you are
abundant fruits and of them you eat." (23:18, 19)

"We sent forth the winds that fecundate. We cause the water to
descend from the sky. We provide you with the water-you (could) not
be the guardians of its reserves." (15:22)

"God is the One Who sends forth the winds which raised up the clouds.
We drive them to a dead land. Therewith We revive the ground after its
death. So will be the Resurrection." (35:9)

"God is the One Who sends forth the winds which raised up the clouds.
He spreads them in the sky as He wills and breaks them into fragments.
Then thou seest raindrops issuing from within them. He makes them
reach such of His servants as He wills. And they are rejoicing." (30:48)

"(God) is the One Who sends forth the winds like heralds of His Mercy.
When they have carried the heavy-laden clouds, We drive them to a
dead land. Then We cause water to descend and thereby bring forth
fruits of every kind. Thus We will bring forth the dead. Maybe you will
remember." (7:57)

"(God) is the One Who sends forth the winds like heralds of His Mercy.
We cause pure water to descend in order to revive a dead land with it
and to supply with drink the multitude of cattle and human beings We
have created." (25:48, 49)

Notable Geographers
 Al-Khwarizmi (Algoritmi, 780-850)
 Al-Kindi (Alkindus, 801-873)
 Ya'qubi (died 897)
 Ibn Khordadbeh (820-912)
 Al-Dinawari (820-898)
 Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi (850-934)
 Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad (fl. 889)
 Hamdani (893-945)
 Ali al-Masudi (896-956)
 Ibn al-Faqih (10th century)
 Ahmad ibn Fadlan (10th century)
 Ahmad ibn Rustah (10th century)
 Al-Muqaddasi (945-1000)
 Ibn Hawqal (died after 977)
 Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen, 965-1039)
 Abu Rayhan Biruni (973-1048)
 Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037)
 Abu Said Gardezi (died 1061)
 Abu Abdullah al-Bakri (1014–1094)
 Muhammad al-Idrisi (Dreses, 1100–1165)
 Ibn Rushd (Averroes, 1126–1198)
 Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217)
 Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229)
 Abu al-Fida (Abulfeda, 1273–1331)
 Hamdollah Mostowfi (1281–1349)
 Ibn al-Wardi (1291-1348)
 Ibn Battuta (1304-1370s)
 Ahmad Bin Majid (born 1432)
 Mahmud al-Kashgari (1005–1102)
 Piri Reis (1465–1554)
 Amin Razi (16th century)