A History of Arab-Islamic Geography (9th-16th Century AD) By Sayyid Maqbool Ahmad. Amman: Al Ahl-Bayt University, 1995,454 pp. with maps, index, and bibliography.

Abstract

“Everything you ever wanted to know about the Arab-Islamic contribution to
geography (but have had no time to learn up to now),” aptly describes Sayyid
Maqbool Ahmad‘s A History of Arab-Islamic Geography, which is a description
of the Arab-Islamic contribution to geography between the sixth and nineth centuries.
To the uninitiated reader, the book may seem like a spider’s web; there is
a guiding thread to follow, but that thread is hard to find and easy to lose.
Barring language difficulty and the insipid organization of the text, the book is
monumental. It clarifies a number of misconceptions and provides authentic
details about Arab-Islamic geography.
The book is based on over 50 years of painstaking research of Arabic
palimpsests and chronicles and their translations into English and other
European languages. It was the late Professor Hamilton Gibb of St. Johns
College (Oxford University), a shining light among Western Orientalists, who
asked Ahmad in 1945 for research on the subject. Following his mentor, Ahmad
has done a remarkable job of distilling much of the chaotic and contentious matters
relating to Arab-Islamic geography. Never before has anyone attempted to
provide detailed “basic data” on Arab-Islamic geography. Contrary to what
many Western Orientalists believe, the Arabs-in addition to being inheritors
and preservers of Greek, Indian, and Persian knowledge-made significant contributions
to geography. It was partly the contribution of Nasir al-Din Tusi
(astronomy), al-Battani (astronomy), Mohammed Musa al-Khwarizmi (mathematics),
Ibn al-Haytham (optics), Abul-Rayhan al-Biruni (astronomy, physics),
Ibn Sina (medicine), Al-Jazari (mechanics), Al-Sharif al-Idrisi (geography), Al-
Masudi (geography), Ibn al-Nafis (blood circulation), Ibn Majid (magnetic compass),
and others to science and technology.that motivated the Industrial
Revolution of Europe.
The book is organized into two parts and twenty-two chapters to present the
vast literature by subject and chronological order. Part I of the book has three
sections and nine chapters, which discuss the origins of scientific geography,
astronomical and philosophical literature, reports of the explorers and Arab
embassies, and regional discussions. These chapters are conclusive that Arab-
Islamic scientific geography began with Al-Ma’mun (813-833 AD), who established
the first academy, known as Bayt al-Hikmu (the House of Wisdom). As a
result, in Baghdad after the middle of the ninth century, general and descriptive
geographical works began appearing. Included in this section are also chapters
on the Iraqi and Balkhi school of geography. Chapters 10 through 15 discuss the
important regional, philosophical, and astronomical geography works which
appeared in Baghdad. lbn Khurdadbih was the fit writer on the subject and
hence can be called the father of Arab-Islamic geography. His Kirub ul-Musalik
wu ul-Mumulik (Book of Roads and Kingdoms) is a classic.
Two appendices, one concerning the Waqwaq Islands and the other concerning
Modification of Ptolemy’s Geography by Al-Idrisi, are the most revealing
parts of the book because the location of the Waqwaq Islands and Al-Idrisi’s
modification of Ptolemy’s map have long baffled Orientalists. Waqwaq Islands
(ul-Juzur al-Wuqwuq) were fit mentioned in Ibn Khurdashbih’s Kitab ul-
Musulik wu a1 -Mamulik. Appendix 2, Al-Idris’s modification of Ptolemy’s map, ...