The nautical atlases of 'Alī al-Sharafī (original) (raw)

The 1413–14 sea chart of Aḥmad al‐Ṭanjī

“The 1413–14 sea chart of Aḥmad al‐Ṭanjī”, in E. Calvo, M. Comes, R. Puig and M. Rius (eds.), A Shared Legacy: Islamic Science East and West. Homage to Prof. J. M. Millàs Vallicrosa, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2008, pp. 283–307.

Early Islamic Maritime Technology

In the ancient and medieval world, watercraft were amongst the most complex items produced by society, often requiring significant levels of investment to build and subsequently maintain. Changes to maritime technology have the potential to inform us about changes to the wider society in which such technology was created and used. This paper explores the extent to which the Arab conquest of the south-eastern Mediterranean in the 7th century AD led to rapid changes in the existing traditions of maritime technology in that region.

In God’s Eyes: The Sacrality of the Seas in the Islamic Cartographic Vision · A través de los ojos de Dios: la sacralidad de los mares en la visión cartográfica islámica

Espacio, Tiempo y Forma Serie VII Historia del Arte, 2017

In keeping with the theme of Treasures of the Sea, this article focuses on the sacrality embedded in the depiction of the seas in the medieval Islamic KMMS mapping tradition. Teasing apart the depictions, this article analyses the sacred dimensions of the five seas that make up the classical KMMS image of the world: Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ (the Encircling Ocean), the Baḥr Fāris (Persian Gulf-Indian Ocean-Red Sea), Baḥr al-Rūm (the Mediterranean), Baḥr al-Khazar (Caspian Sea),and Buḥayrat Khwārizm (Aral Sea). Keywords Islamic cartography; History of Cartography; Illuminated manuscript; Encircling Ocean; Mediterranean; Indian Ocean; Persian Gulf; Sacred Relics of Prophet Muhammad. https://tinyurl.com/Sacral-Seas

“The Maghrib’s Mariners and Sea Maps: The Muqaddimah as a Primary Source” Journal of Historical Sociology (special issue on Ibn Khaldoun), vol. 30, no. 1 (March) 2017: 43-56.

Ibn Khaldoun Muqaddimah's richness includes an interesting insight into an issue rarely discussed in the classical sources, that is pre‐ modern Muslim mariners ‐ notably those who are active in the Western Mediterranean. This field has been carried out by actors who are rarely concerned with writing down their expertise. The practice is not usually depicted in the realm of the elite. Yet Ibn Khaldoun took the time to discuss the life of these practioners, which contributed to the heart of his methodology, and helped build his theoretical views. It also gives us concrete information that supports the scattered cartographic and textual sources depicting the important role of the Maghribi medieval mariners in shaping Islamic maritime knowledge.

Al-Muqaddasī's tenth-century maritime landscapes of the Arabian Red Sea

The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World , 2021

The Arabian Red Sea coast, lying at a crossroads between Africa and Asia, was known as a commercial hub for the trade of frankincense, gold and slaves in Antiquity, after which it emerged under the Romans and the Ptolemies (3rd c BCE to 3rd c CE) as an important focal point for the India trade; it continued to do so in Medieval Islam and for many centuries thereafter, serving as a pilgrim-trade route until the last days of sail. Historical Greek, Latin and Arabic texts are our primary sources, the underlying structure for our understanding of the past; however, other benefits are resourced here: from archaeological finds and oral history which I describe as the surface structure for interpreting the texts, enabling a wider view of what was described by the classical and medieval authors. Social scientists today may be cognizant of the Greek and Latin texts dealing with the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean but less familiar with Islamic texts and so largely unaware of their importance in understanding Late Antiquity and what they offer to researchers studying the maritime landscapes of Early Medieval Islam. As a model for studying these maritime landscapes in coordination with archaeological investigation and oral history, I have chosen al-Muqaddasī (d. after 378/988), a geographer-traveller whose work is considered to be the foundation of physical and human geography, not only for its content but for the systematic inquiry which he applied when recording details of the land and sea.

Indian Ocean navigation in Islamic sources 850-1560 CE

History Compass, 2018

Oceanic histories have become increasingly popular in the last few decades, as maritime-based approaches to historical inquiry, often referred to as a "new thalassology," gain prominence. Indian Ocean studies in particular have flourished as a result of this trend. However, the study of Indian Ocean navigation has not received the same level of academic attention. This paper briefly reviews the historical and historiographical development of Indian Ocean navigation and argues that although significant work-based largely on Arabic manuscripts sources-was conducted in the twentieth century, the field has become somewhat stagnant. It concludes with recommendations for future research that could further enhance our understanding of Indian Ocean navigation and enrich the broader field of Indian Ocean studies. 1 | INTRODUCTION There has been considerable historiographical focus on the oceanic expansion of Europeans, particularly into the Atlantic, and on the development of sustained trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The "Age of Discovery" has captured the popular historical imagination for over a century and celebrated the exploits of Prince Henry the Navigator, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan. This narrative has asserted considerable influence on the study of maritime navigation and focused scholarly attention primarily on European navigational developments. Consequently, the importance of the Indian Ocean only emerges when Vasco da Gama enters its waters in 1498, and connects it to the global maritime trade routes first established and maintained by Europeans. With the rise in popularity of "world history" in the last three decades, however, there has been a corresponding "thalassological turn," as historians have worked to provide a more global examination of maritime activities that extends beyond the dominant Eurocentric narrative. Ocean-based histories have become particularly prominent, creating networks of scholars devoted to historical oceanic "worlds," such as the Atlantic World, or the Pacific World, to counter the perceived limitations of traditional, land-based regional studies (Vink, 2007). This has led to corrective

A New Arabic Nautical Manuscript in Lisbon

Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin, 2021

A previously unstudied Arabic nautical autograph manuscript has been recently brought to light in Lisbon. An early nineteenth-century bundle including at least three distinct works in almost one hundred leaves, it contains stellar route bearings and coastal descriptions, extensive astronomical, geographical, and traverse tables, in addition to a number of Islamic ethical sections and Sufi prayers. While the textual tradition remains inconclusive, authorship rests partly with an ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Ṣūr. The main physical and textual features are given here to lay the ground for further study.