Muhammad al-Idrisi Totally Explained

Everything about Muhammad Al-idrisi totally explained

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani (Arabic أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي; Latin: Dreses) (born 1100 - died 1165 or 1166) was an Arab cartographer, geographer and traveller who lived in Sicily, at the court of King Roger II. Muhammed al-Idrisi was born in tne North African city of Ceuta then belonging to the Almoravid Empire (nowadays Ceuta, Spain) and died in Sicily, or maybe in Sabtah. Al Idrisi was a descendent of the Idrisid rulers of Morocco, who in turn were descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Al-Idrisi travelled widely to France, Spain, Protugal, and even England. In Palermo, at the court of Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily, he enjoyed exalted status mainly because of the accuracy of 70 maps which he produced charting previously undocumented territories. He plotted the entire continents of Europe and Asia and Africa, north of the Equator two centuries before Marco Polo. He was so remarkable that he was nicknamed the strobe of the Arabs. He described continents joined at Suez and identified mountain ranges including the Mountains of the Moon, The source of the Nile in present day Uganda. Apart from the distinguished geographers and mapmakers, the professional Muslim tourists immensely contributed their knowledge by providing detailed accounts of their travels.

Chief Work and Achievement

As Scott notes, the incomplete work of the Greek Ptolemy had for centuries been the only recognized authority; the configuration of the earth's surface, its climates, the locations of continents and seas, of cities and empires, were facts little known, even to persons of the best education; and in Christian lands the Church assiduously discouraged all such studies as inimical to Scriptural revelation. Thus, Roger, says Al-Idrisi, became determined to compile a Universal geography based on the account of practical men. Based in Palermo, Al-Idrisi was obviously in a very advantageous position for carrying out all this work, as Sicily was the rendez vous of navigators from the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Northern waters. The work was to take al-Idrisi fifteen years to complete as he says in his preface. To do this, men experienced in travel were called in or made welcome from all parts, their accounts were compared, those that agreed were accepted and the others were rejected; while older written accounts were also evidently made use of. After fifteen years of this sifting of evidence, `during which time there didn't pass a day,’ says Idrisi in his preface, `When the king didn't take active part in the work,’ al-Idrisi completed the work. It included all available knowledge transcribed upon a large silver map and in a volume of descriptive text in Arabic, a project which was completed in 1154, called Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi 'khtirak al- afaq (A recreation for the person who longs to traverse the horizons), or Roger's Book. Roger's book is the most elaborate description of the world of medieval times. `Judging by the level of knowledge and the concept of critical research of his time,' Ronart writes, `Idrisi's Rogerian Book must have ranked among the most prominent achievements in the history of geographical science.' After a brief description of the earth as a globe, which he computed to be 22,900 miles in circumference and judged to remain `stable in space like the yolk of an egg,’ and of the hemispheres, climates, seas and gulfs, Al-Idrisi launches out on a lengthy account of the region’s of the earth surface. He divides the seven main climata, each in ten longitudinal sections. These seventy sections he describes in detail, illustrating each description with a map. When put together these maps constitute a rectangular world map. His description of each of his divisions is of exceptional merit when compared with the Christian, which is due, amongst others to the vast amount of detail and his scientific method. The compilation of Al-Idrisi marks an era in the history of science, in vividness of description, in accuracy of detail, in correct estimation of distance, it's one of the most remarkable literary productions of mediaeval times. Not only is its historical information most interesting and valuable, but its descriptions of many parts of the earth are still authoritative. For three centuries geographers copied his maps without alteration. The relative position of the lakes which form the Nile, as delineated in his work, doesn't differ greatly from that established by Baker and Stanley more than seven hundred years afterwards, and their number is the same. A map was prepared and finally transported on to a huge planisphere of silver (divided up into segments, according to Amari). This map makes a representation of the known world in the form of a disk, "weighing 400 rumi pounds, each pound worth 112 dirhams." The celestial planisphere was nearly six feet in diameter, upon the one side the zodiac and the constellations, upon the other-divided for convenience into segments-the bodies of land and water, with the respective situations of the various countries, were engraved. This included the world seas, rivers, gulfs, mountains, deserts, roads, and numerous other features. A description was also written of the countries figured on the planisphere, their physical features, their products, various kinds of buildings, monuments and the arts that flourished; their exports and imports; the climate and characteristics of the inhabitants, their nature, religion, ornaments, dress, and language. This planisphere, Dunlop notes, surely has been lost, melted down, but the book still stood as `a great monument of Arabic and Muslim geography.
   On the work of al-Idrisi, Scott commented:
   ` The compilation of Edrisi marks an era in the history of science. Not only is its historical information most interesting and valuable, but its descriptions of many parts of the earth are still authoritative. For three centuries geographers copied his maps without alteration. The relative position of the lakes which form the Nile, as delineated in his work, doesn't differ greatly from that established by Baker and Stanley more than seven hundred years afterwards, and their number is the same. The mechanical genius of the author wasn't inferior to his erudition. The celestial and terrestrial planisphere of silver which he constructed for his royal patron was nearly six feet in diameter, and weighed four hundred and fifty pounds; upon the one side the zodiac and the constellations, upon the other-divided for convenience into segments-the bodies of land and water, with the respective situations of the various countries, were engraved. As a recompense for his skill, Edrisi received [areward] from King Roger… amounting to a hundred thousand pieces of silver, and a ship laden with valuable merchandise. Such was the munificence with which the son of a Norman freebooter, bred to arms and rapine and ignorant of letters, rewarded the genius of a scholar whose race was stigmatized by every Christian power in Europe as barbarian and infidel”.’

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