rasadkhaneh, maragheh sayili

THE OBSERVATORY

IN ISLAMAND ITS PLACE IN THE GENERAL HISTORY

OF THE OBSERVATORY

BY

AYDIN SAYILI, PH. D.

PROFESSOR ORDINARIUS, CHAIRMAN OF THE DIVISION OF THE HISTORY

OF SCIENCE, FACULTY OF LETTERS, ANKARA UNIVERSITY

TURK TARIH KURUMU BASIMEVI, ANKARA -1960

188 THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM

truments such as celestial globes ((Mat at kursi), armillary sphere,

complete (tam) and nisfi (half) astrolabs, and shuà` which were

found there.' In one of the manuscripts of this book, "parallac-tic ruler" is recorded on the margin instead of the last namedinstruments, i. e., shu`d`. 2 The armillary sphere and parallactic ruler

were among observatory instruments. It is to be wondered there-fore if one would be justified to speak of an Alamilt Observa-tory as has been done on at least two occasions, viz., by Lenor-

mant and Barthold.3

Our sources do not seem to contain any specific statement

concerning the existence of an observatory at Alamut. Moreover,there is no reference to a program of observation or to any groupof astronomers working there, and nor is there any knowledge

of astronomical tables prepared at Alamut. I have followed Le-normant and Barthold, however, and tentatively included Ala-mut here as possibly the scene of a minor observatory. For in

addition to the existence of astronomical instruments there, anoutstanding astronomer, Nasir al Din al Tusi, was at Alamilt

at the time.

According to certain sources,' Nasir al Din was an unwillingguest at that stronghold, but this may not be relevant to our

topic. He was about fifty five years old when Alamut fell to Hu-

legu and had already achieved great fame. In fact, as we shallpresently see, his name is said to have been suggested, in China,to the emperor Mangu Khan (1248-1257), Hulagu's brother,

who wished to found a large observatory probably in Peking orin his capital Qaraqurum, as the best person to direct the execu-

tion of that project.

' Juwayni, vol. 3, pp. 269-270, 214, 186.x Juwayni, vol. 3, p. 270, note.

• Lenormant, part 2, pp. 144.145; Barthold, 1912, p. 256.

' Wassaf, ed. Hammer, p. 58. Mirkhond also makes such a statement

(see, Carra de Vaux, vol. 2. p. 223).

THE MARAGHA OBSERVATORY

BACKGROUND AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION —One of the most important observatories of Islam, and probably

the most important of them all, was built shortly after the middleof the thirteenth century in Maragha, a city of Adharbayjan to

the south of Tabriz. The observatory was built outside of thecity; its foundations are still extant. As just mentioned, certainsources report that the initial incentive for the foundation ofthis institution came from Hulegu ' s brother, Mangu.

Mangu and his successors were generally good patrons of

science and learning. Two important madrasas of Bukhara wereprobably built during Mangu's reign. They are the Khani andthe Masùdiya Madrasas. Each accomodated a thousand stu-dents a day. Àla al Din al Juwayni says that the Khalil Madrasawas built by the son of Quyi Bey. This may refer to Kuyuk, whowas Mange ' s father and predecessor. The Masùdiya Madrasawas built by Mas'ud Bey, son of Yalwaj, who was Mange ' s go-vernor. The passage where these two madrasas are mentioneddeals mostly with Bukhara under the rule of Mangil. 5

Mangu had a lively interest in mathematics and astronomy.

He is reported to have mastered difficult passages of Euclid byhimself. The plan of constructing a large observatory at Peking

was conceived by him. The execution of this project reached itsstage of realization only under his successor Qubilay (1257-94),however. Mang y

had intended to found an observatory probablyin his capital Qaraqurum also. According to certain sources Man-gu was informed that the person who should be entrusted withthis task was Nasir al Din al Tusi. Mangu thereupon asked hisbrother Hulegu to send Nasir al Din to him as soon as the Is-

strongholds were subdued. Mangu was busy with certainconquests, however, at the time of the fall of Alamut. Moreover,

Hulegu came to have great appreciation for Nasir al Din, and

Schefer, Chrestomathie, vol. 2, p. 126, Notes, p. 172.


he decided to have him set up the observatory in his own II-khanid state.'

It is stated in certain other sources, on the other hand, thatit was Nasir al Din who took the initiative in this matter and

that he suggested to Hulegu to found an observatory. 7 It maybe that Nasir al Din preferred to have the observatory foundedin Islamic territory and that he used his influence to this effect

and to this extent with Hulagti. This would more or less containand reconcile both versions of the story. In fact, Khondmir, oneof our authorities for the first version of the story, speaks of the

encouragement of Nasir al Din as a factor in the foundation ofthe observatory. s

According to Al Safadi,° Al Kutubi," Wassfif,11 andKhalifa, 12 Nasir al Din himself states that the construction of

the Maragha Observatory (the rasa) started in the-month of.Jumada'1 ula in the year 657, i. e., in April-May,(1259.

Now, Mango died in 1257, and by this time Alamftt had

already been captured, the date of this event falling close to theend of 1256 (Dhii'l-ga`da, 654). 13 According to one report, it wasearly in 1260, however, that Hulegu received the news of Man-

gu ' s death," and he heard of Qubilay ' s coronation in 662 (1263-64). 1 ' It was therefore after the construction of the observatory

had started at Maragha that Hulago heard of Mango's death.Thus the decision not to send Nasir al Din to China but to have

s Rashid al Din, Jami al Tawarikh, pp. 324-327; Khondmir, 1271, vol. 3,pp. 35-36; Blochet, 1910, p. 163; Jourdain, pp. 48-50; Wiedemann and Ruaka,

pp. 295, 296; Kopriilii, Maraga Rasathanesi, pp. 212-217.7

Wassaf, ed. Hammer, pp. 99-100, India, pp. 51.52. Mirkhond mentionsboth versions of the story (Mirkhond, vol. 5, p. 83). See also, Kopriilii, Maraga

Rasathanesi, pp. 212-217." Khondmir, 1217, vol. 3, p. 36.

" Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182.

° Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151." According to Kopriilii (Maraga Rasathanesi), pp. 216-217." Heji Khalifa, Fliigel, vol. 3, pp. 561-562, Yaltkaya, vol. 2, p. 967."s

Rashid al Din, Jami a! Tawarikh, pp. 214, 215.

" Wilber, p. 8.1s

Rashid al Din, Jami al Tawarikh, p. 400.

THE MARAGHA OBSERVATORY 191

him found an observatory in the Ilkhanid state instead, was nottaken as a result of Mangu' s death, as it is sometimes supposed.

It may be added here that in the beginning of the Zij-i Il-

khani Nasir al Din speaks of the foundation of the Maragha Ob-servatory as due to Hulagft's initiative.

According to Rashid al Din and Khondmir, Mangu hadordered a certain Jamal al Din Muhammad ibn Tahir ibn Mu-hammad al Zaydi al Bukhari to undertake the construction of

the observatory he wished to found, but Jamal al Din was une-qual to this important task. And when the same authors speak

of Mango's decision to charge Nasir al Din with the executionof this project, their phraseology implies that it was not throughJamal al Din that Mang-if had heard of Nasir al Din.

There is, on the other hand, a person called Cha-Ma-Lu-

-Ting, mentioned by Chinese sources, who presented to Qubilay,

Mango's successor, models or pictures of astronomical instru-

ments, in 1267. It is not clear whether or not there are any

unambiguous statements in the sources to the effect that Cha--Ma-Lu-Ting arrived in China in 1267, in which case his identifi-cation with the above-mentioned Jamal al Din, who was already

there during Mango's reign, would be impossible.ts

The Cha-Ma-Lu-Ting of the Chinese sources is represented

as an astronomer who was an instrument maker, and the making jof instruments was considered to be the most important profes-sion connected with the creation of observatories. The instru-

ments of Cha-Ma-Lu-Ting were Cmostlyportable and thereforeof a 1)g-11y _auxiliary kind as far as observatories were concern-ed; 17 and it is true that in Islam there was a tendency to diffe-

rentiate sharply between large observatory instruments and thesmall portable ones, such as the astrolab, which were based uponmore complicated mathematical theories. 18

It is of special inte-rest therefore that Jamal al Din is said to have been unable toconstruct an observatory for Mangu.

° Hartner, 1950, pp. 184-185, 192-193. See also, Needham, p. 372.19 Hamner, 1950, pp. 185-192;`Needhain, pp. 372-374.IS Sayih,-Mansur's Poems, p. 441. See also above, p. 83, note 143.

THE MARAGHA OBSERVATORY 193192 THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM

It would be preferable not to have to imagine that within

less than twenty years, two Moslem scientists of the same pro-fession and bearing the same name should have been in the Mon-gol service. There are, nevertheless, the above-mentioned diffi-

culties in identifying them as one and the same person, and thename Jamal al Din is a sufficiently common one. At any rate,

it seems difficult to reach a definite conclusion in this respectwithout further source information. There was also a certainJamal al Din ibn Mahfiz whose years of activity agree quite well

with these circumstances. He made a catalogue of 72 stars in1285. 19 There is no evidence that either of these two men hadony connection with the Maragha Observatory.

There is mention of an astronomer called Husam al Din,whom Mangu had sent in the company of Hulagu so that he

might advise the latter on choices of times for encampments andother military undertakings2 0 This astronomer is said to have

advised Hulagu not to attack Baghdad 21 and not to kill the

Caliph, 22 warning him that should his advice go unheeded un-told catastrophes would visit the earth. Nasir al Din is reported

to have contradicted these prophecies.

This brings to mind the question of contact between Islam

and the Fareast. Conversely, Chinese astronomers were broughtto work in the Maragha Observatory; so that conditions werevery favorable for the passage of influence in both directions.

The question is undoubtedly complex and has not beenstudied in a sufficiently detailed manner. In the field of astro-

nomy influence proceeding from Islam seems to have been ofgreater dimensions. According to M. C. Johnson, contact be-

tween Islamic and Chinese astronomy was negligible until thetime of the Mongols,E3 while in this era too the Chinese seem notto have paid much attention to the aspects of Islamic astronomy

' b Needham, p. 373, note a.20 Rashid al Din, Jami al Tawarikh, pp. 260, 261; D '

Ohsson, 1834, p. 224.21 Rashid al Din, Jami al Tawarikh, pp. 260-262.2L Khondmir, 1271, vol. 3, p. 37.23 Johnson, pp. 27-43.

which were not automatically adaptable to their own system

of astronomy.24

Rashid al Din tells us that Hulagu was very much interestedin construction works. He is also said to have valued "philosophy "

very highly and to have encouraged scientists to bold discuss-

ions on the email sciences. The same author tells us that Hulagualloted salaries and pensions to scientists and philosophers and

had his royal residence embellished with their presence.

The emphasis here seems to be on pseudo-sciences such as

astrology and alchemy. Indeed, there is ample evidence concern-ing the astrological side of that interest, and Rashid al Din in-forms us that Hulagu had a special inclination toward alchemy

and dwells at some length on his wasted confidence on the alche-mists. He says that they kindled much fire, constructed many avessel, employed bellows of various sizes and consumed immea-

surable amounts of materials but that although they caused theexpenditure of immense sums of money they did not produce a

particle of silver or gold and it all came to naught and resultedin no benefit to anyone except that these impostors thereby se-cured a livelihood for themselves. 25

It seems probable there-fore that Maragha was also the scene of alchemical activities ofconsiderable extent.

The Maragha Observatory was located on a hill in the vici-nity of the city of Maragha. The length of this hill lies along themeridian, and the flattend top of the hill has a length of about

400 meters and is about 150 meters in width. 26 Water was raisedto the observatory hill with the help of special devices and wa-ter wheels. These, as well as a mosque and a special building for

Hulagu's residence, were built - by Muayyad al Din al 'Urdi. 27

Upon this hill there was an observatory building which isdescribed as a "marvel " and a " treat to the eye", and reference

26 Hartner, 1950, p. 192; Needham, pp. 374-375.20 Rashid al Din, Jami al Tawarikh, pp. 400-403. A similar statement oc-

curs also in the Ladd al Tawarikh, ms., p. 64b (see below, p. 357, note 34).26 Seemann, pp. 116-117.L7 Seeman, p. 71.

13

is also made to a high tower. 28 There apparently were other

building$__ also, some of an auxiliary nature. AI Safadi" and Al

Kutubi30

describe the observatory building as huge; they also

speak separately of a dome and of the observatory library contain-

ing over 400000 volumes. The phraseology of Al Safadi and Al

Kutubi would seem to indicate that the library was in the main

observatory building and that_ there was, in addition, another

building which had a dome.

This domed building was one of the main attractions of the

institution. It is mentioned by several authors, although they

do not specifically refer to it as an auxiliary building.

There was a hole on the top of this dome through which

the rays of the sun entered. The image thereby formed served

for the measurement of the mean motion of the sun in degrees

and in minutes; the elevation angle of the sun in different sea-

sons and various times of the day were also determined with the

help of this device. The arrangement was such that the solar rays

fell upon the "threshold" on the first day of spring. In the inside

of the building there were representations of the celestial spheres,

of the different epicycles and deferents, and illustrations of the

phases of the moon and the signs of zodiac. Likewise, there were

terrestrial and celestial globes; maps of the seven climes, and

illustrations concerning the length of days and nights. 31

There was a terrestrial globe made of paper pulp. 32A me-

tallic celestial globe constructed in 1279 (or 1289) by Muhammad

ibn Muayyad al Din al 'Urdi, obviously a son of the above-men-

3e These occur in a poem by Qeidi'l Qudat Nizam al Din al Isfahan whowas a contemporary of Nasir al Din (Sayili, Khwaja Nasir-i Tusi, p. 13, p. 3,

note 10). .3a Safadi, vol. 1, p. 179.80 Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 149.

Wassaf, Hammer, p. 100, India, vol. 1, p. 52; Mirkhond, vol. 5, p. 83;

Khondmir, 1271, vol. 3, p. 36; Jourdain, p. 52; Sedillot, 1884, pp. 201-202;

Sedillot, 1847, p. XCVIII; Seemann, p. 120.a3 This information, for which I rely on my memory, was given by Pro-

fessor Mustafa Jawad of Baghdad in his communication at the Nair al Din alaTasi Congress held in 1956 in Tehran. His source is, I believe, Al Fuwati 's

Talkhis Mu'jam al Algab, which is not accessible to me, and Professor Jawad 'spaper has apparently not been published.


tioned Muayyad al Din al 'Urdi, and apparently constructed for

the Maragha Observatory, has come down to us and is pre-

served in Dresden. 33

From a statement of Al Safadi and Al Kutubiu

it is seen - -

that the armillary sphere of the observatory was fixed on the

ground. The details given by Al `Urdi also indicate that the ins-

truments were generally placed out in the open air. In fact, the

site of the observatory contains traces of the places occupied by

the instruments, and apparently most, if not all, were placed in

the open.35

Thus the trace of a wall which is placed in the meridian is

clearly discernible. The mural quadrant too must therefore have

been placed on the ground, a conclusion which is perfectly con-

sonant with the details given by Al`Urdi concerning the ins-

truments of the observatory.

The construction of the instruments of the Maragha Observ-

atory by Al 'Urdi started before 660 (1261-62) and it ended after

that year; this is the way Al 'Urdi himself expresses it38

The

main activity of construction took place therefore in 660, but

there are no definite dates here concerning the beginning and

the end of this work. As we have seen, certain sources state, on

the authority of Nasir al Din, that the foundation of the observ-

atory started in 657 (1259). 3, This indicates that the construc-

tion of the observatory was a rather slow process. Indeed, we

know that Al 'Urdi did not actually construct all the instruments

of the observatory and that several instruments listed by him

were constructed after he wrote his well-known book on them.

33 See, e. g., Stevenson, vol. 1, pp. 30-31; Seemann, p. 114; Destombes,

Globes Celestes, p. 320.94 Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.

3' I visited Maragha on my way back to Ankara from the Nasir al Dinal Tusi Congress in Tehran, and the description of the site of the observatory

given here is based on my own observations. I am thankful to the Tehran Uni-

versity authorities for having made all arrangements to facilitate this trip.3 ' Seemann, p. 27.37 See above, p. 190, notes 9-12. See also, Kopriilii, Maraga Rasathanesi,

pp. 216-217; Pope, vol. 2, p. 1047; Wilber, pp. 100, 107.


196 THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM THE MARAGHA OBSERVATORY 197

Rashid al Din reports that in 662 Hulegu came to Maraghaand made a strong appeal to his astronomers for the early com-

pletion of the "rasad"

.33

Quatremere translates the word rasad

here as observatory. On the basis of this meaning of the passage

it would be necessary to infer that the construction of the observ-

atory had not as yet been completed in that year. This wouldmean a construction activity lasting for more than five years.

It is probable that the word rasad here refers to observa-

tions. Wassaf, Mirkhond, and Khondmir, all three, state that

"the building of the observatory " was still incomplete when

Hulegu died (1265). 39 It seems likely that these statements arenot independent and that they reflect a confusion between the

two meanings of the word rasad. It is possible too that because

of Mange 's death and the possibility of his being succeeded byHulage, the construction of the observatory at Maragha was

not prosecuted with vigor for a certain time. It should be notedthat work in the observatory could start before the full comple-

tion of construction activity.

There is a rather elaborate network of caves, starting with

a comparatively roomy entrance section, on the south side of

.the hill near the flattened top. These are referred to as Nasr alDin ' s observatory by the inhabitants of the district. 90 There

has been some speculation as to their possible relation to the

observatory.41 Godard favors the view that they date from the

time of the observatory and not from earlier times as others haveargued. He believes that they may have served as place of work

for the astronomers.

Indeed, leaving out the system of inner tunnels, the comparatively wide entrance section may be compared to the "small-

-scale observatory " which formed an appendage to the later Is-tanbul Observatory of the sixteenth century. The niches in the

walls which may have housed bookshelves and the raised platform

se Rashid at Din, Jtimi al Tawdrfkh, pp. 401-403.se Wassaf, ed. Hammer, p. 101, India, vol. 1, p. 52; Mirkhond, vol. 5, p.

83; Khondmir, 1333, vol. 3, p. 36.95 Godard, p. 20.4' Godard, pp. 20-22; Kopriilii, Marfiga Rasathanesi, pp. 208-211.

resembling a desk fit well into this picture and have their coun-terparts in the Istanbul Observatory.

42

The southerly exposureof the opening of the cave would make possible minor observa-tions with portable instruments, and this, likewise, seems to

have been one of the functions of the "small observatory" in-Istanbul.

According to Ghiyath al Din al Kash', the astronomers

around Ulugh Bey had answered his query concerning the MaraghaObservatory by saying that 'it was the place underneath thetop of the hill where people sit. ' 43 There apparently is a refer-ence here to the entrance section of the caves. It is true that AlKash' does not refer to this assertion in an approving manner,

but this is natural as the main observatory was of course on theflattened top of the hill. Nevertheless, his implied disapprovalof the statement in question should not prevent us from looking

upon this item as an evidence in favor of the conjecture that therooms carved in the hill constituted an additional "small observ-atory " at Maragha.

According to a local tradition, the reason for the choice of

Maragha as Hulage ' s capital was that a valley in its vicinity wasshaped like a scorpion and that this was considered to constitutea propitious omen 44

The same local tradition contains the report that there was

a well which formed part of the observatory and that day-timeobservations of stars were made from it. There is also a sixteenthcentury record concerning the existence of such a report. 45 Thismay possibly refer to the underground section of an instrument 4s

THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE MARAGHA OBSERV-ATORY — We have already spoken of a domed building

which contained a device or instrument serving to make mea-surements related to the sun. The nature of this device or ins-

42 See below, pp. 294-295, note 124.4' Giyath al Din, Letter, p. 512a..44 Wilson, p. 77.46 Wilson, p. 77; Sayili, Observation Well, p. 150 and note 8.4s See below, p. 199, note 53, p. 257, note 89, p. 277, notes 51-52.


trument is not clear. Seemann believes that the descriptionsof two distinct places have by mistake been superimposed here. 47

Al Ùrdi says nothing concerning it. His silence should ap-parently be interpreted to mean that this instrument, which

seems to have formed a part of a building, was not constructedby him but probably by the architect of the observatory. Infact, AI Ùrdi clearly states that architecture and the construc-

tion of buildings lay outside of his profession eventhough hewas obliged to do some work of this nature, viz., the construc-tion of Hulagu ' s residence and of the observatory mosque.

48

Thus, the fact that the instruments listed by Al Ùrdi seemto have all been placed in the open does not necessarily excludethe possibility of the existence of important instruments housed

in the observatory buildings and thus affecting their architec-

ture.This brings to mind the suds-i Fakhri, to which the above-

-mentioned domed device bears partial resemblance in a vague

manner 4 9 It is of interest therefore that Ghiyath al Din Jamshid

al Kashi speaks of a "geometrical pulpit, called suds-i Fakhri"

of six gaz (about 3 m.) radius; which stands in the middle of theobservatory building of Maragha" .50

The latter phrase within quotation marks may possibly betranslated also as "which stands in the middle of the construc-tions (tire&rat) of Maragha" , and in this case it could refer to the

mural quadrant there, to some modified from of it, or to anotherdistinct construction.

At any rate, this statement of Ghiyath al Din is somewhatstrange, 51 and the existence of suds-i Fakhri at Maragha is veryunlikely in view of an assertion of Nizam-i Nishaburi which is

relevant to the present question. Nizam lived shortly after Na-sir al Din, in the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of thefourteenth century, and he was very much interested in Nasir

al Din' s books for many of which he wrote commentaries. He

47 Seeman, p. 120.as Seemann, p. 71.ae Tekeli, p. 319.so Giyath al Din, Letter, p. 512b.51 See below, pp. 285-286, notes 79-81.

says that up to his time the suds-i Fakhri had not been cons-tructed by anyone after Al Khujandi.

52

The description available on this Maragha instrument would

seem to fit best the little detail known concerning the maininstrument of the Sharaf al Dawla Observatory of Baghdad asgiven by Al Birilni. 53

As both are vague and incomplete, how-ever, it is impossible to reach any final decision in this matter.

Al Ùrdi gives a rather detailed account of the instruments

he constructed or whose construction he recommended for theMaragha Observatory of which he was the main instrument de-signer. The instruments mentioned by him are the following. 59

1) A mural quadrant with a radius of about 430 centime-ters. It was raduated down to the minutes. It was perhaps the

first instrument to be constructed in Maragha. For it was withit that a careful determination of the latitude of Maragha, aswell as of the obliquity of the ecliptic, was made. 55 It had analidade equipped with two sights.

2) An armillary sphere with five rings and an alidade. The

outer radius of the outermost ring, the meridian ring, was slightlybelow 160 ems. Al Ùrdi says that he made only a model of thisinstrument;

55that one was actually constructed is seen, how-

ever, from the statement of a later visitor who speaks of anarmillary sphere he saw at Maragha. 57

3) A solstitial armilla, consisting of a circle with 250 ems.

diameter, placed in the meridian and equipped with an alidade.4) The equinoctial armilla. This was a meridian ring on

which an equator ring perpendicular to it was fixed.5) The instrument with two holes, for the measurements

of the apparent diameters of the sun and the moon and the ob-servation of eclipses.

6) Azimuth ring with two quadrants equipped with ali-dades for the measurement of angles of elevation. Al Ùrdi does

52 Nizam-i Nishaburi, Sharh-i Tadhkira, p. 180b.53 See above, p. 116, note 131.54

Seemann, pp. 28-104. See also, Tekeli, passim.5s Seemann, p. 43.55 Seeman, p. 35.5 ' Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, 151.


not give the dimension of this instrument but says that it should

be as large as possible. In fact, he speaks of having made only amodel of this instrument." But the instrument was apparentlyconstructed at Maragha after the time when Al 'Urdi wrote his

book. For as we have seen, Taqi al Din and Ghiyath al Din alKashi both mention this instrument as one which was set upat Maragha. 58

'Abd al Mun'im al 'Amili too speaks of this ins-trument as existing in Maragha, adding that itwas located nearthe water wheel 8

0

7) A parallactic ruler, the measurements made with it being

equivalent to those made on a circle with a radius of 250 ems.8) An instrument for the determination of azimuths and the

sine of the complement of the angle of elevation.

9) The sine and versed sine instrument, i. e., an instrumentserving for the measurement of azimuths and the sines' of theangles of elevation. Al 'Urdi says he only made a model of thisinstrument, 61

but, as we shall presently indicate, there is evi-dence that this instrument was actually constructed at Maraghaafter Al 'Urdi completed his book.

10) The perfect instrument (al ala al kamila). This is si-milar to instrument No 7, except that it was not fixed in themeridian but could be revolved around a vertical axis. Al 'Urdidoes not say that he actually constructed this instrument at theMaragha Observatory.

Several instruments for which Al 'Urdi says he only pre-pared models are seen to have been actually constructed. Thisgives the impression that Al 'Urdi was not the only instrument

making astronomer of the Maragha Observatory, and it alsosuggests that he may not have remained at that institution fora long time.

In addition to these main instruments, there must undoubt-

edly have existed a considerable number of auxiliary portable

ae Seeman, p. 71.a6 See above, p. 73, notes 98, 99.s° Abd al Mun'im, p. 27.et Seemann, p. 93.


instruments at the observatory concerning which no specificinformation has come down to us.

62

Our previous conclusion that these instruments were placedon the ground does not seem to be entirely in agreement withthe general plan of the-site of the observatory as conceived anddrawn by A. H. Schindler. 83

Certain details contained in thisplan would seem to confirm our conclusion, however, when takenas isolated items. There are four circular traces in Schindler's

plan which are of particular interest. They apparently corres-pond to the circular traces of the foundations of instruments

No 6, 8, and 9, the fourth one being probably that of the towerat the observatory. This shows not only that instrument No 9

was actually constructed but also constitutes further evidencethat the instruments were placed in the open.

It may be noted here that certain differences seem to existbetween the instruments of the AI Afdal-Al Bataihi Observatory

of Cairo and those of Maragha from the viewpoint of techniquesand materials of construction. Thus marble seems to have beenused more abundantly in the former case, B4

while wood is em-ployed in._tbe latter; and if the large ring at Cairo was actuallyan azimuth ring, Al 'Urdi's method of construction would haveeliminated all difficulties resulting from its weight. Indeed, ac-

cording to Al 'Urdi, this ring need not be particularly sturdy. lt i

is even not necessary to cast it all in one piece; for it rests on asolid foundation. 86

'Abd al Mun'im al 'Amili uses both tech-niques, but the one-piece cast ring is used for another version ofthe instrument which was probably intended to be of smallersize. 68

For one advantage of making the instrument rest on acircular wall was that it could thus be made of rather large di-mensions.

02 See, Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151. There is mention herealso of an astrolab of one dhira' diameter which may have been used for impor-tant observational work.

" Wilber, figure 5.64 This brings to mind Al Ma'am and the Dayr Murran quadrant.62 Seemann, p. 74.88 Abd al Mun'im, p. 32.


THE ASTRONOMERS OF THE OBSERVATORY AND

THEIR WORK — It is related that when Hulagu heard of

the great expenses that the construction of the observatory

would necessitate, he had a talk with Nasir al Din concerning the

usefulness of such an establishment. Ile apparently pointed to

the difficulty of confirming the idea of the utility of astrology

in view of the argument that since prediction is based on the

immutability of events nothing can be done to change what is

predestined to happen. Nasir al Din ' s answer was based on

an example illustrating the convenience of an awareness or pre-

science of future events even if nothing could be done to circum-

vent them.67

I have mentioned this story more fully in an earlier

chapter. se

This story clearly shows that the main purpose for the found-

ation of the Maragha Observatory was an astrological one. The

Ilkhani Zij too confirms this impression,

One should perhaps at times differentiate between the be-

liefs and predilections of the rulers and those of their astronomers.

According to Rashid al Din, historian, physician, and vizier, when

Nasir al Din was asked to comment on Husain al Din's prog-

nostications related to the meditated offensive against Baghdad,

he had the feeling that his loyalty was being tested.69

The following anecdote is of interest in this respect. Al Sa-

fadi and Al Kutubi, in their identical passage on Nasir al Din,

relate that Hulagu had ordered `Ala al Din al Juwayni to be put

to death, whereupon `Ala al Din's brother went to Nasir al Din

and asked his help. Nasir al Din pointed out that when Hulagu

issued an order it was impossible to have him rescind it, especi-

ally when it had become public, and said that it would be neces-

sary to resort to a stratagem. He then set out toward Hulegu 's

encampment with a staff and an astrolab in his hand and follow-

ed by a man carrying a censer, incense, and fire.

When he arrived at the gate of the encampment he rekin-

dled the incense and raised the astrolab, making observations

07 Safadi, vol. 1, p. 179; Kutubi, vol. 2, pp. 149-150; Suter, 1900, pp.147-148.

09 See above, p. 39, note 98." Rashid at Din, Jdmi al Tawdrikh, pp. 262, 261.


with it. When Hulegu's notables saw him do this, they went in

and reported it to the sovereign. After continuing these,, opera-

tions for some time, Nasir al Din asked the notables about Hu-

lagu and his whereabouts. They told him he was in his quar-

ters. He then inquired about his health, and when they told him

he was well he prostrated himself on the ground offering thanks

to God. He repeated his query concerning Hulagu's health and

well-being several times and received the same answer each time,

but he did not seem satisfied and said he would like to see the

Khan with his own eyes.

This was at a time when Hulagu received no one, but they

informed him of Nasir al Din 's request, and Hulagu ordered him

admitted. When Nasir al Din saw the Khan he prostrated him-

self and remained in that position for some time.

Hulagu asked what was going on, and Nasir al Din told

him that the ascendent of the time indicated an extremely cala-

mitous situation for the Khan and that he had therefore burned

incense and performed acts and prayers appropriate to the

situation, to the best of his knowledge, asking God to turn the

calamity away from the Khan. He then beseeched the Khan to

dispatch orders to all corners of the realm, setting free those

who were in chains and forgiving those who were to be pu-

nished, so as to incur the favor of Almighty God in the hope

that he might divert the impending calamity from the Khan.

The trick worked, and AI Juwayni was spared. 70

Hulagu and his successors all had great reliance on astrology,

and this undoubtedly helps explain their continued interest in

the Maragha Observatory.

It is said that Hulagu asked Nasir al Din's advice in every

affair and never took a trip without consulting him 7 1 It is also

related that when Hulagu died, his oldest son Abaqa was un '

willing to become his successor to the throne but that his hesi-

tation was dissipated as a result of an astrological report concern-

ing future events prepared by Nasir al Din. He then sat on the

90Safadi, vol. 1, pp. 179-180; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 150.

91 Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.


throne at the propitious moment as determined by that astro-

nomer. 72

It is likewise reported that when Arghun rebelled againstTakudar, he chose tHe most opportune moment as determined

by the astrologers, for his declaration of hostilities. 73 Again,

after Ghazan Khan's death, Uljaytu came to the throne at themoment chosen by consulting the stars. 74

The main achievement associated with the Maragha Observ-

atory is the compilation of the Ilkheinf. Tables. This was com -

pleted in 1271. 75 There is also mention of the astronomical tablesprepared by Muhyi al Din al Maghribi. According to Hasan Rumlu,

these tables contained corrections to the Ilkhenf Tables and

brought them to completion. 7s This work of Muhyi al Din must

have been done in Maragha. For as will be indicated below, Al

Wabkanwi and Rukn al Din al Amuli refer to his work and enu-merate him among the astronomers who remained at work until

perhaps the very end. 7f

It is reported that when, in the course of deliberations con-nected with the foundation of the Maragha Observatory, Hu-

lagu found out that the observations needed for the constructionof the projected tables, would, "in accordance with the recom-

mendation of astronomers of earlier times", take about thirtyyears, corresponding to a complete revolution of Saturn, the

planet with the longest period, he was so disappointed that theoriginal projeet .had to be abandoned and a new observationprogram of twelve years had to be adopted. 75

It is clear that Hulagt was anxious to have the tables com-pleted in his own lifetime and in as short a period as possible so

that he could personally benefit from the results obtained. Hu-1agu died in 1265, i. e., before seeing the end product of this

72 Mirkhond, vol. 5, pp. 90-91.

Mirkhond, vol. 5, p. 112.04 Mirkhond, vol. 5, p. 142.7 ' Brockelmann, G. A. L., vol. 1, p. 511.

Hasan Rumlu, vol. 11, p. 64b.77 See below, Ip. 214-215, notes 117, 119.

Nasir al Din, Zij, F-300, p. 4a, Ankara, p. 7b.

shorter program of work, and Nasir al Din died in 1274, notlong after the completion of the Ilkh6nf Tables.

Reference has already been made to the large collectionof books assembled in the ` library attached to the Maragha

Observatory. These books are said to have been collected

from Baghdad,- Syria, and Al Jazira. 79 This is the first

case wherein the existence of an observatory library isspecifically mentioned by our sources. Clearly, however, this

hibrary is worthy of being described as an independent ins-

titution by itself. It undoubtedly facilitated the literary pro-ductivity of the scientists gathered at Maragha. For writing of

books figures prominently among the activities of the astrono-mers of the observatory.

An impressive number of scientists were attached to theMaragha Observatory. These were Nasir al Din al Tusi, Àli ibnÙmar al Qazwini, Muayyad al Din al Ùrdi, Fakhr al Din al

Akhlati, Fakhr al Din al Maraghi, Muhyi al Din al Maghribi,Qutb al Din al Shirazi, Shams al Din al Shirwani, Najm al Din

Dabiran al Qazwini, Àbd al Razzaq ibn al Fuwati (or Futi), thelibrarian, and Kamal al Din al Ayki (or lki).

This list is not complete. There were others to whom refer-ences will be found in different parts of the present chapter.

They are the two sons of Nasir al Din, i. e., Asil al Din andSadr al Din, Athir al Din al Abhari, Husain al Din al Shami,

Shams al Din ibn Muhammad ibn Muayyad al Ùrdi, and theChinese Fao-Mun-Ji.

Other names too appear in certain lists. 80 Most but notall the above-mentioned persons, however, were at Maragha at

one and the same time. Some of them seem to have been lateradditions to the staff. Shams al Din ibn Muhammad al Ùrdi,Husam al Din al Shami, and Athir al Din al Abhari, e. g., were

probably not included in the original staff, while Qutb al Din alShirazi and probably Fao-Mun-Ji and Muayyad al Ùrdi were

not at the observatory in the later periods.

Safadi, vol. 1, p. 179; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 149.

"0 Nakhjaweni, Tasis-i Rasadkhdnand, pp. 213-214.

THE MARAGHA OBSERVATORY 207206 THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM

Muayyad al Din al `Urdi, Najm al Din al Qazwini, Fakhral Din al Maraghi, and Fakhr al Din al Akhlati are mentionedby the sources as the astronomers brought together by Nasir

al Din for the foundation of the observatory. These were there-fore the senior members of the staff. This list of names is given

by Nasir al Din himself, but it is of course incomplete.

It is of interest that Fakhr al Din al Akhlati, from Anato-lia, is cited among the latest astronomers of the observatory,

so that he seems to have served all through the life-time ofthis institution. Muhyi al Din al Maghribi too, who worked there

nearly to the end, seems to have been a prominent memberof the staff already before Nasir al Din ' s death.

Qutb al Din al Shirazi is said to have been a student of Na-sir al Din's, and this gives the impression that he was amongthe junior members of the staff. He must have been a former

student of Nasir al Din's, however. For he was apparently oneof the influential astronomers of the observatory already before

the death of Hulagu. The following anecdote testifies to this fact.

According to Khondmir, Nasir al Din and Qutb al Din were

one day in the presence of Hulagu. In the course of conversationHulagu told Nasir al Din that, were it not for his fear that

the observations would remain incomplete, he would have hadhim killed, whereupon Qutb al Din made the strange remarkthat he could complete the work in the absence of Nasir al Din.

When they left Hulegu ' s presence, Nasir al Din criticized Qutbal Din for his remark and told him that his joke was not appro-priate at all. Qutb al Din retorted, however, that he had not joked

but had spoken in earnest. s'

We shall have another occasion to refer to the importantplace Qutb al Din seems to have occupied among the astronomersof the observatory, to his personality, and to his relations with

Nasir al Din.

It is said that Hulagu had a number of Chinese astronomersbrought to the Maragha Observatory, among whom was one

Khondmir, 1333, vol. 3, p. 40.

Fao-Mun-Ji. Through them a knowledge of Chinese astronomyand of Chinese calendar is said to have been obtained. 82

As Sarton remarks, this indicates the internationalism ofthe Maragha Observatory; in turn, the Ilkhani Tables are saidto have been popular not only in Islam but also in China. sa

With its large scientific staff and its huge library, the Ma-

ragha Observatory was thus not only an institution for researchin astronomy, but it also had the characteristics of a scientificacademy with excellent opportunities for scientific contact and

exchange of ideas. In addition to the above-mentioned astrono-mers, its staff undoubtedly contained technicians and personnelconnected with administrative work.

The details given so far are sufficient to indicate that theMaragha Observatory was a quite outstanding institution. But

over and above all these Maragha is remarkable especially withrespect to the following three features: its financial administra-tion; its relative length of life; its activity of instruction in astr-onomy and the awdil sciences in general.

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION — As far as is known,Maragha is the first Islamic observatory which benefited fromwagf revenues. s4 Wag f was, theoretically at least, a permanentand inalienable endowment which was completely harmonized

with religious law and Moslem ideologies; and it was with itshelp that institutions of charity and public assistance such asthe mosque, the madrasa, and the hospital enjoyed uninterFupt-

ed existence. The endowment of the observatory with wag,f wastherefore important not only as a mere source of income, butit also constituted a sign of a more complete integration and

harmonization with Moslem culture and civilization.

The first hospital known to have been endowed with wagf

revenues was that constructed by the Turkish Ahmad ibn Tulun,founder of the Tulunid Dynasty (868-905), in 872 or 874, in Cairo.

nWiedemann and Ruska, p. 299; D '

Ohsson, 1834, vol. 3, p. 265; Sarton,vol. 2, pp. 1005-1006; Needham, p. 375, note d.

sa Sarton, vol. 2, pp. 1005-1006.

'' See, e. g., Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.


Concerning the first library to be so endowed, I have been able

to find only the statement that it antedated 'Adud al Dawla

(949-982). 85

No similar and direct statement seems to exist in the sources

to the effect that Maragha was the first observatory to be so en-dowed. W e cannot be certain, e. g., that the Malikshah Observa-

tory did not have wagf. The statement that an immense amount

of money was spent for it does not clarify this point. It wouldseem quite certain, on the other hand, that the Al Afdal-Al Ba-

taihi Observatory did not have waqf. For in this case we have

specific information concerning the manner in which paymentswere made and the necessary construction materials procured.

It is also known that at least one other observatory founded

after Maragha had waqf revenues, suggesting that had any pre-vious ones too been so endowed the sources would probably have

contained references to the fact. This situation too favors theconclusion that with the Maragha Observatory a new policy wasintroduced with respect to the financial administration of the

observatories.

It appears quite likely that Nasir al Din was personally

responsible for the establishment of this tradition. Moreover,it seems that Maragha itself was not endowed with waqf at thevery start, but that such an endowment was secured for it some-

time after its foundation. For there are statements indicatingthat funds were at first secured piecemeal and as need arose.

At the beginning, Nasir al Din warned Hulagu that the

foundation and the functioning of an observatory would be verycostly, and he obtained the needed funds from Hulagu in succes-sive stages. 86 Apparently Nasir al Din was well-versed in finan-

cial matters; 87 and although he is said not to have been chargedwith the administration of the financial affairs of the state, he

was given the title of vizier 88 Certain sources report, on the other

tl6 Ibu al Athir, vol. 10, p. 483.88 Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151; Wassaf, ed. Hammer,

100, India, vol. 1, p. 51; Mirkhond, vol. 5, p. 83; Khondmir, vol. 2, p. 36.

Minovi and Minorski, pp. 755-789.

'° Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.


hand, that Nasir al Din was the director of the Ilkhani waqf re-venues.

89 According to Al Safadi and Al Kutubi, one tenth ofall state waqf revenues was attached to the Maragha Observa-tory, and twenty thousand dinars were spent for its instrumentsalone, exclusive of all other expenses. 90

Although according to a statement related from Shams

al Din al `Urdi, the funds secured from Hulagu by Nasir al Dinwere so immense that no one but God could express it in num-bers or words, 91 the above-mentioned one tenth of all the statewaqf revenues sounds exaggerated. According to Abu'l Faraj, thewaqf revenues of the state were placed under the direction ofNasir al Din who drew the financial needs of all the madrasasfrom these funds e2

It appears probable that the attachment of waqf to the Ma-ragha Observatory caused some criticism and complaint. AhmadTakudar, Ilkhan ruler (1281-84), is said to have referred to abusesof waqf revenues and their assignment to astronomers in a letterhe wrote to the Sultan of Egypt and to have spoken of his in-tention to rectify the situation, and also of having done so es

There is perhaps an allusion here to the Maragha Observatoryas M. Fuat Koprulii has pointed out, for at the time no otherinstitution connected with astronomy is known to have existed

from whose waqf revenues astronomers could profit.

According to certain sources, the reference in Takudar ' sletter was to non-Moslem astronomers and physicians. 94 Thisversion of the story makes it probable that only the paymentof waqf revenues to a few non-Moslem astronomers had met withdisapproval. According to Khondmir, Takudar deprived Chris-

tian and Jewish physicians and astronomers from waqf revenues

89 Abu '! Faraj, tr. Budge, p. 451; Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2,

p. 151; Wassaf, ed. Hammer, p. 100, India, vol. 1, p. 51; Kopriilii; MardgaRasathanesi, p. 215.

d0 Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.

Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2. p. 151; Haji Khalifa, Fliigel, vol.

3, p. 469, Yaltkaya, vol. 1, p. 907.92 Abu 'l Faraj, tr. Budge, p. 451.sa Wassaf, India, vol. 1, p. 114; Kbprulii, Mardga Rasathanesi, p. 222.

Khondmir, vol. 3, p. 41; Koprulu, Magdra Rasathanesi, p. 222.

14


and appointed a certain Kamal al Din `Abd al Raliman al Railas director of waq f endowments.

ss

There are references to abuses in the administration of wag f

during the period of the Maragha Observatory, and this situation

may make our particular problem appear rather magnified. Inthe poem of Nizam al Din al Isfahan referred to above, e. g.,line eighteen seems to be connected with a complaint about the

affairs of wagf, 90 but this is both vague and general. Fakhr alDin Ahmad, a son of Nasir al Din, was killed by the order of Gha-

zan Khan because of his abuses in Anatolian waqf funds. 84

Speaking of the Tabriz foundations of Ghaian Khan, Rashidal Din says that endowments made by him were submitted to

the approval of various religious authorities who officialy tes-tified to their rigid conformity with the religious law "so that

no slanderer could object to them " . Various copies of these waqf

documents were then deposited with proper authorities in diffe-rent important cities. 99

It is seen that the type of objection specifically referred tohere by Rashid al Din concerns the question of whether the pro-perty tied up as waqf was the rightful possession of the personmaking the" endowments, and this may be relevant in connection

with the Maragha Observatory. We have, indeed, very littleinformation concerning the exact nature of Maragha ' s endow-ment. There is no doubt that it benefited from the "waqf reve-nues of the state " , but it cannot be ascertained whether or not

any particular sources of income were specifically and inalien-ably attached to it in accordance with legal formalities.

The Tabriz Observatory of Ghazan Khan, which came intoexistence at a time when Maragha was still functioning, was alsoendowed with waqf revenues. It is reasonable to think therefore

that the objection to endowing observatories with waqf was nota very serious one, if indeed such an objection existed at all. It

is very likely then that the Maragha Observatory was never de-

Khondmir, vol. 3, p. 41.N

Saydt, Khwaja Nasir-i nisi, p. 13.D7

Safadi, vol. 1, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.ss Rashid al Din, Tdrikh-i Mubdrak, p. 215.

prived of its waqf revenues, and in case it was, it may have been

done so for a short time. It will be noted that Takudar's reignitself was quite short.

Whatever its nature, the endowment of Maragha with waqf

was certainly of great importance. Undoubtedly, the fact that

Maragha had a quite long life compared especially to earlierobservatories of Islam was partly a result of its endowment,

and this fact could also be considered as an indirect evidencesuggesting that it was not deprived of its waqf funds.

LENGTH OF LIFE — This brings us to the second fea-ture of the Maragha Observatory which we shall study in somedetail. Maragha was exceptional not only for its long life as ex-pressed in number of years but also in that it is the first Islamicobservatory to clearly survive its founder. After the ' death ofHulagu it continued functioning during the reigns of not lessthan seven rulers. These are Abaqa (1265-81), Ahmad Takudar_(1281-84), Arghun (1284-91) Gaykhatu (1291-95), - Baydu, Gha-zan Mahmud (1295-1303), and Uljaytu (1303 .1316); GhazanKhan visited the observatory several times and' showed greatinterest in it, ss

and in 1304-5 Uljaytu appointed Asil al Din,one of Nasir al Din's sons, as director of the observatory. I

"

As Uljaytu showed active interest in the observatory, wemay consider it reasonable to assume that it survived up to 1316,the end of that monarch 's reign. This year would - seem to be ofi mportance for another similar reason also; it happens to coin-cide with the year of Asil al Din's death, 101 the last person knownto have directed that institution. The reign of Abu Said Baha-dur (1316-36), Uljaytu's successor, was marked with much intern-al disorder. Abu Said was the last ruler of his dynasty, and hisreign may be characterized as the period of dissolution of theIlkhani state.

D8Rashid al Din, Tdrikh-i Mubdrak, pp. 104, 131, 173, 174.

100Browne, 1920, p. 48; D '

Ohsson. 1834, p. 483; Kopriilii, Maraga Rasat-hanesi, p. 224.

lOt Asil al Din died in 715 (1345-1316). See, Rashid al Din, Letters, p. 60,

note 2.


Al Wabkanwi, who dedicated his zij to Abu Said BahadurKhan, speaks of the Maragha Observatory as a thing of the past.'°

2

Al Wabkanwi was among the astronomers of Ghazan Khan.'°3

He states that he observed the skies durings some forty years; 104

in his zij he allows for a difference of 31 ' for the precession of the

equinoxes as compared with the fixed star positions in theIlkhani Tables.

105 He started writing his zij during the reign ofUljaytu. toe

Al Wabkanwi's statement concerning the Maragha Observ-atory shows that the life of this institution came to an end early

during the reign of Abu Said, if not before. A clear but not sur-prising statement comes from Hamdullah Mustawfi al Qazwini;he saw the observatory in ruins in the year 1339. 10°

The fifteenth century astronomer Rukn al Din ibn Sharafal Din al Amuli writes in his Zij-i Jdmi`-i Sa'idi that after Nasiral Din' s death the astronomers of the Maragha Observatory,

such as Athir al Din al Abhari, 108 Muhyi al Din al Maghribi,Najm al Din Dabiran, and Fakhr al Din al Akhlati, "sat" up to

thirty years until one revolution of Saturn was completed andmade the necessary corrections on the Ilkhdnf Tables.

109

As Nasir al Din died in 1274, the details given by Rukn al

Din al Amuli indicate that work at the observatory continuedup to the year 1304 when Asil al Din was charged with the di-rection of that institution. Al Amuli ' s statement does not neces-

sarily imply, however, that work came to an end at that date.110

Al Wabkanwi, on the other hand, says that none of the astro-

"2 Wabkanwi, pp. 6a, 2b-3a.103 Wabkanwi, p. 2b.104 Wabkanwi, p. lb.los Wabkanwi, p. 127b. The value of precession adopted by Al Wabkanwi

is 1° in sixty years (Wabkanwi, p. 50b).108 Wabkanwi, p. 6a.for Qazwini, Nuzha al Qulub, Gib() Series, part 1, p. 87, part 2, p. 88; Sup-

plement to Siydsatnama, p. 219. See also, Barthold, 1935, p. 166, note 7.loa See, Suter, 1900, p. 145.100 Amuli, p. 2.110 Rukn al Din's statement may refer, on the other hand, to the com-

pletion of thirty years including Nasir al Din's period of work. The expression

is not very clear in this respect.


nomical tables prevalent in his time was accurate because none

of them had been completed, i. e., based upon thirty years of

observation,lil

and this statement would seem to contradict

that of Al Amuli.

No reference to any activity in the Maragha Observatory

seems to have come down to us for the years following 1304-5.All that can be said with certainty is therefore that the life of the

observatory came to an end not earlier than 1304 and not muchlater than 1316; but it is quite possible that the observatory didnot survive until the latter date. The life of the Maragha Observ-

atory, including the period of its construction, then, was at leastforty five years and at the most about fifty five or possibly

sixty years.

Sharaf-i Rami visited the Maragha Observatory some time

after the middle of the fourteenth century.112 Apparently this

was a visit of its ruins. Seeing that the site of the observatorybears traces of the foundations of its instruments and buildings

still in our day, one may conclude that the observatory musthave fallen into ruins in a gradual manner and that much must

have remained standing there for a considerable length of timeafter the life of the institution had actually come to an end.

Indeed, Ulugh Bey (1394-1449) visited the Maragha Observ-

atory during his childhood,113

and, as previously mentioned,Ghiyath al Din Jamshid al Kashi speaks of the "geometrical

pulpit" which "stands" in the midst of the observatory building

at Maragha. Again, `Abd al Mun'im al `Amili, writing in 1562-63,speaks, as we have seen, of the circular foundation wall of the

azimuthal quadrant of Maragha as standing near the water wheel.The fact that Isma'Il I, Safawid king of Persia (1502-24), plannedto have the Maragha Observatory revived or reconstructed, 114

111 Wabkanwi, p. 2a. See also, Haji Khalifa, Yaltkaya, vol. 2, p. 969.112 Sharaf-i Rami, pp. 2-3 (Courtesy of Professor Mojtaba Minovi). This

visit took place during the reign of the Jalairid ruler Shaykh Uways Bahadur.

Shaykh Uways conquered Adharbayjau in 1358, and in 1364 he annexed Musul

and Diyarbakir to his realm (see, Halil Edhem, p. 391).113 Giyath al Din, Letter, p. 512a.

14 Kopriihi; Maraga Rasathanesi, p. 225.

also shows that the remains of this institution were quite subs-

tantial at that time.

In 1274 Nasir al Din went to Baghdad and died there. Thisyear may mark therefore the end of the most active period of

the observatory. According to Al Safadi and Al Kutubi, Nasiral Din was accompanied or followed by a large number of hisstudents when he journeyed to Baghdad for the last time.

115

It is to be wondered therefore whether Nasir al Din did not in-tend to return to Maragha. Bar Hebraus says, however, that Na-sir al Din's journey to Baghdad was undertaken for the purposeof visiting certain places in that district.

116

According to Al Wabkanwi, while the Ilkhani Tables arelargely dependent upon the Tables of Ibn al A'lam and Ibn Yu-nus, the Zij of Muhyi al Din al Maghribi is more truly represent-ative of the work done at Maragha. Al Wabkanwi also statesthat Muhyi al Din was busy observing at Maragha after Nasir

al Din 's death and that he completed the Maragha observa-tions.

117Reference was previously made to Muhyi al Din's work

and to a disagreement between the values found by him and byNasir al Din for the precession of the equinoxes) ."

It is to be noted that Al Wabkanwi seems to contradict herehis statement previously referred to to the effect that none of

the astronomical tables existing in his time was complete as nonehad been based upon observations lasting for thirty years. Wemay thus attach greater credence to the words of Rukn al Dinal Amuli, according to whom, as we have seen, the astronomersof the Maragha Observatory actually did complete an observa-tion program of thirty years after the death of Nasir al Din.

Rukn al Din gives some details concerning this activity of ob-servation.

He says, "As is well-known, Nasir al Din ... had made cer-tain mistakes in the Ilkhani-Zij and had willed that these mis-

Safadi, vol. 1, p. 183; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.

us Abfi'l Faraj, tr. Budge, p. 451.119 Wabkanwi, p. 3a.119 See above, p. 78, note 125; Qadizada, p. 29. See also, Schirmer,

pp. 59-60.


takes be rectified and the tables contained in the Zij be corrected

by Asil al Din in collaboration with Qutb al Din al Shirazi...Now, the Khwaja (Nasir al Din) had mentioned the names of

the astronomers of the observatory in the introduction to theIlkhani Tables and had passed away, and had not included the

Mawlawi's (Qutb al Din) name among them. Because of this,Qutb al Din did not busy himself with the correction of the tables.Upon Asil al Din's insistence he merely indicated on the mar-gins .. . that in using the mean positions of the planets from the

tables, 30' should be added to the mean position of the moon

and 7 ' to the center of Saturn 's epicycle, that Jupiter's epicyclic

configuration should be increased by 1° 21 ' , and that 1° 30'

should be added to the center of Mars' epicycle and the same

quantity(?) subtracted from that of Venus, but he did not makeany references to the sun and to Mercury.

"After the death of the Khwaja, the astronomers of the ob-

servatory waited (sat) up to thirty years until the revolution ofSaturn became complete. Each one of them, such as Athir alDin al Abhari, Muhyi al Din al Maghribi, Najm al Din Dabiran,

and Fakhr al Din al Akhlati, prepared astronomical tablesand treatises on Euclid and the Almagest, and it was ascertained

that, as before, three minutes should be subtracted from the

sun 's distance to the apogee of its eccentric " so as to bring aboutthe necessary agreement between the calculated and observed

positions)"

Does this mean a new edition of the Ilkhani Tables, the main

author this time being Asil al Din? Or could the details givenby Rukn al Din be considered as more or less equivalent to Al

Wabkanwi's and Hasan Rumlu 's statements concerning Muhyi

al Din al Maghribi ' s Astronomical Tables? The clarification of

these questions, will have to await further detailed informationand monographic work. An entirely new additional zij producedat the Maragha Observatory and based upon thirty years of ob-

servation may even be implied here, but other sources would havecontained clear references to such a zij, had it been in existence)°

1 Amfili, p. 2.120 A copy of the Ilkhani Zij with Asil al Din' s handwriting exists in the



We have the report of a certain Hasan ibn Ahmad al Hakamwho visited the Maragha Observatory at a time when Nasir alDin'

s son Sadr al Din was its director. Shams al Din Muhammadibn Muayyad al 'Urdi, Shams al Din al Shirwani, Kamal al Dinal Ayki, and Iiusam al Din al Shami were at that time workingin the observatory.

121

Moreover, as we shall presently see, it appears that the num-ber of students at Maragha had apparently not decreased to anyconsiderable extent, in spite of the report that a group of themfollowed Nasir al Din to Baghdad during his last trip. It may

therefore be concluded that the activity at Maragha did not sufferseriously upon the death of its first director, but further detailedand specific information is needed on this point.

The information concerning Qutb al Din contained in thepassage quoted above from Rukn al Din is of interest. As Qutbal Din was a highly esteemed scientist who survived Nasir alDin by about thirty five years,

122

it is of importance that hedid not stay on the Maragha staff.

Qutb al Din remained in the Ilkhan service, and served forTakudar, Arghun, Ghazan Khan, and UljaytiI, in addition to

Hulagu and Abaqa. He acted as a kind of ambassador sent byTakildar to the Mamluk sultan Qalaun and apparently was thebearer of Takudar's letter mentioned above.

128He was also

given the post of some kind of an extraordinary governor of aboundary province by Takudar. He lived in Asia Minor for aconsiderable time, and he presented a map of the Mediterraneanto Arghun in 1290, from which Arghun examined the route to

be followed by his Genoese envoy Buscarello di Ghizalfi whomhe was sending to the Pope and the kings of France and Englandin 1292.

124

Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris (ms. No 779). See, Blochet, ManuscritsPersans, vol. 2, p. 56.

121Safadi, vol. I, p. 182; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.

122 Sarton, vol. 2, p. 1017. See also, Rashid al Din, Letters, p. 57, note1. It is stated here that Qutb al Din lived to be nearly ninety years old. From

the date of birth given by Sarton, however, he died when about seventy five

years old.12s Sarton, vol. 2, p. 1017.lay Sarton, vol. 2, p. 1018; Togan, 1942, pp. 45-48.


During the reign of Arghun, Rashid al Din sent a rather longletter to Qutb al Din from India,

115

and in a letter to his son,he granted a sum of money, as well as a fur and a horse with saddleto Qutb al Din.

126Of course this need not indicate that at the

time Qutb al Din did not receive funds from the state treasuryor from waqf. An identical grant was made on this occasion toNasir al Din's son Asil al Din also.

127It is of interest that Ra-

shid al Din did not believe in astrology;128

we have seen thathis opinion of at least the alchemists of this time was, likewise,very low indeed.

After Nasir al Din ' s death two of his sons became directorsof the observatory, although none of them seems to have beenquite as distinguished, as astronomers, as some of the other mem-

bers of the staff, e. g., Qutb al Din al Shirazi or Muhyi al Din alMaghribi. This may bring to mind the possibility that the direc-tion of the observatory was not unrelated to the administrationof its endowments.

The office of the administrator of waqf revenues was some-times hereditary. Such an arrangement would usually imply,however, that the waqf revenues came from the personal proper-ties of Nasir al Din, and although our knowledge concerning

the endowment of Maragha is scanty, it is quite certain thatNasir al Din had not endowed it. It is not very likely thereforethat his sons were automatically entitled to any such priorityin the administration of its waqf revenues. There still remainsthe possibility that the supervision of the waqf revenues of theobservatory was granted to Nasir al Din on a hereditary basis.

We have referred to the report concerning the work whichwas to be continued after the death of Nasir al Din by his son

Asil al Din in collaboration with Qutb al Din. This suggests thepossibility that Nasir al Din had willed that this son should suc-

ceed him as director of the observatory. If so, however, Asil alDin would have become the second director of the Maragha Ob-

12s Rashid al Din, Letters, pp. 159-168, 161.125 Rashid al Din, Letters, p. 57.121 Rashid al Din, Letters, p. 60.125 Rashid al Din, Letters, p. 300.


servatory, and this apparently was not the case. For as mentionedbefore, according to E. G. Browne, Asil al Din Hasan was ap-

pointed director of the Observatory by Uljaytft in 1304-5. 129 Weknow that Sadr al Din `Ali too occupied that post. For as we

have seen, a certain Hasan ibn Ahmad visited the Observatoryat a time when Sadr al Din was its director.

Presumably, therefore, after Nasir al Din ' s death, first Sadral Din and then Asil al Din assumed the direction of the Observ-atory. In fact, Al Safadi and Al Kutubi state that first Sadr alDin and, after his death, his brother Ail al Din assumed the

direction of most of the posts occupied by their father.1S0 Thesame sources state, on the other hand, that Asil al Din losthis prestige toward the end of Ghazan Khan' s reign and thathis life came to an end without having been rehabilitated,'"and this further complicates our somewhat confused pictureof the situation. Nasir al Din 's third son, Fakhr al Din Ahmad,does not seem to have been connected with the Observatory.

THE ACTIVITY OF INSTRUCTION — The third out-

standing feature of the Maragha Observatory is seen in the im-portant activity of instruction which took place in it. There isno doubt that earlier observatories too were helpful in the trans-

mission of astronomical knowledge and of the await sciencesin general. For as the await sciences were as a rule excluded from

the curricula of the madrasas, the transmission of knowledgein these subjects had to depend upon private instruction, andat least a limited number of private students and apprentices

of astronomers must have had access to the instruments at thedisposal of their masters. This would serve to supplement theo-retical teaching by practical instruction, and practical astrono-

mers at least probably received the best part of their educationwhen they had access to the observatories in the capacity ofassistants.

As astronomers needed assistance both in making theirobservations and for calculation work, there must have existed a

1" Browne, 1920, p. 48; Koprulu, Maraga Rasathanesi, p. 224.'as Safadi, vol. 1, p. 183; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.'3' Safadi, vol. 1, p. 183; Kutubi, vol. 2, p. 151.


number of students in every private observatory. Observationwith the larger instruments especially was, on the other hand,

of necessity, the result of the cooperation of several persons.The more elaborate royal observatories could afford to employan array of full-fledged astronomers, and they may not have felt

the need of having student helpers. At any rate, we have no clearevidence that any of the earlier royal observatories, with the

possible exception of the Al Afdal-Al Bataihi Observatory, hadany students or apprentices on their staff. As we have seen, inthe latter institution both Sahlun and his disciple Aba Nasr are

mentioned among the astronomers of the observatory.As to the Maragha Observatory, it apparently incorporated

a veritable school of astronomy and the await sciences in gene-ral. This, at least, is the impression gained from the fact thatour sources associate large numbers of students with this observ-atory. Our information concerning the degree to which this act-ivity was organized and institutionalized is not very clear, how-ever. The instruction in Maragha does, nevertheless, show signsof having been official and not to have consisted merely of anextention of private teaching.

We are told, in fact, that Abaqa granted financial assistance,repeatedly and generously, to nearly one hundred students whohad been disciples of Nasir al Din.

tsa

This would seem to indi-cate that the waqf of the observatory contained no provisionsconcerning funds to be made available to students, but it alsoshows that the instruction of "Nasir al Din ' s students" was notinterrupted by his death. It is clear at any rate that they shouldnot be conceived as his private students. We may infer, on the basisof the same report, that the group of students who followed Na-sir al Din to Baghdad, when he journeyed there, must have re-turned to Maragha after his death.

Aba'l Faraj is known to have taught geometry and astro-nomy in Maragha. He lectured on Euclid' s Elements in 1270 andon Ptolemy's Almagest in 1272. According to Nau, the latter, i. e.,the courses on astronomy lasted from 1272 to 1279. laa

'sa Mtrkhond, vol. 5. p. 91; Kopriilii, Maraga Rasathanesi, p. 219. Accordingto Abu'l Faraj, Nasir al Din allotted stipends to teachers and pupils whowere with him, and this most likely refers to waqf revenues (See below,p. 222, note 143).

'sa Nau, p. IV.


Abell Faraj (Bar Hebraus) is sometimes considered as one ofthe astronomers of the Maragha Observatory, 134 but there seemsto exist no conclusive evidence showing that he was officially inthe staff of that institution. There is no doubt that he lecturedon geometry and astronomy in the city of Maragha;

135but it

is not clearly stated in our sources whether he lectured in Arabicor in Syriac, and nor is it specified whether the courses weregiven in the observatory or in the monastery of that city.

The monastery is mentioned in one of the passages whereinreference is made to his instruction, however, and although theconnection between them is not clear, Assemani and Nau have

concluded that his courses in geometry and astronomy weregiven in Syriac in the monastery.

135Nau's contention is based

also on the fact that an astronomical work of Bar Hebraus, The

Book of the Ascension ... , written in Syriac, contains fragmentaryevidence concerning his teaching. According to Nau, this bookmust have been directly connected with that activity of instruc-

tion and it probably grew out of his lectures.137

Nau also points out that the details of the celestial globeconstructed in Maragha and preserved in Dresden correspondto those given by Bar Hebraus in his Book of the Ascension, andhe sees in this correspondence an additional evidence of connec-

tion between Bar Hebraus' Syriac book and his courses.'"

This globe, which was constructed by Muhammad ibn Mu-ayyad al Ùrdi, a son of Muayyad al Din al Ùrdi,

13s

apparentlybelonged to the observatory. For there should be no doubt thatthis Muhammad was no other than Shams al Din Muhammadibn Muayyad al Ùrdi, who was, as we have seen, a member of' thestaff of the observatory. Moreover, according to Nau, there is

close similarity between Bar Hebraus ' book and Nasir al Din 's

'34 Dreyer, History, p. 248; Wiedemann and Ruska, p. 298; Johnson,

p. 31; Sarton, vol. 2, p. 1005.138 Assemani, p. 253; Abbeloos de Lamy, col. 444; Nau, pp. III, IV if.,

105; Sarton, vol. 2, p. 975; Hitti, p. 683.134 Assemani, p. 253; Nau, pp. III, IV.187 Nau, pp. III, IV, VII.'38

Nau, pp. VII-VIII, note 4 on p. VII.138 See above, pp. 194-195, note 33.

Tadhkira,140

and we know that Bar Hebraus also wrote in Ara-bic. These items give evidence that Abu'l Faraj had close rela-tions with the Maragha Observatory and bring to mind the like-lihood that he lectured in that institution in Arabic.

There is, in one of the Istanbul libraries, a manuscript vo-lume containing a collection of various mathematical and astr-

onomical texts which belonged to Abu'l Faraj; it bears his sig-nature as well as a phrase of identification in Syriac. The trea-tises of this collection include some works of Nasir al Din, and

they would seem to constitute a very useful collection for coursesin geometry and astronomy such as those given by Abu'l Faraj.The various treatises contained in the volume bear successive

dates and they seem to have been written, at least partly, in BarHebraus' own handwriting. 141

It would seem that this collection could be characterizedas more representative of the courses given by Bar Hebraus thanhis above-mentioned Syriac book, and the presence of such a

collection would seem to offset the thesis that Abu'l Faraj taughtin Syriac and in the Maragha Monastery.

Arabic was the prevailing scientific language at the time,

and students existed in the observatory in large numbers, where,in addition, excellent facilities for instruction were available;there was a huge library and, very likely, auxiliary instruments

of smaller size concerning which no information has come downto us. Moreover, his religious duties took Abu ' ! Faraj to differentcities such as Baghdad, Musul, and Tabriz, and Maragha wasnot his only headquarters.

142It was only in Maragha, however,

that he lectured on astronomy and related subjects. It may be

noted in this connection too that no other examples of instruc-tion in astronomy or mathematics given in monasteries or chur-ches within Islamic lands seem to be in existence.

On all these grounds it would appear likely that Abu'lFaraj gave his courses in Arabic and in the Maragha Observatory,

140 Nau, p. VII.141 Sayil1, Khwaja Nasir-i nisi, pp. 10-12; see also plate on page p. 16-17

(inverted). Professor Franz Rosenthal kindly brought this manuscript to my

attention.142 See, Nau, p. III; Sarton, vol. 2, p. 975.



although there is no conclusive evidence for either alternative.

The following statement of Abu'l Faraj too is of interest in thisconnection.

Speaking of Nasir al Din, Abu'l Faraj says, "And there

were gathered together about him in Maragha, a city of Adhar-bayjan, a numerous company of wise men from various coun-tries. And since the council of all the mosques and the houses ofinstruction (i. e., colleges) of Baghdad and Assyria were underhis direction he used to allot stipends to the teachers and pupilswho were with him. About this time, having set out for Baghdadto visit various places, he died in Baghdad. And certain men havereported that he was blind." 74s

The last sentence in this passage makes it seem that Abu'1

Faraj had no contacts with the Maragha Observatory and thathe had not even seen Nasir al Din. But this possibly refers to

Nasir al Din's last days only and in that case it would not meanthat Abil'l Faraj did not know him personally.

According to Haji Khalifa, Muhyi al Din al Maghribi wrotehis epitome of the Almagest upon Abu'l Faraj ' s request and re-commendation

144so that they were apparently well-acquainted

with one another. The above-mentioned manuscript collectiontoo shows that Abu'l Faraj was quite well-informed on thenewest books and treatises written by the astronomers of theMaragha Observatory, and we have mentioned other itemsindicating that he was probably in contact with that institution.

CONCLUSION — As will be noted, we are in possessionof no clear evidence that any of the previous observatorieshad libraries of any considerable size, whereas we have al-ready referred to the huge library of the Maragha Observatory.It is reasonable to think that previous observatories too wereequipped with libraries containing appropriate books. They

may have been of modest or moderate sizes, and this is probablythe reason why no references occur to them. In fact, the only

other observatory in connection with which there is clear evi-dence of the existence of a library is the Istanbul Observatory

144Abu ' l Faraj, tr. Budge, p. 451.

'" Haji Khalifa, FHigel, vol. 5, pp. 389, 387, Yaltkaya, vol. 2, pp. 1596,

1595; Suter, p. 155.


of the sixteenth century. This much seems to be clear at any ratethat none of them had any library comparable in size to that ofof the Maragha Observatory.

We have seen that, as in earlier observatories, the main work

done in Maragha was the preparation of new astronomical ta-bles, and it seems quite clear that, for its royal patron at least,the primary incentive in creating this institution was of an astr-

ological nature.Like its library, the staff of this observatory too is seen to

have been quite impressive. In fact, it is clear that in many res-pects, Maragha surpassed all previous observatories of Islamand that in its financial administration, as well as with regard to

instruction in astronomy, it introduced important innovations.These factors, and also the consistency with which the Ilkhan

rulers supported astrology, were undoubtedly responsible in greatmeasure for the exceptional length of life of this observatory.

The two main observatories which were founded after Ma-

ragha, namely the Samarqand Observatory of Ulugh Bey andthe Istanbul Observatory of Murad III, were quite comparable

to Maragha in splendor; these three would seem to fall generallyin the same class. The Maragha Observatory thus set a newstandard for the observatories of Islam. The policy of supplyingobservatories with waqf was further developed in the TabrizObservatory of Ghazan Khan, but there is no evidence that itwas continued in the later observatories of Islam. Maraghawas likewise surpassed by the Tabriz Observatory with respectto the organization of scientific instruction, but otherwise theobservatory of Gillian Khan was only of minor importance.

In Samarqand the teaching of astronomy and mathematics

was pursued with vigor in the madrasa of that city. This mad-rasa, which was older than the observatory, apparently consti-tuted some kind of a prelude to it and paved the way for it. It t

is not known to what extent the observatory itself was acces-sible to students, however. The connection of observatories

with instruction in astronomy too seems, nevertheless, to haveconstituted one of the lasting traditions and permanent featuresof the Islamic observatory.

14s

14' See below, p. 231, note 25.

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

225

CH

AP

TE

R V

II

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY A

ND

MIN

OR

OB

SE

RV

ATO

RIE

S

Sh

ortl

y b

efo

re t

he c

on

str

ucti

on

of th

e M

aragh

a O

bservato

ry

Mu

ayyad a

l `U

rdi com

pla

ined t

hat

no r

oyal patr

on

su

ffic

ien

tly

inte

reste

d in

astr

on

om

y w

as a

vailable

an

d t

hat

therefo

re s

ys-

tem

ati

c o

bservati

on

s,

on

wh

ich

an

y s

erio

us w

ork in

astr

on

om

y

had t

o b

e b

ased, cou

ld n

ot

be u

nderta

ken

).

Sh

ortl

y a

fter t

he M

aragh

a O

bservato

ry, H

asan

ibn

Mu

ham

-

mad N

izam

al N

lsh

abu

ri, c

om

men

tin

g o

n t

he s

tate

men

t of N

asir

al

Din

al

Tu

sith

at

"in

no a

ge w

hic

h w

as w

ith

ou

t a g

reat

an

d

worl

d-c

on

trolin

g k

ing h

as it

been

possib

le t

o b

uild o

bserv

ato

ries

",

writ

es a

s follow

s:

"It

is f

ixed in

th

e m

inds o

f in

tellig

en

t people

th

at

the w

orks

of

kin

gs a

re k

ings a

mon

g w

orks.

Th

is is e

specia

lly t

ru

e o

f observ-

ati

on

program

s.

For t

his

is a

matt

er w

hic

h c

an

not

be a

ccom

-

plish

ed e

xcept

by t

he n

od o

f approval of

kin

gs.

Th

is is n

ot

merely

du

e t

o t

he f

act

that

great

expen

dit

ures a

re n

ecessary f

or t

he

creati

on

an

d t

he f

un

cti

on

ing o

f observato

rie

s a

nd f

or e

qu

ippin

g

them

wit

h in

str

um

en

ts.

For if th

is w

ere t

he o

nly

reason

,

people

well-v

ers

ed in

th

ese m

att

ers

cou

ld c

all u

pon

th

e a

ssis

tan

ce

of w

ealt

hy p

erson

aliti

es.

"For t

he e

recti

on

of

an

observato

ry t

here is n

eed f

or t

he

presen

ce o

f accom

plish

ed a

nd s

kilfu

l m

aste

rs w

ho c

an

con

vert

the in

str

um

en

ts from

th

e c

on

ceptu

al sta

te in

to t

he a

ctu

al. A

s

this

is a

n e

xte

nsiv

e w

ork

an

d r

equ

ires lon

g t

ime f

or

its c

om

ple

tion

,

it is im

possib

le t

o lim

it o

neself t

o a

nd t

o b

e s

ati

sfied w

ith

th

e

presen

ce o

f a few

on

ly o

f th

ese m

aste

rs.

It is n

ecessary o

n t

he

con

trary, to

brin

g t

ogeth

er a

ll t

he m

aste

rs o

f th

e t

ime s

o t

hat

every o

ne s

hall m

ake m

an

ifest

his

ow

n p

arti

cu

lar a

rt;

an

d m

ore-

over,

by s

eekin

g t

he c

on

firm

ati

on

an

d a

pproval of

oth

er e

x-

perts

in

each

case, all t

hese in

str

um

en

ts s

hall b

e a

tten

ded t

o

Urd

i,K

itdb a

l H

ay' a

, p.

90a.

an

d c

on

str

ucte

d in

th

e b

est

man

ner p

ossib

le in

th

at

age.

Now

,

there is n

o d

ou

bt

that

to a

ssem

ble

th

e m

aste

rs o

f th

is a

rt

from

all

corn

ers is p

ossib

le s

om

eti

mes b

y s

how

ing k

indn

ess t

o t

hem

, an

d

in o

ther c

ases t

hrou

gh

com

pu

lsio

n a

nd h

arsh

ness; bu

t kin

dn

ess

ism

ore e

ffecti

ve w

hen

it

com

es f

rom

kin

gs a

nd c

oersio

n c

an

be

exercis

ed o

nly

by t

hem

.

"Th

us f

or t

he p

urpose o

f th

e in

ven

tion

of

astr

on

om

ical in

s-

tru

men

ts, th

e e

sta

blish

men

t of m

eth

ods for m

akin

g o

bservati

on

s

wit

h t

hem

, an

d for d

iscoverin

g e

xpedie

nt

an

d d

exte

rou

s w

ays

for t

heir

man

ipu

lati

on

an

d u

tilizati

on

it

is n

ecessary t

o b

rin

g

togeth

er w

ise m

en

from

all c

orn

ers s

o t

hat

their

experie

nce a

nd

kn

ow

ledge w

ill be p

oole

d t

ogeth

er;

the r

ealizati

on

of

the p

ro-

jecte

d o

bservati

on

s w

ill th

us b

ecom

e m

ore c

erta

in a

nd t

he r

esu

lts

obta

ined w

ill com

e c

loser t

o t

he t

ru

th..

.. "

2

It is c

erta

in t

hat

in I

sla

m r

oyal in

itia

tive a

nd p

atr

on

age

were f

acto

rs o

f prim

ary im

porta

nce in

th

e c

on

str

ucti

on

of

observ-

ato

ries.

Th

e fou

rte

en

th c

en

tury d

oes n

ot

seem

to h

ave b

een

part

icu

larl

y r

ich

in

observ

ato

ries.

Th

is p

robably

had s

om

eth

ing t

o

do w

ith

th

e fact

that

the fou

ndati

on

of an

ela

borate

observ-

ato

ry a

nd t

he c

om

ple

tion

of

reliable

astr

on

om

ical ta

ble

s,

i.e.,

the M

aragh

a O

bservato

ry a

nd t

he

Ilk

hani

Zij,

had m

ade it

un

-

necessary t

o b

uild n

ew

observato

rie

s,

for s

om

e t

ime a

t le

ast,

or

even

to k

eep t

he e

xis

tin

g o

ne a

live.

Gh

azan

Kh

an

sta

nds o

ut

as a

n in

teresti

ng fig

ure o

f th

e

fou

rte

en

th c

en

tury, alt

hou

gh

his

patr

on

age w

as p

robably

not

alt

ogeth

er

fru

itfu

l.It

is lik

ely

th

at

the m

ost

importa

nt

ob-

servato

ry o

f th

is c

en

tury w

as t

hat

of Ib

n a

l S

hati

r.

Bu

t very

litt

le in

form

ati

on

is a

vailable

at

presen

t con

cern

ing t

his

sid

e o

f

Ibn

al S

hati

r' s

acti

vit

y.

An

oth

er f

acto

r w

hic

h s

eem

s t

o h

ave g

ain

ed s

om

e im

porta

nce

by t

his

tim

e is a

ten

den

cy o

f bu

ildin

g m

inor

"observ

ato

ries".

It is d

ifficu

lt t

o m

ake a

cle

ar d

efin

itio

n o

f th

e w

ord

"m

inor"

in

this

con

text,

bu

t probably

th

ese m

inor o

bservato

rie

s c

ou

ld b

est

be c

on

ceiv

ed a

s a

new

type w

hic

h c

am

e c

lose t

o t

he o

ffic

e o

f th

e

muw

aqqit.

Th

ey m

ay r

ough

ly b

e c

hara

cte

rized a

s p

laces f

rom

wh

ich

2N

izam

-i N

ish

ab

uri

,K

ash

f,B

urs

a,

pp

. 6a-6

b.

is

226

TH

E O

BSE

RV

AT

OR

Y I

N I

SL

AM

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

227

ob

serv

atio

ns

of

a def

init

e n

ature

an

d lim

ited

sco

pe

wer

e m

ade,

and in

co

ntr

ast

to t

he

ob

serv

ato

ry t

hey

wer

e ap

par

entl

y co

n-

ceiv

ed t

o b

e p

erm

anen

t. M

ore

sp

ecif

ic in

form

atio

n w

ould

be

nee

ded

to

cla

rify

th

is s

ub

ject

, h

ow

ever

.

TH

E G

HA

ZA

N K

HA

N O

BSE

RV

AT

OR

Y

Acc

ord

ing t

o R

ash

id a

l D

in (

1247-1

318),

th

e Il

kh

anid

rule

rG

haz

an K

han

(1295-1

304),

aft

er e

mb

raci

ng I

slam

, dec

ided

to

ado

pt

the

cust

om

of

Mo

slem

kin

gs

of

buildin

g m

auso

leum

s.

He

had

on

e m

ade

for

him

self

an

d s

urr

oun

ded

it

wit

h a

gro

up

of

inst

ituti

on

s o

f ch

arit

y an

d p

ub

lic

assi

stan

ce. H

e ch

ose

Sh

am,

a su

burb

of

Tab

riz, as

th

e lo

cati

on

of

his

futu

re r

esti

ng p

lace

and its

co

mp

lem

ent

of

char

itab

le in

stit

uti

on

s, a

nd h

e w

as d

eter

-m

ined

th

at it

sho

uld

Burp

,s

all p

revio

us

on

es in

ple

ndo

r.3

Th

e re

sult

was

th

e {A

bw

ab a

l B

irr

of

Sh

am,-

)wh

ich

was

als

oca

lled

th

e Sh

anb

-i G

haz

ani. I

t co

nta

ined

, in

addit

ion

to

his

Mau

-so

leum

, a

mo

sque,

a m

on

aste

ry, tw

o o

r m

ore

mad

rasa

s, a

ho

s-p

ice

for

sayy

ids,

an o

bse

rvat

ory

, a

ho

spit

al, a

lib

rary

, a

ho

use

of

law

, a

ho

use

fo

r th

e ad

min

istr

ato

r o

f en

do

wm

ents

, a

pla

ce o

f

ablu

tio

n, a

bat

h-h

ouse

, an

d a

pri

mar

y sc

ho

ol fo

r o

ne

hun

dre

dch

ildre

n.

Th

e fo

un

dat

ion

s w

ere

rich

ly e

ndo

wed

, an

d t

he

waqfr

even

ues

pro

vid

ed, in

addit

ion

to

th

e s

alar

ies

of

all em

plo

yees

and a

llex

pen

ses

nee

ded

fo

r m

ain

ten

ance

an

d u

pkee

p, fo

r var

ious

oth

er

hum

anit

aria

n p

urp

ose

s su

ch a

s th

e fo

llo

win

g: fu

ner

al e

xp

ense

sfo

r des

titu

te p

erso

ns

dyi

ng in

Tab

riz,

ass

ista

nce

to

po

or

wid

ow

s,ca

re a

nd e

duca

tio

n o

f o

rph

ans

un

til th

ey w

ere

taugh

t a

man

ual

art,

up

kee

p a

nd m

ain

ten

ance

of

road

s an

d b

ridges

up

to

a d

is-

tan

ce o

f eig

ht

fars

ak

hs

fro

m T

abri

z, gra

in f

or

bir

ds

wh

en t

he

gro

un

d is

cover

ed w

ith

sn

ow

, an

d a

ssis

tan

ce t

o s

ervan

ts e

mb

ar-

rass

ed b

ecau

se o

f h

avin

g b

roken

th

eir

mas

ters

' ju

gs.

4

Gh

azan

Kh

an f

oun

ded

oth

er c

har

itab

le in

stit

uti

on

s al

so in

var

ious

par

ts o

f h

is k

ingdo

m. °

Th

ere

is m

enti

on

of

a cl

ock

in

sR

ash

id a

l D

in,

Td

rik

h-i

Mubfi

rak

,p

p.

207,

208.

*R

ash

id a

l D

in,

Td

rik

h-i

Mu

bfi

rak

,p

p.

209-2

17;

Kii

pri

ilii

,Va

kif

MU

-ess

ese

si,

p.

21;

Nak

hja

wan

i,S

han6-i G

hazan,

pp

. 81-

97.

sS

ee,

e.g.,

Rash

id a

l D

in,

Td

rik

h-i

Mu

bfi

rak

,p

p.

215, 217, 324-3

25.

con

nec

tio

n w

ith

th

e o

bse

rvat

ory

; fu

nds

set

asid

e fo

r th

e in

stru

-m

ents

an

d t

oo

ls o

f th

is c

lock

an

d f

or

the

ob

serv

ato

ry f

orm

on

e

sin

gle

ite

m, an

d t

he

clo

ck is

men

tio

ned

on

th

is o

ccas

ion

. °

On

em

ay c

on

clude

ther

efo

re t

hat

th

e cl

ock

was

at

the

ob

serv

ato

ryan

d w

as o

ne

of

som

e co

mp

lexi

ty.

Ras

hid

al D

in t

ells

us

that

, in

th

e sp

rin

g o

f 1300, w

hen

re-

turn

ing

fro

m h

is S

yria

n e

xp

edit

ion

, G

haz

an K

han

sto

pp

ed a

t M

a-

ragh

a an

d s

taye

d t

her

e fo

r so

me

tim

e. D

uri

ng t

his

so

journ

he

vis

ited

th

e M

arag

ha

Ob

serv

ato

ry; h

e sh

ow

ed in

tere

st in

ever

y

min

ute

det

ail an

d a

sked

man

y ques

tio

ns.

He

then

ord

ered

th

eco

nst

ruct

ion

of

an o

bse

rvat

ory

at

his

Ab

wab

al B

irr

of

Sh

am.

He

gav

e in

stru

ctio

ns

con

cern

ing t

his

mat

ter

and t

hes

e co

nta

ined

idea

s th

at w

ere

new

an

d o

rigin

al. T

he

con

stru

ctio

n w

as s

tart

edin

acc

ord

ance

wit

h h

is in

stru

ctio

ns

and b

rough

t to

co

mp

leti

on

.In

th

e co

urs

e o

f h

is in

stru

ctio

ns

Gh

azan

Kh

an is

said

to

hav

e

spec

ifie

d t

he

kin

d o

f w

ork

to

be

do

ne

at t

he

ob

serv

ato

ry, b

ut

no

thin

g in

th

e n

ature

of

spec

ific

det

ails

is

giv

en c

on

cern

ing t

his

mat

ter.

7

Th

is w

as

no

t G

hazan

Kh

an

's o

nly

vis

it t

o t

he M

ara

gh

a

Ob

serv

ato

ry, an

d n

eith

er w

as it

the

firs

t. H

e vis

ited

th

at in

stit

u-

tio

n s

ever

al t

imes

on

oth

er o

ccas

ion

s.9

Ras

hid

al D

in p

rais

es G

haz

an K

han

fo

r h

is k

no

wle

dge

indif

fere

nt

fiel

ds

and h

is a

cco

mp

lish

men

ts in

lea

rnin

g. A

cco

rdin

gto

him

, G

haz

an K

han

was

ver

y w

ell ac

quai

nte

d w

ith

th

e h

isto

ry

of

the

Mo

ngo

ls; h

e h

ad a

ver

y go

od k

no

wle

dge

of

med

icin

e an

ddis

cover

ed a

new

dru

g c

alle

dtiry

dq-i

Ghd

zdni;

he

could

fo

rete

llth

e m

iner

al a

nd m

etal

lic

rich

es o

f a

dis

tric

tth

rough

his

kn

ow

-le

dge

of

geo

logy;

he

was

pro

foun

dly

in

tere

sted

in

ast

ron

om

y;an

d h

e p

oss

esse

d m

ech

anic

al a

bilit

y an

d e

xh

ibit

ed g

reat

skill in

craf

tsm

ansh

ip.9

Ras

hid

al D

in s

pea

ks

of

Gh

azan

Kh

an's

skill in

th

e m

anual

arts

on

dif

fere

nt

occ

asio

ns,

addin

g t

hat

exp

erts

wer

e as

ton

ish

edat

his

pro

fici

ency

in

th

eir

ow

n f

ield

s.

6R

ash

id a

l D

in,

Td

rik

h-i

Mubfi

rak

,p

. 210

.9

Rash

id a

l D

in,

Tfi

rik

h-i

Mubfi

rak

, p.

131.

9R

ash

id a

l D

in,

Tfi

rik

h-i

Mubfi

rak

,p

p.

104,

173.

'T

dri

kh

-iM

ubfi

rak

,p

p.

171-

174.

228

TH

E O

BSE

RV

AT

OR

Y I

N I

SL

AM

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

229

On

e s

uch

cir

cu

msta

nce is c

on

necte

d w

ith

th

e c

on

str

ucti

on

an

d p

lan

of th

e T

abriz

Observato

ry.

Accordin

g t

o R

ash

id a

l D

in,

Gh

azan

Kh

an

in

ven

ted a

hem

isph

eric

al in

str

um

en

t fo

r s

ola

r

observati

on

s.

Th

e a

str

on

om

ers d

ecla

red it

to b

e a

n e

nti

rely

ori-

gin

al in

ven

tion

an

d fou

nd it

to b

e v

ery w

ell t

hou

gh

t ou

t bu

t

difficu

lt t

o r

ealize in

actu

al con

str

ucti

on

.Th

eir

hesit

ati

on

s

con

cern

ing its

con

str

ucti

on

were d

issip

ate

d, h

ow

ever, aft

er t

hey

heard s

pecific

in

str

ucti

on

s g

iven

by G

hazan

Kh

an

. R

ash

id a

l D

in

adds t

hat

the o

bservato

ry

"w

hic

h n

ow

sta

nds in

th

e A

bw

ab a

l

Bir

r o

f S

ham

" con

tain

s a

dom

ed s

tru

ctu

re w

hic

h is b

ased u

pon

the p

rin

cip

les o

f th

e d

esig

n o

f th

e s

aid

in

str

um

en

t."

No d

eta

ils

are

available

con

cern

ing t

his

devic

e.

Th

e p

assage d

ealin

g w

ith

Gh

azan

Kh

an

' svis

it t

o M

aragh

a,

du

rin

g w

hic

h h

e d

ecid

ed t

o fou

nd h

is n

ew

observato

ry, in

dic

ate

s

that

the c

on

str

ucti

on

of

Gh

azan

Kh

an

' sO

bserv

ato

ry w

as s

tart

-

ed in

1300 o

r s

hortl

y a

fter.

Th

at

the c

on

str

ucti

on

was c

om

-

ple

ted b

efo

re 1

304, i. e

., b

efo

re G

hazan

Kh

an

's d

eath

, m

ay b

e

safe

ly in

ferred from

th

e d

eta

ils g

iven

by R

ash

id a

l D

in, especia

l-

ly t

hose c

on

cern

ing t

he

wa

gf

docu

men

t pre

pare

d f

or

the e

ndow

-

men

ts.

l'

Th

e s

tate

men

t of

the s

am

e a

uth

or r

efe

rrin

g t

o t

his

insti

tuti

on

as t

he

"observato

ry w

hic

h n

ow

sta

nds in

th

e A

bw

ab

al

Bir

r o

f S

ham

,"12

not

on

ly c

on

firm

s t

he c

on

clu

sio

n t

hat

the

con

str

ucti

on

was c

om

ple

ted,

bu

t it

als

o s

how

s t

hat

the o

bserv-

ato

ry w

as s

till s

tan

din

g a

t th

e t

ime w

hen

Rash

id a

l D

in w

rote

his

book,

i, e

., in

1317.

13

Th

us,

the o

bservato

ry s

eem

s t

o h

ave

had a

min

imu

m life o

f abou

t fift

een

or s

ixte

en

years.

Ibn

Batu

ta,

wh

o v

isit

ed t

he S

han

b-i

Gh

azan

i in

1331 o

r

1332, m

en

tion

s t

he t

om

b o

f G

hazan

Kh

an

as w

ell a

s a

madrasa

an

d a

mon

aste

ry t

here, bu

t h

e s

peaks n

eit

her o

f th

e o

bservato

ry

nor o

f th

e o

ther in

sti

tuti

on

s b

uilt

by G

hazan

Kh

an

at

Sh

am

.14

Th

ew

aqfof

this

observ

ato

ryprovid

ed r

even

ues f

or t

he s

a-

larie

s o

f a p

rofe

ssor

(mu

da

rris

)an

d a

n a

ssis

tan

t(m

u`i

d),

as

10T

ari

kh

-iM

ubarak

,p

p.

131,

173-

174.

11

Ta

rik

h-i

Mu

bd

rak

,p

p.

210

, 215

.11

Ta

rik

h-i

Mubdrak

,p

.174.

'sT

ari

kh

-iM

ubdrak

,In

tro

du

cti

on

, p

. X

III.

i4Ib

n B

ati

lta,

vo

l. 2

, p

. 12

9.

well a

s f

or a

treasu

rer a

nd s

everal oth

er e

mplo

yees;

fun

ds w

ere

als

o s

et

asid

e f

or t

he b

en

efit

of

stu

den

ts, an

d f

or t

he n

eeded

furn

itu

re, provis

ion

s, an

d o

ther m

ate

ria

ls.

15

As o

ther m

adrasas

of

Isla

m t

oo g

en

erally h

ad o

ne

mu

da

rris

,th

e t

each

ing s

taff

of

this

observato

ry s

hou

ld b

e c

on

sid

ered a

s o

f a s

ize n

ot

very d

iffe

-

ren

t fr

om

th

e s

ch

ools

of h

igh

er e

du

cati

on

of th

e t

ime.

It is t

hu

s s

een

th

at

this

observato

ry o

ffic

ially in

clu

ded a

sch

ool fo

r t

he t

each

ing o

f astr

on

om

y a

nd t

he r

ela

ted

aw

dil

scie

n-

ces

(hik

am

iyiit)

.Th

is r

epresen

ts a

con

tin

uati

on

of th

e t

radit

ion

sta

rte

d a

t M

aragh

a.

It w

ou

ld s

eem

als

o t

hat

that

tradit

ion

is

fou

nd h

ere in

a m

ore d

evelo

ped s

tate

. F

or w

e h

ave,

in t

his

case,

cle

ar e

vid

en

ce t

hat

fun

ds w

ere s

et

asid

e in

th

ew

aqf

en

dow

men

ts

especia

lly f

or

this

pu

rpose.

Th

ere is a

poem

wh

erein

Gh

azan

Kh

an

speaks o

f th

e n

ew

cale

ndar,

called K

han

i, w

hic

h w

as e

sta

blish

ed b

y h

im.

He s

ays

here t

hat

as d

iffe

ren

t kin

ds o

f cale

ndars w

ere in

use in

his

realm

he d

ecid

ed t

o u

nify t

hem

, an

d t

his

gave o

ccasio

n t

o h

is n

ew

cale

ndar.

In h

is c

ale

ndar t

he y

ear s

tarte

d a

t vern

al equ

inox."

Th

is c

ale

ndar w

as a

dopte

d in

1302, an

d its

begin

nin

g c

oin

cid

ed

wit

h t

he fir

st

day

of

aT

urk

ish

month

.17

Th

e K

han

i cale

ndar o

f G

hazan

Kh

an

was s

ola

r a

nd t

he s

am

e

as t

he J

ala

li c

ale

ndar o

f M

aliksh

ah

except

for a

sm

all d

eta

il c

on

-

necte

d w

ith

th

e b

egin

nin

g o

f th

e y

ear.

Here t

he y

ear s

tarte

d

on

th

e d

ay o

f vern

al equ

inox if th

e e

qu

inox o

ccu

rred b

efo

re s

un

set;

bu

t if it

cam

e a

fter s

un

set,

th

en

th

e n

ext

day w

as t

aken

as t

he

first

day o

f th

e y

ear.

Th

e n

am

es o

f m

on

ths in

th

e J

ala

li c

ale

ndar

were t

hose o

f th

e o

ld P

ersia

n m

on

ths,

wh

ereas in

th

e K

han

ica-

len

dar n

am

es o

f Tu

rkis

h m

on

ths w

ere u

sed.

18

It is p

ossib

le t

hat

the n

ew

cale

ndar

was b

ased o

n w

ork

don

e a

t th

e n

ew

observ

ato

ry,

bu

t th

ere is n

o s

pecific

sta

tem

en

t to

th

is e

ffect.

Al

Wabkan

wi w

as a

mon

g t

he a

str

on

om

ers w

ho m

ade t

he

new

cale

ndar,

1°

wh

ich

was

in u

se

in o

ffic

ial

Ilkhani

cir

cle

sduri

ng

16

Rash

idal

Din

,T

ari

kh

-iM

ubd

rak

,p

. 210.

Tag

izad

a, p

p. 296-2

97.

Tag

izad

a, p

p. 297, 161, 163.

isW

abkan

wi, p

p. 28a-

29a.

'°W

abkan

wi, p

.2b

.

230

TH

E O

BSE

RV

AT

OR

Y I

N I

SLA

MT

HE

FO

UR

TE

EN

TH

CE

NT

UR

Y23

1

the

reig

n o

f A

bu S

aid

Bah

ad

ur

(131

6-36

).20

Al W

abkan

wi st

ates

,h

ow

ever

, th

at it

was

no

t as

yet

use

d m

uch

am

on

g a

stro

no

mer

s

and t

hat

it

was

fo

r th

e p

urp

ose

of

mak

ing it

mo

re w

idel

y kn

ow

nth

at h

e ad

op

ted it

in h

is o

wn

zij.

21

Acc

ord

ing t

o R

ash

id a

l D

in, in

Tab

riz,

"T

her

e w

ere

gat

her

-ed

un

der

the

eyes

of

the

pddis

hah

of

Isla

m (

i, e

., G

haz

an K

han

)p

hilo

sop

her

s, a

stro

no

mer

s, s

cho

lars

, h

isto

rian

s, o

f al

l re

ligio

ns,

of

all se

cts,

peo

ple

of

Cat

hay

, o

f M

ach

in (

So

uth

Ch

ina)

, o

f In

dia

,o

f K

ash

mir

, o

f T

ibet

, o

f th

e U

ygh

ur,

an

d o

ther

Turk

ish

nat

ion

s,A

rab

s an

d F

ran

ks.

"22

It is

thus

seen

th

at t

he

inte

rnat

ion

alis

mo

f th

e ti

me

of

Hula

ga a

s re

pre

sen

ted b

y th

e M

arag

ha

Ob

serv

ato

ryw

as s

till c

on

tin

uin

g in

th

e ti

me

of

Gh

azan

Kh

an. A

s in

th

is c

ase

we

wit

nes

s so

me

emp

has

is o

n t

he

Turk

ish

cal

endar

, re

fere

nce

toU

ygh

ur

and o

ther

Turk

ish

scie

nti

sts

is o

f in

tere

st. It

may

be

added

her

e th

at t

he

Turk

ish

cal

endar

fig

ure

s p

rom

inen

tly

inth

eIl

khani

Ta

ble

sal

so,

It is

no

t kn

ow

n w

het

her

an

y o

f th

ese

fore

ign

ast

ron

om

ers

wo

rked

at

the

new

ob

serv

ato

ry. In

fac

t, o

ur

sourc

es h

ave

no

t

spec

ific

ally

rev

eale

d s

o f

ar a

ny

nam

es o

f as

tro

no

mer

s w

ho

wer

eat

tach

ed t

o t

his

in

stit

uti

on

, an

d n

eith

er d

o w

e p

oss

ess

clea

r in

-

form

atio

n c

on

cern

ing a

ny

wo

rk d

on

e th

ere.

Th

is s

ituat

ion

has

,in

fac

t, g

iven

ris

e t

o c

ert

ain

do

ub

ts c

on

cern

ing t

he n

ature

of

this

in

stit

uti

on

. It

has

bee

n s

ugges

ted t

hat

th

is w

as n

ot

in r

eality

an o

bse

rvat

ory

an

d t

hat

it

was

a s

mal

l-sc

ale

un

der

takin

g c

on

-si

stin

g o

f a

sch

oo

l o

f as

tro

no

my.

23

It is

clea

r at

an

y ra

te t

hat

th

is o

bse

rvat

ory

was

no

t co

mp

arab

lein

siz

e o

r im

po

rtan

ce t

o t

he

Mar

agh

a O

bse

rvat

ory

. A

s w

e h

ave

seen

, th

e ac

coun

t giv

en c

on

cern

ing G

haz

an K

han

' s in

stru

ctio

ns

abo

ut

the c

on

stru

cti

on

of

the n

ew

ob

serv

ato

ry s

uggest

s th

atit

was

des

tin

ed f

or

cert

ain

sp

ecif

ic k

inds

of

wo

rk. In

th

is r

esp

ect,

ho

wev

er, th

ere

is n

o c

lear

in

form

atio

n w

ith

th

e ex

cep

tio

n t

hat

its

pro

ject

ed p

rogra

m o

f w

ork

in

cluded

so

lar

ob

serv

atio

ns.

It

isp

oss

ible

th

at t

he

ob

serv

ato

ry o

f G

haz

an K

han

was

no

t co

n-

20W

abka

nwi,

pp. 2

b, 2

8a-2

9a.

21W

abka

nwi,

p. 3

b.2'

Ras

hid

al D

in,

Jdm

ia

lT

aw

dri

kh

,pp.

38, 3

9;C

arte

r, p

. 128

.2'

Kop

riilti

,M

ara

ga

Ra

sa

tha

nesi, p

p.

224,

22

5.

ceiv

ed a

s an

ela

bo

rate

ob

serv

ato

ry. In

dee

d, at

no

oth

er t

ime,

wer

e th

ere

two

ob

serv

ato

ries

in

Isl

am f

un

ctio

nin

g s

ide

by

side;

asw

e h

ave

seen

, th

is is

true

for

the

tim

e o

f A

l M

amun

als

o.

It is

sign

ific

ant

that

Al W

abkan

wi, w

ho

wo

rked

on

Gh

azan

Kh

an's

new

cal

endar

, se

ems

to s

ay n

oth

ing a

bo

ut

the

Tab

riz

Ob

serv

ato

ry. T

his

fo

rms

a cl

ear

con

tras

t w

ith

his

att

ach

men

t

of

grea

t im

po

rtan

ce t

o t

he

Mar

agh

a O

bse

rvat

ory

an

d t

o t

he

wo

rkdo

ne

in it.

24

Th

e cr

eati

on

of

an o

bse

rvat

ory

was

co

nsi

der

ed a

dif

ficu

lt a

ffai

r w

hic

h c

ould

be

real

ized

on

ly w

ith

th

e h

elp

of

firs

t-

-rat

e as

tro

no

mer

s. T

his

ob

serv

ato

ry a

nd its

mai

n in

stru

men

t, o

nth

e o

ther

han

d, w

ere

con

stru

cted

in

co

nfo

rmit

y w

ith

th

e in

s-tr

uct

ion

s o

f G

haz

an K

han

him

self

wh

o w

as, at

th

e m

ost

, an

am

a-

teur

in a

stro

no

my.

It

wo

uld

see

m lik

ely

ther

efo

re t

hat

th

e o

bse

rv-

ato

ry w

as n

ot

.a s

ucc

ess.

It is

cert

ain

, h

ow

ever

, th

at t

he

inst

ituti

on

fo

un

ded

by

Gh

azan

Kh

an w

as a

n o

bse

rvat

ory

an

d n

ot

mer

ely

a sc

ho

ol fo

r in

stru

ctio

nin

ast

ron

om

y. T

his

is

clea

rly

bo

rne

out

by

the

stat

emen

ts o

f R

ash

idal

Din

alr

eady

refe

rred

to

. O

ther

so

urc

es a

lso

co

nfi

rm t

his

po

int.

Was

saf

spea

ks

of

Gh

azan

Kh

an' s

ob

serv

ato

ry a

nd d

escr

ibes

it

as `

a p

lace

fo

r th

e o

bse

rvat

ion

of

the

mo

vem

ents

of

the

pla

net

s(k

aw

ak

ib)

and f

or

the

inst

ruct

ion

of

studen

ts d

esir

ous

of

lear

nin

gast

ron

om

y; as

a c

en

ter

of

acti

vit

y o

n c

alc

ula

tio

ns

an

d c

om

-

pilat

ion

of

astr

on

om

ical

tab

les

and t

he d

ete

rmin

atio

n o

f th

eev

ents

of

the

tim

e.'

25

Th

us,

acc

ord

ing t

o W

assa

f, t

his

was

a f

ull-f

ledged

ob

serv

-

ato

ry, an

d a

stro

logic

al w

ork

was

am

on

g t

he

fun

ctio

ns

assi

gn

edto

it.

It

is t

rue t

hat

th

is a

uth

or

is r

ath

er

giv

ing h

ere

a g

en

era

l

def

init

ion

fo

r th

e o

bse

rvat

ory

as

such

; b

ut

it is

cert

ain

th

at e

ven

if h

e do

es s

o, h

e co

nsi

der

s G

haz

an K

han

's O

bse

rvat

ory

as

on

e w

hic

hco

nfo

rmed

to

th

is g

e 9a.

eral

des

crip

tio

n.

Mo

reo

ver

, it

is

of

inte

rest

that

he

con

sider

ediin

stru

ctio

n in

ast

ron

om

y, a

s w

ell as

ast

rolo

-gic

alw

ork

, )a

mo

ng t

he

stan

dar

d f

un

ctio

ns

of

an o

bse

rvat

ory

.W

assa

f, R

ash

id a

l D

in, an

d K

ho

ndm

ir,

26

all th

ree,

sp

eak

of

a lib

rary

at

the

Sh

anb

-i G

haz

an, b

ut

it is

no

t sa

id t

o h

ave

form

-

24

See,

Wab

kanw

i, e.

g.,

pp. 2

b-3a

.2s

Was

saf,

Ind

ia, v

ol.

1, p.

382.

2°

Kho

ndm

ir, v

ol. 3

,p.

65

.

232

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

INIS

LA

MTH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

233

ed a

part

of

the o

bservato

ry.

It w

as a

pparen

tly a

n in

depen

den

t

fou

ndati

on

from

wh

ich

, n

eedle

ss t

o s

ay,

the a

str

on

om

ers o

f th

e

observ

ato

ry a

lso c

ou

ld p

rofit.

27

Fin

ally, it

sh

ou

ld b

e a

dded t

hat,

as w

e h

ave s

een

, th

e p

ropert

y

wh

ose r

even

ues w

ere a

ttach

ed t

o t

he in

sti

tuti

on

s o

f th

e S

han

b-i

Gh

azan

is k

now

n t

o h

ave b

een

made u

p o

f th

e p

erson

al posses-

sio

ns o

f th

e fou

nder a

nd t

hat

the

wa

qf

here w

as a

perfe

ctl

y o

r-

thodox a

nd

str

ictl

y legal on

e.

22

Gil

lian K

han

' sviz

ier R

ash

id a

l D

in t

oo h

ad a

suburb

con

s-

tru

cte

d a

t Tabriz

, an

d t

his

was c

alled R

ab'-i R

ash

idi. I

t w

as a

cen

ter o

f in

tellectu

al acti

vit

y w

ith

its

sch

ools

, m

adrasas a

nd

hospit

al,

an

dm

an

y f

acilit

ies w

ere p

rovid

ed in

it in

order

to a

ttract

sch

ola

rs a

nd s

eekers o

f kn

ow

ledge.

A c

erta

in s

tru

ctu

re

at

the R

ab'-i R

ash

idi h

as b

rou

gh

t to

min

d t

he p

ossib

ilit

y o

f

the e

xis

ten

ce o

f an

observato

ry t

here, bu

t n

o r

ecord in

dic

ati

ng

the f

ou

ndati

on

of

su

ch

an

in

sti

tuti

on

has b

een

fou

nd,

an

d t

he

exis

ten

ce o

f su

ch

an

observato

ry d

oes n

ot

seem

lik

ely

at

all.

2°

PO

SS

IBIL

ITY

OF

IN

FLU

EN

CE

S F

RO

M T

HE

EA

ST —

In

speakin

g o

f th

e M

aragh

a O

bservato

ry,

it h

ad b

een

poin

ted o

ut

that

we h

ad n

o c

on

clu

siv

e e

vid

en

ce o

f C

hin

ese in

flu

en

ce u

pon

Isla

m in

th

e fie

ld o

f th

e o

bservato

ry.

30

Th

is is a

good p

lace t

o

dw

ell u

pon

th

is q

uesti

on

in

a s

om

ew

hat

greate

r len

gth

. For p

os-

sib

ly,

ou

r c

on

clu

sio

n o

n t

his

matt

er m

ay p

artl

y b

e d

ue t

o in

su

f-

ficie

nt

info

rm

ati

on

.

Th

eT

an

ksu

gn

am

a-i I

lkh

an

iof

Rash

id a

l D

in d

ealin

g w

ith

Ch

inese s

cie

nce,

wh

ich

was

pro

bably

prepared d

urin

g t

he r

eig

n

of U

ljaytt

i,31

isa c

lear w

itn

ess o

f th

e liv

ely

cu

ltu

ral con

tact

of

Isla

m w

ith

Ch

ina d

urin

g t

he I

lkh

an

tim

es.

Rash

id a

l D

in s

tate

s

" C

on

cern

ing t

his

observ

ato

ry s

ee a

lso,

Ham

mer,

Ges

chichte

der

Ilchan

e,vol. 2

, p.

153;

Bart

hold

,1935,

p.

166;

Kopri

ilii,

Mar

dga

Rasa

than

esi,

pp.

223-

225;

Sayi

li,

1946, pp.

625-6

40.

23

Rash

id a

l D

in,

Tfir

ikh-

iM

ubdr

ak,

p.

215.

See

als

o a

bove

,p.

210,

note

98.

2s

Wilber

an

d M

inovi,

pp.

254, 247-2

54.

i0S

ee a

bove

,pp.

192-1

93,

not

es23-2

4.

i'

Inver

an

d G

olp

marh

; A

dn

an

(A

div

ar)

,Is

is, pp.

44-4

7;

Min

ovi,

Ulu

m-i

Ch

ini,

pp.

1-2

6.

in it,

how

ever, th

at

no t

ran

sla

tion

s from

Ch

inese h

ad b

een

made

befo

re h

is t

ime,

32

an

d t

here is n

o e

vid

en

ce t

hat

this

scie

nti

fic

con

tact

con

tin

ued w

ith

an

y c

om

parable

in

ten

sit

y a

fter R

ash

id

al

Din

.

Th

eM

aragh

a O

bservato

ry its

elf w

as a

sym

bol of

su

ch

con

tact

of

cou

rse,

an

d R

ash

id a

l D

in t

oo s

peaks o

f th

is.

He s

ays

that

Nasir

al D

in p

rofite

d f

rom

a C

hin

ese s

cie

nti

st,

wh

o h

ad

com

e f

rom

Mon

golia in

th

e c

om

pan

y o

f H

ula

gu

, an

d o

bta

ined

from

him

his

kn

ow

ledge c

on

cern

ing C

hin

ese a

str

on

om

y w

hic

h

he u

tilized in

his

zij,3

3F

urth

er s

pecific

deta

ils t

oo a

re a

vailable

on

th

ese p

arti

cu

lar q

uesti

on

s.3

4

As far a

s t

he h

isto

ry o

f th

e I

sla

mic

observato

ry is c

on

cern

ed,

ou

r p

resen

t qu

esti

on

can

be t

reate

d o

nly

in

a r

ath

er v

agu

e a

nd

gen

eral m

an

ner,

an

d in

doin

g s

o it

is a

dvis

able

to g

o f

urth

er b

ack

to S

alju

q t

imes,

i. e

., t

o t

he M

aliksh

ah

Observato

ry.

For I

sla

m' s

con

tact

wit

h t

he F

areast

seem

s t

o h

ave r

each

ed a

pprecia

ble

dim

en

sio

ns a

lready w

ith

th

e a

dven

t of

the S

alju

gs.

An

d w

e h

ave

seen

, on

th

e o

ther h

an

d,

that

the M

aliksh

ah

Observato

ry s

how

ed

sig

ns o

f represen

tin

g o

ne o

f th

e im

porta

nt

sta

ges o

f develo

pm

en

t

of

the I

sla

mic

observato

ry,

alt

hou

gh

at

presen

t ou

r in

form

ati

on

on

th

is p

oin

t is

not

su

ffic

ien

tly c

lear e

ith

er.

It is o

f great

inte

rest

that

wit

h t

he S

alju

q T

urks t

he u

se o

f

the s

ign

s o

f zodia

c a

nd o

f pla

nets

for p

urposes o

f decorati

on

gain

ed im

porta

nce a

nd b

ecam

e w

idespread in

Isla

mic

art

both

in P

ersia

an

d in

An

ato

lia.

Moreover,

these s

ign

s w

ere n

ot

of

the

con

ven

tion

al ty

pe,

bu

t th

ere

appears

als

o a

t th

is t

ime t

he C

hin

ese

type o

f zodia

c in

th

e S

alju

q a

rt.

35

Th

is in

dic

ate

s in

creased p

re-

occu

pati

on

wit

h a

str

on

om

y a

s w

ell a

s a

n in

flu

x o

f F

areaste

rn

influ

en

ce a

t th

e t

ime o

f th

e S

alju

gs.

It is a

pparen

ly w

ith

in s

uch

a c

on

text

that

certa

in in

teresti

ng

observati

on

s o

f A

l B

irft

ni sh

ou

ld b

e in

terprete

d.

Al B

iriin

i div

ides

the

world

civ

iliz

ati

on

in

to t

wo m

ajo

r p

arts

, th

e O

rie

nt

an

d

32

Un

ver

an

d G

olp

marh

,p.

11;

Adn

an

(A

div

ar)

,Is

is, pp.

44-4

6;

Min

ovi,

Ulu

m-i

Ch

ini,

p.

16.

33

Olive

r an

d G

olp

marl

i,p.

11;

Min

ovi

,U

lum

-iC

hin

i,p.

16.

II'

See

, e.

g.,

See

man

n,

p.

119;

Nee

dh

am

,pp.

50, 105, 372 if.

asS

ee,

e.

g.,

Die

z,1949,

pp.

99-1

04.

Iow

e t

his

in

form

ati

on

to P

rofe

ssor

K.

Ott

o-D

orn

, w

ho is

pre

pari

ng a

n a

rtic

le o

n t

his

su

bje

ct.

234

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

IN

IS

LA

M

the O

ccid

en

t, a

nd h

e c

on

sid

ers

th

e C

hin

ese,

the T

urk

s,

an

d t

he

India

ns a

s t

he r

epre

sen

tati

ves o

f O

rien

tal civ

iliz

ati

on

. For

him

Isla

m is a

con

tin

uati

on

of G

reek c

iviliz

ati

on

, an

d in

his

cla

ssi-

ficati

on

th

e w

orl

d o

f Is

lam

form

s p

art

of

Occid

en

tal civ

iliz

ati

on

.

Al

Bir

iln

ist

ate

sth

at

man

kin

d,

an

d e

specia

lly s

cie

nce,

has

gre

atl

y p

rofite

d fro

m t

he s

pre

ad o

f th

e I

sla

mic

civ

iliz

ati

on

over

wid

e a

reas a

s a

resu

lt o

f th

e a

ccepta

nce o

f th

e M

osle

m r

eligio

n

by t

he T

urk

s.3

s

We h

ave s

een

th

at

there

was m

uch

in

tere

st

in t

he T

urk

ish

cale

ndar

in t

he M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry a

nd e

specia

lly in

th

e t

ime

of

Gh

aza

n K

han

. Th

e f

act

that

scie

nti

sts

or

sch

ola

rs o

f th

e U

y-

gh

urs

an

d o

ther

Tu

rkis

h n

ati

on

s, oth

er

than

th

ose w

hic

h h

ad

lon

g b

een

in

tegra

ted in

to I

sla

m,

made t

heir

appeara

nce a

rou

nd

Gh

azan

Kh

an

is a

lso o

f in

tere

st

in t

his

respect.

All t

his

poin

ts

to C

en

tral A

sia

tic a

nd F

are

aste

rn in

flu

en

ce u

pon

Isla

m in

cer-

tain

aspects

at

least

of

the g

en

era

l field

of

astr

on

om

y.

Bu

t w

he-

ther t

his

in

flu

en

ce d

id a

ctu

ally e

xte

nd t

o t

he r

ealm

of

the

obse

rvato

ryas

an

in

sti

tuti

on

, on

ly f

utu

re r

esearc

h c

an

be

expecte

d t

o c

lari

fy 3

7

Itw

ou

ld s

eem

th

at,

gen

era

lly s

peakin

g,

the M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

-

ato

ry n

ot

on

ly s

erv

ed a

s a

model fo

r la

rge I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ries

of la

ter

date

bu

t th

at

it a

lso m

ade t

he o

bserv

ato

ry a

s a

n in

sti

tu-

tion

more

wid

ely

kn

ow

n in

th

e M

osle

m r

ealm

. E

ven

th

e w

ord

s

serv

ing t

o d

esig

nate

th

at

insti

tuti

on

becam

e m

ore

nu

mero

us,

more

specific

, an

d m

ore

wid

ely

kn

ow

n a

fter

the t

ime o

f th

e M

ara

-

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry.

It is d

ifficu

lt, h

ow

ever,

to c

lari

fy t

he c

on

necti

on

betw

een

th

is s

itu

ati

on

an

d t

he a

ppeara

nce, or

the in

cre

ase in

nu

mber,

of"

min

or"

observ

ato

ries s

hort

ly a

fter

Mara

gh

a.

Alt

hou

gh

difficu

lt t

o a

nsw

er

it a

t th

e p

resen

t sta

te o

f ou

r

kn

ow

ledge, it

is c

lear

nevert

hele

ss t

hat

the q

uesti

on

of dir

ect

or

indir

ect

Fare

aste

rn in

flu

en

ces u

pon

th

e I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ry

con

stit

ute

sa p

roble

m o

f con

sid

era

ble

sig

nific

an

ce.

Begin

nin

g

wit

h t

he M

aliksh

ah

Observ

ato

ry, an

d m

ost

cert

ain

ly w

ith

th

e

Mara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry, E

aste

rn I

sla

m c

am

e t

o p

ossess a

mu

ch

98T

ogan

, B

irun

i, p

. 638.

" A

co

llecti

on

of

mate

rial o

n T

urk

ish

ast

ron

om

y f

oun

d in

Turf

an

is

availab

le in

pri

nt

(see, R

ach

mati

, 1936).

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

235

more

hig

hly

advan

ced s

tan

din

g in

th

e e

volu

tion

of th

e o

bserv

-

ato

ry a

s c

om

pare

dw

ith

Spain

an

d t

he M

agh

rib.

Cou

ld t

his

there

fore

be in

an

y d

egre

e r

ela

ted t

o p

ossib

le F

are

aste

rn in

-

flu

en

ces?

Itw

ou

ld s

eem

th

at

no d

irect

influ

en

ces c

am

e fro

m t

he F

ar-

east

as f

ar

as t

he o

bserv

ato

ry its

elf a

s a

n in

sti

tuti

on

is c

on

cern

ed.

Th

ere

is n

o e

vid

en

ce t

hat

an

y C

hin

ese o

bserv

ato

ry s

erv

ed a

s a

model in

th

e f

orm

ati

on

or

the e

volu

tion

of

the c

hara

cte

risti

c

featu

res o

f th

e I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ry.

Th

is d

oes n

ot

pre

clu

de,

how

ever,

th

e p

ossib

ilit

y o

f fr

uit

ful con

tacts

of a m

ore

in

dir

ect

natu

re w

hic

h in

flu

en

ced t

he c

ou

rse o

f th

e e

volu

tion

of th

e o

b-

serv

ato

ry in

Easte

rn I

sla

m.

It is q

uit

e p

ossib

le,

e.

g.,

th

at

the e

xte

nti

on

of

the m

agi sys-

tem

to t

he s

upport

of th

e fu

ncti

on

ing a

nd t

he m

ain

ten

an

ce o

f

the o

bserv

ato

ry w

as facilit

ate

d b

y t

he fact

that

the I

lkh

an

s

were

ru

lers

of

fore

ign

ori

gin

not

thoro

ugh

ly in

doctr

inate

d w

ith

Isla

mic

tra

dit

ion

s a

nd c

usto

ms a

nd t

hat

they t

here

by c

on

tri-

bu

ted a

lso t

o t

he len

gth

en

ing o

f th

e life o

f th

eobse

rvato

ry.

It

isposs

ible

,again

,th

at

cri

ticis

m o

f astr

on

om

y a

nd a

str

olo

gy

con

sti

tute

d a

han

dic

ap t

o t

he d

evelo

pm

en

t of th

eobse

rvato

ryas

an

in

sti

tuti

on

an

d t

hat

this

was o

verc

om

e p

art

ly a

s a

resu

lt o

f

the T

urk

ish

-Mon

gol dom

inati

on

over

Easte

rn I

sla

m.

In s

peakin

g o

f th

e M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry I

have t

ou

ch

ed

upon

th

e in

tere

st

sh

ow

n b

y M

an

gii,

Hu

legu

, an

d h

is s

uccessors

in a

str

olo

gy a

s w

ell a

s in

th

eaw

dil

scie

nces in

gen

era

l. I

sh

all

appen

d h

ere

a p

assage fro

m t

he

Quta

dgu

Bilig

(th

eK

now

ledge

that

Bri

ngs H

appin

ess) w

ritt

en

in

Tu

rkis

h a

nd in

th

e U

ygh

ur

scri

pt

about

the

tim

ew

hen

the

Mali

ksh

ah O

bse

rvato

ryw

as

found-

ed.

Th

is p

assage m

ay b

e o

f in

tere

st

to u

s h

ere

especia

lly b

ecau

se

itadvocate

s a

milder

an

d m

ore

favora

ble

att

itu

de t

ow

ard

th

e

astr

olo

ger

an

d t

he s

cie

nces in

gen

era

l th

an

th

at

wh

ich

had

com

e t

o b

e p

revale

nt

am

on

g t

he c

ircle

s o

f th

e learn

ed in

Isla

m.

Speakin

g o

f m

en

of

vari

ou

s p

rofe

ssio

ns a

nd h

ow

th

ey s

hou

ld

be t

reate

d,

Yu

su

f K

has H

ajib s

ays,"Th

en c

om

e th

e ast

ron

om

ers.

•Th

ey m

ake t

he c

alc

ula

tion

s c

on

cern

ing t

he y

ears

, th

e m

on

ths,

an

d t

he d

ays.

Oh

pow

erf

ul m

an

, th

is c

alc

ula

tion

is v

ery

necessary

.

If y

ou

wis

h t

o learn

th

is,

you

mu

st

stu

dy g

eom

etr

y;

then

is it

on

ly t

hat

the d

oor

of

ari

thm

eti

c w

ill open

to y

ou

...

Th

is is a

236

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

IN

IS

LA

M

perfe

ct

test

for a

perfe

ct

person

. ..

. H

old

th

e f

irm

am

en

t w

ith

its s

even

sph

eres in

th

e p

alm

of

you

r h

an

d a

s if

it w

ere a

mere

ch

ip.

If y

ou

wis

h t

o learn

more,

learn

alg

ebra,

an

d k

nock t

he

door o

f E

uclid w

ith

earn

estn

ess.

"W

heth

er it

is a

qu

esti

on

of th

e a

ffair

s o

f th

is w

orld

or t

hose

perta

inin

g t

o t

he life h

ereaft

er,

you

mu

st

kn

ow

th

at

the learn

ed

man

ru

les o

ver t

hem

th

rou

gh

dis

tin

gu

ish

ing t

hem

wit

h t

he h

elp

of arit

hm

eti

c.

If t

he c

alc

ula

tion

s a

re w

ron

g, th

e w

orld

ly a

ffair

s

as w

ell a

s t

hose o

f th

e o

ther

worl

d b

ecom

e d

istu

rbed a

nd u

pset.

"W

hen

you

wis

h t

o s

tart

doin

g a

nyth

ing,

it is f

irst

neces-

sary t

o in

qu

ire w

heth

er t

he t

ime is f

avorable

for it

or n

ot.

Th

ere

are lu

cky a

s w

ell a

s u

nlu

cky d

ays a

nd m

on

ths.

Inqu

ire a

bou

t

them

an

d c

hoose t

he lu

cky o

nes, oh

good-n

atu

red m

an

. Th

e learn

-

ed a

nd e

xperie

nced o

ld m

an

expressed it

very w

ell.

He s

aid

,` A

lways c

on

su

lt k

now

ledge a

nd a

ct

accordin

gly

.'

"Accept

it a

s t

ru

e t

hat

if o

ne s

tarts

wit

h k

now

ledge o

ne

will su

cceed in

all u

nderta

kin

gs.

It is u

sefu

l to

alw

ays a

cqu

ire

kn

ow

ledge b

efo

reh

an

d in

every a

ffair

. If

th

is k

now

ledge f

ollow

s

on

e's a

ffair

s in

ste

ad o

f precedin

g t

hem

, on

e w

ill n

ot

su

cceed in

his

un

dert

akin

gs.

"Ask t

he a

dvic

e o

f th

e a

str

olo

gers,

bu

t do n

ot

be h

asty

in

believin

g in

th

em

. It

is G

od w

ho k

now

s e

veryth

ing, an

d it

is o

nly

in h

im t

hat

on

e s

hou

ld h

ave s

tron

g t

ru

st.

Treat

the a

str

on

om

ers

(or a

str

olo

gers) kin

dly

, h

ow

ever,

an

d b

e in

good t

erm

s w

ith

th

em

.

Do n

ot

scold

th

em

, an

d d

o n

ot

hu

rt

their

feelin

gs b

y h

arsh

words."

"

Th

e f

act

that

Maliksh

ah

was a

pparen

tly m

ore e

nth

usia

sti

c

than

his

astr

on

om

ers in

th

e m

att

er o

f fo

un

din

g a

new

observ-

ato

ry t

oo is o

f in

terest

in t

hese c

on

necti

on

s.

TH

E "

OB

SE

RV

ATO

RY

" O

F T

HE

TIM

E A

ND

TH

E H

OU

R

In t

he c

ity o

f Y

azd,

in I

ran

, a c

erta

in R

ukn

al D

in f

ou

nded

a g

rou

p o

f in

sti

tuti

on

s in

th

e fir

st

half o

f th

e fou

rte

en

th c

en

tury.

Arth

ur U

. Pope s

ays,

"Th

e b

adly

dam

aged M

asjid-i

Waqt

wa

Sa' a

t ..

. w

as o

rig

inally o

ne o

f an

im

porta

nt

grou

p o

f bu

ildin

gs

" Yu

su

f K

has H

ajib, p.

316.

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

237

all e

recte

d b

y t

his

patr

on

, com

pris

ing a

madrasa,

a lib

rary,

an

d

a r

em

arkable

observato

ry w

hic

h w

as fille

d w

ith

extr

aordin

ary

con

triv

an

ces f

or t

ellin

g t

ime a

nd m

arkin

g t

he c

ale

ndar b

y in

ge-

nio

us a

nd a

mu

sin

g m

eth

ods."

as

Th

e a

uth

orit

y f

or t

his

in

form

ati

on

is g

iven

as S

ir P

ercy

Sykes,9

0an

d t

he u

ltim

ate

sou

rce is a

six

teen

th c

en

tury h

isto

ry

of

the c

ity o

f Y

azd.

I reprodu

ce t

he p

assage in

th

at

sou

rce w

ith

som

e a

bbrevia

tion

s:

"TH

E I

NN

ER

AN

D T

HE

OU

TE

R M

AD

RA

SA

S A

ND

TH

E O

BS

ER

V-

ATO

RY

OF

TH

E T

IME

AN

D T

HE

HO

UR

— F

irst

the R

ukn

iya

Madrasa w

hic

h is t

he m

ost

imposin

g o

f all b

uildin

gs.

Th

ere is

noth

ing e

qu

al to

it

in a

ny c

ou

ntr

y,

just

as in

th

e c

ase o

f th

e

Observato

ry o

f th

e T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r t

he lik

e o

f w

hic

h e

xis

ts

inn

o o

ther lan

d a

nd for w

hic

h n

o t

raveller h

as r

eporte

d a

n

equ

ivale

nt

els

ew

here

.

"Th

e f

ou

nder o

f both

th

e m

adrasa a

nd t

he o

bservato

ry is

the e

min

en

t lo

rd .

.. R

ukn

al D

in A

hm

ad ibn

Niz

am

al H

usayn

.

He w

as t

he f

orem

ost

of

the

sa

yy

ids

(descen

den

t of

the P

roph

et)

an

d b

earers o

f th

e t

urban

. H

is a

cts

of

ph

ilan

thropy a

re in

nu

mer-

able

,an

d h

is m

adrasa b

uildin

g is a

wit

ness t

o t

he loft

iness o

f

his

zeal. I

ts s

ublim

e p

orta

l is

th

e s

ubje

ct

of

en

vy o

f th

e m

ost

prosperou

s o

f th

e c

lim

es,

an

d its

pair

of

tall m

inarets

is u

niq

ue

upon

th

e f

ace o

f th

e e

arth

. Th

ere is a

world

of

beau

ty in

th

e in

-

sid

e o

f th

e m

adrasa b

uildin

g w

ith

th

e d

esig

n o

f it

s d

om

e a

nd

the m

agn

ific

en

ce o

f it

s a

lcoves a

nd n

ich

es.

"An

d t

he O

bservato

ry o

f th

e T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r is lik

e a

firm

am

en

t fu

ll o

f ligh

t, a

ll s

tellar p

osit

ion

s a

nd p

erio

ds h

avin

g

there b

een

made t

o d

escen

d t

o t

he g

rou

nd.

It is t

he w

hole

sky

ren

dered s

olid a

nd s

tate

ly u

pon

th

e e

arth

. Th

e e

yes o

f perspi-

cu

ou

s p

eople

are a

sto

nis

hed b

y its

sig

ht,

an

d t

he m

inds o

f saga-

cio

us p

erson

s a

re p

erple

xed b

y its

dis

posit

ion

an

d d

esig

n.

.. .

"CO

NC

ER

NIN

G [TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

Y O

F] TH

E T

IME

AN

D T

HE

HO

UR

— O

pposit

e t

he d

oorw

ay o

f th

e m

adrasa s

tan

d t

wo t

ow

ers;

they a

re locate

d a

t th

e t

wo c

orn

ers o

f th

e m

adrasa's

veran

da.

9BPope,

vol. 2

, p.

1089.

4°

Perc

y S

ykes,

Ten

Th

ou

sa

nd

Miles in

Pers

ia,

Lon

don

1902,

p.

421,

note

2 (accord

ing t

o A

. U

. Pope).

On

on

e t

ow

er

there

is a

bir

d m

ade o

f copper.

No m

att

er

from

wh

ich

dir

ecti

on

th

e s

un

appears

, th

is b

ird a

lways f

aces t

he

su

n,

an

d it

moves a

rou

nd.

An

oth

er

obje

ct

appears

on

th

e

oth

er

tow

er

at

the fiv

e g

iven

tim

es o

f th

e d

ay w

hen

dru

ms a

re

beate

n.

On

top o

f th

is t

ow

er

at

the m

idst

of

the o

bserv

ato

ry

sta

nds a

wooden

wh

eel. I

t is

div

ided in

to 3

60 d

egre

es.

Every

day, w

hen

th

e s

un

ris

es, it

s d

irecti

on

, w

hate

ver

degre

e it

may

be, is

in

dic

ate

d h

ere

wit

h a

lph

abeti

cal n

um

era

ls.

"O

n t

he fou

r corn

ers

of th

e w

heel fo

ur

cir

cle

s a

re p

laced,

each

div

ided in

to t

hir

ty p

art

s,

an

d u

pon

each

cir

cle

are

wri

tten

the n

am

es o

f th

e T

urk

ish

, G

reek, A

rabic

, an

d t

he J

ala

li m

on

ths.

Wit

h t

he p

assage o

f each

day o

ne o

f th

e d

ivis

ion

s o

n t

he c

ircle

s

becom

es b

lack.

Fro

m t

wo o

pen

ings a

bove t

he w

heel tw

o b

irds

bri

ng t

heir

heads o

ut

an

d d

rop p

ew

ter

balls in

to a

vessel pla

ced

belo

w,

an

d t

he w

heel begin

s t

o m

ove.

Th

ere

upon

, on

e o

f th

e

twelv

e w

hit

e b

oard

s w

hic

h in

dic

ate

th

e t

welv

e h

ou

rs falls a

nd

a b

lack b

oard

com

es t

o o

ccu

py its

pla

ce.

An

d a

t th

e fiv

e g

iven

poin

ts o

f ti

me w

hen

th

e b

alls a

re d

ropped t

he d

rum

-beati

ng in

-

sid

e t

he o

bserv

ato

ry t

akes p

lace s

imu

ltan

eou

sly

, an

d a

n o

bje

ct

appears

on

top o

f th

e t

ow

er.

"A

cir

cle

is s

et

up a

bove t

he w

heel, a

nd t

hir

ty w

hit

e c

ircle

s

are

pla

ced u

pon

it;

wit

h t

he p

assage o

f each

day o

f th

e m

on

th

on

e o

f th

ese c

ircle

s b

ecom

es b

lack.

In t

he m

iddle

of

each

cir

cle

the d

eta

ils o

f th

e c

orr

espon

din

g m

on

th a

re w

ritt

en

in

fu

ll.

On

an

oth

er

sid

e a

nd o

pposit

e t

he a

bove-m

en

tion

ed c

on

triv

an

ce in

-

dic

ati

ng t

he t

welv

e h

ou

rs t

welv

e o

ther

board

s a

re s

et

up.

Wit

h

the p

assage o

f each

hou

r of th

e n

igh

t on

e o

f th

e t

welv

e lam

ps

pla

ced t

here

com

es in

to a

ppeara

nce.

...

Th

e e

clipti

c a

nd t

he

("fo

rty s

even

")

man

sio

ns o

f th

e m

oon

are

als

o in

dic

ate

d b

y

nam

e.

...

Above t

he c

ircle

of th

e m

oon

deta

ils c

on

necte

d w

ith

each

day a

re in

scri

bed for

each

of th

e fiv

e p

lan

ets

, S

atu

rn, Ju

pi-

ter,

Mer

cury

, M

ars

, an

d V

enu

s."In

sid

e t

he o

bserv

ato

ry t

here

is a

copper

tan

k o

f tw

ice a

man

' sh

eig

ht.

It

is f

ille

d u

p w

ith

wate

r every

day.

Th

e t

an

k is

pro

vid

ed w

ith

a c

opper

float

to w

hic

h a

ch

ain

is a

ttach

ed.

Aro

un

d

the b

ott

om

of

the t

an

k is p

laced a

pew

ter

astr

obla

b t

hro

ugh

wh

ose a

lidade w

ate

r com

es o

ut

of

a h

ole

. A

s t

he t

an

k loses w

ate

r

the flo

at

sin

ks; th

e fu

ncti

on

ing o

f th

is d

evic

e d

epen

ds c

om

ple

tely

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY

239

on

th

e flo

at.

A s

mall b

ow

l w

hic

h is s

uspen

ded lik

e a

cu

p in

di-

cate

s t

he m

inu

tes.

For

each

min

ute

is s

tru

ck o

n t

he b

ow

l an

d a

sou

nd is t

here

by p

rodu

ced.

A w

ooden

latt

ice is c

on

str

ucte

d b

e-

tween

it

an

d t

he o

bserv

ato

ry w

heel, a

nd f

rom

th

is latt

ice w

ate

r

com

es o

ut

in s

ucc

essi

ve s

trea

ms.

"Th

is c

lock w

as c

on

str

ucte

d b

y A

bu

Bakr

ibn

Mu

ham

mad

Kh

alil,

may G

od's

ble

ssin

g b

e u

pon

him

, an

d t

he c

om

ple

tion

of

the o

bserv

ato

ry w

as in

th

e y

ear

725.

"To t

he s

ide o

f th

e M

adra

sa s

tan

ds a

loft

y m

osqu

e w

ith

gla

zed t

ile,

an

d a

noth

er

su

perb

bu

ildin

g locate

d n

ear

the latt

er

iscalled t

he H

ou

se o

f M

edic

am

en

ts.

Opposit

e t

he M

osqu

e a

nd

the w

ell o

f cold

wate

r th

ere

is s

till a

noth

er

str

uctu

re o

n t

hre

e

walls o

f w

hic

h t

he

wa

gf

en

dow

men

ts o

f th

e m

adra

sa s

tan

d

insc

ribed

.Th

ere

is a

lso a

sple

ndid

lib

rary

con

tain

ing t

hre

e

thou

san

dbooks.

"It

is r

ela

ted t

hat

wh

en

Sayyid

Ru

kn

al D

in h

ad h

ad t

his

madra

sa c

on

str

ucte

d t

he g

overn

ors

hip

of Yazd

was in

th

e h

an

ds

of

the A

tabaks a

nd t

hat

Ata

bak Y

usu

f-S

hah

becam

e jealo

us

wh

en

he s

aw

th

e S

ayyid

bu

ild, in

th

e v

icin

ity o

f th

e S

afw

ati

ya

Madra

sa .

..,

an

oth

er

on

e w

hic

h c

om

ple

tely

eclipsed t

he f

orm

er.

Th

e A

tabak h

ad t

here

fore

th

e d

om

e o

f th

e S

afw

ati

ya M

osqu

e

covere

d w

ith

gre

en

gla

zed t

ile a

nd a

dded a

min

are

t to

it;

he a

lso

had t

he S

afw

ati

ya M

adra

sa r

en

ovate

d.

An

d h

e w

ish

ed t

o b

rin

g

som

e h

arm

to S

ayyid

Ru

kn

al D

in.

"A

bou

t th

at

tim

e a

ric

h C

hri

sti

an

had c

om

e t

o Y

azd a

nd

sett

led t

here

. H

e h

ad a

gard

en

an

d a

man

sio

n s

et

up in

sid

e t

he

cit

y n

ear

the `

Ata

-Kh

an

Madra

sa.

Th

e g

ard

en

is s

till t

here

an

d

is c

alled t

he G

ard

en

of

the C

hri

sti

an

. In

Ah

rista

n (a p

lace n

ear

Yazd

) h

e b

uilt

a m

ill w

hic

h is k

now

n a

s t

he M

ill of th

e C

hri

sti

an

.

He w

as v

ery

wealt

hy.

"B

an

dit

s w

en

t to

his

bedro

om

on

e n

igh

t; t

hey k

ille

d h

im

an

dto

ok

mu

ch

of

his

belo

ngin

gs.

En

em

ies o

fSayyid

Ru

kn

al

Din

accu

sed h

im a

nd h

is p

eople

of

havin

g m

urd

ere

d t

he C

hri

s-

tian

.Th

ey h

eld

cou

rt, bu

t n

o e

vid

en

ce w

hate

ver

was fou

nd o

f

an

y c

on

necti

on

of S

ayyid

Ru

kn

al D

in' s

people

wit

h t

he m

urd

er.

Th

ey t

hen

said

th

at

su

ch

su

perb

con

str

ucti

on

s r

equ

ire m

uch

gold

an

d t

hat

the S

ayyid

has u

ndou

bte

dly

been

carr

yin

g o

ut

his

bu

ildin

g a

cti

vit

y w

ith

mon

ey r

obbed f

rom

th

e C

hri

sti

an

.

238

THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM

240

TH

E O

BSE

RV

AT

OR

Y I

N I

SL

AM

"Th

ey a

rreste

d t

he S

ayyid

by t

rickeri

es a

nd r

esort

ed t

o

man

y t

hre

ats

bu

t w

ere

un

able

to o

bta

in fro

m h

im t

he fals

e c

on

-

fessio

ns t

hey w

ish

ed t

o h

ave.

Th

ey f

inally b

egan

tort

uri

ng a

nd

floggin

g h

im.

In a

peri

od o

f tw

o d

ays t

hey s

tru

ck h

im n

earl

y

on

e t

hou

san

d b

low

s w

ith

th

e s

tick, an

d a

qu

an

tity

of skin

cam

e

off

fro

m v

ari

ou

s p

art

s o

f h

is b

ody.

Th

ey t

orm

en

ted h

im a

nd m

ade

him

go a

rou

nd t

he c

ity r

idin

g a

cam

el n

ude..

.. T

hey f

inally t

ook

him

to K

hu

rmiz

an

d im

pri

son

ed h

im in

th

e fort

's d

un

geon

th

ere

."D

uri

ng a

ll t

hese e

ven

ts h

is s

on

...

Said

Sh

am

s a

l D

in

Mu

ham

mad w

as in

hid

ing .

.. in

th

e h

ou

se o

f H

aji `

Ali-i

Asta

-rabadi. .

..K

hw

aja

À

li-S

hah

ibn

Kh

waja

À

li-S

hah

saw

th

e

Pro

ph

et

— m

ay G

od b

less a

nd k

eep h

im a

nd h

is fam

ily —

in

his

dre

am

an

d w

as t

old

by h

im t

o g

o t

o t

he h

ou

se o

f K

hw

aja

Haji-i

Ast

rabadi.

`For'

, th

e P

roph

et

said

,` m

y s

on

Am

ir S

ham

s a

l D

in

is in

hid

ing t

here

. G

ive h

im y

ou

r m

ule

an

d o

ne t

hou

san

d s

ilver

din

ars

so

that

he m

ay g

o t

o T

abri

z.

For

his

aff

air

s w

ill ta

ke a

sati

sfa

cto

ry t

urn

th

ere

; you

r fa

vor

will soon

be r

etu

rned t

o y

ou

,

an

d I

sh

all in

terc

ede in

you

r fa

vor

on

th

e D

ay o

f R

esu

rrecti

on

.'"K

hw

aja

À

li-S

hah

wen

t to

th

e d

oor

of

Haji's

hou

se a

nd

told

him

of

his

experi

en

ce.

Kh

waja

Haji r

efu

sed t

o c

oopera

te

wit

h h

im a

nd d

ecla

red t

hat

nobody w

as in

his

hou

se.

Kh

waja

Àli-S

hah

in

sis

ted a

nd s

poke o

nce m

ore

of

his

dre

am

, w

here

upon

Kh

waja

Hap let

him

in

. H

e s

aw

th

ere

Sayyid

Sh

am

s a

l D

in

an

d p

rostr

ate

d h

imself a

t h

is f

eet.

He g

ave t

he S

ayyid

on

eth

ou

san

dd

ina

rsan

d p

resen

ted h

im w

ith

a f

ine m

ule

.

Sayyid

Sh

am

s a

l D

in left

Yazd t

hat

very

day a

nd r

each

ed

Nu

hgu

mbad in

on

e n

igh

t. A

few

cou

pola

s w

ere

in

a r

uin

ed s

tate

there

, an

d t

he f

ou

nta

in's

wate

r w

as n

ot

su

itable

for

dri

nk.

Th

e

Sayyid

was t

hir

sty

. H

e im

plo

red G

od,

an

d G

od,

he is e

xalt

ed,

sen

t

rain

, an

d a

ll t

he fie

lds b

ecam

e d

ren

ch

ed w

ith

wate

r. .

.. I

n s

ix

days h

e r

each

ed A

wja

n o

f Tabri

z f

rom

Yazd a

nd f

ou

nd a

pla

ce

of

rest

there

. Th

at

nig

ht

the P

roph

et

appeare

d t

o K

hw

aja

Gh

i-

yath

al D

in M

uh

am

mad R

ash

id in

his

dre

am

an

d s

aid

to h

im,

` My s

on

Am

ir S

ham

s a

l D

in h

as c

om

e t

o T

abri

z.

Tell h

is s

tory

to A

bu

Sa'id a

nd p

ut

his

affair

s in

ord

er.

'

"Th

e n

ext

day K

hw

aja

Gh

iyath

al D

in M

uh

am

mad w

en

t

to t

he h

ou

se o

f S

ayyid

Sh

am

s a

l D

in a

nd f

ou

nd h

im t

here

. H

e

took h

im t

o A

bu

Sa'id a

nd e

xte

nded t

o h

im t

he d

epu

tysh

ip o

f

the w

hole

realm

an

d m

ade h

im ju

dge-s

ubsti

tute

for

all t

he m

agis

-

trate

s o

f th

e c

ou

ntr

y; h

e a

lso in

veste

d h

im w

ith

th

e r

an

k o

f viz

ier

an

d p

resen

ted h

im w

ith

his

pers

on

al garb

, th

us c

on

ferr

ing u

pon

him

ran

ks o

f h

igh

dig

nit

y.

Th

e S

ult

an

Abu

Sa'id s

en

t an

en

voy

wit

h a

specia

l ro

yal m

an

date

to Y

azd for

the r

ele

ase o

f S

ayyid

Ru

kn

al D

in,

for

his

in

vesti

ture

wit

h t

he r

an

k o

f ju

dge,

an

d f

or

the t

horo

ugh

pu

nis

hm

en

t of

his

en

em

ies.

He a

lso s

en

t a r

obe o

f

hon

or

for

him

."W

hen

th

e e

nvoy a

rriv

ed in

Yazd t

he p

eople

cele

bra

ted

the o

ccasio

n a

nd w

en

t to

Kh

urm

iz.

Wh

en

th

e S

ayyid

was b

ein

g

taken

ou

t of

his

du

ngeon

a b

lack s

nake w

as s

een

to h

ave r

olled

itself u

p n

ear

Sayyid

Ru

kn

al D

in;

at

that

mom

en

t it

got

up a

nd

dis

appeare

d.

Aft

er

his

rele

ase f

rom

th

e d

un

geon

th

e S

ayyid

was

insta

lled u

pon

th

e ju

dge's

seat

in h

is o

wn

madra

sa..

. .

Ru

kn

al D

in p

erf

orm

ed t

he p

ilgri

mage t

hat

year,

an

d w

hen

he r

etu

rned t

o Y

azd

he h

ad w

ate

r bro

ugh

t to

th

e c

ity.

"H

e m

ade

itpass t

hro

ugh

th

e g

ard

en

of th

e H

ospit

al an

d b

y t

he d

oor

of

the

Ward

an

-Ru

z M

adra

sa;

from

th

ere

th

e w

ate

r passed n

ear

the d

oor

of th

e F

riday M

osqu

e a

nd r

each

ed t

he R

ukn

iya M

ad-

rasa.

At

the M

adra

sa its

elf h

e h

ad a

larg

e b

asin

con

str

ucte

d a

nd

made t

he w

ate

r flow

th

rou

gh

it.

...

"41

Ja'far

ibn

Mu

ham

mad-i

Ja`f

ari

-i Y

azdi, a

uth

or

of th

eT

a-

rikh

-iK

abir

,giv

es t

he n

am

e o

f th

e p

ers

on

wh

o c

on

str

ucte

d t

he

Observ

ato

ry o

f th

e T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r as K

halil ib

n A

bi B

akr.

42

As is s

een

, th

is p

assage,

wh

ich

has b

een

qu

ote

d a

lmost

in

full, is

not

alw

ays v

ery

cle

ar,

alt

hou

gh

it

is q

uit

e in

tere

sti

ng a

nd

deta

iled.

On

e t

hin

g is c

lear,

how

ever,

an

d t

his

is t

hat

all t

ech

ni-

cal

deta

ils c

on

cern

tim

e a

nd c

ale

ndar

dete

rmin

ati

on

s.

Th

ere

are

no r

efe

ren

ces t

o a

ny o

bserv

ati

on

s o

r to

th

e p

repara

tion

of

astr

on

om

ical ta

ble

s;

no s

cie

nti

fic s

taff

of

astr

on

om

ers

are

men

-

tion

ed e

ith

er.

Th

is "

observ

ato

ry"

seem

s t

here

fore

to h

ave b

een

a

very

ela

bora

tem

aw

aggit

-kh

an

a,

an

excepti

on

ally r

ich

off

ice o

fm

uw

aqqit

.

Th

ere

are

severa

l exam

ple

s o

f ela

bora

te c

locks c

on

str

ucte

d

in I

sla

m; th

ey h

ave b

een

left

ou

tsid

e t

he s

cope o

f th

e p

resen

t

41A

hm

ad

ib

nH

usa

yn, p

p. 133-1

39.

Afs

har

, p

. 147. C

ourt

esy

of

Pro

fess

or

Min

ovi.

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

241

16

242

THE OBSERVATORY IN ISLAM

work

, an

d t

he s

am

e is t

rue f

or

the o

ffic

es o

f th

em

uw

aqqit

s,

bu

tth

e p

resen

t case d

oes p

robably

deserv

e t

o b

e t

reate

d a

s a

n e

xcep-

tion

. In

tw

o p

revio

us e

xam

ple

s,

nam

ely

th

e M

aliksh

ah

an

d t

he

Gh

azan

Kh

an

Observ

ato

ries,

the e

mph

asis

was s

een

to h

ave

pro

bably

been

pla

ced u

pon

work

on

th

e c

ale

ndar,

i.

e.,

on

work

an

d o

bserv

ati

on

s o

n t

he s

un

an

d t

he m

oon

. Th

e"

Observ

ato

ry"

of

the T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r w

as p

erh

aps a

case in

term

edia

ry b

e-

tween

th

is latt

er

an

d a

ric

hly

equ

ipped

muw

aqqit

-kh

ana.

It is o

f in

tere

st

that

this

in

sti

tuti

on

was a

ctu

ally c

alled a

n"observ

ato

ry".

Th

e n

am

e is R

asad-i

Waqt

wa (or

Waqt-

i) S

a`a

t(o

r S

a`a

t);

i. e

., t

he last

word

,"

hou

r"

,occu

rs b

oth

in

th

e s

ingu

-

lar

an

d t

he p

lura

l fo

rms in

ou

r passage, an

d a

sim

ilar

con

fusio

n

exis

ts in

th

e c

ase o

f th

e w

ord

wa

qt;

it is t

here

fore

im

possib

le t

o

fin

d o

ut

wh

ich

fro

m w

as t

he c

orr

ect

nam

e.

I h

ave a

ccepte

d h

ere

the f

orm

wh

ich

occu

rs a

lso in

th

eT

6ri

kh

-iK

abir

of

Ja'fari

. A

sw

e h

ave s

een

, th

e w

ord

rasa

dh

ad b

een

used v

ery

spari

ngly

up

to t

he t

hir

teen

th c

en

tury

; th

e p

resen

t case s

eem

s t

o in

dic

ate

that

it h

ad b

y t

his

tim

e c

om

e t

o b

e u

sed in

a r

ath

er

bro

ad s

en

se.

Th

is"observ

ato

ry"

is s

aid

to h

ave b

een

com

ple

ted in

th

e

year

725, i. e

., a

bou

t 1325 A

. D

., a

nd t

his

corr

espon

ds t

o t

he

reig

n o

f th

e I

lkh

an

ru

ler

Abu

Said

Bah

adu

r (1

316-1

335), a

s

sta

ted in

th

e p

assage.

It is o

f in

tere

st

that

it d

id n

ot

su

ffer

an

y

dam

age d

uri

ng t

he t

ime w

hen

its

fou

nder

was in

dis

gra

ce.

More

o-

ver,

it

is s

een

th

at

it w

as s

till f

un

cti

on

ing d

uri

ng t

he lifeti

me

of

the a

uth

or

of

ou

r sou

rce.

Th

e d

eta

ils g

iven

in

th

e b

egin

ing o

f

that

book in

dic

ate

th

at

it w

as w

ritt

en

in

th

e s

econ

d h

alf o

f th

e

fift

een

th c

en

tury

, i. e

., a

bou

t on

e h

un

dre

d a

nd f

ifty

years

aft

er

the f

ou

ndati

on

of

the "

observ

ato

ry".

Th

is m

inim

um

lifeti

me is a

lready e

xcepti

on

ally lon

g, an

d

this

corr

obora

tes o

ur

con

clu

sio

n t

hat

it w

as n

ot

an

observ

ato

ry

in t

he t

rue s

en

se o

f th

e w

ord

, bu

t ra

ther

am

uw

aqqit

-kh

ana,

anin

sti

tuti

on

that

can

be m

ore

clo

sely

ass

ocia

ted w

ith

pio

us f

ou

nd-

ati

on

sw

hic

h e

njo

yed lon

g life a

s a

ru

le.

Indeed,

Ru

kn

al D

in

su

ffere

d a

ll h

is m

isfo

rtu

ne b

ecau

se o

f th

e jealo

usie

s h

e a

rou

sed

by h

isvery

gen

ero

sit

y a

nd m

un

ific

en

ce a

s a

fou

nder.

Tw

o I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ries,

nam

ely

, th

e A

I A

fdal-

Al B

ata

ihi an

d t

he I

sta

nbu

l

Observ

ato

ries,

cam

e t

o a

n a

bru

pt

en

d p

art

ly a

s a

resu

lt o

f su

ch

jealo

usie

s.

Bu

t a s

imilar

fate

wou

ld n

ot

be e

xpecte

d in

th

e c

ase

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY

243

of

a p

iou

s a

nd c

hari

table

in

sti

tuti

on

su

ch

as a

mosqu

e,

a m

ad-

rasa, a h

ospit

al, o

r an

offic

e o

f th

em

uw

aqqit

.

It is t

o b

e n

ote

d t

hat

both

th

e G

hazan

Kh

an

Observ

ato

ry

an

d t

he O

bserv

ato

ry o

f th

e T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r w

ere

bu

ilt

am

on

g

a g

rou

p o

f pio

us in

sti

tuti

on

s o

f ch

ari

ty a

nd s

ocia

l aid

. If

we c

ou

ld

be c

ert

ain

th

at

both

th

ese in

sti

tuti

on

s a

nd e

specia

lly t

he latt

er

on

e w

hic

h is k

now

n t

o h

ave e

njo

yed lon

g life,

were

fu

ll-f

ledged

obse

rvato

ries

,th

isw

ou

ld in

dic

ate

sig

nific

an

t pro

gre

ss t

ow

ard

the a

ccepta

nce o

f th

e o

bserv

ato

ry a

s a

n in

tegra

l part

of

the I

s-

lam

ic c

iviliz

ati

on

. Th

ere

is s

om

e e

vid

en

ce, in

fact,

th

at

a d

eve-

lopm

en

t of th

is n

atu

re a

ctu

ally t

ook p

lace; bu

t if s

o, th

is w

as

appare

ntl

y a

ch

ieved a

t th

e e

xpen

se o

f cre

ati

ng m

inor

observ

ato

-

ries

wh

ich

were

more

akin

to t

he o

ffic

e o

f th

e m

uw

aqqit

th

an

to t

he o

bserv

ato

ry its

elf.

Oth

er

exam

ple

s w

hic

h m

ay b

e t

aken

as e

vid

en

ce o

f th

e e

xis

t-

en

ce o

f su

ch

a lin

e o

f develo

pm

en

t are

un

fort

un

ate

ly q

uit

e v

agu

e.

On

e e

xam

ple

has a

lready b

een

men

tion

ed f

rom

th

e t

welfth

cen

-

tury

, n

am

ely

, th

e T

ow

er

of S

tar

in M

oro

cco:`

,I s

hall n

ow

giv

e t

he

oth

er

exam

ple

s w

hic

h h

ave c

om

e t

o m

y a

tten

tion

; th

ey r

an

ge

from

th

e t

hir

teen

th c

en

tury

to t

he s

even

teen

th,

an

d s

om

e o

f

them

are

based m

ere

ly o

n local tr

adit

ion

s.

Ou

r kn

ow

ledge c

on

cern

ing t

hese

"m

inor

observ

ato

ries"

is

not

deta

iled e

nou

gh

to in

dic

ate

wh

eth

er

all t

he e

xam

ple

s m

en

-

tion

ed r

epre

sen

t on

e a

nd t

he s

am

e t

ype o

f in

sti

tuti

on

. Th

eir

bein

g

here

gro

uped t

ogeth

er

un

der

the s

am

e h

eadin

g is t

here

fore

part

ly

for

reason

s o

f con

ven

ien

ce.

It is lik

ely

th

at

most

of

them

do

not

deserv

e t

o b

e c

alled o

bserv

ato

ries,

bu

t in

vie

w a

t le

ast

of

ou

r la

ck o

f det

ailed

kn

ow

ledge

con

cern

ing t

hem

it

has

bee

n d

eem

ed

advis

able

not

to leave t

hem

ou

t of

con

sid

era

tion

in

a b

ook d

ealin

g

wit

h t

he h

isto

ry o

f observ

ato

ries.

It is t

o b

e n

ote

d t

oo t

hat

non

e o

f th

ese is o

f, th

e s

am

e t

ype

as t

he "

observ

ati

on

posts

"of

the n

inth

an

d t

en

th c

en

turi

es.

Th

ose

observ

ati

on

posts

repre

sen

ted a

sta

ge o

r pro

cess o

f develo

pm

en

t

leadin

g t

o t

he e

merg

en

ce o

f th

e o

bserv

ato

ry a

s a

specia

lize

d s

cie

n-

tific in

sti

tuti

on

,w

here

as t

he

"m

inor

observ

ato

ries"

con

stit

ute

a b

ackw

ard

ste

p f

rom

th

e o

bserv

ato

ry a

s e

volv

ed in

Isla

m.

More

o-

ver,

th

e "

min

or

observ

ato

ries"

do n

ot

repre

sen

t n

earl

y a

s v

igor-

244

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY I

N I

SLA

MTH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

245

ou

s a

spir

it o

f scie

nti

fic r

esearc

h a

s d

id t

he e

arl

ier

observ

ati

on

post

s,an

d n

eit

her

do t

hey s

eem

to h

ave b

een

as c

losely

asso-

cia

ted a

s t

he latt

er

wit

h p

ure

astr

on

om

y.

QA

L'A

AL N

AJM

or T

HE

CA

STLE

OF

STA

R

Th

e f

ifte

en

th c

en

tury

wri

ter

'AM

al R

ash

id ibn

Salih

ibn

Nu

ri a

l Yagiiti

(A

l B

aqu

i ?) m

en

tion

s t

his

castl

e w

hic

h w

as lo-

cate

d o

n t

he E

uph

rate

s n

ot

far

from

th

e c

ity o

f H

ala

b.

In its

vic

init

y t

here

was a

pla

ce fro

m w

hic

h t

he p

hases o

f th

e m

oon

were

observ

ed.

43

Both

its

nam

e a

nd its

fu

ncti

on

bri

ng t

o m

ind

the T

ow

er

of S

tar

in M

oro

cco, bu

t th

is s

eem

s n

ot

to h

ave b

een

mere

ly a

pla

ce u

sed f

or

the o

bserv

ati

on

of

the n

ew

moon

at

the

begin

nin

gs o

f m

on

ths.

Qal'a a

l N

ajm

was b

uilt

or

rebu

ilt

by N

ur

al D

in M

ah

mu

d

al Z

an

gi in

541-6

9 (1146-7

4).

44

Nu

r al D

in f

ou

nded s

evera

l in

s-

titu

tion

s o

f ch

ari

ty a

nd learn

ing.

Ou

r sou

rce for

this

ite

m s

eem

s

to r

efe

r on

ly t

o t

he fifte

en

th c

en

tury

, h

ow

ever,

an

d t

here

is n

o

evid

en

ce t

hat

the p

ost

for

the o

bserv

ati

on

of th

e p

hases o

f th

e

moon

date

s b

ack t

o N

ur

al D

in's

tim

e.

QA

L`A

RU

ZN

AM

A

Abou

t th

e e

nd o

f th

e s

even

teen

th c

en

tury

th

ere

was in

Cair

o

a p

lace c

alled Q

al'a R

uzn

am

a (Th

e C

astl

e o

f E

ph

em

eri

des o

r

Alm

an

ac). T

he h

ead o

f th

is o

ffic

e w

as e

nti

tled R

uzn

am

aji a

nd

his

cow

ork

ers

were

scie

nti

sts

an

d a

str

on

om

ers

wh

o w

ere

in

pos-

sessio

n o

f astr

on

om

ical in

str

um

en

ts.

It is lik

ely

th

ere

fore

th

at

the w

ord

ruzndm

aji

was a

tit

le g

iven

to t

he d

irecto

r of

the a

str

o-

nom

ers

wh

o d

ete

rmin

ed m

att

ers

pert

ain

ing t

o t

he c

ale

ndar

an

d

made c

hro

nolo

gic

ally a

rran

ged a

str

olo

gic

al pre

dic

tion

s a

nd t

hat

the Q

al'a R

uzn

am

a w

as a

noth

er

"m

inor

observ

ato

ry".

45

Th

ere

is,

in f

act,

evid

en

ce f

or

the u

se o

f th

e w

ord

ruzn

&m

ain

th

e m

ean

-in

g o

f a c

ale

ndar

con

tain

ing a

str

olo

gic

al in

dic

ati

on

s o

f vari

ou

skin

ds.

4e

43

Gu

ign

e, p.

451; S

Sdillo

t, 1

847, p.

CV

II.

44

Ric

e,

p.

41.

See a

lso,

"Nesjim

un

" in

th

e g

eogra

ph

ical in

dex o

f A

. S

ch

ul-

ten

s,

Vita

et r

esge

stae

Sala

din

i...,

1775; Le S

tran

ge, 1890, p.

501.

45D

orn

, pp. 33-3

6.

9'

See, e.

g.,

Ru

znam

a-i

Sha

ykh

Waf

t,m

s.,

Ista

nbu

l, M

ille

t Lib

rary

, N

o 2

21.

IBN

AL S

HA

TIR

`Ali ibn

Ibra

him

ibn

Mu

ham

mad ibn

al S

hati

r (1

304-1

375/6),

wh

o w

as t

he

muw

aqqit

of th

e U

mayyad M

osqu

e in

Dam

ascu

s,

is a

mon

g t

he m

ost

dis

tin

gu

ish

ed a

str

on

om

ers

of

the late

medie

val

tim

es a

nd t

he a

uth

or

of

severa

l books in

clu

din

g t

he

New

Ast

ro-

nom

ical

Table

s.'"

He w

as n

ot

sati

sfied w

ith

th

e P

tole

maic

syste

m a

nd d

evis

ed a

new

on

e w

hic

h, th

ou

gh

geocen

tric

, w

as

very

sim

ilar

to t

hat

of C

opern

icu

s.4

e

Ibn

al S

hati

r speaks o

f h

avin

g d

on

e m

uch

work

on

astr

on

o-

mic

al in

str

um

en

ts, an

d h

e c

riti

ciz

es t

he in

str

um

en

ts for

their

difficu

lty o

f con

str

ucti

on

an

d t

he d

ifficu

lty o

f m

ovin

g t

heir

part

s

rela

tively

to o

ne a

noth

er.

49

Th

is latt

er

idea is s

een

in

Tych

o

Bra

he a

lso a

nd lie

s a

t th

e f

ou

ndati

on

of

som

e o

f h

is m

ost

import

-

an

t ach

ievem

en

ts in

th

e fie

ld o

f astr

on

om

ical in

str

um

en

ts.

50

An

oth

er

muw

aqqit,

Su

laym

an

ibn

Mu

sta

fa ibn

al K

arn

ali,

wh

o w

as a

ttach

ed t

o t

he V

alide S

ult

an

Mosqu

e o

f Is

tan

bu

l, s

peaks

of

Ibn

al S

hati

r as t

he o

wn

er

of

observ

ato

ry(s

dhib

-i r

asa

d)

inh

isM

ir'd

t al M

anzildt,

wri

tten

in

1200 (1785-1

786).

51

Th

is w

ou

ld

seem

to b

e c

orr

obora

ted b

y t

he s

tate

men

t of

Taqi al D

in w

ho

men

tion

s I

bn

al S

hati

r am

on

g t

hose

wh

o h

ad c

onst

ructe

da

dhdt

al sa

mt w

a' l

e.,

azi

mu

thal qu

adra

nt.

52N

o o

ther

info

rm-

ati

on

con

cern

ing I

bn

al S

hati

r's

"observ

ato

ry"

has c

om

e t

o

my a

tten

tion

.

It is p

ossib

le t

hat

Ibn

al S

hati

r h

ad t

he m

ost

import

an

t

observ

ato

ry o

f th

e fou

rteen

th c

en

tury

, an

d if h

e r

eally h

ad a

n

observ

ato

ry,

this

may h

ave b

een

th

e m

ost

eff

icie

nt

observ

ato

ry

of th

e O

ttom

an

Em

pir

e fro

m t

he s

tan

dpoin

t of th

e w

ork

don

e

in it.

Bu

t ou

r kn

ow

ledge c

on

cern

ing a

ny facilit

ies a

t th

e d

isposal

of Ib

n a

l S

hati

r fo

r m

akin

g s

yste

mati

c o

bserv

ati

on

s is v

ery

mea-

ger

, an

d a

ny d

ecis

ion

on

th

ese

matt

ers

mu

st a

wait

fu

ture

res

earc

h.

4'

Su

ter,

1900, p.

168.

4'

See b

elo

w, p.

384, n

ote

s 1

46, 147.

4°

Wie

dem

an

n,

Beit

rage,

57,

p.

28.

soD

reyer,

Tyc

ho

Bra

he,

p.

317.

S1

Su

laym

an

ibn

Mu

sta

fa,

p.

19b.

s2S

ee a

bove, p.

73, n

ote

99.

OB

SE

RV

ATO

RIE

S C

LA

IME

D B

Y L

OC

AL

TR

AD

ITIO

NS

, A

ND

BR

AN

CH

ES

OF

SPE

CIA

LIZ

ATIO

N

IN A

STR

ON

OM

Y

Th

ere

are

a n

um

ber

of lo

cal tr

adit

ion

s c

on

cern

ing t

he e

xis

t-en

ce o

f old

obse

rvato

ries,

or

madra

sas w

here

astr

on

om

y is s

aid

to h

ave b

een

tau

gh

t an

d a

str

on

om

ical observ

ati

on

s m

ade.

Th

ese

local tr

adit

ion

s a

re u

su

ally v

agu

e,

an

d t

he m

ost

import

an

t am

on

g

them

seem

s t

o b

e t

he o

ne in

Kiita

hya, Tu

rkey, w

hic

h c

en

ters

aro

un

d t

he p

ers

on

of `A

bd a

l W

ajid o

f th

e fou

rteen

th c

en

tury

.

In E

uro

pe t

wo a

t le

ast

of

su

ch

tra

dit

ion

s h

ave g

ain

ed s

om

e

cred

ence

.

Th

us G

un

ther

says,"

Tra

dit

ion

has it

that

the e

arl

iest

astr

o-

nom

ical

obse

rvato

ryin

Oxfo

rd w

as s

itu

ate

d in

th

eonly

spot

that

isdefin

itely

con

necte

d w

ith

th

e n

am

e o

f R

oger

Bacon

. ..

. Th

e

ori

gin

al bu

ildin

g w

as s

acri

ficed in

th

e e

igh

teen

th c

en

tury

to a

n

ill-

con

sid

ere

d s

ch

em

e o

f ro

ad w

iden

ing.

...

Fri

ar

Bacon

' s s

tudy

sto

od o

n F

olly B

rid

ge .

.. O

ld d

raw

ings s

how

us t

he h

ou

se

ath

wart

th

e b

ridge a

nd b

uilt

over

an

arc

hw

ay t

hat

span

ned it:

ith

ad e

vid

en

tly b

een

ere

cte

d f

or

a g

ate

hou

se .

.. o

r as a

watc

h-

tow

er

for

the d

efe

nse o

f th

e c

ity .

.."A

ccord

ing t

o t

radit

ion

...

Bacon

did

som

eti

mes u

se in

th

e` n

igh

t se

aso

n'

to a

scen

d t

his

pla

ce .

.. a

nd t

o t

ake t

he a

ltit

ude

an

d d

ista

nce o

f sta

rs.

"It

wou

ld b

e d

ifficu

lt t

o f

ind a

ny s

itu

ati

on

in

th

e c

ity

more

favora

bly

sit

uate

d f

or

the q

uadra

nt

an

d a

str

ola

be o

bserv

-

ati

on

s o

f th

e f

irst

astr

on

om

ers

of

Mert

on

College .

.. B

ut

of

an

y

regu

lar

obse

rvato

ryth

ere

is n

o r

ecord

befo

re t

he s

even

teen

th

cen

tury

."53

Th

e"

Observ

ato

ry"

of

Pri

nce H

en

ry t

he N

avig

ato

r (1

394-

1460) seem

s t

o c

on

sti

tute

a s

imilar

case.

Th

is p

rin

ce fou

nded

a v

ery

im

port

an

t sch

ool of n

avig

ati

on

at

Sagre

s (C

ape o

f S

t. V

in-

cen

t);

bu

t as t

o h

is"observ

ato

ry"

at

the s

am

e p

lace, it

seem

s

to r

est

upon

no r

eliable

record

s.

Vari

ou

s a

uth

ors

speak o

f th

is

observ

ato

ry,

54

an

d its

exis

ten

ce h

as b

een

record

ed o

n a

mon

u-

s3G

un

ther

,pp. 7

4-7

6.

54S

ee,

e. g

., M

arti

n s

,pp.

80.8

1;

Bea

zley

,p. 61;

Pled

ge,

p. 34.

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

247

men

t ere

cte

d a

t S

agre

s t

o t

he h

on

or

of

that

pri

nce.

55

Dou

bt

too h

as b

een

expre

ssed c

on

cern

ing t

hese in

sti

tuti

on

s in

gen

era

l,

an

d a

bou

t th

e o

bserv

ato

ry in

part

icu

lar.

ss

Th

e s

ch

ool of n

avig

ati

on

its

elf r

ests

appare

ntl

y u

pon

good

evid

en

ce, bu

t th

e o

bserv

ato

ry s

eem

s t

o b

e b

ased o

n v

agu

e t

radi-

tion

.N

oth

ing s

pecific

seem

s t

o b

e k

now

n c

on

cern

ing it,

an

d t

he

exis

ten

ce o

f a s

ch

ool of

navig

ati

on

wou

ld c

ert

ain

ly n

ot

imply

the fou

ndati

on

of an

observ

ato

ry.

As w

e h

ave s

een

, a s

imilar

tradit

ion

exis

ts c

on

cern

ing t

he

Mara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry; an

d a

lth

ou

gh

it

teach

es u

s p

racti

cally

noth

ing n

ew

, it

con

sti

tute

s a

n e

xam

ple

of a p

erf

ectl

y ju

sti

fied

local tr

adit

ion

. In

Ista

nbu

l to

o t

here

seem

s t

o h

ave b

een

su

ch

a local tr

adit

ion

, con

necti

ng `

Ali Q

ush

ji o

f th

e f

ifte

en

th c

en

tury

,

inste

ad o

f Taqi al D

in,

wit

h t

he s

ixte

en

th c

en

tury

Ista

nbu

l O

bserv

-

ato

ry o

r t

he

"observ

ati

on

well"

there

. S

uch

at

least

is t

he

impre

ssio

n g

ain

ed f

rom

th

e a

ccou

nt

giv

en

by E

vliya c

ele

bi.

57

Th

is a

ppare

ntl

y r

epre

sen

ts a

com

bin

ati

on

of th

e m

ost

import

an

t

observ

ati

on

pro

gra

m w

hic

h t

ook p

lace in

th

at

cit

y w

ith

its

most

fam

ou

s a

str

on

om

er.

Th

ere

has b

een

men

tion

of

a local tr

adit

ion

con

cern

ing t

he

exis

ten

ce o

f an

observ

ato

ry in

th

e c

ity o

f Tir

e, in

Tu

rkey, an

d

this

has b

een

record

ed in

a lit

tle p

am

ph

let.

58

No s

uffic

ien

tly

reliable

evid

en

ce s

eem

s t

o b

e a

vailable

con

cern

ing t

he e

xis

ten

ce

of su

ch

an

in

sti

tuti

on

th

ere

, h

ow

ever.

Th

e a

lleged o

bserv

ato

ry

bu

ildin

g,

a s

mall a

nn

ex t

o t

he Y

avu

klu

oglu

Mosqu

e,

con

sis

tin

g

of tw

o s

tori

es, each

con

tain

ing a

sin

gle

room

, is

locate

d a

t th

e

extr

em

ity o

f th

e c

ou

rtyard

of

the m

osqu

e.

Th

is lit

tle b

uildin

g

may h

ave b

een

am

uw

aqqit

' s-o

ffic

econ

necte

d w

ith

th

e m

osqu

e,

an

d t

his

may h

ave g

iven

ris

e t

o t

he r

um

or

in q

uesti

on

. B

ut

there

is n

o r

efe

ren

ce t

o a

mu

wa

qqit' s

-off

ice in

th

e local tr

adit

ion

wh

ich

itself is r

ath

er

vagu

e.59

55

Maj

or,

18

77

,p.

192.

See

als

o, M

ajor

,1868,

p.

315.

''M

ees,

pp.

42,

50

.S

ee a

lso,

Mar

tin

s,p. 8

1.

5']

Evl

iya

cele

bi, v

ol.

1,p.

44

3.

L'A

dm

inis

tra

tion

de l'E

vka

fa

laV

.F

oir

e I

nte

rna

tion

al d

u 9

Septe

mbre

1Iz

mir

, A

rts a

Cu

ltu

res, U

rba

nis

me, T

ou

rism

e,

Izm

ir1935

(Mar

ifet

Pre

ss).

A

pict

ure

of

the

buil

ding

in q

ues

tion

is

give

n o

n t

he

bac

k c

over

of

this

pam

phle

t.5e

See

, S

ayrh

,R

asa

tha

ne K

on

usu

,pp.

683-6

89.

24

6TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

INIS

LA

M

248

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

IN

IS

LA

M

Th

ere

exis

ted a

local tr

adit

ion

in

Kon

ya, cen

tral A

nato

lia,

accord

ing t

o w

hic

h P

lato

had a

n o

bserv

ato

ry t

here

. Th

is t

radi-

tion

con

cern

ing P

lato

's O

bserv

ati

on

Tow

er

has a

lso p

assed in

to

the lit

era

ture

on

Pla

to.6

0

Th

ere

is a

lso a

rep

ort

con

cern

ing a

n"

observ

ato

ry"

in H

arr

an

,

Tu

rkey.

It m

ay r

efe

r to

an

old

tem

ple

of

the S

abia

ns,

or

pos-

sib

ly t

o a

tow

er

wh

ose r

em

ain

s a

re s

till s

tan

din

g.

Th

is r

eport

,

as it

has r

each

ed m

e,

con

sis

ts o

f th

e s

tate

men

ts o

f tw

o p

ers

on

s

from

Urf

a, separa

ted b

y a

n in

terv

al of severa

l years

, to

th

e e

ffect

that

there

is s

uch

a t

radit

ion

, bu

t at

Harr

an

its

elf n

obody s

eem

s

to h

ave h

eard

of

it.

Th

e r

eport

is t

oo b

rief

an

d v

agu

e t

o b

e o

f

mu

ch

valu

e.

It h

as b

een

men

tion

ed h

ere

, h

ow

ever,

in

vie

w o

fth

epossib

ilit

y t

hat

furt

her

deta

ils o

n it

may b

e d

iscovere

d

som

ew

here

in

th

e s

ou

rces.

For

the s

ubje

ct

wou

ld b

e o

f in

tere

st

especia

lly if

it r

efe

rred t

o p

re-I

sla

mic

or

earl

y I

sla

mic

tim

es.

Harr

an

was a

pagan

cu

ltu

ral cen

ter

wh

ich

had r

eceiv

ed s

tron

g

Hellen

isti

c in

flu

en

ce,

an

d it

was,

by t

he n

atu

re o

f it

s r

eligio

us

beliefs

, in

tere

ste

d in

th

e s

tudy o

f cele

sti

al bodie

s.

Th

ere

is e

vid

en

ce in

dic

ati

ng t

hat,

by t

he s

ide o

f th

e m

ore

specific

ally

Gre

ek s

cie

nti

fic h

eri

tage,

the M

esopota

mia

n s

cie

nti

fic

tradit

ion

s t

oo c

on

tin

ued in

Isla

m in

vari

ou

s b

ran

ch

es o

f m

ath

-

em

ati

cs a

nd e

specia

lly in

alg

ebra

.81

Th

e m

eth

ods o

f in

str

ucti

on

pre

vale

nt

in I

slam

wou

ld a

lso s

eem

to b

e of in

tere

st in

th

is r

espec

t.

Th

is m

eth

od w

as b

ased m

ain

ly o

n t

he p

rin

cip

le o

f m

akin

g t

he

stu

den

t firs

tm

em

ori

ze b

rief an

d c

on

cis

ely

expre

ssed ite

ms o

f

kn

ow

ledge;

then

gra

du

ally f

ollow

ed t

he p

rocess o

f expla

nati

on

an

d u

nders

tan

din

g.

Most

zijs

too,

thou

gh

gen

era

lly n

ot

wri

tten

for

begin

ners

, exem

plify

th

e c

on

cis

ely

wri

tten

type o

f books,

wh

ile t

he c

usto

m o

f w

riti

ng c

om

men

tari

es m

ade p

ossib

le a

more

thoro

ugh

gra

sp o

f th

e c

on

ten

ts o

f su

ch

Looks.

At

the f

irst

sig

ht

at

least,

th

e form

er

cate

gory

is r

em

inis

cen

t of old

Mesopota

mia

n

an

d E

gypti

an

scie

nti

fic t

exts

.

Al

Wabkan

wi's

Astr

on

om

ica

lT

able

sm

ay

serv

e a

s a

good

exam

ple

for

us h

ere

. S

hort

ly b

efo

re t

his

book a

com

men

tary

was

Haslu

ck,

Pla

toin

Fol

klo

re,

p.

269;

Haslu

ck,

Chri

stia

nity

and

Isla

m,

p. 193, pla

te.

etS

ee, e.

g.,

Gan

dz, 1936, pp.

263-2

77; G

an

dz, 1938, pp.

405-5

57; N

eu

ge-

bau

er,

1957, pp.

80, 146-1

47.

See a

lso, Levy, pp.

376-3

89.

wri

tten

by N

izam

al D

in H

asan

ibn

Mu

ham

mad a

l N

ish

abu

rial

Qu

mi, s

urn

am

ed A

'raj, t

o N

asir

al D

in's

Ilkh

dn

i T

able

s.

Niz

am

al

Din

's b

ook, w

hic

h is c

alled

Ka

sh

f a

l H

aga

iq(T

he U

ncoveri

ng

of

Tru

ths) an

dS

ha

rh-i Z

ij-i I

lkh

dn

i,62

con

tain

sm

ath

em

ati

cal an

a-

lyses a

nd e

xpla

nati

on

s o

f vari

ou

s o

pera

tion

s a

nd p

rocedu

res o

c-

cu

rrin

g in

th

eIlkh

dn

i T

able

s,

an

d,

needle

ss t

o s

ay,

it is a

diffe

ren

tty

pe o

f astr

on

om

ical tr

eati

se, com

pare

d t

o A

lW

abkan

wi's

Zij

Al

Wabkan

wi sta

tes, in

th

e in

trodu

cto

ry p

art

s o

f h

is o

wn

siz

eable

book t

hat

he h

as b

rou

gh

t abou

t im

pro

vem

en

ts in

cert

ain

pro

cedu

res a

nd h

as m

ade u

sefu

l an

d p

racti

cal in

novati

on

s w

hic

h

will be o

f m

uch

help

to t

he a

depts

in

th

e p

rofe

ssio

n a

s w

ell a

s

to b

egin

ners

"so t

hat

the s

tuden

t w

ill n

ot

be s

topped b

y it

an

d

becom

e p

erp

lexed a

s is t

he c

ase w

ith

th

e b

ook o

f on

e o

f th

e

wort

hy s

ch

ola

rs o

f ou

r ti

me w

ho h

as w

ritt

en

a c

om

men

tary

to

the

Ilkh

dn

i Zij

an

d h

as c

alled it

Th

e U

nco

veri

ng o

f T

ruth

s,

wh

ich

ison

e t

hou

san

d t

imes m

ore

difficu

lt t

han

th

e t

ext

it c

laim

s t

o

expla

in a

nd f

rom

wh

ich

in

reality

no t

ruth

becom

es u

ncovere

d.

,'63

A m

arg

inal n

ote

of

equ

al severi

ty h

as b

een

added a

t th

is

poin

t to

th

e m

an

uscri

pt

wh

ich

seem

s n

ot

to b

e o

f m

uch

late

r date

than

th

e m

an

uscri

pt

itself.

Th

e a

uth

or

of

this

note

says,

"A

ny-

on

e w

ho is e

xperi

en

ced a

nd s

kille

d in

th

e m

ath

em

ati

cal scie

n-

ces a

nd a

cqu

ain

ted w

ith

th

e law

s o

f geom

etr

y a

nd a

rith

meti

c

gain

s in

sig

ht,

th

rou

gh

th

at

work

( Ka

sh

f a

l H

agd

iq),

into

the t

ruth

con

cern

ing t

he m

ost

difficu

lt q

uesti

on

s a

nd t

he m

ost

pro

fou

nd p

roble

ms im

agin

able

, an

d h

e c

om

pre

hen

ds w

ith

its

help

th

e m

an

ner

in w

hic

h a

str

on

om

ical ru

les a

re d

eri

ved o

n t

he

basis

of th

e law

s o

f geom

etr

y, w

here

as n

eit

her

from

th

is b

ook

(Al

Wabkan

wi's Z

ij) n

or

from

an

y o

ther

of

the w

idely

kn

ow

n

treati

ses is a

tra

ce o

f su

ch

sou

nd k

now

ledge o

bta

inable

. D

en

un

-

cia

tin

g t

hat

book is t

here

fore

du

e t

o n

oth

ing b

ut

a lack o

f fa

cil-

ity f

or

stu

dyin

g it,

an

d its

bein

g f

ou

nd d

ifficu

lt a

rises f

rom

you

r

bein

g d

evoid

of th

e k

now

ledge p

rere

qu

isit

e for

it."

sa

82

See

,N

izam

-i N

ish

abu

ri,

inB

ibli

ogra

ph

y.

saW

abkan

wi, p

p.

3b-4

a.

Th

e t

itle

Wabkan

wi apparen

tly r

efe

rs t

o t

he

villa

ge

Wabkan

(or,

Webkan

a) in

th

e v

icin

ity o

f B

ukh

ara (see,

Bartb

old

,

1928, pp.

132, 511).

84

Wabkan

wi, p

. 4a.

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

249

TH

E F

OU

RT

EE

NT

H C

EN

TU

RY

251

250

T11E

OB

SE

RV

AT

OR

Y I

N I

SL

AM

Th

is d

uel

of w

ord

s se

ems

to r

epre

sen

t an

d s

ym

bolize

a m

utu

al

lack o

f appre

cia

tion

betw

een

tw

o t

ypes o

f astr

on

om

ers

, th

e t

heore

-

ticia

n a

nd t

hose w

ho h

ad a

work

ing k

now

ledge o

f applied a

str

o-

nom

y a

nd k

new

on

ly h

ow

to u

se r

eady-m

ade f

orm

ula

s w

ith

ou

t

un

ders

tan

din

g t

heir

deri

vati

on

s a

nd p

roofs

. Th

is s

itu

ati

on

seem

s

to g

o b

eyon

d w

hat

is im

plied b

y o

ur

pre

sen

t-day c

lassific

ati

on

an

d o

ur

diffe

ren

tiati

on

betw

een

th

eore

tical an

d e

xperi

men

tal

scie

nti

sts.

Th

e f

ollow

ing p

assage f

rom

Giy

ath

al D

in a

l K

ash

i h

elp

s

us g

ain

som

e in

sig

ht

into

th

e s

itu

ati

on

th

at

exis

ted in

Isla

m.

Speakin

g o

f th

e g

rou

p o

f scie

nti

sts

gath

ere

d a

rou

nd U

lugh

Bey

in S

am

arq

an

d,

he s

ays,

"Alt

hou

gh

th

ere

are

man

y p

eople

here

wh

o a

re c

on

vers

an

t w

ith

th

e m

ath

em

ati

cal scie

nces,

non

e o

f

them

is s

uch

th

at

he is a

cqu

ain

ted w

ith

both

th

e t

heore

tical

("scie

nti

fic")

an

d t

he a

pplied ("p

racti

cal"

) sid

es o

f observ

ati

on

s

(rasa

d).

For

non

e o

f th

em

kn

ow

s t

he

Alm

ages

t.O

ne o

f th

em

is

Qadiz

ada w

ho p

ossesses t

he t

heore

tical kn

ow

ledge c

on

tain

ed

in t

he

Alm

ages

tbu

t n

ot

its a

pplied s

ide.

He h

as n

ot

don

e a

ny w

ork

that

pert

ain

s t

o t

he p

racti

cal. .

..

"Applied a

str

on

om

y t

oo is d

ivid

ed in

to s

cie

nti

fic a

nd p

rac-

tica

l.Th

e p

racti

cal sid

e o

f applied a

str

on

om

y m

ay b

e illu

str

ate

d

wit

h t

he f

ollow

ing e

xam

ple

. S

uppose t

hat

two s

tars

have r

each

ed

the f

irst

perp

en

dic

ula

r at

a c

ert

ain

con

dit

ion

. E

levati

on

is m

ea-

su

red w

ith

an

in

str

um

en

t, a

nd t

he lati

tude a

nd lon

git

ude o

f

on

e o

f th

ese s

tars

is k

now

n.

It is r

equ

ired t

o d

eri

ve t

he lati

tude

an

d lon

git

ude o

f th

e o

ther

sta

r fr

om

th

ese d

ata

.

"Th

e k

now

ledge o

f h

ow

to d

eri

ve t

his

, i. e

., t

o k

now

to m

ul-

tiply

wh

ich

qu

an

tity

wit

h w

hic

h a

nd t

o d

ivid

e b

y w

hat

an

d

how

to p

roceed in

ord

er

to o

bta

in t

he d

esir

ed r

esu

lt c

on

sti

tute

s

the s

cie

nti

fic s

ide o

f th

is o

pera

tion

(of

applied a

str

on

om

y). T

he

scie

nti

fic s

ide o

f th

eore

tical astr

on

om

y ("t

he a

bsolu

tely

scie

n-

tific")

is t

he k

now

ledge o

f th

e s

cie

nce its

elf.

Th

e a

bsolu

tely

pra

cti

cal sid

e o

f su

ch

a p

roble

m is t

he e

xe-

cu

tion

of m

ult

iplicati

on

s a

nd d

ivis

ion

s, an

d t

he c

alc

ula

tion

of

the s

ign

s, degre

es, an

d m

inu

tes o

f th

e lon

git

udes o

f th

e s

tars

an

d t

he d

ete

rmin

ati

on

of

their

lati

tudes,

giv

ing t

heir

actu

al

valu

es."

65

eaG

iyath

at

Din

,Lett

er,

pp.

516a-

516b

.

Th

ere

were

th

ere

fore

astr

on

om

ers

wh

o h

ad a

th

eore

tical

kn

ow

ledge o

f astr

on

om

yw

ith

ou

t bein

g c

alc

ula

tors

, as w

ell

as t

hose w

ho k

new

th

eore

tical astr

on

om

y w

ith

ou

t h

avin

g h

ad

pra

cti

ce in

makin

g o

bserv

ati

on

s.

Th

is is a

lso b

orn

e o

ut

by a

sta

te-

men

t A

l K

ash

i m

akes in

th

is c

on

necti

on

con

cern

ing Q

adiz

ada-i

Ru

mi. F

or

he a

dds t

hat

Qadiz

ada, or

cert

ain

oth

ers

, cou

ld m

ake

calc

ula

tion

s o

nly

by o

pen

ing a

book a

nd f

ollow

ing t

he in

str

uc-

tion

s g

iven

th

ere

ste

p b

y s

tep a

nd lin

e b

y lin

e.

b6

It is s

een

, m

ore

over,

th

at

there

were

astr

on

om

ers

wh

o m

ere

ly

kn

ew

th

e p

racti

cal sid

e o

f applied a

str

on

om

y,

i. e

., w

ho w

ere

calc

ula

tors

, an

d o

thers

wh

o h

ad b

een

tra

ined in

th

e s

cie

nti

fic

sid

e o

f applied a

str

on

om

y o

nly

, i. e

., t

hose w

ho c

ou

ld m

ake o

bserv

-

ati

on

s a

nd u

se t

heir

measu

red q

uan

titi

es in

rele

van

t fo

rmu

las

wit

hou

t h

avin

g a

su

ffic

ien

t kn

ow

ledge o

f th

eore

tical astr

on

om

y.

Fie

lds o

f specia

lizati

on

seem

, in

deed,

to h

ave b

een

qu

ite

narr

ow

in

Isla

m,

begin

nin

g w

ith

th

e e

arl

ier

cen

turi

es.

A p

eru

sal

of

the t

itle

s g

iven

to t

he m

ath

em

ati

cia

ns a

nd a

str

on

om

ers

in

accord

an

ce w

ith

th

eir

narr

ow

fie

lds o

f specia

lizati

on

serv

es t

o

illu

str

ate

th

is p

oin

t.

Th

e t

itle

s g

iven

to t

he m

ath

em

ati

cia

ns in

clu

de t

he t

erm

s

riyd

di

(math

em

ati

cia

n),

hdsi

b(c

alc

ula

tor)

,m

uhandis

an

dha

n-

dasi

(pro

bably

two k

inds o

f geom

etr

icia

n,

or

en

gin

eer

an

d g

eom

et-

ricia

n), a

nd

`ada

di(a

rith

meti

cia

n). L

ikew

ise, th

ere

were

diffe

ren

t

titl

es c

orr

espon

din

g t

o d

iffe

ren

t field

s o

f astr

on

om

y s

uch

as

fala

ki

(ast

ronom

er)

,m

unajjim

(ast

rolo

ger)

,rd

sid

(observ

er)

, an

d u

s-

turl

dbi

(inst

rum

ent

des

ign

er).

87

Th

ere

were

, m

ore

over,

com

bin

ati

on

s n

ot

on

ly o

f ti

tles s

uch

as p

hysic

ian

an

d p

oet

(Al Tabib

al S

hk'ir)

or

ph

arm

acis

t an

d a

str

-

olo

ger

(Al S

aydala

ni al M

un

ajjim

), b

ut

als

o s

uch

com

bin

ati

on

s

asA

l R

iyadi al M

uh

an

dis

(m

ath

em

ati

cia

n a

nd g

eom

etr

icia

n),

Al

Hasib

al F

ala

ki (c

alc

ula

tor

an

d a

str

on

om

er)

, A

l R

iyadi al

Fala

ki (m

ath

em

ati

cia

n a

nd a

str

on

om

er)

, an

d A

l H

asib

al M

uh

an

-

dis

(calc

ula

tor

an

d g

eom

etr

icia

n).

We h

ave,

on

a p

revio

us o

ccasio

n,

qu

ote

d a

sta

tem

en

t of

`A-

du

d a

l D

aw

la t

o t

he e

ffect

that

his

teach

er

in t

he a

naly

sis

of

the

88G

iyath

al D

in,

Lett

er,

p.

516b.

67

See a

lso a

bove,

p.

83,

note

s 1

43,

144,

p.

123,

note

s 1

55-1

63.

Zij a

l S

ha

rif

was I

bn

al A

`lam

an

d t

hat

his

teach

er

in t

he s

cie

nce

of

the f

ixed s

tars

was A

l S

ufi."

Sou

rces c

on

tain

su

ch

refe

ren

ces

indic

ati

ng s

pecia

lizati

on

in

teach

ing,

an

d t

his

, as w

ell a

s t

he

larg

e n

um

ber

of

"scie

nces"

en

um

era

ted in

cert

ain

books s

uch

as t

he

Ma

wd

i'a

ta

l` U

lum

of Tash

kopri

izada, again

poin

ts t

o t

he

pre

vale

nce in

Isla

m o

f a t

en

den

cy o

f goin

g t

o e

xtr

em

es in

su

b-

div

idin

g t

he s

cie

nces in

to n

arr

ow

fie

lds o

f specia

lizati

on

.

Th

is s

itu

ati

on

very

lik

ely

con

sti

tute

d o

ne o

f th

e facto

rs

wh

ich

were

respon

sib

le f

or

the a

ppeara

nce o

f la

rge n

um

bers

of

scie

nti

sts

in

th

e s

taff

s o

f th

e o

bserv

ato

ries.

Th

is e

xaggera

ted t

en

-

den

cy t

ow

ard

th

e form

ati

on

of n

arr

ow

fie

lds o

f specia

liza

tion

was

pro

bably

rela

ted t

o t

he c

lum

sin

ess o

f th

e p

revale

nt

meth

ods o

f

instr

ucti

on

, an

d it

appears

to h

ave t

he e

arm

ark

s o

f a legacy

traceable

to o

ld M

esopota

mia

an

d E

gypt.

Fu

rth

er

deta

iled s

tudy

isn

ecessary

on

th

ese q

uesti

on

s, bu

t th

ese s

pecu

lati

on

s p

oin

t to

the p

ossib

ilit

y o

f lo

cal in

flu

en

ces r

ele

van

t to

th

e f

ield

of

the h

is-

tory

of

Isla

mic

observ

ato

ries.

It is r

eason

able

to t

hin

k t

hat

the local cu

ltu

res a

nd t

radit

ion

s

of th

e c

ou

ntr

ies c

on

qu

ere

d b

y t

he A

rab a

rmie

s a

nd in

corp

ora

ted

into

th

e M

osle

m r

ealm

had a

con

sid

era

ble

part

in

th

e e

merg

ing

Isla

mic

civ

iliz

ati

on

wh

ich

develo

ped g

radu

ally in

th

e c

ou

rse o

f

the e

arl

ier

cen

turi

es o

f Is

lam

. R

efe

ren

ce t

o a

ny p

re-I

sla

mic

local

"observ

ato

ries"

wou

ld t

here

fore

be o

f gre

at

inte

rest.

For

as w

e

sh

all s

ee,

the e

arl

iest

observ

ato

ries o

f Is

lam

, i. e

., t

hose o

f A

l

Mam

nn

, seem

to h

ave b

een

far

in a

dvan

ce o

f an

y e

arl

ier

models

to b

e fou

nd a

mon

g t

he G

reeks.

In f

act,

th

ere

seem

s t

o e

xis

t a c

on

sid

era

ble

gap b

etw

een

Pto

lem

y a

nd A

I M

am

un

's t

ime in

th

is r

espect.

Th

e s

tage o

f deve-

lopm

en

t in

th

e o

bserv

ato

ry a

s a

n in

sti

tuti

on

att

ain

ed t

o a

t th

e

very

ou

tset

in I

sla

m a

ppears

th

ere

fore

as a

rath

er

su

dden

ach

ieve-

men

t, a

nd o

ne c

ou

ld w

on

der

wh

eth

er

an

y in

term

edia

ry s

tages

of

evolu

tion

exis

t con

cern

ing w

hic

h w

e h

ave n

o s

pecific

in

form

-

ati

on

. Alt

hou

gh

th

e 2

13 s

ols

tice o

bserv

ati

on

appears

to h

ave s

erv

-

ed a

s a

str

on

g s

tim

ulu

s for

the d

rive for

the p

rodu

cti

on

of bett

er

instr

um

en

ts,

it w

ou

ld s

eem

th

at,

in

depen

den

tly o

f th

is f

acto

r,

e"

See a

bove, p.

106, n

ote

s 9

8, 99.

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

253

the a

str

on

om

ers

of A

l M

am

iin

sh

ow

ed a

degre

e o

f pre

occu

pati

on

wit

h t

he p

recis

ion

of

indiv

idu

al astr

on

om

ical observ

ati

on

s a

nd

the c

on

str

ucti

on

of

good in

str

um

en

ts w

hic

h w

as a

bsen

t in

th

eir

Gre

ek p

redecessors

. Th

e f

irst

appeara

nce o

f su

ch

astr

on

om

ers

an

d in

str

um

en

t desig

ners

in

Isla

m s

eem

s a

lso t

o b

e r

ath

er

su

dden

,

an

d I

bn

al N

adim

's s

tate

men

t to

th

e e

ffect

that

in A

I M

am

itn

's

tim

e t

he b

est

instr

um

en

ts c

am

e fro

m H

arr

an

99

isof in

tere

st

in

this

res

pec

t.

Th

ere

is n

o d

ou

bt

that

Isla

m b

en

efite

d g

reatl

y fro

m t

he local

civ

iliz

ati

on

s o

f th

e c

ou

ntr

ies w

hic

h w

ere

in

corp

ora

ted in

to t

he

Isla

mic

realm

. B

art

hold

sees t

he m

ain

sin

gific

an

ce o

f th

e r

ise o

f

Isla

m in

its

leadin

g t

o t

he f

orm

ati

on

of

a v

ast

com

mu

nit

y in

wh

ich

the c

ult

ura

l coopera

tion

of a c

on

sid

era

ble

part

of m

an

kin

d

bec

am

e poss

ible

.70

It is d

ifficu

lt,

how

ever,

to e

xte

nd t

his

in

tere

st-

ing o

bserv

ati

on

to o

ur

specific

topic

, th

e h

isto

ry o

f th

e o

bserv

-

ato

ry.

Th

ere

are

vagu

e r

efe

ren

ces t

o p

re-I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ries

inPers

ia w

hic

h w

ill be m

en

tion

ed o

n a

noth

er

occasio

n,

71

bu

t

at

pre

sen

t ou

r kn

ow

ledge is in

su

ffic

ien

t fo

r dra

win

g a

ny r

eason

ably

cle

ar

con

clu

sio

ns in

th

ese r

espects

.

TH

E J

AJA

BE

Y M

AD

RA

SA

OF K

IRS

HE

HIR

Accord

ing t

o local tr

adit

ion

th

is m

adra

sa,

locate

d in

Kir

-

sh

eh

ir, Tu

rkey, w

as a

cen

ter

of astr

on

om

ical te

ach

ing.

It is s

aid

,

more

over,

th

at

there

was a

n "

observ

ati

on

well"

at

the c

en

ter

of

the

madra

sa h

all,

dir

ectl

y u

nder

the c

ircu

lar

hole

of

the d

om

e,

an

d t

hat

observ

ati

on

s (day-t

ime) w

ere

made f

rom

th

is w

ell.

Th

e

earl

iest

pri

nte

d r

ecord

of

this

local tr

adit

ion

is f

rom

1325 H

.

(1908-9

A.

D.).7

2

Th

is m

adra

sa w

as b

uilt

in 1

272 A

. D

. by N

ur

al D

in J

ibri

l

ibn

Jaja

, govern

or

of

the d

istr

ict

du

rin

g t

he r

eig

n o

f th

e S

alq

uj

rule

r G

hiy

ath

al D

in K

aykh

usra

w ibn

Qilij A

rsla

n.

Th

ere

is a

lso

a s

tate

men

t to

th

e e

ffect

that

the m

inare

t of

this

madra

sa w

as

'9S

ee a

bove,

p.

74,

note

105.

00

Accordin

g t

o E

berm

an

n (see, E

berm

an

n, p.

136).

11

See b

elo

w, pp.

356-3

58, n

ote

s 3

3-4

1.

92

An

ka

raS

aln

am

esi (1

325) 1909;

Ibrah

im I

sm

ail,

p.

14;

Tarim

, p.

61;

Igen

, p.

225.

252

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY

IN

IS

LA

M

25

4TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY I

N I

SLA

M

ori

gin

ally a

n o

bserv

ati

on

tow

er

used for

astr

on

om

ical pu

rposes;

this

ite

m is b

rou

gh

t som

ew

hat

into

pro

min

en

ce in

cert

ain

pu

b-

lica

tion

s.73

Th

e t

radit

ion

is w

idely

kn

ow

n in

th

e locality

, an

d

the p

eople

of th

e d

istr

ict

appear

to h

ave m

uch

fait

h in

its

tru

th-

fuln

ess.

73

Th

ew

aqf

docu

men

t of

this

in

sti

tuti

on

has b

een

stu

die

d.

75

It c

on

tain

s n

o r

ecord

con

cern

ing a

str

on

om

ical acti

vit

y;

the in

s-

cri

pti

on

on

th

e b

ase o

f th

e m

inare

t, t

he o

nly

in

scri

pti

on

of th

e

madra

sa w

hic

h c

ou

ld n

ot

be r

ead,

76

has b

een

decip

here

d b

y

Kem

al E

dib

Kii.r

kciioglu

,77

Mem

ber

of th

e A

dvis

ory

Cou

ncil

of

the M

inis

try o

f E

du

cati

on

, A

nkara

, an

d it

has n

o c

on

necti

on

wit

h a

str

on

om

y (su

ch

a c

on

necti

on

was e

xpecte

d b

y s

om

e local

people

); a

nd n

o w

ritt

en

record

s c

an

be b

rou

gh

t to

su

pport

th

is

local tr

adit

ion

. It

wou

ld b

e d

ifficu

lt t

here

fore

to c

laim

its

vera

-

cit

y a

s f

ar

as t

he e

xis

ten

ce o

f an

astr

on

om

ical observ

ato

ry is

con

cern

ed.

Th

is d

oes n

ot

pre

clu

de t

he p

ossib

ilit

y, h

ow

ever,

th

at

the local tr

adit

ion

con

tain

s s

om

e t

ruth

, e.

g.,

th

at

astr

on

om

y

was a

t som

e t

ime t

au

gh

t in

th

is m

adra

sa.

TH

E W

AJID

IYA

MA

DR

AS

A O

F K

UTA

HYA

Accord

ing t

o a

local tr

adit

ion

th

is m

adra

sa s

erv

ed a

s a

n

observ

ato

ry,

an

d B

adr

al D

in `

Abd a

l W

ajid ibn

Mu

ham

mad (d.

1434) is

con

necte

d w

ith

th

is legen

d.

Th

e m

adra

sa its

elf w

as b

uilt

in 1

308 A

.D.

by M

ubari

z al D

in ibn

Saw

ji,

accord

ing t

o its

fou

nd-

ati

on

in

scri

pti

on

. À

bd a

l W

ajid m

ust

have b

een

a v

ery

pro

mi-

men

t h

ead-p

rofe

ssor

(mu

da

rris

)at

this

madra

sa,

as h

e g

ave h

is

nam

e t

o t

his

in

sti

tuti

on

; h

e w

as c

ert

ain

ly n

ot

on

e o

f it

s f

irst

pro

fessors

. À

bd a

l W

ajid w

as a

n a

str

on

om

er

an

d a

uth

or

of seve-

ral books

on

ast

ron

om

y; so

me

of th

ese

wer

e w

ritt

en a

t th

e W

ajidiy

aM

adra

sa.

73

Ibra

him

Ism

ail,

p.

14

;A

nka

ra S

aln

am

esi,

cf.

Tar

im,

p. 61.

"S

ayth

an

d R

uben

,pp.

682-

691.

"Tem

ir,

see,

bib

liogr

aph

y.76

Tar

im,

p.

60

;K

un

ter,

p. 4

34

."

Th

e te

xt

is:

Alld

hu

mm

a'g

hfi

r li

sd

hib

ihi

sea

hd

dh

ad

u'd

un

qad t

ala

ggdh

ura

bbu

nd

bi h

usn

-i g

abiilin

qabla

an

yu

rfa

'a's

-sa

wt

[Oh

my L

ord

, fo

rgiv

e it

sfo

un

der

; th

isis

a p

raye

r, a

nd o

ur

Lor

dw

ill

cert

ain

ly r

ecei

ve it

wit

h c

onse

nt

even

bef

ore

sou

nd is

rais

ed (u

p t

o th

e h

igh

er s

ph

eres

)).

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

25

5

Th

e m

adra

sa b

uildin

g h

as b

een

desig

ned s

o a

s t

o c

on

tain

two d

isti

nct

secti

on

s,

each

un

der

a d

om

e,

an

d t

his

rem

inds o

ne

of th

e p

ossib

ilit

y o

f th

e e

xis

ten

ce o

f tw

o in

depen

den

t cla

ss-r

oom

s

corr

espon

din

g t

o t

wo d

isti

nct

ch

air

s.

Exam

ple

s o

f m

edie

val m

ad-

rasa

sw

ith

fou

r ch

air

s a

nd f

ou

r corr

espon

din

g h

ead-p

rofe

ssors

are

kn

ow

n,

an

d t

heir

arc

hit

ectu

ral pla

ns r

eveal th

is s

ubdiv

isio

n

cle

arl

y.7

8

Itm

ay b

e c

on

jectu

red t

hat

the s

ubdiv

isio

n in

to t

wo o

f th

e

Wajidiy

a M

adra

sa r

epre

sen

ts t

he e

xis

ten

ce o

f tw

o c

hair

s t

here

,

on

e f

or

the

aw

ait

an

d o

ne for

the I

sla

mic

scie

nces.

Fro

m t

he

thir

teen

th c

en

tury

on

, in

fact,

th

ere

is a

ten

den

cy o

f allow

ing

the

aw

ait

scie

nces a

lso t

o b

e in

clu

ded in

th

e c

urr

icu

la o

f cert

ain

madra

sas.

Th

ew

aqf

docu

men

t of an

oth

er

Ku

tah

ya m

adra

sa c

on

-

tain

s t

he s

tipu

lati

on

th

at

its

mu

da

rris

sh

ou

ld b

e learn

ed b

oth

in t

he I

sla

mic

an

d t

he

aw

ait

scie

nce

s.79

Th

e c

on

necti

on

of

Àbd a

l W

ajid w

ith

th

is m

adra

sa c

om

pels

us t

o g

ive s

om

e c

reden

ce t

o t

his

local tr

adit

ion

. It

is lik

ely

th

at

there

was in

str

ucti

on

in

astr

on

om

y in

it

togeth

er

wit

h s

om

e p

rac-

tica

lapplicati

on

s,

bu

t th

at

it w

as a

fu

ll-f

ledged o

bserv

ato

ry

does n

ot

seem

lik

ely

.so

OB

SE

RV

ATIO

N T

OW

ER

S A

ND

OB

SE

RV

ATIO

N W

ELLS

It is s

een

th

at

som

e o

f th

e "

min

or

observ

ato

ries",

in

clu

din

g

those c

laim

ed b

y local tr

adit

ion

s,

reveal con

necti

on

s w

ith

observ

-

ati

on

tow

ers

an

d "

observ

ati

on

wells".

We h

ave a

lready s

een

exam

ple

s o

f to

wers

used in

th

e m

ore

im

port

an

t observ

ato

ries.

Th

is w

as s

een

, e.

g.,

in

th

e M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry.

Th

ere

are

wri

tten

report

s, likew

ise, con

cern

ing t

he e

xis

ten

ce o

f an

"observ

ati

on

well"

at

the I

sta

nbu

l O

bserv

ato

ry.

Th

e a

ssocia

tion

of

tow

ers

wit

h "

observ

ato

ries

"occ

urs

spec

i-

fically in

th

e e

xam

ple

of

the S

eville

Tow

er,

th

e "

Observ

ato

ry"

of

the T

ime a

nd t

he H

ou

r of

Yazd

, an

d t

he T

ow

er

of

Sta

r in

Moro

c-

co.

Su

ch

associa

tion

s s

eem

als

o t

o e

xis

t in

a s

om

ew

hat

less c

lear

fash

ion

in

th

e c

ase o

f th

e C

astl

e o

f S

tar

near

Ale

ppo,

the C

astl

e

7s

Cre

swel

l,O

rigin

s o

f th

e C

un

eif

orm

Pla

n ...

Say

ih,

Th

e W

ajid

iya

Ma

dra

sa

,p

.6

72

,n

ote

27

.d0

Say

ilt,

Th

eW

ajid

iya

Ma

dra

sa

, pp. 6

67

-67

7.

256

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY I

N I

SLA

M

of E

ph

em

eri

des in

Cair

o, an

d t

he J

aja

Bey M

adra

sa o

f K

irsh

eh

ir.

It is n

atu

ral an

d r

eason

able

to a

ssocia

te a

str

on

om

ical observ

-

ati

on

wit

h h

igh

pla

ces a

nd t

ow

ers

, bu

t h

ere

may a

lso b

e f

ou

nd

a c

lue f

or

possib

le c

on

fusio

ns.

We h

ave a

lready s

een

an

exam

ple

con

necte

d w

ith

Ham

mer,

wh

ere

in t

here

appare

ntl

y o

ccu

rs a

con

fusio

n b

etw

een

a m

inare

t

or

a m

ilit

ary

observ

ati

on

post

(or

a t

ow

er

in g

en

era

l) a

nd a

n o

b-

serv

ato

ry.8

1S

peakin

g o

f th

e G

ok M

adra

sa,

or

the T

uru

mta

y

Madra

sa,8

Zof

Am

asya,

Tu

rkey,

A.

D.

Mord

tman

n r

efe

rs t

o its

min

are

t w

ith

th

e w

ord

"O

bserv

ato

riu

m",

83

an

d t

his

ch

oic

e o

f

term

inolo

gy w

hic

h is a

ppare

ntl

y n

ot

based o

n a

ny s

ou

rce s

tate

-

men

t cou

ld b

e m

isle

adin

g.

An

oth

er

exam

ple

of th

is n

atu

re w

hic

h h

as c

om

e t

o m

y a

tten

-

tion

con

cern

s t

he M

aza

ndara

n d

istr

ict

of Ir

an

. W

alt

er

Bossh

ard

,

appare

ntl

y r

ely

ing o

n o

ral in

form

ati

on

giv

en

to h

im a

t th

e locality

,

speaks o

f a m

ilit

ary

observ

ati

on

tow

er

there

84

an

d g

ives its

pic

-

ture

;85

that

this

is in

reality

th

e m

au

sole

um

of Q

abiis ibn

Wash

mgir

is c

learl

y s

een

fro

m t

he a

ccom

pan

yin

g p

hoto

gra

ph

.ss

In a

Tu

rkis

h t

ran

sla

tion

of

this

book t

he w

ord

s "

milit

ary

ob-

serv

ati

on

tow

er"

are

ch

an

ged in

to "

observ

ato

ry"

,h

ow

ever,

87

an

d a

s Q

abu

s w

as a

cti

vely

in

tere

ste

d in

astr

on

om

y,

88

this

ite

m o

f

info

rmati

on

in

its

Tu

rkis

h t

ran

sla

tion

cou

ld b

e v

ery

mis

leadin

g

especia

lly in

case it

was n

ot

accom

pan

ied w

ith

th

e p

ictu

re.

On

th

e b

asis

of th

ese e

xam

ple

s, on

e m

ay e

asily im

agin

e t

hat

mis

takes d

ue t

o a

con

fusio

n b

etw

een

non

-astr

on

om

ical observ

a-

tion

tow

ers

an

d a

str

on

om

ical observ

ato

ries m

ay e

asily c

reep

into

local le

gen

ds a

nd t

radit

ion

s.

As t

he w

ord

rasa

dw

as u

sed in

both

sen

ses in

Isla

m,

su

ch

ch

an

ges o

f m

ean

ing c

ou

ld e

asily o

ccu

r

in local tr

an

sm

issio

ns.

It is p

ossib

le t

hat

su

ch

dis

tort

ion

s h

ave

"S

ee a

bove,

pp.

176-1

77,

note

s 4

9-5

1.

tl2

See

,H

useyn

Hiisam

eddin

, vol. 1

, p.

295.

Mord

tman

n,

An

ato

lien

,pp.

94-9

5.

" B

ossh

ard

, p.

166, Fr.

tr.

, p.

90.

Mr.

Bossh

ard

has h

ad t

he k

indn

eses o

f

sen

din

g m

e a

copy o

f th

e F

ren

ch

tra

nsla

tion

of h

is b

ook.

e"B

ossh

ard

, pla

te b

etw

een

pp.

160 a

nd 1

61,

Fr.

tr.

, pla

te,

p.

96-9

7.

" S

ee, e.g

., P

ope, vol. 2

, pp.

972-9

74.

Hu

rriy

et

(Tu

rkis

h d

aily n

ew

spaper), J

uly

27, 1948, p.

2.

" S

ee a

bove, p.

158, n

ote

128.

fou

nd t

heir

way in

to s

om

e o

f th

e local le

gen

ds a

nd a

ccou

nts

con

-

cern

ing "

min

or

observ

ato

ries".

Th

e c

ase o

f"observ

ati

on

wells"

is e

ven

less c

lear.

An

"ob

-

serv

ati

on

well"

is s

aid

to h

ave e

xis

ted a

t th

e M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

a-

tory

by t

he p

eople

of th

at

dis

tric

t, b

ut

this

is n

ot

men

tion

ed in

an

y s

ou

rce c

hro

nolo

gic

ally c

lose t

o t

he lifeti

me o

f th

at

observ

a-

tory

. Th

e o

nly

sou

rce s

tate

men

t con

firm

ing t

his

cla

im is o

ne f

rom

the s

ixte

en

th c

en

tury

. It

is s

tate

d in

th

is s

am

e s

ou

rce t

hat

su

ch

a w

ell is r

eport

ed t

o h

ave e

xis

ted a

t U

lugh

Bey

's

Sam

arq

an

dO

bserv

ato

ry a

lso,

bu

t th

e w

rite

r is

non

-com

mit

tal w

ith

respect

to t

he v

era

cit

y o

f th

ese r

eport

s 8

9O

ther

refe

ren

ces t

oo e

xis

t,

how

ever,

to t

he "

observ

ati

on

well"

of

Sam

arg

an

d.

80

I h

ave a

lready r

efe

rred t

o t

he a

ssert

ion

th

at

`Ali Q

ush

ji h

ad

an

observ

ati

on

well in

Ista

nbu

l. S

uch

a w

ell is m

en

tion

ed m

ore

frequ

en

tly in

con

necti

on

wit

h t

he I

sta

nbu

l O

bserv

ato

ry a

nd

Taqi al D

in.

In a

ddit

ion

to T

urk

ish

sou

rces,

there

are

Eu

ropean

report

s a

lso c

on

cern

ing it;

th

e E

uro

pean

sou

rces s

peak o

f a t

ow

er

in t

his

con

nec

tion

.91

It is a

lso s

tate

d in

vari

ou

s s

ou

rces t

hat

Taqi

al

Din

had h

ad r

ecou

rse t

o s

uch

a d

eep w

ell w

hile h

e w

as in

Cair

o

an

d a

lso t

hat

he h

ad f

ou

nd it

not

to b

e o

f m

uch

use.9

2

It is t

hu

s s

een

th

at

wells a

re m

en

tion

ed in

con

necti

on

wit

h

the t

hre

e m

ajo

r observ

ato

ries o

f th

e late

r cen

turi

es,

nam

ely

th

e

Mara

gh

a,

Sam

arq

an

d,

an

d t

he I

sta

nbu

l O

bserv

ato

ries,

bu

t th

e

refe

ren

ces a

re r

ath

er

vagu

e f

or

the f

orm

er

two a

nd e

specia

lly

in t

he c

ase o

f th

e M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry.

Th

e local tr

adit

ion

con

cern

ing t

he J

aja

Bey M

adra

sa o

f K

irsh

eh

ir s

om

ew

hat

em

-

ph

asiz

es t

his

featu

re,

an

d t

here

is a

vagu

e r

efe

ren

ce t

o s

uch

a w

ell

als

o in

th

e c

ase o

f th

e W

ajidiy

a M

adra

sa o

f K

uta

hya.

Th

e fu

ncti

on

of th

e o

bserv

ati

on

well is m

ost

frequ

en

tly a

sso-

cia

ted w

ith

th

e d

ay-t

ime o

bserv

ati

on

of th

e s

tars

, an

d s

uch

wells

are

gen

era

lly p

ictu

red t

o h

ave b

een

dry

. Th

is d

oes n

ot

seem

to

99

Th

is s

ou

rce is t

he

Afit-

iR

asadiy

a li Zij-iShahinshdhiya.

See, S

ayth

,

Th

eO

bserv

ati

on

Well,

p.

150, n

ote

8, p.

152, n

ote

15.

9°

See b

elo

w, p.

266, n

ote

14, p.

277, n

ote

s 5

1, 52.

91

Sayili,

Th

e O

bserv

ati

on

Well, p.

151;

Sayili,

Man

su

r's P

oem

s, p.

434;

Qara

ch

ala

biz

ada,

p.

462.

92

Sayth

,T

he O

bserv

ati

on

Well, p.

152, n

ote

15; S

ayili, M

an

su

r' s

Poem

s,

pp.

450, 473-4

74.

TH

E F

OU

RTE

EN

TH

CE

NTU

RY

257

17

258

TH

E O

BS

ER

VA

TO

RY I

N I

SLA

M

be a

un

ivers

al cla

im,

how

ever,

as c

an

be s

een

fro

m c

ert

ain

local

tradit

ion

s.Th

ere

seem

s t

o e

xis

t th

e idea t

hat

these w

ells w

ere

wate

r w

ells a

nd t

hat

on

e c

ou

ld o

bserv

e in

th

em

th

e r

eflecte

d im

a-

ges o

f th

e s

tars

.B3

Fin

ally,

the t

erm

observ

ati

on

well s

eem

s t

o

have b

een

used t

o d

esig

nate

th

e t

ren

ch

es d

ug t

o r

eceiv

e t

he u

n-

derg

rou

nd p

ort

ion

s o

f th

e K

hu

jan

di-

type m

eri

dia

n a

res,

84

an

dth

ism

ay s

erv

e t

o t

hro

w lig

ht

on

som

e o

f th

e e

xam

ple

s o

f"obse

rv-

ati

on

well"

en

cou

nte

red in

th

e lit

era

ture

, su

ch

as t

hose o

f fu

ll-

-fle

dged o

bserv

ato

ries.

Gen

era

lly t

he o

bserv

ati

on

well is c

on

ceiv

ed

as a

narr

ow

an

dperp

endic

ula

rsh

aft

of con

sid

era

ble

depth

, h

ow

-

ever,

an

d in

th

e P

ari

s O

bserv

ato

ry it

was a

ssocia

ted p

erh

aps

main

ly w

ith

zen

ith

observ

ati

on

ss5

Th

e p

assage g

iven

in

Appen

dix

I b

elo

w is v

ery

in

tere

sti

ng

in t

his

respect.

It

is t

he m

ost

deta

iled t

ext

dealin

g w

ith

day-t

ime

observ

ati

on

, an

d it

is, m

ore

over,

an

astr

on

om

ical te

xt

dealin

g

wit

h c

ert

ain

specific

topic

s.

It t

ies d

ay-t

ime o

bserv

ati

on

wit

h

a d

evic

e s

om

ew

hat

rem

inis

cen

t of

the

su

ds-i

Fa

kh

rian

d w

ith

mer

idia

nobse

rvati

ons.

It w

ou

ld b

e d

esir

able

to h

ave o

ther

texts

thro

win

g f

urt

her

ligh

t on

th

is q

uesti

on

as w

ell a

s o

n o

ther

su

b-

jects

tou

ch

ed u

pon

in

th

is a

non

ym

ou

s t

ract.

°3

Sayili an

d R

uben

, p.

683.

" S

ee b

elo

w,

p.

277,

note

52.

For a

som

ew

hat

sim

ilar o

pin

ion

of

Fa-

tin

Gokm

en

, see,

Adiv

ar,

1943,

p.

82,

note

2.

He b

elieved

"O

bserv

ati

on

wells"

to r

efe

r t

o t

ren

ch

es o

r h

ollow

pla

ces in

to w

hic

h a

str

on

om

ical in

str

um

en

ts

of la

rge d

imen

sio

n w

ere

pla

ced a

s a

pre

cau

tion

ary

measu

re a

gain

st

the e

ffects

of

str

on

g w

inds.

Th

at

Tych

o B

rah

e w

as m

oved b

y s

uch

a c

on

sid

era

tion

in

th

e

con

str

ucti

on

of

the S

tjern

eborg

Observ

ato

ry is k

now

n (D

reyer,

Ty

ch

o B

rah

e,

p.

104), b

ut

I h

ave f

ou

nd n

o e

vid

en

ce in

dic

ati

ng t

hat

this

wou

ld b

e t

ru

e in

the c

ase o

f th

e"

observ

ati

on

wells"

as t

hey o

ccu

r in

th

e lit

era

ture

.

°5S

ee b

elo

w, p.

325, n

ote

52.

CH

APT

ER

VIII

TH

E S

AM

AR

QA

ND

AN

D T

HE

IS

TA

NB

UL

OB

SE

RV

ATO

RIE

S

In t

he f

ifte

en

th a

nd s

ixte

en

th c

en

turi

es w

e w

itn

ess t

he c

on

-

tin

uati

on

, in

a r

ath

er

rem

ark

able

man

ner,

of

the t

radit

ion

of

observ

ato

ry b

uildin

gin

Isla

m.

Th

ere

is a

n im

port

an

t observ

ato

ry

in e

ach

on

e o

f th

ese t

wo c

en

turi

es,

the S

am

arq

an

d O

bserv

ato

ry

in t

he fifte

en

th a

nd t

he I

sta

nbu

l O

bserv

ato

ry in

th

e s

ixte

en

th

cen

tury

. Th

ese m

ay e

ven

repre

sen

t a m

ore

advan

ced s

tage o

f

develo

pm

en

t beyon

d t

he M

ara

gh

a O

bserv

ato

ry,

bu

t ou

r kn

ow

-

ledge c

on

cern

ing t

his

matt

er

is in

su

ffic

ien

t at

the p

resen

t.

Of

these t

wo in

sti

tuti

on

s t

he S

am

arq

an

d O

bserv

ato

ry w

as,

very

lik

aly

, th

e o

ne w

hic

h w

as o

f gre

ate

r im

port

an

ce,

both

as a

scie

nti

fic in

sti

tuti

on

an

d f

rom

th

e s

tan

dpoin

t of

its h

isto

rical fu

nc-

tion

. It

seem

s t

o r

epre

sen

t th

e h

igh

wate

r m

ark

of

Isla

mic

ach

ieve-

men

t in

th

is f

ield

of

acti

vit

y,

an

d it

is a

lso p

robable

th

at

it

con

sti

tute

d t

he m

ost

import

an

t lin

k b

etw

een

Isla

m a

nd E

uro

pe

in t

he t

ran

sm

issio

n o

f th

e t

radit

ion

of fo

un

din

gobse

rvato

ries.

By t

his

tim

e, con

tact

wit

h t

he F

are

ast

had c

eased t

o b

e o

f

cru

cia

l im

port

an

ce in

th

e e

volu

tion

of

the o

bserv

ato

ry in

Isla

m,

bu

t th

e I

sla

mic

observ

ato

ry its

elf s

eem

s t

o c

om

e in

to t

he lim

e

ligh

t in

th

is e

ra a

s a

n in

sti

tuti

on

desti

ned t

o e

xert

sig

nific

an

t

influ

en

ce u

pon

Eu

rope.

In t

he f

ifte

en

th c

en

tury

, Is

lam

had a

cle

arl

y s

uperi

or

sta

tus in

th

is r

ealm

of acti

vit

y a

s c

om

pare

d w

ith

Eu

rope;

it

was

in a

posi

tion

to e

xer

t im

port

an

t in

flu

ence

on

Eu

rope,

an

d E

uro

pe w

as a

ppare

ntl

y e

ager

to a

bsorb

su

ch

in

flu

en

ce.

At

the t

ime t

he I

sta

nbu

l O

bserv

ato

ry w

as fou

nded, Is

lam

had a

lready b

egu

n t

o lose its

leaders

hip

in

th

e f

ield

, bu

t th

is

insti

tuti

on

too m

ay h

ave b

een

in

str

um

en

tal in

th

e t

ran

sm

issio

n

of

the I

sla

mic

tra

dit

ion

of

observ

ato

ry b

uildin

g t

o E

uro

pe.

At

an

y r

ate

, re

mark

able

para

llelism

s a

re s

een

to e

xis

t betw

een

th

is

observ

ato

ry a

nd t

hose o

f Tych

o B

rah

e,

wh

ich

were

con

tem

pora

-

neou

s w

ith

it,

an

d t

his

is in

dic

ati

ve a

t le

ast

of th

e a

ctu

al passage

of

import

an

t in

flu

en

ces f

rom

Isla

m t

o E

uro

pe.

rasadkhaneh, maragheh sayili

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