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For three centuries geographers copied his maps without alteration. Not only is its historical information most interesting and valuable, but its descriptions of many parts of the earth are still authoritative. The compilation of al-Idrisi marks an era in the history of science. On the geographical work of al-Idrisi, S.P. The map, with legends written in Arabic, while showing the Eurasian continent in its entirety, only shows the northern part of the African continent and lacks details of the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia.įor Roger it was inscribed on a massive disc of solid silver, two metres in diameter. The Tabula Rogeriana was drawn by al-Idrisi in 1154 for the Norman King Roger II of Sicily, after a stay of eighteen years at his court, where he worked on the commentaries and illustrations of the map. Note that south is at the top of the map.īecause of conflict and instability in Al-Andalus al-Idrisi joined contemporaries such as Abu al-Salt in Sicily, where the Normans had overthrown Arabs formerly loyal to the Fatimids.Īl-Idrisi incorporated the knowledge of Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Far East gathered by Islamic merchants and explorers and recorded on Islamic maps with the information brought by the Norman voyagers to create the most accurate map of the world in pre-modern times, which served as a concrete illustration of his Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq, (Latin: Opus Geographicum), which may be translated A Diversion for the Man Longing to Travel to Far-Off Places. Of these ten, six contain at the start of the work a circular map of the world which is not mentioned in the text of al-Idris". According to the French National Library, "Ten copies of the Kitab Rujar or Tabula Rogeriana exist worldwide today. Tabula Rogeriana Īl-Idrisi's world map from 'Alî ibn Hasan al-Hûfî al-Qâsimî's 1456 copy. His travels took him to many parts of Europe including Portugal, the Pyrenees, the French Atlantic coast, Hungary, and Jórvík (now known as York). He visited Anatolia when he was barely 16. He spent much of his early life travelling through North Africa and Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain of the times) and seems to have acquired detailed information on both regions. Īl-Idrisi was born in the city of Ceuta, at the time controlled by the Almoravids but now a part of Spain, where his great-grandfather had been forced to settle after the fall of Hammudid Málaga to the Zirids of Granada.
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