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INTRODUCTION
Arab geographer in the medieval period made valuable contributions to the geographical thinking unlike their western counterparts. Their base knowledge was much wider and enriched than the Christain scholars. Their interest in geography was the product of their geographical surroundings; though it was purely theological in perspective (relating to the study of the nature of God and religious belief). The rise and spread of Islam from 7 th to 14 th century further widened their horizons as Arab started travelling across the world either for religious or economic reasons.
In the field of geography the Arab Schlors have made significant contributions in the fields of mathematical, physical, and regional geography. Arab geography flourished in the city of Baghdad which was founded by the Arabs near the ruins of Babylon in 762 , and for more than a century it was the centre of the intellectual world. Baghdad may be compared with the Greek intellectual centre, Miletus, which remained a centre of academic innovation between 770 and 570 BC.
Al-IDRISI
CONTRIBUTION TO DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF
GEOGRAPHY Mathematical Geography: ❖ The Arab scholars were highly influenced by the Greek ideas about the shape and size of the earth. They considered the Earth as the centre of the universe, arround which the seven planets revolved. They made use of the ptolemy prime meridian to calculate time and longitiudes. This meridian was considered to pass through the fortunate Islands, Abu Mashar. These scholars made use of the shadow of the sun to determine latitude; when the shadow happens to be on the meridian. Al battam is said to have measured the earth circumference as 27000 miles.
Al- masudi described indian monsoons and even elaborated the factors like location, height above the sea level, setting of a place with accordance to mountanis or sea and soil type all play a decisive role in the weather and climate of a particular area. Oceanography The most outstanding contribution in the field of oceanography was that the Arab scholars proved that the main reason for tides was the gravitional pull of the sun and the moon. The observation was done by Al- Qazwini. Al masudi noted that due to the presence of vegetation and salinity the colour of the ocean water varies from place to place.
Geomorphology Al- Beruni in his Kitab-ul-Hind optined that the stones became round because they had fallen along torrential mountains streams. He also discovered that alluvial soils became finer in texture farther away from mountains. Ibn sina keenly observed the work of agents of denudation and ascertained that mountain stream erode the slope; the highest peaks occur when the rock are especially resistant to erosion; the the mountain are immediately exposed to the process of wearing down as soon as they rise up. Al- Maqadisi in his book : ‘‘The best divisions for the classification of regions’’ divided Syria into four geomorphological zones running parallel to the Mediterranean sea as follows:
AL MASUDI (896- 956 AD) Al- masudi was important scholar who haild from Bagdad. He was a geographer, a historian a world traveler and a prolific writer. In the field of study of landforms he appreciated the role of process of erosion and adjustment of streams to structure in the evolution of landforms. He even divided the world into seven regions on the basis of language. Persians, Chaldians, Greek, Egyptians & libyans, Turkish, Hindus and Chinese. He wrote on diverse themes and his important works. Al- Masudi described the weather conditions of the places he visited or sailed through. He also pointed out that the salt in the seas comes from the land. He provided a good account of the monsoon on bay of bengal. He pointed out the bay of bengal is connected with the atlantic ocean.
Al masudi observed variation in the color of the ocean water and attributed it to the variation in the salinity of water and presence of vegetation. he described the evaporation of moisture from the water surfaces and the condensation of the moisture in the form of cloudes. He had a conception of the sphericity of the earth and believed that the surface of the earth must be curved. He provided description about the effect of environment on the mode of life and attitudes of people, and held an opinion on environmental determinism. Al-Masudi atlas of the world (reversed on the North-South axis) also includes a continent West of the Old World.
AL-BIRUNI (973-1039 AD) Al-Biruni was a Tajik by race and a Persian by culture, his main interests include astronomy, mathematics, chronology, physics, medicine and history. Kitab-Al-Hind (1030) is regarded as his monumental work which deals with the geography of india. He describes the processes shaping the landforms under normal conditions and even identifies the significance of rounded stones in the alluvial deposits in the southern part of the Himalayas. He mentioned that the distribution of rainfall in the peninsular region is controlled by the eastern and western Ghats. He provided detailed information about the source of Indus and explained the phenomena of floods in its basin. He gave the description of the city of Qannauj.
He has provided an accurate account of the seasons of India describing the nature of monsoons. He had also studied indian culture and Hindu beliefs. His book Al-Qanun-Al-Masudi deals solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. He also wrote that himalaya is the sources of most of the perennial rivers of asia.
Books by Al-biruni
- Kitab-al-hind
- Al-Qanun-Al-masudi
- Tarikhul-Hind
- Athar-Al-Bagiya
- Kitab-Al-Saydna
- Al-Tahidi
- Miftah-ilm-alhai’a (key to Astronomy)
IBN KHALDUN (1332- 1406 AD) Ibn khaldun was basically a historian but his writings also have been important as they were based on travel. His most important work is known as Muqaddimah. The kitab al-ibar divides into seven book. Al- Muqaddimah (introduction), is considered the first book. Books two to five cover world history of humanity up to the authors own time. In his writings, Ibn Khaldun has maintained that northern hemisphere is more densly populated than the southern.
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