Abu Abdallah al-Jayhani

Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Jayhānī was the vizier of the Samanid Empire in first half of the 10th century. His lost geographical work (which was preserved in later authors' books) is an important source of 9th-century history of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. His son and grandson also served as viziers.

Life

Most details of the life of Abū ʿAbdallāh al-Jayhānī are unknown.[1] He was the son of Aḥmad al-Jayhānī.[2] Spelling patterns in his works suggests that Persian was his native language.[3] Yaqut al-Hamawi also recorded that al-Jayhānī frequently used the Persian expression "bedāw andarūn" ("rush in").[3] Al-Muqaddasi noted that al-Jayhānī studied philosophy, astronomy and geometry.[1] He was a secret adherent to Manichaeism, according to Ibn al-Nadim.[4]

Al-Jayhānī was made guardian of Nasr II in 913.[2] A year later, his 8-year-old ward became the emir of the Samanid Empire and al-Jayhānī was appointed vizier.[2] After the largest mosque of Bukhara was destroyed, he financed the erection of a minaret, according to Narshakhi.[2] Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who met him in 921, recorded that the people referred to him as "the elder bulwark", evidencing that Al-Jayhani was still regarded as a most influential figure in Nasr II's court.[2]

The date of his death is unknown.[2] His son, Abū ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Jayhānī, was vizier of the Samanid Empire from 938 to 941.[5] Abū ʿAlī's son (Abū ʿAbdallāh's grandson) held the same office between 974 and 976.[5]

Works

Ibn al-Nadim, who confused Abū ʿAbdallāh al-Jayhānī with his grandson, attributed four books to Abū ʿAbdallāh.[6] According to historian István Zimonyi, the four books "point to an author experienced in politics, as every book is connected with state affairs".[7]

The book of Routes and Kingdoms

Al-Jayhānī "assembled around himself som foreigners and questioned them about the countries and their revenues, the condition of roads thither, the elevation of the stars above the horizons there and the length of the meridian shadows cast by the sun", according to Al-Muqaddasi.[1][8]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Zadeh 2013, p. 48.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zimonyi 2016, p. 7.
  3. 1 2 Zimonyi 2016, p. 10.
  4. ↑ Zimonyi 2016, pp. 9-10.
  5. 1 2 Zimonyi 2016, pp. 8, 10.
  6. ↑ Zimonyi 2016, pp. 8, 11.
  7. ↑ Zimonyi 2016, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Zimonyi 2016, p. 8.

Sources

  • Zimonyi, István (2016). Muslim Sources on the Magyars in the Second Half of the 9th Century. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-21437-8. 
  • Zadeh, Travis (2013). "Of Mummies, Poets, and Water Nymphs: Tracing the Codicological Limits of Ibn Khurradādhbih's Geography". In Bernards, Monique. ʿAbbasid Studies IV: Occasional Papers of the School of ʿAbbasid Studies, Leuven, July 5-July 9, 2010. Gibb Memorial Trust. pp. 8–75. ISBN 978-0-906094-98-3. 
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.