Book of Roads and Kingdoms

Map of Arabia from the Kitab al-Masalik wa'l-Mamalik by al-Istakhri (copy dated to c. 1306 CE)

The Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Arabic: كتاب المسالك والممالك, Kitāb al-Masālik waʿl-Mamālik^[1]) is a group of Islamic manuscripts composed from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.^[2] They emerged from the administrative tradition of listing pilgrim and post stages.^[3][4] Their text covers the cities, roads, topography, and peoples of the Muslim world, interspersed with personal anecdotes.^[5] A theoretical explanation of the "Inhabited Quarter" of the world, comparable to the ecumene, frames the world with classical concepts like the seven climes.^[6][3]

The books include illustrations so geometric that they are barely recognizable as maps.^[7] These schematic maps do not attempt a mimetic depiction of physical boundaries.^[8][9] With little change in design, the treatises typically offer twenty regional maps and a disc-shaped map of the world surrounded by the Encircling Ocean.^[6] The maps have a flat quality, but the textual component implies a spherical earth. Andalusi scholar Abi Bakr Zuhri explained, "Their objective is the depiction of the earth, even if it does not correspond to reality. Because the earth is spherical but the [map] is simple".^[10]

The first, incomplete Kitāb al-Masālik wa'l-Mamālik by Ja‘far ibn Ahmad al-Marwazi is now lost.^[11] The earliest surviving version was written by Ibn Khordadbeh circa 870 CE,^[11] during the reigns of Abbasid caliphs al-Wathiq and al-Mu'tamid.^[11] The earliest known version of the idiosyncratic cartography was composed by al-Istakhri circa 950 CE,^[12] although only copies by later artists survive.^[13] As he was a follower of Abu Zayd al-Balkhi,^[6] this style of map-making is often referred to as the "Balkhī school",^[14] or the "Classical School". The maps are sometimes called the "Atlas of Islam",^[6] or abbreviated as KMMS maps.^[9] This tradition of mapping appears in related works including Ibn Hawqal's Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ (صورة الارض; "The face of the Earth").^[15]

Gallery

See also

• Geography and cartography in the medieval Islamic world
• Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Jayhani
• Muhammad ibn Yūsuf al-Warrāq
• Muhammad al-Idrisi
• Piri Reis
• Book of Roads and Kingdoms (al-Bakri)
• Islamic Golden Age
• Mappa mundi
• T and O map

Notes

References

• Casale, Giancarlo (2019). "Did Alexander the Great Discover America? Debating Space and Time in Renaissance Istanbul". Renaissance Quarterly 72 (3): 863–909. doi:10.1017/rqx.2019.252. ISSN 0034-4338.  Accessed 2023-05-27.
• Edson, Evelyn; Savage-Smith, Emilie (2004). Medieval Views of the Cosmos. University of Oxford. ISBN 978-1851241842. 
• Jafri, Ayfer S., ed (2019). "Geography". Cities of Light. Georgetown University. https://www.islamicspain.tv/the-science-and-culture-of-islamic-spain/25-subjects-of-science-and-culture/geography/. 
• Meri, Josef W.; Bacharach, Jere (2005). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-96690-6. https://archive.org/details/MedievalIslamicCivilizationAnEncyclopedia_201603/. 
• Pinto, Karen (2004). "Cartography and Geography". in Martin, Richard C.; Arjomand, Saïd Amir; Hermansen, Marcia et al.. Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. 1. New York: Macmillan USA. pp. 128–132. https://archive.org/details/EncyclopediaOfIslamAndTheMuslimWorld_411. 
• Pinto, Karen (2016). Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html. 
• Şeşen, Ramzan (1999). "IBN HAVKAL". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam. 20 (Ibn Haldun – Ibnu'l Cezeri). pp. 34–35. ISBN 9789753894470. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ibn-havkal. 

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