Muhammad al-Idrisi
Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi /ælɪˈdriːsiː/ (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي القرطبي الحسني السبتي; Latin: Dreses; 1100–1165), was a Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in Ceuta, then belonging to the Almoravid dynasty. He created the Tabula Rogeriana, one of the most advanced medieval world maps.
"Edrisi" redirects here. For places in Iran, see Edrisi, Iran.
Muhammad al-Idrisi
1100
1165 (aged 64–65)
Geographer, writer, scientist, cartographer
Early life[edit]
Al-Idrisi was born into the Hammudid dynasty of North Africa and Al-Andalus. A descendent of Muhammad via the powerful Idrisid dynasty.[1][2] Al-Idrisi was believed to be born the city of Ceuta in 1100, at the time controlled by the Almoravids, where his great-grandfather had been forced to settle after the fall of Hammudid Málaga to the Zirids of Granada.[3] He spent much of his early life travelling through North Africa and Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain and Portugal of the times) and seems to have acquired detailed information on both regions. He visited Anatolia when he was barely 16. He studied in the university in Córdoba.[1] His travels took him to many parts of Europe including Portugal, the Pyrenees, the French Atlantic coast, Hungary, and Jórvík (now known as York).
Medical dictionary[edit]
Among the lesser known works of al-Idrisi is a medical dictionary that he compiled in which he brings down a list of simple drugs and plants and their curative effects, used by physicians, apothecaries and merchants in his day.[23] The list is unique, as it includes the names of drugs in as many as 12 languages (among which are Spanish, Berber, Latin, Greek and Sanskrit), including some sixty Hebrew terms transliterated into Arabic and which are thought to have been passed down to him by Andalusian Jewish informants. At the end of the section on medicinal herbs which are described under each letter of the alphabet, he gives an index of their entries.[24] One of the books of herbal medicine frequently cited by al-Idrisi is Marwan ibn Ganah's Kitāb al-Talḫīṣ,[25] who in turn had been influenced by the Andalusian physician Ibn Juljul.[26]
Another version, huge resolution
Al-Idrisi's map of the Indian Ocean.
Al-Idrisi's map of the Iberian Peninsula.
