al-Battani
- Died
- 317 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Abd Allah al-Battani (d. 317 AH / 929 CE) was an astronomer, mathematician, and geometer from Upper Mesopotamia, best known for his astronomical treatise and tables, Zij al-Sabi (The Sabian Astronomical Tables) .
Identity and Background
His full name is Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Harrani al-Raqqi al-Battani . In one genealogical record, his lineage is extended to Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan ibn Thabit ibn Qurra , while another variant gives his father's name as Sinan ibn Jabir . In Latin European literature, his name was rendered as Albategni or Albatenius .
Al-Battani was born before 244 AH (858 CE)—or, according to other accounts, after 235 AH or around 240 AH (854 CE)—in Battan, a locality in the district of Harran from which his nisba derives . His family belonged to the Sabian community of Harran, and biographical sources remark that his adoption of the name Muhammad and the kunya Abu Abd Allah indicated his conversion to Islam .
Scientific Career and Contributions
Al-Battani settled in al-Raqqa, carrying out continuous astronomical observations on the left bank of the Euphrates between 264 AH and 306 AH (877–918 CE), as well as observations in Antioch . Another transmission dates his main observational period between 269 AH and 287 AH (882–900 CE) .
He made extensive corrections to planetary models and orbital calculations, rectifying data from Ptolemy's Almagest . His achievements included calculating the precession of the equinoxes, the inclination of the ecliptic, and the movement of the solar apogee . In mathematics, he expanded spherical trigonometry through the systematic use of sines and chords instead of Ptolemaic geometric methods alone . He also determined the astronomical coordinates for azimuth and nadir and recorded precise observations of solar and lunar eclipses . Additionally, he produced a world map utilizing simple cylindrical projection with straight lines of latitude and longitude .
Al-Battani compiled these observations and trigonometric tables in his major work Zij al-Sabi, which was translated into Latin as Scientia Stellarum and printed in Nuremberg in 1537 CE . Among his other compositions were Sharh Arba' Maqalat li-Batlamyus (Commentary on Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos) and Ma'rifat Matali' al-Buruj (Knowledge of the Rising Places of the Zodiacal Signs) .
Journey and Death
In his later years, al-Battani accompanied a delegation of residents from al-Raqqa to Baghdad to seek redress for local grievances . On the journey back to al-Raqqa, he died in 317 AH (929 CE) at Qasr al-Jiss near Samarra . Other sources state that he died at Qasr al-Hadr, a settlement near Tikrit, or at Qal'at Jamo .
Answer updated
List of Works
Zij al-Sabi (The Sabian astronomical handbook; also known as Zij al-Battani or Kitab al-Zij) is an astronomical work and collection of astronomical tables. Constructed on the basis of observational data, the handbook provides mathematical and observational adjustments to the astronomical models of Ptolemy's Almagest, incorporating corrected determinations for the motions of the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets.