Muallif Hudud al-Alam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib
- Died
- 373 AH
- Born in
- -
Muallif Hudud al-Alam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib (fl. 372 AH / 982 CE) was an anonymous tenth-century geographer, best known for composing the Persian geographical treatise Hudud al-Alam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib ("The Limits of the World from the East to the West") .
Background and Identity
The author's personal name, lineage, and precise life dates remain unknown; the treatise was completed in 372 AH (982 CE) . Although the text was written in Persian, some researchers have debated whether the author may have been of Arab origin or whether portions were adapted from Arabic sources . The text does not contain indications that the author personally traveled to the regions he described .
Method and Sources
In the conclusion of his geographical work, the author stated that he had surveyed available books and extracted their material after removing superfluous padding . The only work he explicitly cited by title in the text is Aristotle's Meteorology (al-Athar al-Ulwiyya), while damaged portions at the end indicate reliance on Ptolemy . Modern scholars note that the author drew heavily upon earlier Arabic geographic treatises, having had direct access to a text by Abu Zayd al-Balkhi or al-Istakhri .
The author demonstrated methodological originality in systematizing geographical classifications and terminology, structuring the inhabited world into broader overarching regions and distinct, self-standing countries, alongside an emphasis on precision in figures and regional delineations .
Modern Study
The author's treatise is recognized as one of the earliest surviving Persian works on world geography . It received major scholarly attention following an introduction by Vasily Barthold and an English translation with extensive geographical commentary published by Vladimir Minorsky in London in 1937 .
Answer updated
List of Works
Hudud al-Alam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib (The Limits of the World from the East to the West) is an anonymous geographical treatise written in Persian in 372 AH (982 CE). Composed in the region of Guzgan under the patronage of the Farighunid ruler Abu al-Harith Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Farighun, the work divides the inhabited world into overarching parts and distinct countries, drawing together essential geographical data excerpted from available texts.