Islamic science and Muslim scientists

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:43:00 +0000

AL-JAZARI

And the History of the Water Clock

1- Al-Jazari’s life and environment

Al-Jazari’s full name is given at the start of his book[1] He was al-Shaykh Ra’is al-A’mal Badi’ al-Zaman Abu al-‘Izz ibn Isma’il ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari The first three titles indicate that he was a chief engineer (Ra’is al-A’mal), and was unique and unrivalled, (Badi’ al-Zaman). The al-shaykh was a title of honour indicating that he was a learned and a dignified person.

The word ‘Al-Jazari’ indicates that his family came from Jazirat ibn ‘Umar in Diyar Bakr. We do not know the date of his birth and our information about his life is obtained from his book.

Al-Jazari was in the service of three Artuqid rulers: Nur al-Din Muhammad ibn Arslan (570-581/ 1174-1185), Qutb al-Din Sukman ibn Muhammad (681-697/ 1185-1200) and Nasir al-Din Mahmud ibn Muhammad (597-619/ 1200-1222.).

It was in response to the request of Nasir al-Din Mahmud that al-Jazari wrote his book. He says in his introduction that he started his service at the Artuqid court in the year 570/1174, and that when he started writing the book he had already spent twenty five years in the service of Nur al-Din Muhammad, the father, and Qutb al-Din Sukman, the brother. From this information we conclude that probably al-Jazari started writing his book in the year 595/1198, two years before Nasir al-Din became king. From the Oxford manuscript we learn that al-Jazari finished writing his book on 4 Jumada the Second, 602/ 16 January 1206. The oldest extant copy (Topkapi Sarayi Libray, Ahmet III, 3472) was completed by Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Uthman al-Haskafi at the end of Sha’ban 602/ 10 April 1206. From al-Haskafi’s colophon we learn that al-Jazarī was not living at this date. We conclude besides, that he died in the year 602/1206, just few months after he had completed his work.

Āmid, that is called now Diyar Bakr [2], was on the left bank of the Tigris. Travellers who visited the city during the 11^th century admired its buildings, its walls and its affluence. In 438/1046, Nasir-i Khusraw visited the city and wrote: ‘ I have seen many cities and fortresses at the extremities of the world in the lands of the Arabs, Persians, Indians and Turks, and yet I have never seen anything comparable to Āmid anywhere in the world; nor have I heard anyone claim that he had seen any place matching this glorious city’ [3]

During this period Āmid was prosperous, and it enjoyed a period of peace and stability. Thus al-Jazari lived in the court of the Artuqid kings under conditions favourable for the invention and construction of his machines and for writing.

2- Al-Jazari’s book:

The title of the oldest manuscript of al-Jazari’s book is: al-Jamiʿ bayn al-ʿilm wa ʿamal, al-nafiʿ fi sinaʿat al-hiyal الجامع بين العلم و العمل النافع في صناعة الحيل (A Compendium on the Theory and Practice of the Mechanical Arts). The Arabic edition (of al-Hassan) carries this title. The English translation of Hill carries the title Book of Knowledge of Mechanical Devices.[4] This translation was based mainly on MS Graves 27 of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, where the Arabic title is Kitab fi maʿrifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya.كتاب في معرفة الحيل الهندسية Between 1915 and 1921, Wiedemann and Hauser published in German a series of seven articles in which they covered the six categories using the Bodleian copy. [5]

The book describes in detail fifty devices (ashkal), which are grouped into six categories (anwaʿ, singular nawʿ ). These are: 1) ten water and candle clocks; 2), ten vessels and figures suited for drinking sessions; 3), ten pitchers and basins for phlebotomy (faṣd ) and washing before prayers; 4), ten fountains that change their shape alternately, and machines for the perpetual flute; 5), five water raising machines; 6), five miscellaneous devices.

Each device or shakl is described in simple Arabic that is easy to understand, and each is accompanied by a general drawing. There are fifty of these and are numbered by the letters of the Arabic alphabet from one to fifty. For the complicated devices al-Jazari gave detailed drawings for the components of a device or for subassemblies so that the operation can be understood. There are a total of 174 drawings. An alphabet letter marks each part in a device. The text explains the construction of the device with the aid of the letters so that the reader can understand the device by reading the text and referring to the illustrations.

The published Arabic text enumerates fifteen manuscripts of al-Jazari’s book in world libraries with one only probably in private hands. One is a Persian translation.[6] The best five manuscripts were used in arriving at the final printed text. The main one, however, was MS Ahmet III 3472 in the Topkapi Sarayi Librarary, Istanbul. This is the closest copy to the time when al-Jazari completed his writing in 602/1206.

3- The history of water clocks and ingenious devices before and after al-Jazari

The first water clocks in their simplest form were used by the ancient civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt.[7]

About the developments that followed we have two historical reports. The known one in the histories of science is that of Vitruvious who said that Ctesibius, an Egyptian engineer and craftsman who worked in Alexandria about 250 BC, improved the design of the water clock.[8]

The second report came from Ridwan ibn al-Sa’ati in his book and is not known to historians of science. Ridwan mentioned in his book that a man called Hormuz invented the mechanisms of the water clock that were used by his father in the construction of the Damascus clock. He says further that “the design [of Hormuz] continued in the land of Fars for a long time, and was transmitted from there to the land of the Greeks, and its construction spread out in the land until it was transmitted to Damascus, where it was constructed up to the days of the Byzantines and after that in the days of Banu Umayya, according to what is mentioned in the histories. This clock attributed to Hormuz continued to be reproduced by one man after another on this pattern, and it was in the shape that we described above” [9]

The report of Ridwan seems credible, since he links the development of the water clock with both Iran and the Hellenistic world. His story is of great historical importance and it deserves the attention of research workers. We should remark here that the practice of water clocks was limited to the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia in the early centuries of Islam which gives support to Ridwan’s account.

The only public water clock known before Islam was erected in a public square in Gaza in the fifth century AD.[10]

Automata in general were known before Islam. The first musical automaton is attributed to Ctesibius of Egypt. In Asia Minor, Philon of Byzantium who was a contemporary of Ctesibius, wrote the first major treatise on ingenious devices. Philon’s work was continued and extended by Heron of Alexandria, who flourished in the middle of the first century AD.

The tradition of water clocks and ingenious devices of pre-Islamic lands was further developed under Islam. Monumental water clocks in Islamic cities continued to be installed. The Abbasid Caliphs were interested in clocks and ingenious devices. The story of the clock that was presented by Harun al-Rashid (170-193/786-809) to Charlemagne in 807 AD is well known.[11] It is reported also that the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (d. 247/861) was so obsessed with moving machines (Ālāt mutaḥarrika), that he favoured the Banu Musa[12] who wrote their famous book al-Hiyal during this period.

In Kiitab al-hayawan, al-Jahiẓ (160-253/776-867 AD) when discussing the measurement of time, says: “Our kings and scientists use the astrolabe by day and the binkamat (water clocks) by night” [13]

Al-Khazini (flourished 515/1121) reported that Ibn al-Haytham (354/965 - 450/1038) who was a noted engineer as well as a great scientist, described a water clock.[14] In the same period historians reported that Nasir al Dawla of Diyar Bakr (d. 453/1061 AD) constructed a public binkam (water clock) for the city of Mayyafariqin in the year 414/1012.[15] This is 200 years before al-Jazari.

The technology of clock- making was transferred to Muslim Spain and to Al-Maghrib. About the year 442/1050 AD, al-Zarqali constructed a large water clock on the banks of the Tagus River at Toledo in Spain. The clock was still in operation when the Christians occupied the city in 1085 AD. A treatise describing Andalusian monumental clocks was written in the eleventh century by Ibn Khalaf al-Mururadi. Water clocks were constructed for public places in al-Maghrib. The remains of two public water clocks in Fās from the fourteenth century AD can still be seen.[16]

An Arabic treatise of unknown date and authorship describes a monumental water-clock. It is attributed to a Pseudo-Archimedes but it is not listed among Archimedes works in any history of science. Hill thinks that part of it may be of Greek origin, but most of it being written by Arabic writers.[17] Both Ridwan and al-Jazari mentioned it.

In Damascus, Muhammad al-Khurasani al-Sa’ati (the clock-maker) built a monumental clock around 556/1160. Ridwan ibn al-Sa’ati re-built the clock of his father and gave a detailed description of its construction in 600/1203. Al-Jazari was writing his book in Āmid at the same time.

The skills in constructing clocks and ingenious devices were also established in the eastern lands of Islam. We should remember that Muúammad al-Sa’ati who constructed the monumental clock in Damascus came from Khurasan in 549/1154 and started constructing the clock shortly after his arrival. He was considered unrivalled in his skills in clock making[18]. It is reported that the noted astronomer ʿAlī Qūshjī (d. 1474) who was in Maragha, wrote a treatise (tadhkira) on spiritual (or ingenious) machines[19].

The last important writer on the same subject was Taqi al-Din ibn Maʿrūf who wrote a book on water clocks and ingenious machines in 1552 [20] and another on mechanical clocks in 1556. [21]

4- Evaluation of al-Jazari’s work

Al-Jazari’s book deals with a whole range of devices and machines, with a multiplicity of purposes. What they have in common is the considerable degree of engineering skill required for their manufacture, and the use of delicate mechanisms and sensitive control systems. Many of the ideas employed in the construction of ingenious devices were useful in the later development of mechanical technology.

About al-Jazari’s book Sarton says that “this treatise is the most elaborate of its kind and may be considered the climax of this line of Moslem achievement.” [22] Hill concludes also that “until modern times there is no other document, from any cultural area, that provides a comparable wealth of instructions for the design, manufacture and assembly of machines” .[23]

Al-Jazari inherited the knowledge of his predecessors, but he improved on their designs and added devices of his own invention. The merit of his book is that it was the only book to discuss such a large variety of devices and to present them with text and illustrations and dimensions so that a skilled craftsman is able to construct any device on the basis of al-Jazari’s description. In the World of Islam Festival in 1976 it was possible to construct three of al-Jazari’s machines under Hill’s supervision. [24]. They worked perfectly well. One was a monumental water clock which is exhibited now in the Natuuurmuseum Asten in the Netherlands.[25] [The toy machine shown below, incorporates several principles: the use of water power and a water raising saqiya at the same time. An actual machine like this from the thirteenth century, was supplying water from Nahr Yazid in Damascus to Ibn al-‘Arabi’s mosque until recently, and can be seen until now. ]

Fig. 1

Many of al-Jazari’s components and techniques were useful in the development of modern mechanical engineering. These include the static balancing of large pulley wheels; calibration of orifices; use of wooden templates; use of paper models in design; lamination of timber to prevent warping; the grinding of the seats and plugs of valves together with emery powder to obtain a watertight fit; casting of brass and copper in closed mold boxes with greensand; use of tipping buckets that discharge their contents automatically; and the use of segmental gears.

Al-Jazari’s double acting piston pump is unique (Fig. 2). It is remarkable for three reasons:1) it incorporates an effective means of converting rotary into reciprocating motion through the crank-connecting-rod mechanism [26]; 2) it makes use of the double-acting principle and 3) it is the first pump known to have had true suction pipes.[27].

Fig. 2

Al-Jazari occupies an important place in the history of automata, automatic control, robotics and automated musical theaters. His pioneering work is duly acknowledged in most histories.

The inventions of al-Jazari are a source of inspiration to modern designers such as the use of rolling balls to sound the hours on cymbals and operate automata. This concept is currently used in toys and other devices and their makers had registered patents in their names.[28]

Al-Jazari described a combination lock.[29] There are now in world museums three combination locks that were made in the same period of al-Jazari [30]. Although they are simpler than the lock of al-Jazari yet they follow the same principle. Two were made around 597/1200 AD by Muhammad b. Hamid al-Asturlabi al-Isfahani and are located in Copenhagen and Boston. The third is in Maastricht. The first combination lock in Europe was described by Buttersworth in 1846 and the wheels of this lock are strikingly similar to the discs of al-Jazari.[31]

All illustrations in al-Jazari’s book are in colour, and among the fifty main drawings are miniatures that are of great artistic merit. This resulted in the disappearance of some of these paintings from the manuscripts and they found their way to the international museums of art or to private collections.

Historians of art are of the opinion that there existed at the court of the Artuqids in Āmid a school of painting that produced narrative paintings of great value [32]Three of the existing al-Jazari’s manuscripts were illustrated by members of this school.

The illustrations of the book enable historians to study the clothing styles of men and women in Diyar Bakr in the thirteenth century, and some of their living habits. See the illustration below (Fig. 3) of the automated girl serving drinks.

Fig. 3

References

Einhard and Notker	Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, Two Lives of Charlemagne, Trans. With intr. By Lewis Thorpe, Penguin, 1969.
Al-Hassan 1976	al-Hassan, Ahmad Y., Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechnical Engineering; with Kitab al-Turuq al-saniyya fi al-Alat al-ruhaniyya, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, Aleppo, 1976.
Hill 1981	Hill, D. R., Arabic Water Clocks, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, Aleppo, 1981 .
Hill 1998	Hill, D. R., Studies in Medieval Islamic Technology, edited by David King, Ashgate, 1998.
Ibn Abi Usaybi’a	‘Uyun al- anba’ fi tabaqat al-atibba’ ,عيون الانباء في طبقات الاطباء ed. Nizar Rida, Beirut, n.d.

Ibn Shaddad	Al-A’laq al-kha‹tira, الاعلاق الحطيرةvol. III, part one, edited by Yahya Abbara, Damascus,1978
Al-Jaḥiẓ	Kitab al-Hayawan, كتاب الحيوانVol II, Beirut, 1992
Al-Jazari 1979	al-Hassan, Ahmad Y. ed., الجامع بين العلم و العمل النافع في صناعة الحيل (A Compendium on the Theory and Practice of the Mechanical Arts) Institute for the History of Arabic Science, Aleppo, 1979. Fuat Sezgin had produced in 2003 an offset copy with colours of MS Ahmet III 3472 of the Topkapi Sarayi Librarary.
Al-Jazari 1974	Hill, D. R., translator and editor, The Book of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, (كتاب في معرفة الحيل الهندسية ), Dodrecht, 1974.
Al-Khazini	Kitab mizan al-hikma, كتاب ميزان الحكمةed. Hashim al-Nadwa, Hyderabad, 1940. Quoted by Hill 1981.
Nasir-i Khusraw	Safar Nama, Arabic translation by Yahya al-Khashshab, Cairo, 1945.
Price	Price, Derek de Solla, ‘Mechanical Water Clocks of the 14^th Century in Fez, Morocco’, Proceedings of the Xth International Congress of the History of Science, Ithaca, N.Y. and Philadelphia, 1962.
Raby	Raby, Julian, ed., The Art of Syria and the Jazira, Oxford University Press, 1985.
Ridwan	Ibn al-Sa’ati, Ridwan, ‘Ilm al-sa’at wa al-‘amal biha كتاب علم الساعات والعمل بها, Gotha MS 1348, quoted by Hill 1981; edited and published by Muhammad Ahmad Dahman, Damascus, 1981.
Sarton 1959	Sarton, George, A History of Science: Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries, Harvard University Press, 1959.
Sarton 1975	Sarton, George, Introduction to the History of Science, vol.II, Krieger, New York, 1975.
Tekeli	Tekeli, Sevim, The Clocks in Ottoman Empire in 16^th Century, And Taqi al-Din’s ‘The Brightest Stars for the Construction of the Mechanical Clocks’, Ankara University, 1966. This book contains the Arabic text.
Wiedemann and Hauser	Wiedemann, E and Hauser, F., ‚Uber die Uhren im Bereich die Islamischen Kultur’, in Nova Acta Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop. Carol. Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher, 100, Halle, 1915, pp. 1-272. For other articles covering the remaining categories of al-Jazari’s book in German, see al-Jazari 1979, p. 60.

[1] Al-Jazari 1979, p.3

[2] Called also Diyar Bakir .

[3] Nasir-i Khusraw p.9-10

[4] al-Jazari 1979

[5] Wiedemann and Hauser, 1915

[6] al-Jazari 1979, pp. 11-16.

[7] Hill 1981, p. 6.

[8] Sarton 1959, p.343-344

[9] Ridwan, folios 3v-4v, quoted by Hill 1981, pp. 12-13

[10] Hill 1981, p.13.

[11] Einhard and Norken the Stammerer, p.184, note 39. See also Hill 1998, article V, p. 179.

[12] Ibn Abi Usaybi’a, p. 286

[13] Al-Jahiz, Vol. II, p. 294

[14] Al-Khazini quoted by Hill 1981, p.49.

[15] Ibn Shaddad, vol.3, p. 359

[16] Price, pp.599-602.

[17] Hill 1981, p. 1.

[18] Ibn Abi Usaybi’a, p.661

[19] Tekeli, See the English text p.144, and the Arabic text p. 221.

[20] Al-Hassan 1976

[21] Tekeli

[22] Sarton 1975, Vol. II, p.510

[23] Hill 1998, II , p. 231.

[24] Hill 1981, p.103

[25] Other working models are exhibited also in the museum established by Fuat Sezgin at his institute in Frankfurt; other models were established by the UNESCO at the exhibition of Islamic science and technology that is housed at the Institute of la Monde Arabe in Paris. Other models ere exhibited at the Institute of the History of Arabic Science in Aleppo, Syria.

[26] See the article: The Crank-Connecting Rod System in a continuously Rotating Machine, in the Brief Notes on this web site

[27] See the article: The Origin of the Suction Pump, in the Brief Notes on this web site.

[28] US Patent No. 4,037,355, "Marble Track Toy," issued to Bonnie A. Street on July 26, 1977

[29] Al-Jazari 1979, pp. 486-501.

[30] Raby, article by Francis Maddison ‘ Al-Jazari’s Combination Lock: Two Contemporary Examples’, pp.141-157.

[31] al-Jazari 1974, p. 274.

[32] Raby, article by Rachel Ward ‘ Evidence for a School of Painting at the Artuqid Court’, pp. 69-83.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon

in Arabic Military Treatises

In Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

A Gap in the history of gunpowder and cannon

In some documented histories of warfare and weapons in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance there is a noticeable gap in the history of gunpowder and cannon in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Some Authors jump from China in the far east to Europe in the far west with the slightest reference or no reference at all to the Arabic and Islamic lands that spanned the whole distance between east and west. In the thirteenth century, technology could hardly have been transferred between the two extremities of the old world unless it passed through the Arabic and Islamic medium and subjected to more developments.

For some of the key Arabic words in this article, please see here.

It is not our purpose in this paper to review the history of gunpowder and cannon in China and Europe. We shall revisit some Arabic sources that were known and repeatedly discussed since the middle of the nineteenth century, and shall add few more manuscripts and sources that were not discussed before[1]. We shall analyse gunpowder composition for rockets and cannon as they are given in these manuscripts, and shall discuss briefly the development of cannon in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the Mamluk Kingdom and in Muslim Spain. We conclude with a brief note about fireworks.

Potassium nitrate

In a recent paper[2] it was shown that Arabic alchemists knew potassium nitrate since the start of Arabic alchemy at the time of Khalid ibn Yazid (d. c. 709). It was known under various names, was used as a flux in metallurgical operations and for producing nitric acid and aqua regia. Recipes for these uses are found in the works of Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber, d. 815), Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes, d.932) and other alchemists.

Throughout the centuries potassium nitrates in Arabic was known by a variety of names, and the most important of these was natrun. It was called also: buraq; al-shiha that is found at the feet of walls; milh al-ha’it (wall salt); flowers of asyus stone; salt of asyus stone; salt of stone; shura; shuraj; suraj; milh al-dabbaghin (tanners salt); shabb Yamani and lastly barud.

Purification of potassium nitrates

Before potassium nitrate can be used effectively in gunpowder it should be purified. Two processes are found in Arabic literature:

1- The process of Ibn Bakhtawayh (early 11th Century)

Ibn Bakhtawayh, the physician, in his book Al-Muqaddimat (composed in 420/1029), described the freezing of water at any season by using potassium nitrate calling it shabb Yamani (Yamani alum). (See the article on potassium nitrates in this Web site).

2- The process of Hasan al-Rammah (13th Century)

Hasan al-Rammah describes in his book al-furusiyya wa al-manasib al-harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices) [3] a complete process for the purification of potassium nitrate. This same process became a standard one in Arabic sources and we find it in various military treatises. It runs as follow:

“Take from white, clean and bright (or fiery) barud (saltpetre) as much as you like and two new (earthen) jars. Put the saltpetre into one of them and add water to submerge it. Put the jar on a gentle fire until it gets warm. Skim off the scum that rises (and) throw it away. Make the fire stronger until the liquid becomes quite clear. Then pour the clear liquid into the other jar in such a way that no sediment or scum remains attached to it. Place this jar on a low fire until the contents begin to coagulate. Then take it off the fire and grind it finely.” [4]

The procedure is further continued using wood ashes, which would precipitate calcium and magnesium salts:

“Take dry willow wood, burn it, bury it (smother it) as is with the harraq (tinder). Take by weight two thirds of saltpetre and one third of ashes of wood, which has been carefully pulverized, and put the mixture into the jar, and if the jar is made from copper so much the better. Add a little quantity of water and apply heat until the ashes and saltpetre no longer adhere together. Beware of sparks”

In this method calcium salts are removed by adding potassium carbonate in the form of wood ashes. Thus calcium carbonates are precipitated and can be removed leaving the chemically equivalent amount of potassium nitrate in solution. Saltpetre is obtained from this solution by crystallization.

The method of al-Rammah is the first in which wood ashes were used in the manufacture of saltpetre. Partington says that “the claim that Roger Bacon used wood ashes is based on an arbitrary manipulation of a text, and the first clear account of the process known to me is that of al-Hasan al-Rammah.” [5]

Use of potassium nitrates during the Crusades:

A subject that is still in its initial stages of investigation is the early use of potassium nitrate during the Crusades. There are advocates of the theory that potassium nitrates were used as a component of Greek fire whether Byzantine or Arabic.[6] We shall mention here few cases that suggest the use of nitrates by the Arabs during the time of the Crusades.

a- In the year 564 H/1168 AD the Firanja (the Franks or the Crusaders) besieged al-Fustat (old Cairo). Shawar[7] decided to burn the city. Al-Maqrizi says that 20000 pieces of karaz shami (ceramic Damascus grenades) full of incendiary materials were used. Al-Fustat continued burning for 54 days.[8] Mercier obtained several grenades from the site and their contents were analysed. The tests proved the existence of potassium nitrates.[9]

b- A military treatise that discusses military fires on a large scale is entitled Treatise on Stratagems in Wars, the Capture of Towns, and the Defence of Passes.[10] This gives a large number of Greek fire recipes. It describes Islamic military technology during the twelfth century. In one recipe natrun is one of the combustible ingredients.[11]

c-During the fifth Crusade that was directed against Egypt, Damietta was besieged in 1218 and the besieged used Greek fire extensively in their defences. Lalanne believes that the Arabic jars of fire contained potassium nitrates.[12]

d- The seventh Crusade was directed against Egypt also. Louis IX led a well-prepared invasion and occupied Damietta in 1249. By this time gunpowder was known in Syria and Egypt and in the battle of al-Mansura in 1250, in which Louis IX was taken prisoner, the use of large pots full of gunpowder and other combustibles was the key in the victory of the Arab Army. Joinville who was an officer and an eyewitness of the battle described eloquently these projectiles and their effect on the Frankish army. His description left no doubt among some historians that he was describing projectiles containing gunpowder.[13] In their history of rockets published on the internet NASA says “the Arabs adopted the rocket into their own arms inventory and, during the Seventh Crusade, used them against the French Army of King Louis IX “ [14]

e. Gunpowder was used extensively in 1291 at the very end of the Crusades during the siege of Acre, in which the city capitulated. The extensive mining of the city walls by gunpowder was described by Western historians. Military fires using gunpowder were projected by a large number of manjaniqs (trebuchets), and huge amounts of arrows carrying gunpowder devices were thrown by archers. Thousands of engineers were reported to have participated in the siege.[15]

Gunpowder composition of al-Rammah’s rockets (1280 AD)

Al-Rammah (d 695 AH/1295 AD) deals extensively in his book with gunpowder and its uses .The estimated date of writing this book is between 1270 and 1280. The front page states that the book was written as "instructions by the eminent master Najm al-Din Hasan Al-Rammah, as handed down to him by his father and his forefathers, the masters in this art and by those contemporary elders and masters who befriended them, may God be pleased with them all ". It is unmistakable from this statement that Al-Rammah compiled the inherited knowledge. The large number of gunpowder recipes and the extensive types of weaponry using gunpowder indicate that this information cannot be the invention of a single person, and this supports the statement of the front piece in his book. If we go back only to his grandfather's generation, as the first of his forefathers, then we end up at the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth as the date when gunpowder became prevalent in Syria and Egypt.

The book contains 107 recipes for gunpowder.[16] There are 22 recipes for rockets (tayyarat, sing. tayyar). Among the remaining compositions some are for military uses and some are for fireworks. The gunpowder composition of seventeen rockets is shown in the following table. Five rockets are not included because their ingredients included other materials. We limited ourselves for the sake of comparison to the three main ingredients.

Gunpowder Composition for 17 Rockets from al-Rammah (1280 AD)

No.	Descrption	KNO3	S	C
18a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 69	1.5 10.33	3 20.67
19a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 74.77	1.125 8.41	3.25 16.82
21a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 76.92	1 7.70	2 15.38
22a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 74.07	1.25 9.26	2.25 16.67
23a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 75.95	1.083 8.23	2.083 15.82
25a	Tayyar (rocket)	10 71.43	1.5 10.71	2.5 17.86
26a	Tayyar mujarrab (tested rocket)	10 75.47	1.625 12.27	1.625 12.26
28a	Tayyar muqdah (roast rocket)	10 71.43	1 7.14	3 21.43
1b	Tayyar Majnun (mad rocket)- lifts I Dam. ratl + 7.5 Ouqiyya =2.13 kg	12 74.42	1.375 8.53	2.75 17.05
2b	Tayyar (rocket), lifts 1 Dam. Ratl = 1.85 kg	9 83.72	0.875 8.14	0.875 8.14
3b	Tayyar Tunsi (Tunisian rocket)	11 73.33	1.25 8.34	2.75 18.33
4b	Tayyar sakran ( drunk rocket)	10 76.93	1.125 8.64	1.875 14.43
5b	Tayyar buruq (lightning rocket)	10 74.07	1.375 10.19	2.125 15.74
6b	White tayyar (rocket) without sparks	10 74.07	1.25 9.26	2.25 16.67
34b	Heavy tayyar (rocket) lifts 1.25 Dam. Ratl = 2.313 kg	12 68.57	1.75 10	3.75 21.43
36b	Tayyar (rocket) for arrows	12 88.07	1 7.34	0.625 4.59
	Average for 17 rockets	75	9.03	15.97

Notes: Series (a) are the main gunpowder formulations of al-Rammah. They are 65 in number and occur on pp. 70-77 of the published Arabic text. Series (b) are the second series of formulations. They are 42 in number and occur in pages 131-137. First line is in dirhams and second line shows percentages.

If we look at the table and the graph, we notice that most ratios fall around the median lines with few odd points only. The median value for potassium nitrates is 75 percent. The minimum odd value is 68.57 percent and the extreme odd one is 88.07

It is reported by Hall that most authorities regard 75 percent potassium nitrate, 10 percent sulphur, and 15 percent carbon to be the best recipe.[17] Al-Rammah’s median composition for 17 rockets is 75 nitrates, 9.06 sulphur and 15.94 carbon which is almost identical with the reported best recipe.

Gunpowder composition for rockets in funun al-naft of St. Petersburgh MS

We shall describe the St. Petersburgh manuscript in more detail when we discuss cannon. There is a chapter in this manuscript under the title ‘funun al-naft min al- jidd wa al-hazl’ (The art of gunpowder for serious work or for pleasure). It gives a list of gunpowder compositions for pleasure (fireworks) and for war including five compositions for rockets as shown below. [18]

Rockets from St. Petersburgh MS., early 14th Century

	KNO3	S	C
	76.19	6.67	17.14
	74.07	7.14	18.52
	74.77	5.6	19.63
	75.47	5.66	18.87
	71.43	7.14	21.43
Average	74.38	6.5	19.12

Gunpowder composition in al-Karshuni manuscript for miscellaneous military purposes 11th century

The Karshuni manuscript (written in Arabic with Syriac script), which belongs to the period ninth to eleventh century according to Berthelot and Duval[19], gives a few compositions of gunpowder. If we discount such an early date, then it is possible that these were later additions from the thirteenth century as was supposed by Lippmann. The following are the ones related to military uses.[20]

Gunpowder Composition in the Karshuni MS. 11th-12th Century

(Possibly 13th c additions)

	KNO3	S	C
	71.43	10.71	17.86
	83.33	8.33	8.34
	71.53	14.23	14.28
	66.67	16.66	16.67
	68.97	10.34	20.69
Average	72.37	12.06	15.57

Gunpowder composition in Beshir Agha manuscript for rockets and other uses- 14th Century

This is a military treatise of unknown author and unknown date. From the text we infer that it was written in the first half of the fourteenth century. The author says the Franks are ignorant of the art of gunpowder and its uses and he warns in strong terms against revealing its secrets to them. This implies that the author was writing in the last days of the Crusades. The following are gunpowder recipes for rockets and other military uses: [21]

Beshir Agha MS

	KNO3	S	C
	71.43	10.71	17.86
	73.39	8.25	18.35
	77.67	8.73	13.6
	72.73	9.1	18.18
	75.47	15.1	9.43
	75.47	5.66	18.87
	81.63	9.18	9.18
	87.91	6.6	5.49


Average	76.96	9.17	13.87

Gunpowder composition of rockets from `Iyarat al-naft manuscript 13th-14th centuries

This manuscript contains a large number of gunpowder recipes, totalling about 239. Its title is `Iyarat al-naft (Formulae of Gunpowder) [22]. Its author is not known but the copy that we consulted was copied in 774/1372; the original should be much earlier. Al-Rammah’s book was compiled in about 1270-80 and this one could be compiled on the first decades of the fourteenth century. It gives recipes for fireworks as well as for military purposes. We have selected all the rockets recipes that contain only the three main ingredients of gunpowder: [23]

	Gunpowder Composition for Rockets from Iyarat al-naft MS, 14th Century
	KNO3	S	C
	72.07	9.06	18.92
	71.43	11.93	16.64
	71.43	10.71	17.86
	74.08	11.11	14.81
	75.47	11.32	13.21
	71.43	10.71	17.86
	67.47	16.86	15.71
	74.77	6.54	18.69
	72.72	9.1	18.18
	74.07	5.56	20.37
	70.97	12.1	16.93
	71.43	12.5	16.07
	69.56	11.6	18.84

Average	72.07	10.7	17.23

Gunpowder composition for the earliest cannon (13th to early 14th c)

Four Arabic treatises describe or mention small portable cannon.[24] All these treatises report that cannon were used in the battle of `Ayn Jalut in Palestine in 1260 between the Arab Army and the Mongols, in which the latter were defeated. It was used once more against the Mongols in 1304. The purpose of the early cannon and other gunpowder devices as we shall see was to frighten the enemy’s horses and cavalry and cause disorder in their ranks. The St. Petersbugh MS is the most renowned among the four manuscripts. Renaud and Fave attributed it to Shams al-Din Muhammad. The only literary figure with this name at this period is Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Ansari al-Dimashqi (d.1327) who, like al-Rammah, was from Damascus, and both were contemporaries. Al-Dimashqi is well known for his cosmography in which he described the use of fireworks in Hama in central Syria. [25] In the St. Petersburgh MS. the cannon is described as follows: [26]

“Description of the drug (dawa’) that you put in the cannon (midfa`)- Its composition (`iyaruhu) is: potassium nitrate (barud) ten, charcoal (fahm) two dirhams and sulphur (kibrit) one and a half dirhams. Grind it finely and fill one third of the cannon (midfa`). Do not fill more otherwise it will split. Then let the wood turner make a wooden plug (midfa`)[27] of the same size as the mouth of the cannon (midfa`). Ram (the gunpowder) tightly and place on it the ball (bunduqa) or the arrow, and give it fire at the ammunition (al-dhakhira). Measure the cannon (midfa`) at the hole; if it (i.e. the midfa`) is deeper than the hole then it is defective and it will punch the gunner (al-rami), so understand this.”

The composition of 10 dirhams of saltpetre, one and a half dirhams of sulphur and two dirhams of charcoal gives the percentages of 74.1 nitrates, 11.1 sulphur and 14.8 charcoal.

In the Istanbul manuscript the description is as follows: [28]

“The drug that you put in the cannon (midfa`): potassium nitrate (barud) ten, charcoal (fahm) two dirhams, sulphur (kibrit) one dirham. Grind finely, and fill one third of the cannon (midfa`), not more. Seal it (i.e. the gunpowder) by the device after you have rammed it; then place the ball (bunduq) or the arrow and give fire to the ammunition (al-dhakhira)”.

In these cannon the percentages of gunpowder are 77 nitrates, 7.7 sulphur and 15.3 charcoal.

We have another gunpowder composition for cannon in Kitab al-aniq[29] and a fourth one in Kitab`iyarat al-naft . The four compositions are listed together as follows:

Gunpowder Composition for Four Cannon 14th Century

	KNO3	S	C
St Petersburgh MS	74.1	11.1	14.8
Istanbul MS	77	7.7	15.3
Al-Aniq	73.4	8.26	18.34
Iyarat al-naft MS	83.33	8.33	8.34

Average	76.96	8.85	14.19

St. Petersburgh MS. p.156, Illustration of Khita’i arrows, rockets, military midfa`,

al-su`at(rockets that seek a destination) and gunpowder crackers.

In this illustration the midfa` (cannon) has a carrying stick.

We see also on the right what looks like a bomb or an incendiary jar.

Tactics of using the early cannon

The following text from St. Petersburgh manuscript describes the use of the early cannon along with other gunpowder devices in battle tactics:

St. Petersburgh MS., p. 159, Illustration of the faris (knight) who frightens the horses of the enemy and the two foot soldiers accompanying him. On the right, the foot soldier is carrying a hand-held midfa` (cannon), and on the left the soldier is carrying a sprinkling club. The mounted knight carries a lance to which gunpowder cartridges are attached. The three men and the horse wear also fireproof clothing to which gunpowder cartridges are attached.

“The kings of old times did not engage in war except by stratagem. The Prophet said: war is trickery. This was the practice until the time of Halawun (Hulaku or Hulegu) when the people of Egypt used this trick and defeated the Tatars (Mongols). Horses (of the enemy) dare not face fire and the horse will run away with its rider. The way to do it is to choose a number of cavaliers and furnish their lances from both ends with gunpowder (barud [30]). The cavalier will wear a garment (qarqal) with its front face made of black thick woolen cloth (balas). It is strewn with balls of linen fiber (mushaqq) that have metal wires at their ends so that they are inserted into the garment and the helmet. The horse is also draped with thick woolen cloth (balas). His hands will be smeared with dissolved talc so that he is not burnt by fire. In front of them will be whatever they choose from foot soldiers furnished with sprinkler maces, crackers (sawarikh, explosive charges) and cannon (madafi`). They (the cavalrty and the foot soldiers) will take their place in front of the army.” [31]

More detailed description of the attire of the cavalier, the horse and the foot soldiers is given in the manuscript. There is a detailed description on how to train the horses to get them used to the loud explosive noise of the cannon and the gunpowder crackers. The method of conducting the attack to frighten the enemy’s horses and causing them to run away is also described.

This tactics of using the portable cannon continued throughout the century and was the precursor of portable firearms. Muhammad Ibn Mankali in one of his military treatises (written around 764-78/1362-70) [32]wrote:

“If the Franks who are facing us are cavalry then we shoot at them with incendiary arrows and cannon since their horses will be frightened away and when their mobilization is in disarray then they will be chased.”

The use of the portable cannon continued and it was used in celebrations in addition to its use in warfare. The French traveller, Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, visited the Holy Land in 1432 and wrote his book The Voyage d’Outremer. When he was in Damascus he saw the celebrations on the occasion of the return of pilgrims from Mecca after the hajj. He says:

“The day after my arrival I saw the caravan coming from Mecca. It was said that there were more than three thousand camels. The lord and all the notables of the city went out to meet the caravan.” [33]

After he describes the mahmal. [34] that preceded the caravan he says:

“There were also at least thirty men around the mahmal camel, some carrying crossbows and others with unsheathed swords in their hands. Some had little cannon which they fired from time to time” [35]

The development of cannon in the fourteenth century in the Mamluk Kingdom (Syria and Egypt)

In 1340 AD, Ibn Fadl Allah al-`Umari wrote a handbook for government officials in which he described the main weapons that were used in the attack or the defence of towns. [36] He describes cannon that were used in the attack of walled cities. “They throw balls that batter the tops of parapets and break the columns of arches”. The cannon developed within four decades into a siege engine along with the trebuchet. It is reported by the historian Salih ibn Yahya that in 743/1342 the besieged in al-Karak mounted on its walls five trebuchets (manjaniqs) and many cannon.[37] It is also reported that in 753/1352 the governor of Damascus fortified greatly the citadel by mounting on it gunpowder cannon (al-makahil bi al-madafi`).[38]

Al-Qalqashandi described in his encyclopaedia, Subh al-a`sha, the prevailing siege engines in 767/1365. About cannon he says:

“Among them (i.e. the siege engines) is the gunpowder cannon (makahil al-barud). These are the cannon (madafi`) that use gunpowder. They are of different types. Some of them throw huge arrows that can almost pierce stones. And some throw iron balls weighing from ten Egyptian ratls ( about 4.53 kg) up to more than one hundred (45.3 kg). I saw in Alexandria during the Ashrafiyya State, (of Sultan) Sha`ban ibn Husayn[39], when Prince Salah al-Din ibn `Arram, God have mercy on him, was governor, I saw a cannon made of copper and lead and bound by iron ends. A huge heated iron ball was projected from it in the maydan (parade square or hippodrome), and it fell into the Silsila Sea outside Bab al-Bahr (Sea Gate), which is a faraway distance.” [40]

At this same period a military treatise called al-Aniq fi al-manajiq was written by Ibn Aranbugha al-Zaradkash. The author presented the book to the Atabik (chief commander of the army) Mankali Bugha al-Shamsi who was in office between 769/1367 and 774/1372. The following illustration shows cannon for shooting arrows, mounted on an adjustable stand for pointing the gun at various angles of projection[41]. The gunpowder composition for these cannon is ten dirhams of potassium nitrate, 1.125 sulphur, and 2.5 charcoals. This gives the percentages of 73.4 potassium nitrate, 8.26 sulphur and 18.34 charcoals.

Development of cannon in al-Andalus and al-Maghrib in the 13th and 14th centuries

We have no extant Arabic military treatises left to us from al-Andalus and al-Maghrib regarding gunpowder. But since this symposium is taking place in Granada, the seat of the last Moorish kingdom in al-Andalus, it befits us to give a brief account of the history of cannon in this area. [42]

Reports about the use of cannon by the Arabs in Spain are given in the works of Spanish and Arab historians who were closer to the times of the events or even have witnessed them. When they wrote their accounts they did not have the same thinking that triggered the debate among historians of gunpowder and firearms of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th centuries. The question about the first nation to formulate propulsive gunpowder or to use cannon was irrelevant to them. In the last three decades of recent history some scholars adopted a more balanced attitude and started to free themselves from the euro centric way of looking at historical sources. In this brief survey, we shall present the primary reports about the main events without trying to confuse the reader with the disputations of the past two centuries.

Most of the argument arose when some historians tried to interpret the Arabic word naft to denote naphtha or a mixture of incendiary ingredients containing naphtha. A study of the titles of treatises dealing with gunpowder composition given in this article will make it clear that naft denoted in fact gunpowder. The term naft was used originally for military fires of any composition, and as soon as the new mixture of saltpeter-sulphur-charcoal was known, the word naft was applied to it. So the treatise of `Iyarat al-naft mentioned above means Formulations of Gunpowder as we have seen.

In the Vocabulista (a Latin-Spanish Arabic vocabulary compiled in the region of Valencia, in the 13th century), one finds the word naft opposite Ignis and Ignem excutere. In the later historical accounts this word denoted gunpowder. In al-Andalus in the course of the second half of the 15th century, gunpowder became barud, and saltpetre became milh al-barud. Naft (pl. anfat) then denoted cannon, and naffat denoted gunner. [43]

When we discuss the development of gunpowder and cannon in al-Andalus and al-Maghrib countries, we must take into account their parallel development in the Arab east namely in the Mamluk Kingdom.

Another factor that is relevant to our study is the fact that potassium nitrates were abundant in Muslim Spain, and it was the only country in Europe having these natural deposits.[44] Watson says in his Chemical Essays: “The lands of Spain, says the author of its Natural History, if properly managed, would supply all Europe with saltpetre to the end of the world.” [45]

The Arabs are reported to have used rockets on the Iberian Peninsula in 1249; and in 1288 rockets attacked Valencia.[46] This report needs to be investigated further in order to determine the sources of information.

Peter, Bishop of Leon, reported the use of cannon by the Arabs while defending Seville in 646 AH/ 1248 AD. [47] Ferdinand III harassed Seville increasingly and kept the town under siege for 17 months until it surrendered. [48] At this same time, in the Mamluk Kingdom, gunpowder was already in use in warfare during the Crusades, and if the devices used in Seville were not cannon, then they were most probably projectiles utilizing gunpowder similar to those used by the Mamluks in the battle of al-Mansura in 1250 against Louis IX.

In 660 / 1262, King Alfonso X of Castile succeeded in conquering the city of Niebla. The siege was not easy either for the besiegers or for the Muslim inhabitants due to the strength of the town’s defences, so the siege lasted nine months and a half. It is reported that Almohads in defending the city used machines that resembled cannon, which projected stones and fire accompanied by thundering noises. Some Spanish histories consider that this was the first time that gunpowder had been used in warfare in Spain.[49]

Ibn Khaldun (8th/14th century) says that the Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya`qub, when besieging the town of Sijilmasa in 672-3/1274:

“Brought into action against this town mangonels (majaniq) and ballistas (`arradat), as well as a naft engine (hindam al-naft i.e. gunpowder cannon) which discharged small iron balls (hasa al-hadid). These balls are ejected from a chamber (khizana) placed in front of a kindling fire of gunpowder. This happens by a strange property which attributes all actions to the power of the Creator.” [50]

This precise information about the use of cannon came from a great historian. However, western historians of firearms in the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth centuries questioned the report of Ibn Kaldun. Historians in those days were bound by certain fixed historical dates for gunpowder and cannon that could not be changed even if they go to the extreme of discrediting a historian of the calibre of Ibn Khaldun. We have seen above that portable cannon were used by the Mamluks in 1260 in the battle of `Ayn Jalut. Indeed, we would advance the view that in the Maghrib and al-Andalus, where petroleum was not available whereas potassium nitrate was known to be abundant, cannon may have developed into a siege engine somewhat earlier than in the Islamic East, and that the appearance of cannon at Sijilmasa as described by Ibn Khaldun was a natural development the veracity of which need not be doubted.

In the fourteenth century, the historic accounts regarding the use of cannon by the Moorish kings of Granada, in defensive as well as offensive operations had caused considerable debate among western historians in the nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth centuries. After reviewing the position of some military historians in Europe, Ada Bruhn de Hoffmeyer in her carefully focused survey, Arms and Amour in Spain, concludes that:

“The old theories about the Arabs and the Moors and their importance in regard to gunpowder and early artillery in the 14th century cannot be rejected---on the contrary! Alchemy and chemical experiments flourished among the Arabs in the Mediterranean world not least in Moslem Andalusia, and Saracen scientists and technicians were working at various courts of occidental Europe.”

“The general opinion no doubt must be that gunpowder artillery was introduced rather early to Spain through the Arabs via the Moors of Maroc and from them to Moslem Andalusia. From the Hispano-Moors Christian Spain learned about gunpowder artillery. The routes probably passed via the Granadine kingdom, which at that time had very close contacts with the sultan of Maroc in Fez, from which place Granada got military help against the Christians. Italy is represented with the Genoese navy supporting Granadines and Moroccanes.” [51]

The facts depend upon the correct translation of certain words from Arabic manuscripts. Hoffmeyer refers to the work of Kohler when she says:

“It is not impossible that G. Kohler in his work: Die Entwicklung des Kriegswesens und der Kriegsfiihrung, Breslau 1887, was right in his suppositions that the Arabs rather early introduced not only gunpowder but even fire-arms to Spain, from whence they passed to Italy (coincidence with the documentation from Florence) and from Spain and Italy to France and Germany. (The routes from Hispano- Moorish Andalusia, passing through Murcia, the Levantine coasts of Spain, Aragon to Italy is nothing strange in the 14th century, when the Mediterranean was a «Mar Aragones».) “ [52]

The main incidents we are concerned with in the following account had taken place during the tenure of Sultan Abu al-Walid Isma`il ibn Nasr (713 AH/ 1314 AD-725 AH/1325 AD), the Nasrid king of Granada who waged a number of successful campaigns between the years 1324 and 1325. In 724/1324 he besieged the fort city of Huescar using cannon in his siege, of which Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib (1313-1374) who was a youth at the time, and who became later a minister in Granada, relates:

“He headed towards the enemy territory and challenged the fort of Huescar that stands as a bone in the throat of Baza, which he besieged and attacked. He struck the arch of the invincible tower with a red-hot iron ball bombarded by the great engine that operates by naft (gunpowder). “ [53]

To celebrate the occasion, the scientist and poet, Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Hudhayl [54] whom Ibn al-Khatib highly praised, being his teacher, had composed a poem complementing the sultan for the conquest of Huescar:

"They thought that the thunder and the lightning had come down from the skies; whereas the thunder and lightning are all around them being created by man.

These are things of wondrous shapes, sent high by Hermes[55] and engineered to demolish mountains when they hit.

Yes, it is this world that always shows you miracles, since nature’s innate powers are destined to appear “

Based on the reports of these eyewitnesses McJoynt concludes that:

“Granada must have been in the forefront of technical innovation in the world at this time. The new weapon was a success, for Huescar hastened to surrender”.[56]

Lomax concludes also that “The capture of Huescar had seen the first use of gunpowder and cannon in European warfare.” [57]

After the conquest of Huescar, Sultan Isma`il waged a number of campaigns in which he captured a number of cities and forts including Baza and Martos in which he used cannon also.

In 732 /1331 Sultan Muhammad IV laid siege to the city of Alicante, of which the Spanish historian Zurita (1512-1580) maintains that “when the Moorish king of Granada besieged Alicante he used a new machine that caused great terror. It threw iron balls with fire.” [58] Hoffmeyer finds the report of Muslim gunpowder weapons at Alicante to be “difficult to deny”, given obvious awareness of such weapons at the time.

In a confrontation, known as the battle of Tarifa or the battle of Rio Salado in 1340, the Arabs lost heavily to the Castillian armies and their allies. The Spanish historian Conde relates that in the battle of Tarifa the Arabs had employed machines of thunder that launched iron balls propelled by nafta, causing extensive damage to the towers and the fortifications of the city.[59]

However, the main objective of the Spaniards was to occupy and hold on to the strategic port city of Algeciras (al-Jazira), situated next to the straight of Gibraltar. They had engaged the aid of their allies in Europe in a crusade against the Arabs, to which France and England were among respondents by sending army contingents. The siege of the city lasted twenty months, from 1342 to 1344, during which time the Arabs defended the city courageously, using cannon profusely and engaging the enemy in daring encounters.

The Spanish historian Juan de Mariana (1536-1623) described the use of gunpowder and cannons during the capture of Algeciras. [60] He states:

“The besieged did great harm among the Christians with iron bullets they shot. This is the first time we find any mention of gunpowder and ball in our histories.”

De Mariana also relates that the English Earl of Derby and Earl of Salisbury had both participated in this siege. Richard Watson[61] thinks that the two earls had conceivably transferred the knowledge about cannon and gunpowder and their use as effective firearms to England, and that the English adopted this new weapon and used it in the battle of Crecy in 1346. Furthermore, Prescott in his book Ferdinand and Isabella [62] emphasizes that the Spaniards had adopted their knowledge of gunpowder from the Arabs of Granada who were familiar with its utilization for a considerable time before their encounter with the Spanish in this siege. Ada Bruhn Hoffmeyer finds it “fully trustworthy” that King Alfonso XI of Castile and the Muslims used “gunpowder as propulsor for projectiles” at Algeciras in 1342.[63]

The use of gunpowder and cannon spread quickly in Spain. The Spanish kings at the initial stages enlisted the help of Moorish experts. Hoffmeyer says:

“The first artillery-masters on the Peninsula probably were Moors in Christian service. The king of Navarra had a Moor in his service in 1367 as «maestro de las guarniciones de artilleria. The Morisques of Tudela at that time had fame for their capacity in reparaciones de artilleria.” [64]

Fireworks, a brief note

The use of gunpowder in fireworks in festivities by the public in the Arab cities took place at the same time as it was used for military purposes. This is evident from the titles of treatises giving the composition of gunpowder. The majority of recipes given in the thirteenth century by al-Rammah and in the Karshuni manuscript are for fireworks. Similarly the gunpowder treatises of the fourteenth century deal mostly with fireworks. There are a very large number of recipes for fireworks. The names of the different kinds fireworks are varied to a large extent and this will be the subject of a separate study.

Reports about the use of fireworks in Arab cities can be found in non-military treatises. Al-Dimashqi (d. 1327) who was contemporary with al-Rammah describes in his cosmography (written second half of 13th century) the joint use of fireworks by the Muslims and Christians of Hama in central Syria on the eve of the birthday of Jesus.[65]

In a book on various trades and crafts, that was not noticed until recently, dating from the same period of al-Rammah and al-Dimashqi, we find a description of a gunpowder cracker and a gunpowder fireworks device. This book was compiled by King al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn Rasul (d. 694/1294) of Yemen. The title of the book is al-Mukhtara` fi funun min al-suna` (Inventions from the Various Industrial Arts). The description of the gunpowder cracker runs thus:

“Description of a furqa`a (cracker): fold a sheet of paper four or five folds on a mould. The mould is a rod that is turned to the thickness of a finger. Fold it very tightly, five or six plies. Take it off the mould. Seal its head very tightly, and fill it with barud and the charcoal of willow tree mixed together, and close its end very securely. If you want to give it fire pierce the head with a small piercing iron and insert a fuse that has been twisted very well. Glue the fuse to the hole, give it fire and move away. It will crack and move with explosive noise.” [66]

The use of fireworks by the Mamluk sultans in public celebrations in the fourteenth century and later is reported in the history books of that period.[67] Fireworks were called in these reports harraqat al- naft or harraqat al-barud.

When the French traveller Bertrandon de la Brocquiere arrived in Beirut in 1432 the inhabitants were celebrating the `Id. He was surprised to see the fireworks for the first time. He says:

“The Moors held a celebration, which is, I understand, an old custom. It started at nightfall. There was a great crowd of people singing and shouting. The men of the castle shot off the cannon and those of the city shot some kind of fire very high and very far. It was bigger than the biggest lantern I have ever seen. They say that they use it sometimes on the sea, against enemies to burn the sails of a ship. It would easily burn a house or a town with straw roofs, it seems to me. In a cavalry engagement it would terrify the horses. It is easy and cheap for someone who knows what they are doing. “ [68]

We infer from his story that fireworks were un-known in France at that time (in 1432). Brocquiere says then that he was able, against a bribe, to learn the secret of these fires and he took the information with him to France.[69] The first recorded fireworks in England were at the wedding of Henry VII in 1486. They became very popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

The people of Granada and other cities in al-Andalus used fireworks in their celebrations,[70] as was the custom in the cities of Syria and Egypt.

Arabic Manuscripts and References:

- Beshir Agha MS No. 441, Istanbul, Risala fi jarr al-athqal wa ghayriha min al-`aja’ib, unknown author.

- al-Dimashqi, Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Ansari, Nukhbat al-dahr, edited by Mehren, Leipzig, 1923.

- Enan, Muhammad Abdulla, al-athar al-andalusiyya al-baqiya, Cairo, 1961.

- Al-Hiyal fi-al-hurub wa fath al mada’in wa hifz al durub, ms. Ahmet III, Serai No. 3469, Istanbul, author uncertain. Several other manuscripts of this treatise exist in Istanbul, Leiden, and Ribat. Sulayman al- Rahili, Saudi Arabia, published this MS in 1418/1997. He attributed it by error to Ibn Mankali..

- Ibn Abi Usaybi`a, `Uyun al-Anba’ fi tabaqat al atibba’, ed. Nizar Rida, Beirut, 1965

- Ibn Aranbugha al-Zaradkash, al-aniq fi al-manajiq, ed. Ihsan Hindi, Aleppo, 1985.

- Ibn Iyas, Muhammad ibn Ahmad, al-mukhtar min bada’i` al-zuhur,vol. I, Cairo,1960.

- Ibn Khaldun, Kitab al-`ibar ..., vol. VII, Beirut, 1971.

- Ibn al-Khatib, Lisan al-Din, al-ihata fi akhbar ghirnata, vol, I, Cairo, 1319/1901.

- Ibn Mankali, Muhammad, al-adilla al-rasmiyya li al-ta`abi al-harbiyya, Istabul, Aya Sophia MS 2875. It was edited by Mahmud Shith Kattab, and published by the Iraqi Academy, Baghdad, 1988.

- Ibn Yahya, Salih, Tarikh Bayrut, ed. Kamal Salibi, Beirut, 1969.

- Istanbul MS. Revan Koshku 1933.

- `iyarat al-naft part of a collection of manuscripts (majmu`a) under the title of al-aniq, Ahmet III 3469, Istanbul, pages 94-132.

- Al-Maqqari, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Nafh al-tib min ghusn al-andalus al-ratib, Bulaq, 1279/1862

- Al-Maqrizi, Al-Mawa`iz wa al-‘i`tibar, vol. I, Cairo, n.d.

- Paris Arabe 2826, Kitab al-makhzun li arbab al-funun

- Paris Arabe 2824, Kitsab al-makhzun jami` al-funun

- al-Qalqashandi, Ahmad ibn `Ali, Subh al-a`sha, vol. II, Cairo, 1963.

- Al-Rammah, Najm al-Din Hasan, Al-Furusiyya wa al-manasib al-harbiyya, edited with analytical introductory chapters by Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, Aleppo, 1998

- Rasul, al-Malik al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn `Ali ibn , al-mukhtara` fi funun min al-suna`, ed. Muhammad Isa Salhiyyeh, Kuwait, 1989.

- St. Petersburgh MS. Al-Makhzun jami` al-funun, uncertain author.

- al-`Umari ibn Fadl Allah, al-Ta`rif bi al-mustalah al-sharif, Cairo, 1312/1894.

Non-Arabic References

Atiya, Aziz S., Crusade, Commerce and Culture, Indiana University Press, 1962.

Berthelot, M. and R. Duval, La Chimie au Moyen Age, vol. II, Paris, 1893.

Conde J A, History of the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain, translated by Mrs Jonathon Foster.3 volumes, London:, 1855

Brocquiere, Bertrandon de la, [Le] voyage d'Outremer, publ. et annote par Ch. Schefer, Paris : E. Leroux, 1892.Reproduced at Gallica web pages of Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2001. This book was translated into English by Galen R. Kline, New York, 1988.

Dozy, R., Supplement aux dictionnares Arabes, vol. II, reprinted by Libraire du Liban, 1968.

Hall, Bert S., Weapons, Warfare in Renaissance Europe, John Hopkins University Press, 1997.

Al-Hassan, Ahmad Y., Potassium Nitrate in Arabic and Latin Sources, paper presented to the XXI International Congress for the History of Science, Mexico City, 2001. (Proceedings are under publication). See this paper on the present Web site.

Joinville, The Life of Saint Louis, in Joinville and Villehardouin, Chronicle of the Crusades, Penguin, 1963.

Lalanne, L., Recherches sur Ie feu gregeois et sur l’introduction de la poudre a canon en Europe, Paris, 1845.

Lomax, Derek W., The Reconquest of Spain, London, 1978.

Mariana,.Juan de, Historia general de Espana, 2 vols., Madrid, 1608, ii, 27; English tr. by Capt. John Stephens, The General History of Spain, 2 pts., London, 1699.

Mercier, Maurice, Le Feu Greg/ois. Les Feu a Guerre depuis l'Antiquiti. La Poudre a Canon, Paris, 1952

Partington, J. R., A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, reprint by John Hopkins University Press,

Prescott, William H., History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, ed. John Foster Kirk, 3 volumes, Philadelphia, 1880.

Prescott, William H., The Art of War in Spain- The Conquest of Granada, edited by Albert D. McJoynt, London, 1995.

Reinaud , Joseph Toussaint and Ildephonse Fave, "Du feu gregeois, des feux de guerre, et des origines de la poudre a canon chez les Arabes, les Persans et les Chinois," in J. Asiatique, 1849, xiv, 257-327.

Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, Vol. III, Penguin, 1978.

Watson, R., Chemical Essays, vol. I, London,1787, 1999.

Endnotes

[1] Renau and Fave 1848

[2] See the paper on Potassium Nitrates in this Web site.

[3] Al-Rammah

[4] Al-Rammah, p. 130.

[5] Partington, p. 201.

[6] Mercier, p.9

[7] Shawar became minister in 559/1164. His treachery was serious, for he asked for the intervention of Amalric I to drive the forces of Shirkuh (his opponent) out of Egypt. The Franks besieged Fustat (Cairo), and Shawar became alarmed and was trying to negotiate the withdrawal of the Frankish troops. Being unable to defend Fustat, had set the city on fire.

[8] al-Maqrizi, p. 339

[9] Mercier, pp. 98-99, annex No. 1 p.131.131,

[10] Al-Hiyal fi al-hurub ... See references.

[11] Al-Hiyal fi al-hurub, p. 175 (published text of al-Rahili).

[12] Lallane, pp.52-54

[13] Joinville p. 216, see also Mercier, pp 77-78

[14] http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/rocket-history.txt

[15] The fall of Acre was described by several western historians. See Runciman, pp.412 to 421.

[16] Al-Rammah, pp.70-77, and 131-137.

[17] Hall, Bert, p. 67

[18] St Petersbugh MS., al-makhzun,pp 148, 149, 150.

[19] Berthelot, and Duval,.p XII,. The Karshuni MS was published in Syriac script, with a translation into French by Duval. The Karshuni Arabic text was converted into Arabic script in Aleppo by the Rev. Father Barsum on the request of the author of this paper. The Arabic text in Arabic script is still in MS form.

[20] Berthelot, and Duval, p. 198.

[21] Beshir Agha MS., folio 23a

[22] `Iyarat al-naft

[23] `Iyarat al-naft , pp. 84-132

[24] These are: St Petersburgh MS, al-makhzun jami` al-funun; Paris Arabe 2826, Kitab al-makhzun li arbab al-funun; Paris Arabe 2824, Kitab al-makhzun jami` al-funun; and Istanbul Revan Koshku 1933..

[25] See under fireworks.

[26] St. Petersburgh MS., p.160.

[27] The word midfa` means the pusher or the device that pushes or propels. Here the whole gun is called midfa` and the plug that is placed inside at the top of the gunpowder is called also midfa since it pushes the ball or arrow when the explosion takes place.

[28] MS Istanbul Revan Koshku 1933. folio 71a.

[29] Al-Aniq, p. 196-197

[30] Barud here means gunpowder.

[31] St. Petersburgh MS., pp. 160-161

[32] Ibn Mankali, p.19

[33] Bertrandon de la Broquière, p. 56.

[34] The mahmal is a richly decorated palanquin, perched on a camel, which was sent by sovereigns with their caravans of pilgrims to Mecca.

[35] Bertrandon de la Broquière, p.56

[36] `Umari. P. 208

[37] Ibn Yahya, p.105

[38] Ibn Iyas, p. 167.

[39] Ruled 764-78/1362-77

[40] al-Qalqashandi, p. 144-145

[41] Ibn Aranbugha, p. 196

[42] This paper was delivered at Granada in June 2002 at the ICOTECH Symposium on the history of technology.

[43] Dozy, vol. II, article naft, pp.711-712

[44] Saltpeter was reported to be found in Spain by Michael Scot, (Partington p. 88). The article on Saltpetre in Encyclopaedia Britannica (2002) states that potassium nitrates forms in certain soils in Spain, Italy, Egypt, Iran, and India.

[45] Watson, p. 322.

[46] Fought, Stephen Oliver and John F.Guilmartin, Jr. Encyclopedia Britannica, article on “rocket and missile system”

[47] Partington, p.228, footnote 6 citing C.F. Temler.

[48] E.I (Encyclopaedia of Islam) under Ishbiliya.

[49] Enan, p. 390-392 (see also the official history of Niebla on the internet: http://www.castillodeniebla.com/ingles/niebla_f.htm)

[50] Ibn Khaldun. P.188

[51] Hoffmeyer, pp.216-217

[52] Hoffmeyer, p.218

[53] Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib, vol.I, p.231.

[54] Maqqari, vol. III, p.260

[55] The attribution of gunpowder to Hermes means that this invention is a chemical product.

[56] Prescott, The Art of War, p.92, footnote 188.

[57] Lomax, p. 166.

[58] Partington, p. 191 (Partington gave the Latin text of Zurita)

[59] Conde, vol. III, p. 254

[60] Mariana, part one, p.2 64

[61] Watson, p.331

[62] Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. I, p.148 note 34; pp.401-402, text and note 46.

[63] Hoffmeyer, p. 217

[64] Hoffmeyer, p.220

[65] Dimashqi, p. 281

[66] Rasul, pp. 206-207

[67] Ibn Iyas. Vol. I, p.179

[68] op. cit. p. 23

[69] Galen R. Kline the translator of the voyage says that Bertrandon de la Brocquière went to the Holy Land as a spy for the purpose of spying out the possibilities of a new crusade to be led by the Duke of Burgundy. He describes de la Brocquière as a highly competent spy and a very observant tourist. He was keen to understand everything that came in his way. Atiya gave similar information about the mission of de la Brocquière, pp. 112-113.

[70] Conde, vol. 3, p. 253

Science in the medieval Islamic world

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 06:20:00 +0000

Science in the medieval Islamic world

Science in the medieval Islamic world, also known as Islamic science or Arabic science, is the science developed and practised in the Islamic world during the Islamic Golden Age (c.750 CE – c.1258 CE). During this time, Indian, Asyriac, Iranian and especially Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic. These translations became a wellspring for scientific advances, by scientists from the Islamic civilization, during the Middle Ages.[1]

According to Dallal, science in medieval Islam was "practiced on a scale unprecedented in earlier human history or even contemporary human history".[2]

Scientists within the Islamic civilization were of diverse ethnicities. Most were Persians,[3][4][5][6] Arabs,[5] Moors, Assyrians, and Egyptians. They were also from diverse religious backgrounds. Most were Muslims,[7][8][9] but there were also some Christians,[10] Jews[10][11] and irreligious.[12][13]
Contents

1 Science in the context of Islamic civilization
1.1 The crystallization of Islamic thought and civilization
1.2 Domains of thought and culture in the High Caliphate
2 Medieval Islamic science
2.1 Notable fields of inquiry
2.2 Notable scientists
3 The views of historians and scholars
3.1 On the impact of medieval Islamic science
3.2 On the historiography of medieval Islamic science
4 Role of Christians
5 Role of Persians
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

Science in the context of Islamic civilization

The term Islam refers to the religion of Islam, and also the Islamic civilization which formed around it.[14] Islamic civilization is composed of many faiths and cultures, although the proportion of Muslims among its population has increased over time.[15]

The religion of Islam was founded during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After his death in 632, Islam continued to expand under the leadership of its Muslim rulers, known as Caliphs. Struggles for leadership of the growing religious community began at this time, and continue today. The early periods of Islamic history after the death of Muhammad can be referred to as the Umayyad Caliphates.[16]

During the Umayyad Caliphate, the Islamic empire began to consolidate its territorial gains. Arabic became the language of administration. The Arabs became a ruling class assimilated into their new surroundings across the empire, rather than occupiers of conquered territories.[17]
The crystallization of Islamic thought and civilization
The Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, c. 850

Through the Umayyad and, in particular, the succeeding Abbasid Caliphate's early phase, lies the period of Islamic history known as the High Caliphate. This era can be identified as the years between 692 and 945,[16] and ended when the caliphate was marginalized by local Muslim rulers in Baghdad – its traditional seat of power. From 945 onward until the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, the Caliph continued on as a figurehead, with power devolving more to local amirs.[18]

During the High Caliphate, stable political structures were established and trade flourished. The Chinese were undergoing a revolution in commerce, and the trade routes between the lands of Islam and China boomed both overland and along the coastal routes between the two civilizations.[18] Islamic civilization continued to be primarily based upon agriculture, but commerce began to play a more important role as the caliphate secured peace within the empire. The wars and cultural divisions that had separated peoples before the Arab conquests gradually gave way to a new civilization encompassing diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. This new Islamic civilization used the Arabic language as transmitters of culture and Arabic increasingly became the language of commerce and government.[19]

Over time, the great religious and cultural works of the empire were translated into Arabic, the population increasingly understood Arabic, and they increasingly professed Islam as their religion. The cultural heritages of the area included strong Hellenic, Indic, Asyrian and Persian influences. The Greek intellectual traditions were recognized, translated and studied broadly. Through this process, the population of the lands of Islam gained access to all the important works of all the cultures of the empire, and a new common civilization formed in this area of the world, based on the religion of Islam. A new era of high culture and innovation ensued, where these diverse influences were recognized and given their respective places in the social consciousness.[20]
Domains of thought and culture in the High Caliphate
Illustration of medieval Islamic scholars

The pious scholars of Islam, men and women collectively known as the ulama, were the most influential element of society in the fields of Sharia law, speculative thought and theology. Their pronouncements defined the external practice of Islam, including prayer, as well as the details of the Islamic way of life. They held strong influence over government, and especially the laws of commerce. They were not rulers themselves, but rather keepers and upholders of the rule of law.[21]

Conversely, among the religious, there were inheritors of the more charismatic expressions of Christianity and Buddhism, in the Sufi orders. These Muslims had a more informal and varied approach to their religion. Islam also expressed itself in other, more esoteric forms that could have significant influence over public discourse during times of social unrest.[22]

Among the more worldly, adab – polite, worldly culture — permeated the lives of the professional, the courtly and genteel classes. Art, literature, poetry, music and even some aspects of religion were among the areas widely appreciated by those of a more refined taste among Muslim and non-Muslim alike. New trends and new topics flowed from the center of the Baghdad courts, to be adopted both quickly and widely across the lands of Islam.[22]

Apart from these other traditions stood falsafa; Greek philosophy, inclusive of the sciences as well as the philosophy of the ancients. This science had been widely known across Mesopotamia and Iran since before the advent of Islam. These "sciences" were in many ways contrary to the teachings of Islam and the ways of the adab, but were nonetheless highly regarded in society. The ulama tolerated these outlooks and practices with reservation. Some faylasufs made a good living in the practices of astrology and medicine.[22]
Medieval Islamic science
Notable fields of inquiry

The roots of Islamic science drew primarily upon Arab, Persian, Indian and Greek learning. The extent of Islamic scientific achievement is not as yet fully understood, but it is extremely vast.[1]

These achievements encompass a wide range of subject areas; most notably[1]

Mathematics
Astronomy
Medicine

Other notable areas, and specialized subjects, of scientific inquiry include

Physics
Alchemy and chemistry
Cosmology
Ophthalmology
Geography and cartography
Sociology
Psychology

Notable scientists

In medieval Islam, the sciences, which included philosophy, were viewed holistically. The individual scientific disciplines were approached in terms of their relationships to each other and the whole, as if they were branches of a tree. In this regard, the most important scientists of Islamic civilization have been the polymaths, known as hakim or sages. Their role in the transmission of the sciences was central.[23]

The hakim was most often a poet and a writer, skilled in the practice of medicine as well as astronomy and mathematics. These multi-talented sages, the central figures in Islamic science, elaborated and personified the unity of the sciences. They orchestrated scientific development through their insights, and excelled in their explorations as well.[23]

Jabir ibn Hayyan (ca. 8th – 9th centuries) was an alchemist who used extensive experimentation and produced many works on science and alchemy which have survived to the present day. Jabir described the laboratory techniques and experimental methods of chemistry. He identified many substances including sulfuric and nitric acid. He described processes including sublimation, reduction and distillation. He utilized equipment such as the alembic and the retort. There is considerable uncertainty as to the actual provenance of many works that are ascribed to him.[24][25]

Drawing of Self trimming lamp in Ahmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir's treatise on mechanical devices. The manuscript was written in Arabic.

The Banu Musa brothers, Jafar-Muhammad, Ahmad and al-Hasan (ca. early 9th century) were three Persian sons of a colorful astronomer and astrologer. They were scholars close to the court of caliph al-Mamun, and contributed greatly to the translation of ancient works into Arabic. They elaborated the mathematics of cones and ellipses, and performed astronomic calculations. Most notably, they contributed to the field of automation with the creations of automated devices such as the ones described in their Book of Ingenious Devices.[26][27][28]

Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (801–873) was a philosopher and polymath scientist heavily involved in the translation of Greek classics into Arabic. He worked to reconcile the conflicts between his Islamic faith and his affinity for reason; a conflict that would eventually lead to problems with his rulers. He criticized the basis of alchemy and astrology, and contributed to a wide range of scientific subjects in his writings. He worked on cryptography for the caliphate, and even wrote a piece on the subject of time, space and relative movement.[29]

The eye according to Hunain ibn Ishaq. From a manuscript dated circa 1200.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873) was one of the most important translators of the ancient Greek works into Arabic. He was also a physician and a writer on medical subjects. His translations interpreted, corrected and extended the ancient works. Some of his translations of medical works were used in Europe for centuries. He also wrote on medical subjects, particularly on the human eye. His book Ten Treatises on the Eye was influential in the West until the 17th century.[30]

Abbas ibn Firnas (810–887) was an Andalusian scientist, musician and inventor. He developed a clear glass used in drinking vessels, and lenses used for magnification and the improvement of vision. He had a room in his house where the sky was simulated, including the motion of planets, stars and weather complete with clouds, thunder and lightning. He is most well known for reportedly surviving an attempt at controlled flight.[31]

Thabit ibn Qurra (835–901) was a Sabian translator and mathematician from Harran, in what is now Turkey. He is known for his translations of Greek mathematics and astronomy, but as was common, he also added his own work to the translations. He is known for having calculated the solution to a chessboard problem involving an exponential series.[32]

A page from al-Khwārizmī's Algebra

al-Khwarizmi (ca. 8th–9th centuries) was a Persian mathematician[33], geographer and astronomer. He is regarded as the greatest mathematician of Islamic civilization.. He was instrumental in the adoption of the Indian numbering system, later known as Arabic numerals. His developed algebra, which also had Indian antecedents, by introducing methods of simplifying the equations. He used Euclidian geometry in his proofs.[34]

al-Battani (850–922) was an astronomer who accurately determined the length of the solar year. He contributed to numeric tables, such as the Tables of Toledo, used by astronomers to predict the movements of the sun, moon and planets across the sky. Some of Battani's astronomic tables were later used by Copernicus. Battani also developed numeric tables which could be used to find the direction of Mecca from different locations. Knowing the direction of Mecca is important for Muslims, as this is the direction faced during prayer.[35]

Abu Bakr Zakariya al-Razi (ca. 854–925/935) was a Persian born in Rey, Iran. He was a polymath who wrote on a variety of topics, but his most important works were in the field of medicine. He identified smallpox and measles, and recognized fever was part of the body's defenses. He wrote a 23-volume compendium of Chinese, Indian, Persian, Syriac and Greek medicine. al-Razi questioned some aspects of the classical Greek medical theory of how the four humors regulate life processes. He challenged Galen's work on several fronts, including the treatment of bloodletting. His trial of bloodletting showed it was effective; a result we now know to be erroneous.[36]

al-Farabi (ca. 870–950) was a Persian/Iranian (born in Farab, Iran) rationalist philosopher and mathematician who attempted to describe, geometrically, the repeating patterns popular in Islamic decorative motifs. His book on the subject is titled Spiritual Crafts and Natural Secrets in the Details of Geometrical Figures.[37]

ibn Sina (Avicenna) (908–946) was a Persian physician, astronomer, physicist and mathematician from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. In addition to his master work, The Canon of Medicine, he also made important astronomical observations, and discussed a variety of topics including the different forms energy can take, and the properties of light. He contributed to the development of mathematical techniques such as Casting out nines.[38]

al-Zahrawi (936–1013) was an Andalusian surgeon who is known as the greatest surgeon of medieval Islam. His most important surviving work is referred to as al-Tasrif (Medical Knowledge). It is a 30 volume set discussing medical symptoms, treatments, and mostly pharmacology, but it is the last volume of the set which has attracted the most attention over time. This last volume is a surgical manual describing surgical instruments, supplies and procedures. Scholars studying this manual are discovering references to procedures previously believed to belong to more modern times.[39]

ibn al-Haytham (965–1040) was an Iranian scientist born in Basra, Persia/Iran (during Iranian Buyid Dynasty) and years later moved to Egypt as an adult. Hasan Haytham worked in several fields, but is now known primarily for his achievements in astronomy and optics. He was an experimentalist who questioned the ancient Greek works of Ptolemy and Galen. At times, al-Haytham suggested Ptolomey's celestial model, and Galen's explanation of vision, had problems. The prevailing opinion of the time, Galen's opinion, was that vision involved transmission of light from the eye, an explanation al-Haytham cast doubt upon. He also studied the effects of light refraction, and suggested the mathematics of reflection and refraction needed to be consistent with the anatomy of the eye.[40]

al-Zarqali (1028–1087) was an Andalusian artisan, skilled in working sheet metal, who became a famous maker of astronomical equipment, an astronomer, and a mathematician. He developed a new design for a highly accurate astrolabe which was used for centuries afterwards. He constructed a famous water clock that attracted much attention in Toledo for centuries. He discovered that the Sun's apogee moves slowly relative to the fixed stars, and obtained a very good estimate[41] for its rate of change.[42]

Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian poet and mathematician who calculated the length of the year to within 5 decimal places. He found geometric solutions to all 13 forms of cubic equations. He developed some quadratic equations still in use. He is well known in the West for his poetry (rubaiyat).[43]

al-Idrisi (1100–1166) was a Moroccan traveler, cartographer and geographer famous for a map of the world he created for Roger, the Norman King of Sicily. al-Idrisi also wrote the Book of Roger, a geographic study of the peoples, climates, resources and industries of all the world known at that time. In it, he incidentally relates the tale of a Moroccan ship blown west in the Atlantic, and returning with tales of faraway lands.[44]

ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288) was a physician who was born in Damascus and practiced medicine as head physician at the al-Mansuri hospital in Cairo. He wrote an influential book on medicine, believed to have replaced ibn-Sina's Canon in the Islamic world – if not Europe. He wrote important commentaries on Galen and ibn-Sina's works. One of these commentaries was discovered in 1924, and yielded a description of pulmonary transit, the circulation of blood from the right to left ventricles of the heart through the lungs.[45]

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) was a Persian astronomer and mathematician whose life was overshadowed by the Mongol invasions of Genghis Khan and his grandson Helagu. al-Tusi wrote an important revision to Ptolemy's celestial model, among other works. When he became Helagu's astrologer, he was furnished with an impressive observatory and gained access to Chinese techniques and observations. He developed trigonometry to the point it became a separate field, and compiled the most accurate astronomical tables available up to that time.[46]

The views of historians and scholars
On the impact of medieval Islamic science

There are several different views on Islamic science among historians of science.

The traditionalist view, as exemplified by Bertrand Russell,[47] holds that Islamic science, while admirable in many technical ways, lacked the intellectual energy required for innovation and was chiefly important as a preserver of ancient knowledge and transmitter to medieval Europe.

The revisionist view, as exemplified by Abdus Salam,[48] George Saliba[49] and John M. Hobson[50] holds that a Muslim scientific revolution occurred during the Middle Ages,[51]

Scholars such as Donald Routledge Hill and Ahmad Y Hassan express the view that Islam was the driving force behind the Muslim achievements,[52]

Toby E. Huff[53][54] takes the view that, although Islamic science did produce a number of innovations, it did not lead to the Scientific Revolution.

Will Durant,[55] Fielding H. Garrison,[56] Hossein Nasr[citation needed] and Bernard Lewis[57][unreliable source?] held that Muslim scientists helped in laying the foundations for an experimental science with their contributions to the scientific method and their empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry.

On the historiography of medieval Islamic science
See also: Islam and science, Historiography of early Islam, and Early Muslim sociology

The history of science in the Islamic world, like all history, is filled with questions of interpretation.

Historians of science generally consider that the study of science in the Islamic world, like all history, must be seen within the particular circumstances of time and place.

A. I. Sabra opened a recent overview of Arabic science by noting, "I trust no one would wish to contest the proposition that all of history is local history ... and the history of science is no exception."[58]

Some scholars avoid such local historical approaches and seek to identify essential relations between Islam and science that apply at all times and places.

The Persian philosopher and historian of science, Seyyed Hossein Nasr saw a more positive connection in "an Islamic science that was spiritual and antisecular" which "point[ed] the way to a new 'Islamic science' that would avoid the dehumanizing and despiritualizing mistakes of Western science."[59][60] Nasr identified a distinctly Muslim approach to science, flowing from Islamic monotheism and the related theological prohibition against portraying graven images. In science, this is reflected in a philosophical disinterest in describing individual material objects, their properties and characteristics and instead a concern with the ideal, the Platonic form, which exists in matter as an expression of the will of the Creator. Thus one can "see why mathematics was to make such a strong appeal to the Muslim: its abstract nature furnished the bridge that Muslims were seeking between multiplicity and unity."[61]

Some historians of science, however, question the value of drawing boundaries that label the sciences, and the scientists who practice them, in specific cultural, civilizational, or linguistic terms.

Some scholars consider the practice to be an example of "boosterism" and object that it "defines the achievements of scholars... in terms of their religion rather than their research."[62]

While others simply consider it futile. For example, Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201–1274), invented his mathematical theorem, the Tusi Couple, while he was director of Maragheh observatory. Tusi's patron and founder of the observatory was the non-Muslim Mongol conqueror of Baghdad, Hulagu Khan. The Tusi-couple "was first encountered in an Arabic text, written by a man who spoke Persian at home, and used that theorem, like many other astronomers who followed him and were all working in the "Arabic/Islamic" world, in order to reform classical Greek astronomy, and then have his theorem in turn be translated into Byzantine Greek towards the beginning of the 14th century, only to be used later by Copernicus and others in Latin texts of Renaissance Europe."[63]

Role of Christians

Christians especially Nestorian contributed hugely to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayads and the Abbasids by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic.[64] They also excelled in philosophy, science ( such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Qusta ibn Luqa, Masawaiyh, Patriarch Eutychius, Jabril ibn Bukhtishu etc) and theology ( such as Tatian, Bar Daisan, Babai the Great, Nestorius, Toma bar Yacoub etc.) and the personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishu dynasty.[65][66]
Role of Persians

As Ibn Khaldun, the fourteenth century Arab historiographer and sociologist suggests, it is a remarkable fact that with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars in the intellectual sciences were Ajams ("Persians"):

Thus the founders of grammar were Sibawaih and after him, al-Farisi and Az-Zajjaj. All of them were of Persian descent… they invented rules of (Arabic) grammar … great jurists were Persians … only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the prophet becomes apparent, 'If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it' … The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them … as was the case with all crafts … This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countries, Iraq, Khorasan and Transoxiana [=modern Central Asia], retained their sedentary culture.
—Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, Translated by Franz Rosenthal (III, pp. 311-15, 271-4 [Arabic]; R.N. Frye. p. 91.

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noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:33:00 +0000

History of Islamic Science

Based on the book

Introduction to the History of Science by George Sarton
(provided with photos and portraits)
Edited and prepared by Prof. Hamed A. Ead

George Sarton's Tribute to Muslim Scientists in the "Introduction to the History of Science,"
"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, 'Ali Ibn 'Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D." Preface
On 8 June, A.D. 632, the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Prayers be upon Him) died, having accomplished the marvelous task of uniting the tribes of Arabia into a homogeneous and powerful nation.
In the interval, Persia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, the whole North Africa, Gibraltar and Spain had been submitted to the Islamic State, and a new civilization had been established.
The Arabs quickly assimilated the culture and knowledge of the peoples they ruled, while the latter in turn - Persians, Syrians, Copts, Berbers, and others - adopted the Arabic language. The nationality of the Muslim thus became submerged, and the term Arab acquired a linguistic sense rather than a strictly ethnological one.
As soon as Islamic state had been established, the Arabs began to encourage learning of all kinds. Schools, colleges, libraries, observatories and hospitals were built throughout the whole Islamic state, and were adequately staffed and endowed.
In the same time, scholars were invited to Damascus and Baghdad without distinction of nationality or creed. Greek manuscripts were acquired in large numbers and were studied, translated and provided with scholarly and illuminating commentaries.
The old learning was thus infused with a new vigor, and the intellectual freedom of men of the desert stimulated the search for knowledge and science.
In early days at least, the Muslims were eager seekers for knowledge, and Baghdad was the intellectual center of the world.
Historians have justly remarked that the school of Baghdad was characterized by a new scientific spirit.
Proceeding from the known to the unknown; taking precise account of phenomena; accepting nothing as true which was not confirmed by experience, or established by experiment, such were fundamental principles taught and acclaimed by the the masters of the sciences.

The Islamic Empire At Its Greatest Extent 750 c

George Sarton in his introduction, marks the time from the 2nd half of eighth century to the 2nd half of the eleventh century into:

The time of Jabir Ibn Haiyan which covers the 2nd half of eighth century
The time of Al-Khwarizmi which covers the 1st half of ninth century
The time of Al-Razi which covers the 2nd half of ninth century
The time of Al-Mas'udi which covers the 1st half of tenth century
The time of Abu-l-Wafa which covers the 2nd half of tenth century
The time of Al-Biruni which covers the 1st half eleventh century
The time of Omar Khyyam which covers the 2nd half of eleventh century