ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī[a] (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab[3][4][5][6] Muslim geographer.[7]
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī | |
|---|---|
| Born | Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate |
| Died | AH 284 (AD 897–898)[1][2] |
| Occupation | writer, traveller and historian |
| Language | Arabic |
| Period | Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid era) |
| Genre | History and geography |
| Notable works | Ta'rikh ibn Wadih and Kitab al-Buldan |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | ʾAḥmad أحمد |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ بن أبي يعقوب بن جعفر بن وهب بن واضح |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās أبو العباس |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Yaʿqūbī اليعقوبي |
Life
editYa'qubi was born in Baghdad[3] to a family of noble background, his great-grandfather was Wadih, the freedman of the caliph Al-Mansur and ruler of Egypt during the reign of al-Mahdi.[8][9] Until 873, he lived in Armenia and Khorasan, working under the patronage of the Tahirid Governors; then he traveled to India, Egypt and the Maghreb.[8] In 872, he listed the kingdoms of Bilād as-Sūdān, including Ghana, Gao, and Kanem.[10]
His methodical approach to writing history includes personal observations and interviews to close relations on topics that Yaqubi could not encounter first-hand. He covered topics of natural, human and economic geography as well as noting down cultural, historical and topographic information.[9]
His sympathies with Ahl al-Bayt[11] are found throughout his works.[12]
Works
edit- Ta'rikh ibn Wadih (Chronicle of Ibn Wadih)
- Kitab al-Buldan (Book of the Countries) - biology, contains a description of the Maghreb, with a full account of the larger cities and much topographical and political information (ed. M. de Goeje, Leiden, 1892).[8]
Editions
edit- Gordon, Mathew S. and al. (2018). The Works Of Ibn Wāḍiḥ Al Yaʿqūbī. Brill. pp. Vol 1, 2, 3. ISBN 9789004364165.
- Ya'qubi (1861). A. W. T. Juynboll (ed.). Kitab al-Buldan (in Arabic). BRILL.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Muhammad's successor". www.ismaili.net. Archived from the original on 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
- ^ a b Ya'qubi at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ a b Zaman, Muhammad Qasim (1960–2009). The encyclopaedia of Islam. H. A. R. Gibb, P. J. Bearman (II. ed.). Leiden: Brill. pp. 257–258. ISBN 90-04-16121-X. OCLC 399624. Archived from the original on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
- ^ "Al-Yaʿqūbī | Arab historian and geographer". Archived from the original on 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Universalis, Encyclopædia. "AL YA'QUBI". Encyclopædia Universalis. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ "Al-Ya'qubi | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Thatcher 1911.
- ^ a b c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Ya'qūbī". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 904.
- ^ a b Daly, Okasha El (2005). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium : Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings. Psychology Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-84472-063-7.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia (1973). Ancient Ghana and Mali. New York: Methuen & Co Ltd. p. 3. ISBN 0841904316.
- ^ Camilla Adang, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, (E.J. Brill, 1996), 37.
- ^ "al-Yaʿqūbī | Arab historian and geographer | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2021-06-17.