Ya'qubi

Al -Ya ʿ Qubi, full name Abū l - ʿ Abbās Aḥmad b. Ishaq b. Dja ʿ far b. Wahb b. Wadih al -Ya ʿ Qubi, was an Arab ( Shiite ) historian and geographer who lived in the second half of the 9th century ( born in Baghdad, probably died around 897 in Egypt).

Al - Yaqubi was born in the Caliphate capital Baghdad, where he received training as a Secretary of State. He served under the Tahirids in Khorasan, where he finished his history ( Ta'rīkh ) shortly before the fall of the dynasty 873. He then traveled to India and finally settled in Egypt. Here, the court of Tulunids, he wrote his Kitaab al - Buldan, which he completed 889-890. This " Book of the countries" is considered the first geographical work, the areas south of the Sahara describes in more detail, but without mentioning the Lake Chad. Some authors suggest that the geography work is attributed to a namesake of the historian, since it has no Shiite tendencies. His geography was in 1892 by M. de Goeje published in Leiden ( Kitab al - Boldan ).

His chronicle Tarikh al - Yaqubi is considered one of the earliest cultural histories of the Islamic Middle Ages. The first part deals with the pre-Islamic period and non-Islamic nations, such as ancient Greece, Babylon / Assyria, ancient Egypt, biblical narratives (where he among other things, the Syrian treasure cave used as a source ), the Gospels and India ( with stories from the Panchatantra and description of the sea routes to India and the Far East). He is also excerpts from ancient Greek scholars such as Hippocrates, Galen, Euclid, Aristotle, Nicomachus of Gerasa and Claudius Ptolemy. The second part covers the history of Islamic countries to 872 We mainly focus on Armenia and Khorasan, he cites especially theologians rather than poets and are astronomical information. His inclination is considered the Shia perspective. The Chronicle 1883 edited by MT Houtsma in Leiden in two volumes.