Hudud al-'alam

The Hudud al - ʿ Ālam (Persian حدود العالم, The limits of the world ') is one of the earliest known works of Persian geography. It was founded in 982-983 AD in Dschuzdschan, now northern Afghanistan. It is the prince Abu al - Harith Muhammad b. Dedicated Aḥmad from the local dynasty of Farighuniden. The author of the work is unknown. Barthold published in 1930, the Persian text in facsimile in Leningrad. Minorsky translated the work into English in 1936 extensively commented.

Discovery and content

The Russian orientalist and officer AG Toumansky researched with the help of Persian friends as to the whereabouts of the Ulus -i arba ʿ a, a lost work Ulugh Beg. These discovered it in 1892 in Bukhara, a manuscript of the ' Hudud al - ʿ Ālam. The manuscript dates back to 1258th The copyist was Abu l - Mu'ayyad ʿ Abd al- Qayyum ibn al -Husayn ibn ' Alī al - Farisi. The transcript includes 39 pages with 23 lines. The work is descriptive and contains no maps, the text, however, refers to a map that is always mentioned in the singular ( Sūrat ). The manuscript is well preserved. Only the sides 29 and 30 are slightly damaged. The last page is torn. The Hudud al - ʿ Ālam is part of a bound work, which consists of the following parts:

The Hudud al - ʿ Ālam contains information about the then-known Islamic and non-Islamic world. The anonymous author reports on countries ( Nahiyat ), peoples, languages, clothing, eating habits, religion, local products, cities, rivers, seas, lakes, islands, steppes, deserts, topography, power relations and trade. The inhabited world is divided into Asia, Europe, and "Libya " (ie Africa). Overall, the author is one of 45 countries to the north of the equator. The anonymous author traveled to countries in not personally, but drew on earlier sources like the works of Al- Istachri ( Kitaab al - Masālik wa-l - mamālik, Arabic كتاب المسالك والممالك ), al - Dschaihānī and Ibn Churradādhbih. In particular, the book provides information on the Turkish tribes of Central Asia.

Toumansky died before he had completed the work for publication. The Fund was stucco was known under the name " L' anonyme de Toumansky ".