From Ptolemy to al-Idrisi: The Rise of Geography in the East

In the history of science, when examining developments in Europe, attention is typically given to the rediscovery of the ancient Greek heritage and the advancements following the Renaissance. However, while Europe was still grappling with conflicts between religion and science, the Islamic world was preserving, studying, and expanding upon the ancient Greek legacy, thereby establishing a significant scientific corpus. One of the most striking examples of these developments is the progress made in the field of geography within the Islamic world.

Although geography did not emerge as an independent discipline in its early years, unlike other sciences, it has always been a field of profound interest to humanity. From the earliest civilizations, humans have been curious about their environment, the world, and what lay beyond the known world, which we might call the “mavera.” One of the oldest known geographical works is Ptolemy’s geographia, whose title means “description of the Earth.”^【1】 It is also known that Eratosthenes composed works on geography and attempted to calculate the circumference of the Earth.

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When examining geographical studies in medieval Europe, we encounter analyses of two important works from ancient Greece: both titled geographia, one by Strabo and the other by Ptolemy. These works also held an important place in the Islamic world. The difference between Europe and Islamic civilization lies in the greater integration of these texts within Islamic civilization—through citations as sources, commentaries, revisions, and the production of new works. Another significant example is the inclusion of Ptolemy’s geographia among the texts translated from Greek into Arabic during the translation movements. While all these developments were taking place in the Islamic world, comparable large-scale geographical studies were absent in Europe. However, geographical exploration and studies of the Earth’s surface began to emerge. Until the age of geographical discoveries, Christian Europe relied more on mythological and cosmological elements than on practical or scientific knowledge of geography. Until the fifteenth century, geographical knowledge was limited to surviving texts from antiquity and the travel accounts of recent explorers. Ptolemy’s geographia was not translated from Greek into Latin until 1406.^【2】

By the medieval period, science had developed less along a East-West axis and more around a predominantly Eastern structure. This was undoubtedly influenced by the foundational Islamic teachings emphasizing knowledge, learning, and production. As Islam spread, Muslim rulers placed great importance on scholarship, revival, and construction in the territories they conquered. Particularly during the caliphate of al-Ma’mun, the establishment of Beytü’l-Hikme in Baghdad marked the beginning of institutionalized scientific activity in the Islamic world. The arrival of an Indian scientific delegation at al-Ma’mun’s court, bringing Sanskrit astronomical texts, laid the foundation for geography to emerge as an independent discipline in the Islamic world.

Originally considered a sub-discipline of astronomy, geography evolved into an independent field encompassing not only the determination of prayer times, topographical features, and urban and regional knowledge, but also cosmographical works and narratives of mythological events.^【3】 Particularly, the world map created systematically by al-Idrisi, based on the concept of “seven climates,” stands as one of the most important examples demonstrating the scientific level achieved by Islamic geography.

Islamic geography generally developed around three main traditions: Şûretü'l-Arz, Kitâbü'l-Büldân, and Mesâlik ve Memâlik. The first group presented comprehensive geographical descriptions based on maps; the second group treated cities and countries in a literary style; and the third focused on transportation networks, trade routes, and distances. These works became foundational sources that advanced both the theoretical and practical dimensions of geography in the Islamic world.

Islamic geographical literature also included important works of the Acâibü'l-Mahlûkât type, which combined geography, zoology, and cosmography. This concept, which appears in Herodotus in the fifth century BCE as “monstrous races,” shares the same essence. The most well-known examples of this tradition are Zakariya al-Qazwini’s Acâibü'l-Mahlûkât and Ibn al-Wardi’s Harîdatü'l-Acâib. These works, containing mythological elements, continued to attract interest during the Ottoman period and were translated into various languages. In addition, alphabetical works focusing on geographical place names were also composed.

While geography in the Islamic world had become an independent and systematic discipline, geographical studies in medieval Europe primarily developed around travelogues, cosmological texts, and interpretations of classical sources. At this point, a map produced under the patronage of King Roger II of Sicily, led by al-Idrisi, was directly influenced by the Islamic concept of the seven climates. This map, engraved on a silver disk, is among the most accurate representations of the known world of its time. Here, it becomes evident that independent geographical studies were shaped by the contributions of Muslim geographers rooted in the heart of Eastern civilization. Indeed, al-Idrisi produced maps more comprehensive than those of ancient Greece. He also authored a detailed companion text explaining the map. In addition to dividing the world into seven climates, he further subdivided each into approximately twenty-five narrow climatic zones, presenting a more original conception of the world than that of the West. He further categorized these climates as “customary” and “true,” thereby addressing geographical classification within both theoretical and practical frameworks.

During the medieval period, the Islamic world successfully transformed geography into a systematic body of knowledge by linking it with disciplines such as astronomy and mathematics. In Europe during the same period, cosmological studies predominated.

The legacy of antiquity was inherited through translation movements and enriched through observation, travel, and scientific production, resulting in a rich geographical literature. Thus, the Islamic world synthesized its inherited knowledge with original contributions to produce unique works, while Europe during this period adopted a more imitative approach toward the knowledge accumulated in Islamic and other civilizations.

This intellectual heritage from the Islamic world was transmitted to Europe through Al-Andalus and Sicily, playing a decisive role in the development of European geography and in establishing the scientific foundation for the discovery of new continents.