MUSLIM ANCIENT SCIENTIST PART 3

ORIGINAL SOURCE
Based on the book Introduction to the History of Scienceby George Sarton (provided with photos and portraits)Edited and prepared by Prof. Hamed A. Ead

The Time of Al-Khwarizmi
"First Half of Ninth Century"

The ninth century was essentially a Muslim century. To be sure, intellectual work did not cease in other centuries; but the activity of the Muslim scholars and men of science was overwhelmingly superior. They were the real standard-bearers of civilization in those days. Their activity was superior in almost every respect. To consider only the first half of the century, the leading men of science, al-Kindi, the sons of Musa, Al-Khwarzmi, al-Farghani, were all Muslims; Ibn Masawaih, it is true, was a christian, but he wrote in Arabic.

Cultural Background

The seventh Abbasid caliph, al-Ma'mun (813-833), was even a greater patron of letters and science than Harun al-Rashid. He founded a scientific academy in Bagdad, tried to collect as many Greek manuscripts as possible, and ordered their translation; he encouraged scholars from all kinds, and an enormous amount of scientific work was done under his patronage.

al-Ma'mun

'Abdallah al-Ma'mun. Born in Baghdad in 786, died near Tarsus in 833. The seventh and greatest 'Abbasid caliph (813-833). His mother and wife were Persians, which explains his Persian and 'Alid proclivities. He was an ardent Mu'tazil, tried to enforce his views by means of violence. He wrote four long letters to explain the Qur'an was created, and he cruelly punished those who dared entertain different views (e.g., Ibn Hannibal). He thus combined in a remarkable way free thought and intolerance. While persecuting those who objected to Mu'tazilism, Jews and Christians were very welcome at his court. He was even a greater patron of letters and science than Harun al-Rashid. He took considerable pains to obtain Greek manuscripts and even sent a mission to the Byzantine Emperor Leon the Armenian (8l3 to 890) for that purpose. He ordered the translation of these manuscripts. He organized at Baghdad a sort of scientific academy called the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-hilkma), which included a library and an observatory. This was the most ambitious undertaking of its kind since the foundation of the Alexandrian Museum (q. v. first half of third century B. C.). He built another observatory on the plain of Tadmor (Palmyra). The inclination of the ecliptic was found by his astronomers to equal 23o 33' and tables of the planetary motions were constructed. He ordered two degree-measurements to be made to determine the size of the earth one of them near Tadmor (a degree = 6,500 miles) hence circumference of the earth = 20,400 miles; diameter=6,500 miles). A large map of the world was drawn for him. He encouraged philosophers, philologists, traditionalists, and other jurists mathematicians, physicians, astrologers and alchemists.

Fihrist (116, 24.3 and passim). Gustav Weil: Gesehichte (ler Chalifen (vol.2 198-994). J. T. Remaud: Geographie d'Aboulfeda (vol. 1, 269 sq. 1848). J. L. E. Dreyer: History of the Planetary System from Thales to Kepler (p. 245, 249 278 Cambridge, 1906) R. A. Nicholson: Literary History of the Arabs (359 1907).


An Encyclopedic Scientist.... Al-Kindi

Abu Ysuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq ibn al-Sabbah al-Kindi (i. e., of the tribe of Kinda) Latin name, Alkindus. Born in Basra at the beginning of the ninth century, flourished in Bagdad under al-Ma' mun and al-Mu'tasim (8l3 to 849), persecuted during the orthodox reaction led by al-Mutawakkil (841 to 861); died c. 873. "The philosopher of the Arabs;" so-called probably because he was the first and only great philosopher of the Arab race. His knowledge of Greek science and philosophy was considerable.
He made a deep study of Aristotle from Neoplatonic point of view. Relatively few of his numerous works (270?) are extant. They deal with mathematics, astrology , physics, music, medicine, pharmacy, and geography. He wrote four books on the use of the Hindu numerals. Many translations from the Greek into Arabic were made or revised by him or under his direction. He considered a1chemy as an imposture. Two of his writings are especially important: "De aspectibus," a treatise on geometrical and physiological optics (largely based on Euclid, Heron, Ptolemy; no dioptrics), which influenced Roger Bacon, Witelo, etc.; "De medicinarum compositarum gradibus," an extraordinary attempt to establish posology on a mathematical basis. He is the earliest Muslim .writer on music whose works have come down to us; they contain a notation for the determination of pitch. Many writings of his were translated into Latin by Gherardo da Cremona. His influence was long felt and Cardano considered him as one of the twelve greatest minds.

Text and Translation - The De medicinarum compositarum gradibus investigandis libellus was published in Strassburg (1531) Die philosophischen Abhandlungen des al-Kindi. Zum ersten Male hrg . von Albino Nagy (Beitr. zur Gesch. d. Philos. des Mittelalters, II, 5, 118 p., Munster, 1897.

Islamic Mathematics and Astronomy

A very large amount of mathematical and astronomical work was done during third period. chiefly by Muslims. It is practically impossible to separate mathematics from astronomy, for almost every mathematician was an astronomer or an astrologer, or both. Some of the most important steps forward were made in the field of trigonometry in the course of computing astronomical tables. Thus it is better to consider mathematicians and astronomers at one and the same time, but they are so numerous that G.Sarton have divided them into five groups, as follows: the geometers, the arithmeticians and algebraists, the translators of the "Almagest," the astronomers and trigonometricians, the astrologers. It is hardly necessary to say that these groups are not exclusive, but overlap in various ways.

Geometers Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was the first translator of Euclid's "Elements 'into Arabic . Al-'Abbas wrote commentaries upon them . Abu Sa'id al-Darir wrote a treatise on geometrical problems. Two of the Banu Musa, Muhammad and Hasan, were especially interested in geometry; the third, Ahmad, was a student of mechanics. Books on the measurement of the sphere, the trisection of the angle, and the determination of two mean proportionals between two given quantities are ascribed to them. They discovered kinematical methods of trisecting angles and of drawing ellipses.

Arithmeticians and Algebraists The Jewish astrologer Sahl ibn Bishr wrote a treatise on algebra. The greatest mathematician of the time, and, if one takes all circumstances into account, one of the greatest of the times was al-Khwarazmi. He combined the results obtained by the Greeks and the Hindus and thus transmitted a body of arithmetical and algebraic knowledge which exerted a deep influence upon mediaeval mathematics. His works were perhaps the main channel through which the Hindu numerals became known in the west. The philosopher al-Kind1 wrote various mathematical treatises, including four books on the use of Hindu numerals. This may have been another source of Western knowledge on the subject. In any ease, the Arabic transmission eclipsed the Hindu origin, and these numerals were finally known in the West as Arabic numerals.

Translators of the "Almagest" The earliest translator of the "Almagest" into Arabic was the Jew Sahl al-Tabari. Another translation was made a little later (in 829), on the basis of a Syriae version, by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.

Astronomers and Trigonometricians Ahmad al-Nahawandi made astronomical observations at Jundishapur and compiled tables. The Caliph al-Ma'mun built an observatory in Baghdad and another in the plain of Tadmor. His patronage stimulated astronomical observations of every kind. Tables of planetary motions were compiled, the obliquity of the ecliptic determined, and geodetic measurements carefully made.
Al-Khwarizmi was one of the first to compute astronomical and trigonometrical tables. Habash al-Hasib seems to have been one of the greatest astronomers working for al-Ma'mun. He edited three astronomical tables, seems to have been the first to determine the time by an altitude, and introduced the notion of shadow (umbra versa) corresponding to our tangent.

He compiled a table of tangents, probably the earliest of its kind. Sanad ibn 'Ali was the chief of al-Ma'mun's astronomers. Astronomical tables were compiled by him and by Yahya ibn abi Mansur, it is probable that those tables (and those of Habash already quoted) were due to the cooperative efforts of many astronorners. Observations were made by the geometers al-'Abbas, 'Ali ibn 'Isa al-Asturlabi, Yahya ibn abi Mansur, al-Marwarrudhi, and al-Khwarizmi; also the observations made by al-Dinawari in 845-50 in Ispahan.

The geometer Abu Sa'id al Darir wrote a treatise on the drawing of the meridian.
'Al. ibn 'Isa al-Asturlabi was a famous maker of instruments; he wrote 3 treatise on the astrolabe. But by far the most notable of that distinguished company was al-Fargham (Alfraganus). He was apparently the first Muslim to write a : comprehensive treatise on astronomy. That treatise was very popular until the fifteenth century; it influenced not only the Muslim, but also, through Latin and Hebrew translations, the Christian and Jewish astronomers.

Astrologers It is safe to assume that every astronomer was also, incidentally an astrologer. There are a few popular men, throughout the Middle Ages, who were chiefly if not exclusively concerned with astrology, they contributed powerfully to its debasement, The main astrologers of this period were 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhan and his son Muhammad Abu Ma'shar (Albumasar), Sahl ibn Bishr, and Abu 'Ali al-Khaiyat.

Muslim Mathematics and Astronomy

Al-Hajjaj ihn Yusuf

Al-Hajjaj ihn Yusuf ibn Matar. Flourished some time between 786 and 833. probably in Baghdad. The first translator of Eucelid's "Elements" into Arabic and one ef the first translators of the "Almagest." kitab al-mijisti, hence our word almagest). Al-Hajjaj's translation of the Almagest was made in 829-8.90 on the basis of a Syriac version (by Sergios of Resaina'' (first half of sixth century). A later adaptation of the Almagest was made by Abu-l-Wafa' (second half of tenth century) .
He twice translated the "Elements'' of Euclid, first under Harun al-Rashid then again under al-Ma'mun.

Al-'Abbas ibn Sa'id

al-'Abbas ibn Sa'id al-Jauhari. Flourished under al-Ma mun. Muslim mathematician and astronomer. He took part in the astronomical observations organized at Baghdad in 829.30 and at Damaseus in 832-833. He wrote commentaries on Euclid's Elements.

H. Suter: :Mathematiker (12, 1900)

Abu Sa'id al-Darir

Abu Sa'id al-Darir al-Jurajani. who died in 845/6; thus he flourished in the first half of the ninth century. Muslim astronomer and mathematician. He wrote a treatise on geometrical problems and another on the drawing of the meridian.
H. Suter: :Mathematiker (12, 1900).

Al.-Khwarizmi

Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. The last-mentioned name (his nisba) refers to his birthplace, Khwarizm, modern Khiva, south of the Aral Sea. It is under that name that he was best knoxvn, as is witnessed by the words algorism and augrim (Chaucer) derived from it. Flourished under al-Ma'mun, caliph from 813 to 833, died c. 850. Muslim mathematician, astronomer, geographer. One of the greatest scientists of his race and the greatest of his time. He syneretized Greek and Hindu knowledge. He influenced mathematical thought to a greater extent than any other mediaeval writer. His arithmetic (lost in Arabic; Latin translation of the twelfth century extant) made known to the Arabs and Europeans the Hindu system of numeration. His algebra, Hisab al-jabr wal-muqabala, is equally important. It contains analytical solutions of linear and quadratic equations and its author may be called one of the founders of analysis or algebra as distinct from geometry. He also gives geometrical solutions (with figures) of quadratic equations, for ex., X2 + 1OX = 39, an equation often repeated by later writers. The Liber ysagogarum Alchorismi in artem astronomicam a magistro A. [Adelard of Bath ?] compositus!' deals with arithmetic, geometry. music, and astronomy; it is possibly a summary of al-Khwarzmi's teachings rather than an original work. His astronomical and trigonometric tables, revised by Maslama al-Majrti (Second half of tenth century), were translated into Latin as early as l126 by Adelard of Bath. They were the first Muslim tables and contained not simply the sine function but also the tangent (Maslama's interpolation).

Al-Khwarizmui probably collaborated in the degree measurements ordered by al-Ma'nun. He improved Ptolemy's geography, both the text and the maps (Surat al-ard, "The Face of the Earth").

General Studies Fihrist (p. 274 and comm.). H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (l0, 1900); Nachtrage (158-160, 1902). L. C. Karpinski's edition of the Algebra (1915.)


Sahl Al-Tabari

Also called Rabban al-Tabari, meaning the Rabbi of Tabaristan. Flourished about the beginning of the ninth century. Jewish astronomer and physician. The first translator of the Almagest into Arabic.

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (l0, 1900); M. Steinschneider: Die arabische Literatur der Juden (23-34, Frankfurt, 1902).


Ahmed Al-Nahawandi

Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Nahawandi. Flourished at Jundishapur at the time of Yahva ibn Khalid ibn Barmak, who died in 802-3; he himself died c. 835 to 845. Muslim astronomer. He made astronomical observations at Jundishapur and compiled tables called the comprehensive (Mushtamil).

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (l0, 1900)

Habash Al-Hasib

Ahmad ibn 'Abdallah al-Marwazi (i. e., from Merv) Habash al-Hasib (the calculator). Flourished in Baghdad; died a centenarian between 864 and 874. Astronomer under al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim. (He observed from 825 to 835) He compiled three astronomical tables: the first were still in the Hindu manner; the second, called the 'tested" tables, were the most important; they are likely identical with the "Ma'munic" or "Arabic" tables and may be a collective work of al-Ma'mun's astronomers; the third, called tables of the Shah, were smaller. Apropos of the solar eclipse of 829, Habash gives us the first instance of a determination of time by an altitude (in this case, of the sun); a method which was generally adopted by Muslim astronomers. He seems to have introduced the notion of "shadow," umbra (versa), equivalent to our tangent, and he compiled a table of such shadow which seems to be the earliest of its kind.

Islamic Alchemy, Physics, and Technology

The astronomer Sanad ibn 'Ali is said to have made investigations on specific gravity. Al-Kindi wrote a treatise on geometrical and physiological optics; he criticized alchemy. His writings on music are the earliest of their kind extant in Arabic; they contain a notation for the determination of pitch. Among the works ascribed to the Banu Musa, is one on the balance.

Islamic Geography, and Geology

Al-Ma'mun ordered geodetic measurements, to determine the size of the earth, and the drawing of a large map of the world. The mathematician al-Khwarizmi wrote a geographical treatise, entitled the Face of the Earth, which was essentially revised edition of Ptolemy's geography; it included maps. Sulaiman the Merchant traveled to the coast-lands of the Indian Ocean and to China; an account of his journeys was published in 851.

Some idea of Muslim views on minerals may be obtained in the so called "Lapidary" of Aristotle. That compilation is probably of Syriac and Persian origin, and one may tentatively place the Arabic version in the first half of the ninth century. 'Utarid's lapidary, the earliest work of its kind in Arabic, dates probably from the same time.


Large map of the world
(which Al-Ma'mun ordered to be drawn)

Arabic Medicine

There is nothing to report in this time on either Latin or Chinese medicine, and that my account of Byzantine medicine is restricted to a reference to Leon of Thessalonica. Practically all the medical work of this period was due either to Japanese or to Arabic-speaking physicians. To consider the latter first, I said advisedly "Arabic speaking" and not "Muslim," because out of the eight physicians whom G. Sarton mentioned as the most important, six were Christians, most probably Nistorians. Of the two remaining, one was a true Arab, the other a Persian. A great part of the activity of these men was devoted to translating Greek medical texts, especially those of Hippocrates and Galen, into Syriac and into Arabic. All of these translators were Christians, the most prominent being Ya'hya ibn Batriq, Ibn Sahda, Salmawaih ibn Bunan, Ibn Masawaih, and Ayyub al-Ruhawi.

Jibril ibn Bakhtyashu' collected Greek manuscripts and patronized the translators, but he also wrote some medical works. Salmawaih ibn Bunan showed that the use of aphrodisiacs, always so popular in the East, was dangerous. The greatest of all these physicians was the Christian Ibn Masawaih (Mesue Major). He dissected apes and composed various anatomical and medical writings, notably the earliest ophthalmological treatise extant in Arabic and a collection of aphorisms. The philosopher al-Kindi wrote medical works also, the most important being one wherein he tried to establish posology on a mathematical basis. The Persian 'Ai al-Tabari completed, in 850, a medical encyclopaedia entitled Paradise of Wisdom.

Ibn Sahda

Flourished at al-Karkh (a suburb of Baghdad), probably about the beginning of the ninth century. Translator of medical works from Greek into Syriac and Arabic. According to the Fihrist he translated some works of Hippocrates into Arabic. According to Hunain ibn Ishaq, he translated the "De sectis" and the "De pulsibus ad tirones" of Galen into Syriac.

Max Meyerhof: New Light on Hunain ibn Ishaq (Isis, VIII, 704, 1926).

Jabril Ibn Bakhtyshu

Grandson of Jirjis ibn JibriI, q. v., second half of eighth century; physician to Ja'far the Barmakide, then in 805-6 to Harun al-Rashid and later to al-Ma'mun; died in 828-29; buried in the monastery of St. Sergios in Madain (Ctesiphon). Christian (Nestorian) physician, who wrote various medical works and exerted much influence upon the progress of science in Baghdad. He was the most prominent member of the famous Bakhtyashu' family. He took pains to obtain Greek medical manuscripts and patronized the translators.

F. Wustenfeld: Arabische Aerzte (15-16, l840). L. Leclere: Medecine arabe (vol. 1, 99-102, 1876). M. Meyerhof: New Light on Hunain (Isls, VIII, 717, 1926).


Salmawaih Ibn Buan

Christian (Nestorian) physician, who flourished under al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim and became physician in ordinary to the latter. He died at the end of 839 or the beginning of 840. He helped Hunain to translate Galen's Methodus medendi and later he patronized Hunain's activity. He and Ibn Masawaih were scientific rivals. Salmanwaih realized the perniciousness of aphrodisiacs.

Leclerc: Medecine arabe (vol. 1, ll8, 1876). M. Meyerhof: New Light on Hunain (Isis, VIII, 71S, 1926).


Ibn Masawaih

Latin name: Mesue, or, more specifically, Mesue Major; Mesue the Elder. Abu Zakariya Yuhanna ibn Masawaih (or Msuya). Son of a pharmacist in Jundishapur; came to Baghdad and studied under Jibrll ibn Bakhtyashu'; died in Samarra in 857. Christian physician writing in Syriac and Arabic. Teacher of Hunain ibn Ishaq. His own medical writings were in Arabic, but he translated various Greek medical works into Syriac. Apes were supplied to him for dissection by the caliph al-Mu'tasim c. 836. Many anatomical and medical writings are credited to him, notably the "Disorder of the Eye" ("Daghal al-ain"), which is the earliest Systematic treatise on ophthalmology extant in Arabic and the Aphorisms, the Latin translation of which was very popular in the Middle Ages.

Text and Translation Aphorismi Johannis Damnseeni (Bologna, 1489. Translation of the al-nawadir al-tibbiya). Many other editions. In the early editions of this and other works, Joannes [Janus] Damascenu is named as the author.


Picture of Gibril Ibn Bakhtyshu with one of his patients 453 H./1061C.


Persian Copy of Mansucript named as "Manaeh Al-Hiwan" by Ibn Bakhtyshu or Uses of Animals in the 8th century

MUSLIM ANCIENT SCIENTIST PART 2

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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

The Time of Jabir Ibn Haiyan
Second half of Eighth Century


The intellectual relaxation which characterized the second half of the seventh century and the first half of the eighth was followed by a period of renewed activity which was entirely due to Muslim initiatives, that is why this period gave an Arabic name marking the beginning of Muslim science. The name Jabir Ibn Haiyan came from the highly important contributions by him in this period. Jabir's texts, whether in Arabic or Latin, are one of the most urgent and promising tasks of scholarship. He will remain a very impressive personality.


Imaginative portrait of Jabir Ibn Haiyan
(Photograph, A. Chelazzi, Florence,...Makers of Chemistry, E. L. Holmyard)

Cultural Background of this Period in the East

Two rulers of the Abbasid caliphs used their authority to promote the intellectual welfare and progress of the peoples, and distinguished themselves greatly in this respect; the second, al-Mansur (founded Baghdad) and the fifth, Harun-al-Rashid (whose fame has been immortalized by many legends). Both caliphs encourage the work of translators who were busily unlocking the treasures of Greek knowledge.

Abu Ja'far 'Abdallah al-Mansur, i.e. the victorious. Died in 775 at Bir Maimun, near Mecca, at the age of 63 - 68 Muslim years (Hegra), i.e. 61-66 Christian years. He was the second 'Abbasid caliph and ruled from 754 to his death.

He was a great statesman and the founder of Baghdad. Memorable because of the many translations from the Syriac, Persian, Greek, and Hindu languages into the Arabic which were accomplished in his reign.

Harun al-Rashid, born in 763 or 766 at al-Ray; died at Tus in 809. Caliph from 786 to his death; the fifth and one of the greatest 'Abbasid monarchs. Magnificent patron of science, art, and literature. Many more Greek works were translated by his order. In 807 he presented a very remarkable water-clock to Charlemange (King of the Franks since 768; crowned Emperor of the West on Christmas 800 by Leo III in Rome)

Islamic Mathematics and Astronomy

All of the mathematical and astronomical work of this period was done by Muslims. It is interesting to recall that the mathematical work of the previous period had been done almost exclusively by Chinese. Some amount of stimulation had come from India. In addition to transmission of some Hindu mathematics.
Ibrahim al-Fazari is said to have been the first Muslim to construct astrolabes.

Ya'qub ibn Tariq and Muhammad, son of Ibrahim al-Fazari, are the first to be mentioned in connection with Hindu mathematics: Ya'qab met at the court of al-Mansur, a Hindu astronomer called Kankah (?), who acquainted him with the Siddhanta, and Muhammad was ordered to translate it. The physician al-Batriq translated Ptolemy's Quadripartitum. Two astrologers, one of them a Jew named Mashallah, the other a Persian called al-Naubakht, worked together to make the measurements necessary for the building of Bagdad. Al-Naubakht's son, al-Fadl, wrote astrological treatises and translations from the Persian into Arabic.

Ibrahim al-Fazari

Abu Ishaq Ibrahlm ibn Habib ibn Sulaiman ibn Samura ibn Jundab. Died c. 777.
Muslim astronomer. The first to construct astrolabes, he wa the author of a poem (qasida) on astrology and of various astronomical writings (on the astrolabe, on the armillary spheres, on the calendar).

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomer der Araber (3, 208, 1900)

Ya'qub Ibn Tariq

Probably of Persian origin, flourished in Baghdad, c.767-778 died c. 796. One of the greatest astronomers of his time. He probably met, c. 767, at the court of al-Mansur, the Hindu Kankah (or Mankah?), who had brought there the Siddhanta. He wrote memoirs on the sphere (c. 777), on the division of the kardaja; on the tables derived from the Siddhanta.

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomer der Araber (p. 4, 1900)

Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Al-Fazari

Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari. Son of the astronomer Ibrahim dealt with above, for whom he is sometimes mistaken (he may be the author of the astrological poem ascribed to his father). Died c. 796 to 806. Muslim scientist and astronomer. He was ordered by the Caliph al-Mansur in 772/3 to translate the Sanskrit astronomical work Siddhanta. This translation was possibly the vehicle by means of which the Hindu numerals were transmitted from India to Islam.

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (p. 4,1900).
Cantor: Geschichte der Mathematik (I, 3rd ed., 698, 1907).
D. E. Smith and L. C. Karpinski: The Hindu-Arabic Numerals (p.92, Boston, 1911)


Mashallah

His real name was probably Manasseh (in Arabic, Misha). Latin translators named him Messahala (with many variants, as Macellama, Macelarma). Mashallah is a contraction of ma'aha Allah meaning "What wonders Allah has willed." (What hath God wrought.) Flourished under al-Mansur, died c. 815 or 820. One of the earliest astronomers and astrologers in Islam, himself an Egyptian (?) Jew. Only one of his writings is extant in Arabic, but there are many mediaeval Latin and Hebrew translations. The Arabic text extant deals with the prices of wares and is the earliest book of its kind in that language. He took part with the Persian astrologer al-Naubakht in the surveying preliminary to the foundation of Baghdad in 762-63. His most popular book in the Middle Ages was the 'De scientia motus orbis', translated by Gherardo Cremonese.
Text and Translation. The De scientia motus orbis is probably the treatise called in Arabic "the twenty-seventh;" printed in Nuremberg 1501, 1549. The second edition is entitled: 'De elementis et orbibus coelestibus', and contains 27 chapters. The De compositione et utilitate astrolabii was included in Gregor Reisch: Margarita phylosophica (ed. pr., Freiburg, 1503; Suter says the text is included in the Basel edition of 1583). Other astronomical and astrological writings are quoted by Suter and Steinsehneider.

An Irish astronomical tract based in part on a mediaeval Latin version of a world by Messahalah. Edited with preface, translation, and glossary, by Afaula Power (Irish Texts Society, vol. 14, 194 p., 1914. A relatively modern translation of the De scientia motus orbis, the preface is uncritical).


Astrolabe


Astronomers Using Astrolabe

slamic Alchemy

It is noteworthy that the earliest alchemical texts in Arabic and Latin are contemporaneous, that is, if our dating of them is correct. The most famous alchemist of Islam, Jabir Ibn Haiyan, seems to have had a good experimental knowledge of a number chemical facts; he was also an able theoretician.

Jabir ibn Haiyan
Abu Musa Jabir ibn Haiyan al-Azdi (al-Tusi, al-Tartusi; al-Harrani meaning that he was a Sabian?; al-Sufi). Flourished mostly in Kufa, c. 776, he was the most famous Arabic alchemist; the alchemist Geber of the Middle Ages. He may be the author of a book on the astrolabe, but his fame rests on his alchemical writings preserved in Arabic: the "Book of the Kingdom," the "Little Book of the Balances," the "Book of Mercy," the "Book of Concentration," the "Book of Eastern Mercury," and others. According to the treatises already translated (by Berthelot), his alchemical doctrines were very anthropomorphic and animistic. But other treatises (not yet available in translation) show him in a better light. We find in them remarkably sound views on methods of chemical research; a theory on the geological formation of metals; the so-called sulphur-mercury theory of metals (the six metals differ essentially because of different proportions of sulphur and mercury in them); preparation of various substances (e.g. basic lead carbonate; arsenic and antimony from their sulphides). Jabir deals also with various applications, e.g. refinement of metals, preparation of steel, dyeing of cloth and leather, varnishes to water-proof cloth and protect iron, use of manganese dioxide in glass making, use of iron pyrites for writing in gold, distillation of vinegar to concentrate acetic acid. He observed the imponderability of magnetic force.
It is possible that some of the facts mentioned in the Latin works, ascribed to Geber and dating from the twelfth century and later, must also be placed to Jabir's credit. It is impossible to reach definite conclusions until all the Arabic writings ascribed to Jabir have been properly edited and discussed. It is only then that we shall be able to measure the full extent of his contributions, but even on the slender basis of our present knowledge, Jabir appears already as a very great personality, one of the greatest in mediaeval science.

Text and Translations:- M. Berthelot: La chimie au moyen age (vol. 3, L'alchimie arabe, Paris,1893. The Arabic text of a few of Jabir's writings is edited by Octave Houdas. French translation, p. 126-224. See E. J. Holmyard's criticism in Isis, XI, 479-499, 1924). Ernst Darmstaedter: Die Alchemie des Geber (212 p., 10 pl.; Berlin, 1922. German translation of the Latin treatises ascribed to Geber; reviewed by J. Ruska in Isis, V, 451-455, concluding that these Latin treatises are apocryphal); Liber misericordiae Geber. Eine lateinisehe ubersetzung des grosseren Kitab al-rahma (Archive fur Geschichte der Medizin, vol. 17, 181-197, 1925; Isis, VIII, 737).


Page of one of Jabir's Chemical Works in Arabic


Figures of some Alchemical Processes in Arabic Manuscript


An illustration from an Arabic Manuscript in the British Museum


Portrait of Gaber Ibn Haiyan by an Egyptian artist

MUSLIM ANCIENT SCIENTIST PART 1

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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

The Time of Al-Biruni
First Half of Eleventh Century

The great leaders were so many - Ibn Yunus, Ibn al-Haitham, Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ali ibn Isa, al-Karkhi, Ibn Gabirol (all Muslim except the last, who was Jewish) - that, for a moment at least, the historian is bewildered. Yet, however distinguished all of those men, and many others who will be named presently, two stand out head and shoulders above the others: al-Biruni and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). It was chiefly because all of them that this period was one of such excellence and distinction. These two men, who by the way, knew one another, were extremely different. Al-Biruni represents the more adventurous and critical spirit, Ibn Sina the synthetic spirit, al-Biruni was more of a discoverer, and in that respect he came nearer to the modern scientific ideal; Ibn Sina was essentially an organizer, an encyclopedist, a philosopher. Both, even the latter, were primarily men of science, and it would be difficult to choose between them but the accidental fact that al-Biruni's life covered more fully the present period and thus may be said to represent it more completely. Ibn Sina was only 20 at the beginning of the century, and his life was ultimately cut short in 1037. Al-Biruni's first important work appeared about 1000 and he lived until 1048. Thus his time of activity and the first half of the eleventh century are not identical periods, and we are fully justified (more fully so than in almost every short case) in calling it the Time of al-Biruni.

Muslim Mathematics and astronomy

It is almost like passing from the shade to the open sun and from a sleepy world into one tremendously active. For the sake of convenience, I divide Muslim mathematicians into three groups: those of the West, those of Egypt, who occupied, so to speak, an intermediate position, and those of the East. This is also a logical division, for though communications between the eastern and western ends of the Islam were frequent (there were a number of itinerant scholars to whom the universality of Islam seems to have been a continual provocation to move on from place to place), it is clear that local influences were felt more constantly and to greater advantage.
The greatest astronomer and trigonometrician of the time was Ibn Yunus, who lived in Cairo. Every thing considered, he was perhaps the greatest Muslim astronomer, and the Fatimid rules of Egypt gave him magnificent opportunities. Indeed, under the sixth Fatimid, al-Hakim, a sort of academy of science (Dar al-Hikma) had been established in Cairo, and, had been the case for the academy founded by al-Ma'mun in Bagdad two centuries earlier, an observatory was an essential part of it. Ibn Yunus made excellent use of these exceptional facilities to measure more accurately the number of astronomical constants and to compile improved tables named after his patron, the Hakemite tables. He contributed his share to the development of trigonometry, discovering new solutions of spherical problems and introducing the first of the prosthapheretical formulas. His colleague in al-Hakim's academy, Ibn al-Haitham, better known as a physicist, was also a great astronomer and mathematician. He made a curious attempt to measure the height of the atmosphere on the basis of his knowledge and of the length of twilight. He solved al-Mahani's equation and the so-called Alhazen's problem by means of intersecting conics.

The mathematicians of the East were so numerous, and though they could boast no man comparable in his branch of learning to Ibn Yunus, their work was generally on a very high level and full of originality. Kushyar ibn Labban especially interested in trigonometry, he made a deeper study on the tangent function and compiled new astronomical tables which were sooner translated into Persian. He also wrote on astrology and arithmetic. Ibn al-Husain investigated the classical problems of the Greek geometry (for example, the duplication of the cube) and tried to solve them by purely geometrical means. Abu-l-Jud was also a geometer; he made a special study on the regular heptagon and enneagon and of those problems which can not be solved by means of ruler and compass alone; he tried to classify equations with reference to conic sections, he is one of the mathematicians who prepared the work of Omar al-Khayyam in the following period. The greatest of them all, al-Karkhi was chiefly an arithmatician and algebraist. He solved a number of Diophantine problems and invented a series of new one. His work contains many of the original features, but the most extra-ordinary of these is the systematic neglect of Hindu numerals. No numerals are used, the names of the numerals being written in full. It is as if al-Karkhi had considered the use of Hindu numerals as vulgar and non-scientific. Al-Nasawi wrote a practical arithmetic in Persian and later translated it into Arabic. He explained the Hindu methods and applied them to difficult numerical problems; in these computations the sexagesimal fractions introduced by astronomical measurements were replaced by decimal fractions. Ibn Tahir wrote also arithmetical book of a practical nature; he showed how to solve the complicated inheritance problems entailed by the Muslim fondness for juridical niceties. To al-Biruni we owe the best mediaeval account of Hindu numerals. He composed an astronomical encyclopedia and a general treatise on mathematics , astronomy, and astrology. He was deterred neither by formidable computations nor by the most difficult geometrical problems of his time, those called after him Albirunic problems. He introduced a simplified method of stereographic projection. As we would expect, the philosophical aspects of mathematics were more to ibn Sina than the more technical details. We already know that in spite of his encyclopedic activities Ibn Sina found time to carry on a number of astronomical observations and to improve the observational technique.

I named these Eastern mathematicians, as well as possible, in chronological order. This does not, perhaps, bring out with sufficient clearness the full complexity of their activities. In the first place, observe that, I did not mention a single astrologer; only one named in this section flourished not in the East, but in the orthodox Tunis, where there was much less freedom of thought. In the second place, if we leave out of account the astronomical work, which was determined by practical necessities, we find that there were two distinct streams of mathematical thought: the one theoretical represented by Ibn al-Husain, Abu-l-Jud, and al-Karkhi, the other, more practical, represented by al-Nasawi and Ibn Tahir. Al-Biruni and Ibn Sina can not be included in that classification, for they were equally in the most abstruse and in the most practical questions; they had no contempt for humble means, for there are no small matters for great minds.

Muslim Physics, Chemistry and Technology

Contemporary accounts of Muslim achievements must be started with Ibn al-Haitham, who flourished in Cairo at the beginning of the century. He was not only the greatest Muslim physicist, but by all means the greatest of mediaeval times. His researches on geometrical and physiological optics were the most significant to occur between ancient times and the sixteenth century. His description of the eye and his explanation of vision were distinct improvements. Muslim scientists had developed a great interest in the determination of specific gravity. Al-Biruni continued that tradition and measured the density of 18 precious stones and metals with remarkable accuracy. He observed that the speed of light is incomparably greater than the of sound. Ibn Sina investigated all the fundamental questions of physics which could be formulated finite. His study of music was especially important and far ahead of the contemporary Latin work. He described the doubling with octave, the fourth and the fifth, and even with the third.

A college of Ibn al-Haitham in the Cairo academy, Masawaih al-Mardini, explained the preparation empyreumatic oils. Ibn Sina intertained original views on chemistry; he did not share the common belief of Muslim alchemists that the coloring or bronzing of metals affected their substance, he thought that the differences between metals were to deep to permit their transmutation. An important alchemical treatise was composed in 1034 by al-Kathi.

Muslim or Arabic Medicine

There are so many that I must again divide them into three groups. Those of Spain, those of Egypt, and those of the East.

Spain: Al-Karmani has already been mentioned. He was at once a mathematician and a surgeon. Ibn al-Wafid composed a treatise on simple drugs, which is partly extant in Latin, and a treatise on Balneography. To these two Muslims may be added the Jew, Ibn Janah, who flourished in Saragossa and wrote there in Arabic, a book on simple remedies.

Egypt: Not less than four great Physician enjoyed the patronage of the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. Masawaih al-Mardini (Mesue the Younger) compiled a large dispensatory which was immensely popular in mediaeval Europe. For centuries it remained the standard work on the subject. Ammar was perhaps the most original oculist of Islam, but his work was superseded by that of the Eastern contemporary, Ali ibn Isa. The surgical part of Ammar's ophthalmologic treatise is particularly important. The third of these physicians, Ibn al-Haitham (Alhazen) has already been dealt with many times; he must be remembered her because of his studies in physiological optics. Ali ibn Ridwan wrote various commentaries on Greek medicine, of which the best known was one on Galen's Ars prava; he also wrote a treatise on hygiene with special reference to Egypt. It should be noted that Masawaih was a monophysite Christian; the others were Muslims.

East: The greatest physician of the time and one of the greatest of all times was Ibn Sina (Avicenna). His enormous medical encyclopedia, the Qanun (Canon), remained the supreme authority, not simply in Islam but also in Christendom, for some six centuries. It contained a number of original observations, but its hold on the people was chiefly due to its systematic arrangement and its very dogmatism. Ibn Sina was not as great a physician as Galen, but he had very much the same intellectual qualities and defects and his ascendancy was largely based upon the same grounds. He had the advantage over Galen being able to take into account the vast experience of Muslim physicians.

Ibn al-Taiyib wrote commentaries on Greek medicine. Abu Sa'id Ubaid Allah, of the famous Bakhtyashu family, wrote treatise on love-sickness and discussed the philosophical terms used by physicians. Ibn Butlan compiled the so-called Tables of Health, a medical summary, divided into 15 vertical columns; he is perhaps the originator of that typical form of synopsis. Finally Ali ibn Isa (Jesu Haly) was the author of the most famous ophthalmologistical treatise written in Arabic, it is very remarkable that not than three of these physicians, that is more than half of them, were Christians living in Bagdad: Ibn al-Taiyib, Abu Sa'id Ubaid Allah, and Ibn Butlan. This testifies for the faithfulness of the Christian community of Bagdad and the toleration of the Muslim rulers. It should be added that the other physicians, i.e., the Muslims, were far more important.


Muslim Mathematics and Astronomy
Muslim Mathematics of the West

AL-KARMANI

Abu Hakam Amr (or Omar) ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmed ibn Ali al-Karmani (that is of Carmona). Born in Cordova, died in Saragossa. Spanish-Muslim mathematician and surgeon. Disciple of Maslam ibn Ahmed (q. v., second half of tenth century). It is he (or else the latter) who introduced the writings of the Brethren of Purity into Spain.

Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (105, 1900).

IBN AL-SAMH

Abu al-Qasim Asbagh ibn Mohammed ibn al-Samh. Flourished at Granada; died May 29, 1035, at the age of 56. Hispano-Muslim mathematician and astronomer. He wrote treatises on commercial arithmetic (al-mu'amalat), on two mental calculus (hisab al-hawa'i), on the nature of numbers, two on geometry, two on astrolabe, its use and construction. His main work seems to have been the compilation of astronomical tables, according to the Siddhanta method (for which see my notes on Mohammed ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari second half of eighth century), together with theoretical explanations (c. 1025).

H. Suter: Mathematiker (85, 1900; 168, 1902).

IBN ABI-L-RIJAL

In Latin, Abenragel (also Albohazen, Alboacen, which was more correct, for Abenragel was his father's name, rather than his own). Abu-l-Hasan Ali ibn Abi-l-Rijal al-Saibani al-Katib al-Maghribi. Born in Cordova or else where in Spain or in northern Africa, flourished in Tunis some time about 1016 to 1040, died after 1040. Muslim astrologer. His main work is the "distinguished book on horoscopes from the constellations" (al-bari fi ahkam al-nujum). It was translated by Judah ben Moses from Arabic into Castilian, then from Castilian into Latin by Aegidius de Tebaldis and Petrus de Regio. He wrote a physiognomic treatise on Naevi.

H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (100, 1900; Nachtrage, 172, 1902); encyclopedia of Islam (vol. 2, 356, 1916).

IBN AL-SAFFAR

Abu-l-Qasim Ahmed ibn Abdallah ibn Omar al-Ghafiqi, best known under the name of Ibn al-Saffar, meaning son of coppersmith. Flourished at Cordova, toward the end of his life he retired in Denia and died there in 1035. Hispano-Muslim mathematician and astronomer. He wrote a treatise on the astrolabe and compiled tables according to the Siddhanta method.

H. Suter: Mathematiker (86, 225, 1900; 169, 1902).

Muslim Mathematics of Egypt

IBN YUNUS

Abu Hasan Ali ibn abi Sa'id Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmed ibn Yunus (or Ibn Yunus) al-Sadafi al-Misri. Died in Cairo, 1009 (not 1008). The date of his birth is unknown, but his father died in 958-59. Perhaps the greatest Muslim astronomer. A well equipped observatory in Cairo enabled him to prepare improved astronomical tables. Begun c. 990 by order of the Fatimid caliph al-Aziz (975-996), they were completed in 1007 under the latter's son al-Hakim (996-1020) and are called after him the Hakemite Tables (al-zij al-kabir al-Hakimi). They contain observations of eclipses and conjunctions, old and new, improved values of astronomical constants (inclination of the ecliptic, 23o 35`; longitude of the sun's apogee, 86o 10`; solar parallax reduced from 3` to 2`; precession, 51.2`` a year, no allusion to trepidation) and accounts of the geodetic measurements carried on order by al-Ma'mun (q. v., first half of ninth century.)

His contributions to trigonometry, though less important than those of Abu-l-Wafa; are considerable. He solved many problems of spherical astronomy by means of orthogonal projections. He introduced the first of those prosthapheretical formulae which were indispensable before the invention of the logarithms, namely, the equivalent of

cosacosb =1/2 [cos (a - b) + cos (a +b)].
Approximate value of sin 1o = 1.8/3.9 sin (9/8)o + 2.16/3.15 sin(15/16)o

Ibn Yunus's observatory was a part of Hall of Wisdom (Dar al-hikma, abode of wisdom) founded in Cairo by the Fatimids. This institution, which lasted from 1005 to the end Fatimid regime (1171), might be considered the second Muslim academy of science, the first being that founded by al-Ma'mun in Bagdad almost two centuries earlier.

Suter: Encyclopaedia of Islam (vol. 2, 428, 1918).

Muslim Mathematics of East

AL-BIRUNI

Abu-Raihan Mohammed ibn Ahmed al-Biruni. Born in Khwarizm (Khiva) in 973 sojourned a considerable time in India; died in 1048, probably at Ghazna in Sijistan (Afghanistan). He was by birth a Persian and a Shi'ite; his religion was tempered with agonistic tendencies, but his national, anti-Arabic feelings remained very strong until the end. Traveler, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, geographer, encyclopedist. One of the very greatest of Islam, and, all considered, one of the greatest of all times. His critical spirit, toleration, love of truth, and intellectual courage were almost without parallel in mediaeval times. He claimed that the phrase "Allah is omniscient" does not justify ignorance.

He wrote, in Arabic, a number of books on geographical, mathematical, and astronomical subjects. His main works were: (1) the "Chronology of ancient nations" or "Vestige of the past" (Kitab al-athar al-baqiya ani-l-qurun al-khaliya), written in 1000 and dealing chiefly with the calendars and ears of various peoples; (2) an account on India (Ta'rikh al-Hind) composed in Ghazna c. 1030; (3) an astronomical encyclopedia, the Mas,udic canon (al-qanon al-Mas'udi fi-l-hai'a wal-nujum), so-called because it was dedicated in 1030 to the Ghaznawid sultan Mas'ud; (4) a summery on mathematics, astronomy, and astrology (Al-tafhim li-awa'il sina'at al-tanjim). His description of Brahmanical India was based upon a deep study of the country and its people. He had been charmed by Hindu philosophy, especially by the Bhagavadgita. He translated from Sinskrit into Arabic (e. g., two of Varahamihira's works, q. v., first half of sixth century), and on the other hand, transmitted Muslim knowledge to the Hindus.

He gave a clear account (the best mediaeval account) of Hindu numerals (principle of position). Sum a geometric progression apropos of the chess game; it led to the following number: 1616 -1 = 18, 446, 744, 073, 709, 551, 916. Trisection of the angles and other problems which can not be solved with ruler and compass alone (Albirunic problems). Simplified stereographic projection, similar to that first published by G.B. Nicolosi di Paterno in 1600 (Isis, V, 498).

Accurate determination of latitudes. Determination of longitudes. Geodetic measurements. Al-Biruni discussed the question whether the earth rotates around its axis or not, without reaching a definite conclusion.

Investigations on specific gravity. Remarkably accurate determination of the specific density of 18 precious stones and metals. As compared to the speed of sound, that of light is immense. The work of natural springs and "artesian" wells is explained by the hydrostatic principle of communicating vessels.

Description of monstrosities, including what we call "Siamese" twins.
The Indus valley must be considered as ancient sea basin filled up with alluvions.

H. Suter and E. Wiedemann: Uber al-Biruni (Erlangen, 1920. Quoted above). Carra de Vaux: Penseur de l'Islam (vol. 2, 1921, passim).

KUSHYAR IBN LABBAN

Abu-l-Hasan Kushayr ibn Labban ibn Bashahri al-Jili (i. e., from Jilan, south of the Caspian Sea). Flourished c. 971-1029; his main work was probably done about the beginning of the eleventh century. Persian mathematician and astronomer, writing in Arabic. He seems to have taken an important part in the elaboration of trigonometry. For example, he continued the investigations of Abu-l-Wafa, the devoted much space to this in his tables, al-zij al-jami wa-l-baligh (the comprehensive and mature tables), which were translated into Persian before the end of the century. He wrote also an astrological introduction and an arithmetic treatise (extant to Hebrew).

H. Suter: Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (83, 235, 1900; 168, 1902).

IBN AL-HUSAIN

Abu Ja'far Mohammed ibn al-Husain. Flourished not long after al-Khujandi (q. v., second half of the tenth century). Mathematician. He wrote a memoir on rational right angled triangles and another on the determination of two mean proportionals between two lines by a geometrical method (vs. kinematic method), i. e., by the use of what the Muslims called "fixed geometry", al-handasa al-thabit. Solution of the equation

x2 + a = y2.

Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (80, 1900; Nachtrage, 168, 1902).

ABU-L-JUD

Abu-l-Jud Mohammed ibn al-Lith, contemporary of al-Biruni. Mathematician. Solution of al-Birunic problems by means of intersecting conics. Regular heptagon and enneagon. Classification of equations and their reduction to conic sections.

Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (79, 1900).

AL-KARKHI

Abu Bakr Mohammed ibn al-Hassan (or Husain) al-Hasib (the calculator) al-Karkhi, meaning of Karkh, a suburb of Bagdad. Flourished in Bagdad during the vizierate of Abu Ghakib Mohammed ibn Khalaf Fakhr al-mulk (glory of the realm), who died in 1016; he died himself c. 1019 to 1029. One of the greatest Muslim mathematicians. His book on arithmetic (the sufficient on calculation, alkafi fi-l-hisab) is based chiefly of the Greek and Hellenistic knowledge. No numerals of any kind are used, the names of the numbers being written in full. Casting out of the nines and elevens.

If r < (2a + 1), [(a2 + r)] ~ a + r/(2a + 1).

His algebra called (al-fakhri) in honor of the vizier is largely based on Diophantos. Complete solutions of quadratic equations (with proofs; two roots considered if positive and if not null). Reduction of equations of the type ax2p + bxp = c to quadratic equations. Addition and subtraction of radicals. Summation of series. Solution of Diophantine equations (including 25 problems not found in Diophantos). Al-Karkhi's neglect Hindu mathematics was such that it must have been systematic.

H. Suter: Encyclopaedia of Islam (vol. 2, 764, 1925. Very little).

AL-NASAWI

Abu-l-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmed al-Nasawi. From Nasa, Khurasan. Flourished under the Buwayhid sultan Majd al-dawla, who died in 1029-30, and under his successor. Persian mathematician. He wrote a practical arithmetic in Persian, before 1030, and later under Majd al-dawla's successor an Arabic translation of it, entitled the "Satisfying (or Convincing) on Hindu Calculation" (al-muqni fi-l-hisab al hindi). He also wrote on Archemedes's lemnata and Menelaos's theorem (Kitab al-ishba, satiation). His arithmetic explains the division of fractions and the extraction of square and cubic roots (square root of 57,342; cubic root of 3, 652, 296) almost in the modern manner. It is remarkable that al-Nasawi replaces sexagesimal by decimal fractions, e. g.,

Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (96, 1900) Uber das Rechenbuch des Ali ben Ahmed el-Nasawi (Bibliotheca Mathematica, vol. 7, 113-119, 1906).

Muslim Physics, Chemistry and Technology

IBN AL-HAITHAM

Latin name: Alhazen. Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan (or al-Husain) ibn al-Haitham. Born c. 965 in Basra, flourished in egypt under al-Hakim (996 to 10200 died in Cairo in 1039 or soon after. The greatest Muslim physicist and one of the greatest students of optics of all the times. He was also an astronomer, a mathematician, a physician, and he wrote commentaries on Aristotle and Galen.

The Latin translation of his main work, the Optics (kitab al-manazir), exerted a great influence upon Western science (R. Bacon; Kepler). It showed a great progress in the experimental method. Research in catoptrics: spherical and parabolic mirrors, spherical aberration; in dioptrics: the ratio between the angle and incidence and refraction does not remain constant; magnifying power of a lens. study of atmospheric refraction. The twilight only ceases or begins when the sun is 19o below the horizon; attempt to measure the height of the atmosphere on that basis. Better description of the eye, and better understanding of vision, though ibn al-haitham considered the lens as the sensitive part; the rays originate in the object seen, not in the eye. Attempt to explain binocular vision. Correct explanation of the apparent increase in the size the sun and the moon when near the horizon. earliest use of the camera obscura.

The catoptrics contain the following problem, known as Alhazen's problem: from two points of the plane of a circle to draw lines meeting at point of the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. It leads to an equation of the fourth degree. Alhazen solved it by the aid of an hyberpola intersecting a circle. He also solved the so-called al-Mahani's (cubic) equation (q. v., second half of the ninth century) in a similar (Archimedian) manner.

Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (91-95, Nachtrage, 169, 1902).

AL-KATHI

Abu-l-Hakim Mohammed ibn Abd al-Malik al-Salihi al-Khwarizmi al-Kathi. Flourished in Bagdad c. 1034. Muslim Chemist, he wrote, in 1034, a treatise on alchemy entitled "Essence of the Art and Aid to the Workers" (Ain al-san'a wa awn-al-sana'a), strikingly similar in some respects to the "Summa perfectionis magisterii" of the Latin Geber (for which see my notes on Jabir, second half of eighth century).

H. E. Stapleton and R. F. Azo: Alchemical Equipments in the Eleventh century (Memories of Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 1, 47-70, 1 pl., Calcutta, 1905. Containing Arabic text, an analysis of it, and an introduction; very important).

Muslim (or Arabic) Medicine
Arabic-Writing physicians of the West

IBN AL-WAFID

Latin name: Abenguefit. Abu-l- Mutarrif abd al-Rahman ibn Mohammed ibn Abd al-Karim ibn Yahya ibn al-Wafid al-Lakhmi. From Toledo, where he flourished; born 997, died c. 1074. Hispano-Muslim physician, Pharmacologist. His main work, on simple drugs (Kitab al-adwaiya al-mufrada), based on Galen and Discorides and also on personal investigations, is partly extant in a Latin translation. He preferred to use dietetic measures, and, if drugs were needed, to use the simplest ones. He advised a method of investigating the action of the drugs. He also wrote a balneotherapy.

C. Brocklmann: Arabischen Litteratur (vol. 1, 485, 1898. Two Arabic manuscripts mentioned).

Arabic-Writing physicians of Egypt

MASAWIAH AL-MARDINI

Mesue the Younger. Masawaih al-Mardini, from Mardin in Upper Mesopotamia. Flourished in Bagdad, later at the court of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim in Egypt, where he died in 1015 at the age of ninety. Physician. Jacobite Christian. He wrote book on purgatives and emetics (De medicins laxativis) and on the complete pharmacopoeia in 12 parts called the Antidotarium sive Grabadin medicamentorum, based on Muslim knowledge. The last-named work was immensely popular. It remained for centuries the standard text-book of pharmacy in the West, and Mesue was called "pharmacopoeorum evabgelista". Distillation of empyreumatic oils.

There is still a third Mesue (q. v., first half of thirteenth century), author of a treatise on surgery.

Neuburger: Geschichte der Medizin (vol. 2, 226-227, 1911).

AMMAR

Latin name: Canamusali. Abu-l-Qasim Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili. From Mawsil in Iraq; flourished in Egypt in the reign of al-Hakim, who ruled from 996-1020. Physician. The most original of Muslim oculists, His work was eclipsed by that of his contemporary Ali ibn Isa, which was more comprehensive. His summary on the treatment of the eye (Kitab al-muntakhab fi ilaz al-ain) contains many clear descriptions of diseases and treatments, arranged in logical order. The surgical part is especially important.

E. Mittwoch: Encyclopaedia of Islam (vol. 1, 332, 1910).

ALI IBN RIDWAN

Abu-l-Hasan Ali ibn Radwan ibn Ali ibn Ja'far al-Misri. Born in Jiza near Cairo, c. 998. Flourished in Cairo and died there in 1061 or in 1067. Astrologer. physician. The author of many medical writings of which the most popular was his commentary on Galen'a Ars prava, which was translated by Gerardo Cremonese. I may still quote his treatise on hygiene with special reference to Egypt (fi daf mudar al-abdan bi-ard Misr). He wrote various other commentaries on Hippoctates and Galen and on Ptolemy's astrological books.

C. Brocklmann: Arabischen Litteratur (vol. 1, 484, 1898).

Arabic-Writing physicians of the East

IBN SINA

Abu Ali al-Hassan ibn Abdallah ibn Sina. Hebrew, Aven Sina; Latin, Avicenna. Born in 980 at Afshana, near Bukhara, died in Hamadhan, 1037. Encyclopaedist, philosopher, physician, mathematician, astronomer. The most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times; one may say that his thought represents the climax of mediaeval philosophy. He wrote a many great treatises in prose and verse; most of them in Arabic, a few in Persian. His philosophical encyclopedia (Kitab al-shifa, sanatio) implies the following classification: theoretical knowledge (subdivided, with regard to increasing abstraction, into physics, mathematics, and metaphysics), practical knowledge (ethics, economy, politics). His philosophy roughly represents the Aristotelian tradition as modified by Neoplatonic influences and Muslim theology. Among his many other philosophical works, I must still quote a treatise on logic, Kitab al-isharat wal-tanbihat (The Book of Signs and Adonitions). As ibn Sina expressed his views on almost any subject very clearly, very forcible, and generally more than once, his thought is, or at any rate can be, known with great accuracy.

His most important medical works are the Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on cardiac drugs (hitherto unpublished). The Qanun fi-l-tibb is an immense encyclopedia of medicine (of about a million words), a codification of the whole ancient and Muslim knowledge. Being similar in many respects to Galen, Ibn Sina elaborated to a degree the Galenic classifications (for example, he distinguished 15 qualities of pain). Because of its formal perfection as well as its intrinsic value, the Qanun superseded Razi's Hawi, Ali ibn Abbas's Maliki, and even works of Galen, and remained supreme for six centuries. However the very success of Ibn Sina as an encyclopedist caused his original observations to be correspondingly depreciated. Yet the Qanun contains many examples of good observation - distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthitis; distribution of diseases by soil and water; careful description of skin troubles, of sexual diseases; and supervisions; of nervous ailments (including love sickness); many psychological and pathological facts clearly analyzed if badly explained.

Ibn Sina's interest in mathematics was philosophical rather than technical and such as we would expect in a late Neoplatonist. He explained the casting out of nines and its application to the verification of square and cubes. Many of his writings were devoted to mathematical and astronomical subjects. He composed a translation on Euclid. He made astronomical observations, and devised a contrivance the purpose of which was similar to that of the vernier, that is, to increase the precision of instrumental readings.

He made a profound study of various physical questions - motion, contact, force, vacuum, infinity, light, and heat. He observed that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by the luminous source, and speed of light must be finite. He made investigations on specific gravity.

He did not believe the possibility of chemical transmutation, because in his opinion the differences of the metals were not superficial, but much deeper; coloring or bronzing the metals does not affect their essence. It should be noted that these views were radically opposed to those which were then generally accepted.

Ibn Sina's treatise on minerals was the main source of the geological ideas of the Christian encyclopedist of the thirteenth century.
Ibn Sina wrote an autobiography which was completed by his favorite disciple al-Juzajani.

His triumph was too complete; it discouraged original investigations and sterilized intellectual life. Like Aristotle and Vergil, Avicenna was considered by the people of later times as a magician.

C. Brocklmann: Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (vol. 1, 452-458, 1898. With list of 99 works).


IBN AL-TAIYIB

Abu-l-Faraj Abdallah Ibn al-Taiyib al-Iraqi. Latin name : Abulpharagius Abdalla Benattibus. Died in 1043-44. Nestorian physician. Secertary to Elias I, Nestorian Catholics from 1028 to 1049. Physician at the Adudite hospital in Bagdad. He had many commentaries on Greek medicine, and original memories on various medical topics, also a translation of the pseudo-Aristotelian De plantis, with additional excerpts from ancient literature.

From Arabic translation of the Diatessaron ascribed to him.

Brocklmann: Arabischen Litteratur (vol. 1, 482, 1898).

ABU SA'ID UBAID ALLAH

Abu Sa'id Ubaid Allah ibn Bakhtyashu. Flourished in Maiya-fariqin, Jazirah; friend of Ibn Butlan; died in 1058. Physician. The last and possibly the greatest representative of the Bukhtyashu, a syrian family of physicians which emigrated from Junsishapur to Bagdad in 765. His main works are the Reminder of the Homestayer, dealing with the philosophical terms used in medicine, and a treatise on lovesickness.

C. Brocklmann: Encyclopaedia of Islam (t. 1, 601, 1911).

IBN BUTLAN

Abu-l-Hasan al-Mukhtar ibn al-Hasan ibn Abdun ibn Sa'dun ibn Butlan. Latin name: Elluchasem Elimither. Flourished in Bagdad; died, probably in Antioch, in or soon after 1063. Christian physician. He wrote synoptic tables of hygiene, dietetics, domestic medicine, called the Tables of Health. He probably originated that form of synopsis, which was developed by ibn Jazla (q. v., second half of eleventh century). Medical polemic with Ali ibn Ridwan.

C. Brocklmann: Arabischen Litteratur (vol. 1, 483, 1898).

ALI IBN ISA

Ali ibn Isa or Jesu Haly. flourished in Bagdad in the first half of the eleventh century. He is said to have been a christian. The most Famous Arabic oculist. His "Manual" in three books, Tadhkirat al-kahhalin, is the oldest Arabic work on ophthalmology of which the original text is completely extant. It is based partly on ancient knowledge, partly on personal experience. It is at once very detailed and very comprehensive. The first book deals with the anatomy and physiology of the eye; the second with the diseases externally visible; the third with hidden diseases, dietetics, and general medicine from the oculistic standpoint; 130 eye diseases are carefully described; 143 drugs characterized.

J. Hirschberg: Die arabischen Lehrbucher der Augenheilkunde (Abhd. der preuss. Ak. der Wiss., 117 p., Berlin, 1905).

SEJARAH PERJUANGAN PATTANI

DISESUAIKAN KEMBALI DARI TEKS ASAL

Pattani (Thai ปัตตานี) merupakan salah satu wilayah (changwat) di selatan Thailand. Provinsi-provinsi yang berjiran (dari arah selatan tenggara searah jarum jam) adalah Narathiwat (Menara), Yala (Jala) dan Songkhla (Senggora).

Masyarakat Melayu setempat menggelarkan wilayah mereka, Patani Darussalam atau Patani Raya.

Pattani terletak di Semenanjung Melayu dengan pantai Teluk Thailand di sebelah utara. Di bahagian selatan terdapat gunung-ganang dan tarikan pelancong seperti taman negara Budo-Sungai Padi yang yang berada di persempadanan wilayah Yala(Jala) dan Narathiwat(Menara). Di sini juga terdapat beberapa tumbuhan yang agak unik seperti palma Bangsoon dan rotan Takathong. Di kawasan sempadan Songkhla dan Yala pula terdapat sebuah taman rimba yang terkenal Namtok Sai Khao.

Pada awalnya, Pattani merupakan sebuah kerajaan Melayu Islam yang berdaulat, mempunyai kesultanan dan perlembagaan yang tersendiri. Patani adalah sebahagian dari 'Tanah Melayu'. Namun pada pertengahan abad ke-19 Patani telah menjadi korban penaklukan Kerajaan Siam.

Pada tahun 1826, penaklukan Siam terhadap Patani mendapat pengakuan British. Dalam usahanya untuk mengukuhkan kedudukannya di Pattani, pada tahun 1902 Kerajaan Siam melaksanakan undang-Undang Thesaphiban.

Dengan itu, sistem pemerintahan kesultanan Melayu telah dihapuskan. Dengan ditandatanganinya Perjanjian Bangkok pada tahun 1909, Pattani telah diakui oleh British sebagai tanah jajahan Siam tanpa mempertimbangkan keinginan penduduk asli Melayu Patani.

Sejak penghapusan pemerintahan Kesultanan Melayu Pattani, masyarakat Melayu-Pattani berada dalam kedudukan tertekan dan lemah . Seperti yang diungkap oleh W.A.R. Wood, di Songkhla, penduduk Melayu telah menjadi mangsa sebuah pemerintahan yang tidak diperintah dengan baik. Akibat tekanan inilah kekacauan sering terjadi di Pattani sehingga kini. Pada tahun 1923, Tengku Abdul Kadir Kamaruddin, bekas Raja Melayu Patani, dengan bantuan pejuang-pejuang dari Turki, memimpin satu gerakan pembebasan. Semangat anti-Siam menjadi lebih hebat di saat Kerajaan Pibul Songgram (1939-44) cuba mengacukkan kaum minoriti Melayu ke dalam masyarakat Siam melalui Undang-Undang Rathaniyom.

Penglibatan Siam dalam Perang Dunia Kedua di pihak tentera Jepun telah memberikan harapan kepada orang-orang Melayu Pattani untuk membebaskan tanah air mereka dari penjajahan Siam. Tengku Mahmud Mahyudin, putra kepada bekas Raja Melayu Patani juga seorang pegawai berpangkat Major dalam Pasukan Force 136, telah mengajukan cadangan kepada pihak berkuasa British di India supaya mengambilalih Pattani dan wilayah sekitarnya serta digabungkan dengan Tanah Melayu.

Cadangan Tengku Mahmud itu selaras dengan cadangan Pejabat Tanah Jajahan British dalam mengkaji kedudukan tanah ismus Kra dari sudut kepentingan keamanan Tanah Melayu setelah tamatnya perang nanti.

Harapan itu semakin terbuka saat pihak sekutu, dalam Perjanjian San Francisco pada bulan April 1945, menerima prinsip hak menentukan nasib sendiri (self-determination) sebagai usaha membebaskan tanah jajahan dari belenggu penjajahan.

Atas semangat itu, pada 1 November 1945, sekumpulan pemimpin Melayu Patani dipimpin oleh Tengku Abdul Jalal, bekas wakil rakyat wilayah Narathiwat, telah mengemukakan petition kepada British dengan tujuan memohon agar empat wilayah di Selatan Siam dibebaskan dari kekuasaan Pemerintahan Siam dan digabungkan dengan Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Namun perspektif British terhadap Siam berubah apabila Peperangan Pasifik selesai. Keselamatan tanah jajahan dan kepentingan British di Asia Tenggara menjadi pertimbangan utama British dalam perbincangannya dengan Siam mahupun Pattani.

British memerlukan kerjasama Siam untuk mendapatkan stok beras untuk keperluan tanah jajahannya. Tidak kurang pentingnya, British terpaksa menyesuaikan perundangannya terhadap Siam dengan tuntutan Amerika Syarikat yang ingin menetapkan wilayah Siam pada tahun 1941.

Kebangkitan Komunis di Asia Tenggara, khususnya di Tanah Melayu pada tahun 1948, menjadi faktor pertimbangan British dalam menentukan keputusannya. Kerajaan British menganggap Siam sebagai negara benteng terhadap ancaman Komunis China. Oleh itu British perlu memastikan Siam terus stabil dan memihak kepada Barat dalam persaingan dengan Negara-Negara Komunis. British memerlukan kerjasama Siam untuk menghapuskan kegiatan pengganas Komunis di sempadan Tanah Melayu-Siam.

Kebetulan pula Siam telah memberikan jaminan untuk memperkenalkan perubahan di Pattani untuk mengatasi masalah yang dihadapi masyarakat Melayu. Oleh kerana itu, isu Pattani yang awalnya dianggap kurang penting malah kembali dibangkitkan akan memperkuat hubungan dengan Siam.

Setelah Persidangan Songkla pada awal Januari 1949, pihak berkuasa British di Tanah Melayu atas tuntutan pihak Siam mulai mengambil tindakan terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin pejuangan Pattani. Tengku Mahmud Mahyudin mendapat tekanan yang hebat sementara Haji Sulung dihukum penjara. Pergerakan politik Pattani semakin lemah dengan kematian Tengku Mahmud Mahyudin dan Haji Sulung pada tahun 1954.

MELAKA - PALACE AND WARRIORS

Note from Author : This is my small and humble personal tribute to the 5 Warriors and the Greatness of of the Once Malacca Sultanate

ORIGINAL SOURCE

THE MALLACA SULTANATE

The Sultanate of Malacca was founded by Parameswara in 1402 and later married the princess of Pasai in 1409. Centered in the modern town of Malacca, the sultanate stretched from southern Thailand in the north to Sumatra in the southwest. The Portuguese invaded its capital in 1511 and in 1528, the Sultanate of Johor was established by a Malaccan prince to succeed Malacca.

Parameswara founded Malacca around 1400. He was a Buddhist Srivijayan prince and Sejarah Melayu mentioned that he laid claims of being descended from the Macedonian King Alexander the Great / Iskandar Zulkarnain. When Parameswara became the ruler of Palembang, the Srivijaya Empire was already in decline. In 1390s, Majapahit sent thousands of ships to attack Palembang. Parameswara had fled his palace and eventually reached Temasek island which was headed by a Srivijayan descendent. However, Temasek had been a vassal of Majapahit since 1365. After several days, Parameswara was betrayed by his relative and he had to kill him. Parameswara then ruled Temasik for about 4 years, where he was finally attacked by the Majapahit armies when one of the ministers opened the gates for Majapahit armies to attack the palace. Parameswara fled north to Muar before founding Melaka in 1400. In 1409, Parameswara assumed the title Sultan Iskandar Shah due to his marriage to a princess from Pasai. His marriage to the Muslim princess encouraged a number of his subjects to embrace Islam. According to the Sejarah Melayu, legend has it that the king saw a mouse deer outwit a dog when he was resting under the Melaka tree. He took what he saw as a good omen and decided to establish a capital for his kingdom there. Today, the mouse deer is part of modern Malacca's coat of arms.

Malacca had a well-defined government with a set of laws. On top of the sultanate's hierarchy sat the sultan and he was an absolute monarch. Below him was a bendahara, a position similar to that of a prime minister. Most of all, a bendahara was an adviser to the sultan. A bendahara is a common person appointed by the sultan and it was the highest ranking officer that could be held by any common people. After bendahara, a laksamana's authority is paramount. A laksamana is an admiral and was responsible for the state and the sultan's security. He commanded the army. Later comes the temenggung which more or less a chief of public police. At the bottom of this nobility structure are penghulu bendahari, who was the treasurer of the state and the shahbandars of whom were responsible to matters of trade and ports.

The most famous Malaccan bendahara is Tun Perak. Under his advice, he managed to expand Malacca to its greatest extent. Hang Tuah is an example of Malaccan laksamana.

The sultanate was governed with several set of laws. The formal legal text of traditional Melaka consisted of the Undang-Undang Melaka (Laws of Malacca), variously called the Hukum Kanun Melaka and Risalat Hukum Kanun, and the Undang-Undang Laut Melaka (the Maritime Laws of Malacca). The laws as written in the legal digests went through an evolutionary process. The legal rules that eventually evolved were shaped by three main influences, namely the early non-indigenous Hindu/Buddhist tradition, Islam and the indigenous "adat".

The Sultanate thrived on entrepot trade and became the most important port in Southeast Asia during the 15th and the early 16th century. Furthermore, Malacca was as a major player in the spice trade, serving as a gateway between the Spice Islands and high-paying Eurasian markets. This is reflected by the Portuguese Tomé Pires who claimed "Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice".

One of the factors that contributed to the rise of Malacca was the monsoon winds that enabled Arab and Indian traders from the west to travel to China in the east and vice versa. At the height of its power, the Sultanate encompassed most of modern day Peninsular Malaysia, the site of modern day Singapore and a great portion of eastern Sumatra. It was also the center of Islam in the eastern sphere, where imams and ustazes came to discuss religion and the like. Muslim missionaries were also sent by the Sultan to spread Islam to other communities in the Malay Archipelago, such as in Java, Borneo, and the Philippines. Most of South East Asia at that time was Hindu.

The Sultanate's most important regional rivals were Siam in the north and the declining Majapahit Empire in the south. Majapahit was not able to control or effectively compete with Malacca within the archipelago, and came to an end during the later 15th century. Siam on the other hand attacked Malacca three times, but all attacks were repelled.

At the same time, Malacca had a good relationship with Ming, resulting in Zheng He's visits. Parameswara had met the Ming emperor to receive a Letter of Friendship, hence making Malacca the first foreign kingdom to attain such treatment. In 1409, the sultan paid tribute to the Ming emperor to ask for protection against Siam. Moreover, one of the sultans, Mansur Shah even married a Ming princess named Hang Li Po. This Sino-Malacca relationship helped deter Siam from further threatening Malacca.
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ORIGINAL SOURCE

ABOUT THE 5 WARRIORS

Hang Tuah was born in Kampung Sungai Duyong, Melaka. His parents were Hang Mahmud and Dang Merdu Wati. His parents owned a small shop near Kampung Bendahara. When Hang Tuah was small, he worked as a woodcutter in his parents� shop. Hang Tuah grasp of religious knowledge and his skill in the art of self-defence became obvious even when he was just ten years old. Hang Tuah had four special friends of his own age and they were Hang Kasturi, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu and they were known as The Five Comrades. The five of them on the advice of Hang Tuah learned the art of self defence from a teacher who called Guru Ali Putera who practiced the art of self defence at the top of a mountain. Hang Tuah also learned to meditate.

Hang Tuah's appearance in the history of the region began when some men ran amuk near Kampung Bendahara. Tun Perak came with a party of guards to investigate the incident, but was also attacked. His guards fled, but when Hang Tuah and his friends who happened to be at a nearby stall, saw what was happening and rushed to save Tun Perak. They fought the amuk group and killed them all.

Tun Perak was amazed by the courage of Hang Tuah and his friends and he rewarded them for their gallant service with a suit of clothes each and appointed them as commanders. They were also presented to Sultan Muzaffar Syah and they became a well known legend in the history of Melaka. Hang Tuah was later appointed as an admiral and served under four Sultans, that is, Sultan Muzaffar Syah, Sultan Mansur Syah, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah and Sultan Mahmud Syah. Hang Tuah died at an very old age during the reign of Sultan Mahmud Syah. He was given a state burial By Sultan Mahmud Syah and was buried in Tanjung Keling, Melaka.
ORIGINAL SOURCE

Hang Tuah

In the early days of Sultan Mansor’s reign in Malacca, a son is born to Hang Mahmud and his wife Dang Merdu Wati. The child is named Hang Tuah. When Hang Tuah is seven, his parents decide to move to Malacca. There they stay in the house of a relative not far from the residence of the Datuk Bendahara. Hang Mahmud starts a small provision shop, which his wife helps to run, while he himself goes into the forest to collect wood.

Hang Tuah meets Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi. Hang Lekir and Hang Lekieu. Together the boys, who were to become lifelong friends, learn the art of silat. Hang Tuah is elected leader of the group of youngsters and they declare loyalty to him. At around the age of ten Hang Tuah and his friends, while on a boat into the open sea notice three boats approaching in their direction. The boats are those of pirates. The boys take refuge on an island, and when the pirates land on the island, the youngsters, kill several of them and wound ten others. The survivors escape. The wounded pirates are handed over to the Batin of Singapore, who tells the boys that their brave deed would be brought to the attention of the Datuk Bendahara. In Malacca, the boys’ deed becomes the talk of the town.

Fearing repercussions, Hang Tuah and his companions decide to delve deeper into the arts of silat and also to learn other skills from the guru named Sang Andi Putra lives. Their training lasts forty-four days. Sang Andi Putra advises them to go to his brother Sang Persanta Nata in Majapahit, Java, to further their mastery of the silat and mystical arts. Meanwhile the Datuk Bendahara meets Hang Mahmud and compliments the boys on their bravery.

On day while chopping firewood in front of his house, Hang Tuah sees a man running amok and killing several persons. Hang Tuah kills the amok. A few days later a similar incident causes disturbances in Malacca. The Datuk Bendahara is at that time on his way to the palace to meet the Sultan. Hang Tuah protects him from the violent crowd, and even succeeds in killing the leader of the group and a few others. Impressed, the Datuk Bendahara and his wife decide to “adopt” Hang Tuah and his companions.

Datuk Bendahara takes Hang Mahmud, his wife and the boys to pay respects to the Sultan. Already aware of their bravery as well as their exploits, the Sultan orders the five youths to serve him. Each of them receives a keris and is also given the title of “Tun”.

A few days later Sultan Mansor and his entourage leave Malacca for Java where the Sultan is to marry Raden Galoh Chandra Kirana, a Majapahit princess. In Majapahit a plot is hatched by Pateh Gajah Mada to kill Hang Tuah. First a hulubalang, and next Taming Sari, the famous warrior of Majapahit are given the task. Hang Tuah succeeds in killing the soldier and later also destroying Taming Sari with the sword belonging to the Majaphit warrior. This famous sword, also named Taming Sari, possessing the power of giving immortality to its user is presented to Hang Tuah by the Datuk Bendahara.

Hang Tuah and his friends visit Sang Persanta Nata at Gunung Winara as instructed by Sang Andi Putra. Here they receive seven days of intensive training at the hand of this famous teacher, who predicts that Hang Tuah would one day become the Admiral of the Malacca fleet as well as attain invulnerability. At the palace another attempt is made to kill Hang Tuah. Hang Tuah manages to kill his attackers. Sultan Mansor returns to Malacca with his new bride. Hang Tuah is welcomed as a great hero. Soon he is raised to the rank of Admiral or Laksamana.

A few years later, the Sultan becomes interested in marrying Tun Teja of Inderaputera, now known as Pahang. At the Sultan’s command, Hang Tuah and his companions sail to Inderaputra. Tun Teja is already engaged to be married to Megat Panji Alam of Trengganu. Her father, Bendahara Seri Buana, troubled by the impending visit by Hang Tuah, send word to Megat Panji Alam. Megat Panji Alam comes face to face with Hang Tuah who has just landed in Pahang and challenges Hang Tuah to a fight. The battle lasting several days, ends with Hang Tuah killing Megat Panji Alam. Tun Teja is married to Sultan Mansor in Malacca.

The Bentara of Majapahit, hearing of Sultan Mansor’s second marriage is upset. Pateh Gajah Mada says that he will create trouble in Malacca. Another plot is hatched to kill Hang Tuah, and seven warriors go to Malacca from Majapahit to try to achieve this end. Disguised as thieves they cause unrest in the town, hoping thereby to draw Hang Tuah out. Hang Tuah also disguises as a thief and joins them. Together they steal valuable items, including eight boxes of gold, from the palace. Killing the seven thieves, Hang Tuah resents their heads together with the stolen gold to the Sultan. Hang Tuah is now allowed free access to the Sultan’s palace.

The special treatment given to Hang Tuah by the Sultan arouses jealousy among court officials. A scandal is created involving Hang Tuah. The Sultan now upset with Hang Tuah, orders the Datuk Bendahara to immediately get rid of Hang Tuah. Datuk Bendahara sends Hang Tuah into hiding in his own orchard, but spreads the rumour that Hang Tuah has been killed.

Hang Jebat is appointed Admiral in Hang Tuah’s place, and he is now given free access to the palace. While in the palace, Hang Jebat misbehaves himself. The helpless Sultan and his consorts, thrown out of the palace by Hang Jebat, move in with the Datuk Bendahara. Hang Jebat now abandons himself to a life of debauchery. Those sent by the Sultan to apprehend him are killed. This he does in order to avenge the Sultan’s unjust treatment of Hang Tuah.

The Sultan now regrets at having so hastily sentenced Hang Tuah to death. Hang Hang Tuah alone could, if he were still alive, overcome Hang Jebat. Seeing the Sultan’s plight Datuk Bendahara asks the Sultan if he would be prepared to pardon Hang Tuah in the event that the hero was still alive. When the Sultan says that he would do anything to have Hang Tuah back, Datuk Bendahara confesses that in fact Hang Tuah is still alive.

Hang Tuah returns a few days later. He is fully pardoned by the Sultan, and is informed of the crisis in Malacca caused by Hang Jebat. Following a few days of rest, Hang Tuah is ready to face Hang Jebat. He discovers, however, that Jebat has been given possession of Taming Sari, following his own “death.” Despite his loss of confidence, Hang Tuah proceeds to face Hang Jebat. When at the palace, Hang Tuah calls out for his friend, Hang Jebat is taken aback at the fact that Hang Tuah is still alive. A reconciliation, however is no longer possible, in view of Hang Jebat’s disloyalty to the Sultan.

The battle between the two greatest warriors of Malacca begins. Hang Tuah, recovering Taming Sari for a moment, succeeds in killing his best friend, Hang Jebat, with it. Once again Hang Tuah becomes the Sultan’s favourite. He is, however, wary, knowing that he has enemies constantly on the lookout for opportunities to destroy him. Sultan Mansor dies and is succeeded by Sultan Mahmud as ruler of Malacca.

Soon after ascending the throne Sultan Mahmud loses his consort. Hearing of the beauty of the princess of Gunung Ledang, he decides to approach her for her hand in marriage. Hang Tuah, Hang Setia and Tun Mamat, the Datok Bendahara’s son, travel to Gunung Ledang, or Mount Ophir, to negotiate the terms of the proposed marriage. The princess is prepared to marry the Sultan if certain requirements are fulfilled. Due to the difficulties in fulfilling the conditions, the Sultan abandons his intention of marrying the princess.

Hang Tuah decides to forsake court life. Just before dawn one day, accompanied by Tun Mamat, Hang Tuah goes to the mouth of Sungei Duyong, taking his kris, Taming Sari, with him. He kisses the weapon and throws it into the river. A few days later he leaves the court to live a life of solitude at Gunung Ledang
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ORIGINAL SOURCE

Hang Jebat



Hang Jebat was the closest companion of the legendary Malay hero Hang Tuah. He is well known for his vengeful rebellion against the Malacca Sultan whom he served. After Hang Tuah was sentenced to death, Hang Jebat was conferred by the Sultan of Malacca with the Taming Sari, a sacred kris formerly used by Hang Tuah. Believing that Hang Tuah was unjustly murdered by the Sultan he served, Hang Jebat turned against the Sultan to avenge his friend's death. No one knew, however, except the Bendahara who went against the Sultans orders and hid Hang Tuah in a remote region of Malacca that he was still alive.

With the kris in his possession, Hang Jebat became invincible and there was not one person in the entire Malacca Empire who was capable of killing him. Hang Jebat's revenge had forced the Sultan of Malacca to abandon his palace. Jebat seduced the women of the palace and spent his days eating, drinking and sporting with them. All the warriors sent by the Sultan to challenge him were killed. Even his friend Hang Kasturi was driven out when Hang Jebat realized that the other man hadn't come to join him in merrymaking.

After learning from the Bendahara that Hang Tuah was still alive, The Sultan had him recall Hang Tuah and gave Hang Tuah full amnesty. The Sultan then ordered Hang Tuah to kill Hang Jebat. Being unquestioningly loyal to the Sultan, Hang Tuah obeyed the Sultans biddings and went on to challenge Hang Jebat. After fighting in a battle that lasted for seven days, Hang Tuah eventually managed to reclaim the Taming Sari by tricking Hang Jebat. Although stabbed by Tuah, Hang Jebat bandaged his wounds and ran amok in the city square for three days, killing thousands of people before retreating to Tuah's house and dying in his friend's arms.

Hang Jebat's famous quote was "Raja adil raja disembah, raja zalim raja disanggah" which literally means "A fair king is a king to obey, a cruel king is a king to fight against".

After the fight, The Sultan ordered his men to tear down, burn and throw the ashes of the house into the sea. Two months later, when a lady of the Bendahara's retinue gave birth to Jebat's son, the sultan ordered Hang Tuah to throw the baby into the sea as well. Instead, the laksamana entrusted the child, Hang Kadim, to the Bendahara.
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ORIGINAL SOURCE


Exploring the Hang Kasturi Mausoleum
Jalan Hang Jebat, Malacca

Hang Kasturi is one of the five great warriors during the time of the Malacca Sultanate, particularly during the reign of Sultan Mansur Shah (1456-1477), the other four being Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekiu and Hang Lekir. As young men, they studied silat under the same silat master. The title "Hang" is bestowed by the sultan for the highest ranking Malay warriors.

According to a version of the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu), Hang Kasturi is said to have gained notoriety for having an affair or having outraged the modesty of one of the Sultan's concubines, and Hang Tuah was sent to kill him. Unfortunately in a different version (as the Malay Annals were initially handed down by mouth, there are now many different written versions in existence), it was Hang Tuah, another Malay warrior, who was accused of having an affair with the palace ladies.

In one popular version, Hang Tuah so offended the Sultan that he order Tuah to be executed. However, the Bendahara Tun Perak (similar to prime minister) took him into hiding. Later, courtiers discovered that Hang Kasturi was having an affair with one of the sultan's concubines. They surrounded the palace but no one dared to enter to capture Kasturi. When the sultan was told that Hang Tuah was still alive, he ordered Hang Tuah to kill his best friend to prove his loyalty. During the fight, Hang Tuah embedded his kris in the palace wall three times, but Kasturi allowed him to remove it. But when the same thing happened to Kasturi, Tuah stabbed him to death. The sultan later rewarded Hang Tuah the title of laksamana, for his loyalty.

Hang Kasturi's Mausoleum is located along, interestingly, Jalan Hang Jebat (formerly Jonker Street), whereas Hang Jebat's Mausoleum is located at Lorong Tukang Kuli, within a stone's throw from Jalan Hang Kasturi. Although the mausoleums were claimed to belong to these warriors, no factual evidence has been put forth to verify this.
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Note : Unfortunately - there isn't much about Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu