A Comparative Study of the Economic Geography of the Islamic World in the Works of al-Iṣṭakhrī's Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-Mamālik and Ashkāl al-‘Ālam

Gholami, Ashkan

doi:10.22059/jhic.2024.381612.654516

A Comparative Study of the Economic Geography of the Islamic World in the Works of al-Iṣṭakhrī's Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-Mamālik and Ashkāl al-‘Ālam

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Ashkan Gholami

History group. Faculty of Literature and Humanities. Imam Khomeini International University. Qazvin. Iran

10.22059/jhic.2024.381612.654516

Abstract

The knowledge of geography became crucial from the early Islamic centuries due to the Arab conquests and the expansion of political borders. Consequently, Muslim thinkers produced independent works on the geography of the Islamic world, particularly during the ninth and tenth centuries. This study, employing an analytical-comparative approach and relying on library sources, examines the commonalities and differences in the economic geography of the Islamic world as presented in two geographical texts: al-Iṣṭakhrī's Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-Mamālik and Ashkāl al-‘Ālam. The research indicates that the geographical and historical conditions of different regions within the Islamic world during the lifetimes of the two authors significantly influenced the nuances of their thought and their respective focus on the economic geography of the Islamic world. The author of Ashkāl al-‘Ālam paid particular attention to the economic geography of regions such as Sistān and Transoxiana, while al-Iṣṭakhrī focused more on the economic geography of the northern and western regions of the Islamic world, providing numerous reports.

Keywords

al-Iṣṭakhrī

Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-Mamālik

Geography of the Islamic World

Transcendental

Ashkāl al-‘Ālam

Subjects