| Born | Nisibis |
|---|---|
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | Islamic civilization |
| School/tradition | Balkhi school |
| Main interests | Islamic geography |
| Major works | Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ |
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Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (Arabic: محمد أبو القاسم بن حوقل, born in Nisibis;[1] travelled 943-969 CE) was a 10th century Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler. His famous work, written in 977, is called Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ (صورة الارض; "The face of the Earth").
What little is known of his life is extrapolated from his book, which was a revision and extension of the Masālik ul-Mamālik of Istakhri (951). That itself was a revised edition of the Ṣuwar al-aqālīm of Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, who wrote about 921.
Ibn Hawqal was clearly more than an editor; he was a traveler who spent much of his time writing about the areas and things he had seen. He spent the last 30 years of his life traveling to remote parts of Asia and Africa. One of his travels brought him 20° south of the equator along the East African coast. One of the things he noticed was that there were large numbers of people living in areas that the Greeks, working from logic rather than experience, said must be uninhabitable (due to the belief that the earth was flat) .
His descriptions were accurate and very helpful to travelers. Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ included a detailed description of Muslim-held Spain, Italy and particularly Sicily. Ibn Hawqal recorded that the area of Fraxinet (La Garde-Freinet) was richly cultivated by its Muslim inhabitants, and they have been credited with a number of agricultural and fishing innovations for the region.
He also mentions the "Lands of the Romans," the term used by the Muslim world to describe the Byzantine Empire. In it, among other things, he describes his first-hand observation that 360 languages are spoken in the Caucasus, with Azeri and Persian languages being used as Lingua Franca across the Caucasus, he also gives a description of Kiev, and is said to have mentioned the route of the Volga Bulgars and the Khazars, perhaps by Sviatoslav I of Kiev Encyclopedia of Ukraine. He also mentions and published a cartographic map of Sindh, he mentions the geography and culture of Sindh and the Indus River.
lbn Hauqal's work was published by M. J. de Goeie (Leiden, 1873). An anonymous epitome of the book was written in 1233.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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