Zeynalabdin Shirvani

Zeynalabdin Shirvani (Azeri: Zeynalabdin Şirvani) (16 August 1780, Shamakhy—1838, near Jeddah), also known as Tamkin, was an Azerbaijani geographer, philosopher and poet.

Early life

Shirvani was born to a family of a Muslim cleric Isgandar Shirvani in Shamakhy (then the capital of the Shirvan Khanate, now a city in Azerbaijan). In 1785 the family moved to Karbala (present-day Iraq) where Zeynalabdin Shirvani was admitted to a religious school and studied mostly Islamic subjects as well as Persian, Arabic and Turkic languages (Azerbaijani Turkish, Anatolian Turkish and Turkmen). In 1796, he moved to Baghdad where he spent a year studying geography, literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. At the age of 17, he went on his first journey. By the end of his life he will have travelled over 60,000 kilometres within 37 years.

Travellings

Zeynalabdin Shirvani had keen interest in exploring Asia and almost never visited Europe. He was attached to his homeland and turned down many offers of local lords who were fascinated by his erudition and wanted him to settle on their lands (in Egypt, Turkey, etc.).

During his first journey, Shirvani visited what is now Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

His second journey included Iran, Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan (he is considered the last Eurasian to visit the independent Kingdom of Darfur in 1820), Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Levant, and Turkey.

Finally, on his third journey he travelled to Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq.

In between those journeys, Shirvani also went on several small trips within Iran and Azerbaijan. He wrote reflections on all of his travellings in four books (all of them in Persian):

Riyadh as-Sayahat (The Flower Garden of Journeys). It consists of two volumes written in 1822 and 1827 respectively. Parts of the book are now kept at the British Museum and the St Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Volume I contains brief historical overview of Iran (including a complete list of ancient and medieval royal dynasties, and biographies of Mazdak, Babak and of over 60 poets), as well as detailed geographic material on Iranian Azerbaijan, Armenia, Shirvan, Talysh, Mughan, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Gilan, Kurdistan, and Fars. Volume II (thought to have been lost but rediscovered in mid-20th century) contains similar information on Central Asia, Turkey, Arabia and India.
Hadaiq as-Sayahat (The Gardens of Journeys) is an alphabetised list of geographic localities (including states, cities and rivers) in the Middle East, and their detailed description. Shirvani worked on this book for 30 years. The copies of Hadaiq as-Sayahat are kept at the British Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and a private library in Iran.
Bustan as-Sayahat (The Flower Bed of Journeys). This book was written in 1832 but was first published 65 years later. In the first three chapters of the book, the author talks about prominent Middle Eastern scholars, literati and clergy. The fourth chapter contains geographic, cultural and ethnographic information on virtually all regions visited by Shirvani. In Bustan as-Sayahat, he also mentioned countries he did not visit (mainly Russia, France, Austria and the United States) but has done research based on written sources of the time, as well as on his discussions with the scholars. At the end of the book, Shirvani introduces an educational program aimed at encouraging wealthy classes to sponsor education for talented youths who came from poor families, and proposed ways of facilitating living conditions for lower classes. The copies of this book are kept in the United Kingdom, Russia, Georgia, and Iran.
Kashf ul-Maarif (The Discovery of Enlightenment) represents a rather philosophical piece of writing. It consists of Shirvani's biography in the preface, his meetings with famous scholars, and their beliefs and theories. The only copy of the book was discovered by Azerbaijani historian Agamir Guliyev in Kabul in 1973. The book was never published and the manuscript remained at Guliyev's private library.

It is important to note that Shirvani accepted the possibility of making inaccurate statements, as he was often persecuted by Islamic feudals (who regarded his books as a "threat to the religion"), and a work on which he had worked for 25 years was stolen from him and burned by Muhammad Qasim of Gumsha. It took Shirvani a long time to partially restore the lost data.

Family

Shirvani got married in Shiraz in the early 1820s. He had two sons one of whom died early and the other, Husamaddin Ali, followed his fathers footsteps and also became a geographer.

In 1838, Shirvani planned a pilgrimage to Mecca but died of an unknown disease on a ship near Jeddah (present-day Saudi Arabia), where he was buried.

Azerbaijani literature

Medieval	Izzeddin Hasanoglu Nasir Bakuvi Kadi Burhan al-Din Darir of Arzurum Jahan Shah Haqiqi Habibi Qasem-e Anvar Khasta Qasim Imadaddin Nasimi Yaqub ibn Uzun Hasan Shah Ismail I Hagiri Tabrizi Kishvari Muhammad Fuzuli Shah Tahmasp I Mahammad Amani Saib Tabrizi Qovsi Tabrizi Roohi Bagdadi Masihi Tarzi Afshar Fatma Khanum Ani

Modern	Molla Panah Vagif Molla Vali Vidadi Mirza Shafi Vazeh Firidun bey Kocharli Khurshidbanu Natavan Abbasgulu Bakikhanov Mirza Fatali Akhundov Gasim bey Zakir Ali bey Huseynzade Seyid Azim Shirvani Hasan bey Zardabi Mirza Alakbar Sabir Seyid Abulgasim Nabati Zeynalabdin Shirvani Heyran Khanim Ali Mojuz Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Nariman Narimanov Jafargulu agha Javanshir Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev Ismayil bey Gutgashynly Sakina Akhundzadeh Hashim bey Vazirov Mehdigulu Khan Vafa Suleyman Sani Akhundov Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli Mammed Said Ordubadi Najaf bey Vazirov Ashig Alasgar Mahammad Hadi Abbas Sahhat Abdulla Shaig Huseyn Javid Jafar Jabbarly Ali Nazmi Mikayil Mushfig Samad Vurgun Aliagha Vahid Mirza Khazar Mir Jalal Pashayev Ahmad Javad

Contemporary	Suleyman Rustam Ali Nazem Ilyas Afandiyev Rasul Rza Nigar Rafibeyli Mirza Ibrahimov Almas Ildyrym Mirvarid Dilbazi Ismayil Shykhly Manaf Suleymanov Baba Punhan Anar Rzayev Fikrat Goja Bahar Shirvani Nusrat Kasamanli Elchin Afandiyev Khalil Rza Uluturk Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh Gholam-Hossein Sa'edi Mammad Araz Magsud Ibrahimbeyov Rustam Ibragimbekov Chingiz Abdullayev Natig Rasulzadeh Afag Masud Akram Aylisli Ramiz Rovshan Naser Manzuri Samad Behrangi Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar Madina Gulgun Samin Baghtcheban Jabbar Baghtcheban Sahand Yadollah Maftun Amini Mehdi Huseyn Isa Mughanna Vagif Samadoghlu Qilman Ilkin Vidadi Babanli Elchin Safarli Gholamhossein Bigdeli Hidayet Lala Hasanova Fuad Viento Gasham Najafzadeh Ali Akbar Seymur Baycan

Notes	Azerbaijani is the official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and one of the official languages of the Republic of Dagestan. It is also spoken in some regions of Iran, Turkey, Russia and Georgia.