[Kitāb al-masālik wa-al-mamālik كتاب مسالك الممالك] [Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad إصطخري، إبراهيم بن محمد]

Content

A descriptive geography of the Islamic world by Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Fārisī al-Karkhī al-Iṣṭakhrī (أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن محمد الفارسي الكرخي الإصطخري, d. 957/98).

The present volume's colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. attributes it to the scribe Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad Faq[ī]h al-Sīnābī (إبراهيم بن أحمد فقه السينابي, see f. 79r, lines 23-24), and is dated 878/1473-74. This date appears too early considering the manuscript's paper and condition. A 2021 study describes the present manuscript, including its colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. , as an 18th-century copy of Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi, Ayasofya 3349, itself a copy of Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ayasofya 2613 [see Danilenko, Nadja, Picturing the Islamicate World: The Story of al-Iṣṭakhrī's Book of Routes and Realms (Leiden: Brill, 2021), pp. 227, 228 and 242].

The text describes the natural features, societies, and main cities and towns and the distances and routes between them, for regions from North Africa to Sind, with most space being given to the descriptions of Iran and its surroundings. The text is accompanied by labelled maps drawn in gold ink, comprising a world map and 20 maps of the regions (ff. 3r [world map], 6r, 12r, 14r, 15r, 18r, 20v, 21v, 23r, 25v, 28r, 40r, 42v, 45r, 47v, 49v, 52r, 54v, 57v, 60v and 67v).

Margins of some folios have been damaged and repaired, possibly indicating the removal of ownership stamps (ff. 2, 18-19, 46 and 78).

Begins (f. 1v, lines 1-6):

...والحمد لله رب العالمين

وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد النبي وعلى آل محمد وسلم وسئل الله التوفيق وخاتمة السعادة

الحمد لله مبدئ النعم وولي الحمد وصلى الله على محمد وعلى آل محمد أما بعد فإني

ذكرت في كتابي هذا أقاليم الأرض على الممالك وقصدت منها بلاد الإسلام بتفصيل

مدنها وتقسيم ما يعود بالأعمال المجموعة إليها ولم أقصد الأقاليم السبعة التي عليها قسمة

الأرض بل جعلت كل قطعة اٯرزٮها (!) مفردة مصورة...

Ends (f. 79r, lines 16-22):

ومن سوج إلى أوال على طريق أوحيه

نحو عشرة فراسخ ومن قبا إلى

نقاد نحو المشرق نحو سبعة

فراسخ وحدودهما

متصلة ومن أوبين إلى مدوا فرسخان ومن ويكت إلى خيلام

ثلاثة فراسخ ومن خيلام إلى سلات سبعة فراسخ وسلات

وبيسكند ليس بها منبر ولكنهما ثغران فلذلك ذكرناهما تمت

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 79r, lines 23-24):

الحمد لله على التمام وعلى رسوله أفضل السلام خزن الفقير المذنب المحتاج إلى رحمة الله تعالى إبراهيم بن

أحمد فقه السينابي غفر الله لهم ولوالديهم ولجميع المؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات تاريخ سنة ٨٧٨

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. i+79+i

Physical characteristics

Physical characteristics:

Material: Western laid paper

Dimensions: 320 x 213mm leaf [223 x 136mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 25 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with occasional rubricated keywords; gold ink used for maps

Decoration: Opening illuminated in gold, blue, red and mauve; gold-ruled frame on every page containing text

Binding: Orange buckram quarter binding; shadow of former envelope flap visible on f. 1r

Condition: Margin damaged and repaired on ff. 2, 18-19, 46 and 78; some staining and water-damage causing transfer of ink (e.g. f. 14r)

Marginalia: None

Seals: British Museum stamp: ff. 1r, 27v, 54v and 79v

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 5305

History of this record

Date(s)

18th century (CE, Gregorian)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Kirkor Minassian (1874-1944), 16 November 1897

Related material

Related primary sources

Ellis, A.G. and Edward Edwards, A Descriptive List of the Arabic Manuscripts Acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum since 1894 (London: British Museum, 1912), p. 37

Select Bibliography

Editions:

• Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, Viae Regnorum descriptio ditionis Moslemicae auctore Abu Ish āk al-Fārisi al-Istakhrī , edited by De Goeje, M. J., Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, vol. 1 (Leiden: Brill, 1873)
• Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, al-Mas ālik wa-al-mamālik , edited by Muḥammad Jābir ʿAbd al-ʿĀl al-Ḥīnī and Muḥammad Shafīq Ghurbāl (al-Qāhirah: al-Idārah al-ʿĀmmah lil-Thaqāfah, 1961)

Edition of Persian Translation:

• Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad , Mamālik va masālik , edited by Muḥammad ibn Asʿad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Tustarī (Tehran: Īrāj Afshār, 1994)

English Translation:

• Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad [misattributed to Ibn Ḥawqal], The Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, an Arabian Traveller of the Tenth Century , ed. and trans. by William Ouseley (London: Wilson & Co.,1800)

Study:

• Danilenko, Nadja, Picturing the Islamicate World: The Story of al-Iṣṭakhrī's Book of Routes and Realms (Leiden: Brill, 2021)

Subjects

Geography--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad IṣṭakhrīMuḥammad Abū‘l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal

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[Kitāb al-masālik wa-al-mamālik كتاب مسالك الممالك] [Iṣṭakhrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad إصطخري، إبراهيم بن محمد], British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 5305, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100110632004.0x000001> [accessed 10 March 2025]

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