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An interpretation of medieval Islamic geographical representations: Two types of settlement network in al-Istakhri's al-masalik wal-mamalik
Abstract by Nader Sayadi On Session 232  (Medieval Maps, Music, and Mysticism)

On Tuesday, November 25 at 8:30 am

2014 Annual Meeting

Abstract
This paper introduces an interpretation of medieval Islamic regional maps from the book al-masalik wal-mamalik (Routes and realms) by al-Istakhri, a well-known geographer of the late tenth century. In this book, al-Istakhri first describes the world and suggests a division of the world in twenty regions in a short introduction. This book accompanied by maps. The introduction includes a world map and each regional chapter has its own regional map. This study considers the regional chapters, including texts and maps. To interpret these maps, a combination of textual analysis will be done to identify the structure of the text and also to draw new diagrams based on the geographical data in the text. Afterward, the structure of the maps will be studied in comparison with the information of the texts. As the conclusion, it will be argued that how this set of maps can be interpret. Unlike the orientalist perception of these maps, this study criticizes some earlier works on medieval Islamic geography and suggests an alternative interpretation of these materials. In this study, I argue that al-Istakhri's geographical information - in the book al-Masalik wal-mamalik - represents two type of networks: “nodal” and “linear.” A nodal network represents a major city as the focal point and smaller towns, villages and other settlements as the other nods connected to the major city like branches. This type of network is shaped by the bilateral dependency of the central city on one side and its surrounding settlements on the other side. As the second network type, a linear network represents the connection between major cities, how to travel between them and probably how to get access to adjacent regions. In other words, this type of network shows from which settlements or crucial places one should pass to reach to the next major city through a chain of in-between places, regardless of the importance or extent of the place or settlement. In contrast with radial nodal network, linear network is basically linear-oriented. These networks represent connection and relation of these cities and not the geographical location of them.
Discipline
Geography
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
7th-13th Centuries