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Ishaq b. al-Hasan b. Abi'l-Husayn al-Zayyat;
Dhikr al-aqalim wakhtilafuha (d1058) from Spain
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The Kaba the last page of this MS in the BNF.
The general title of this MSS: Kitab Ahkam al-marjan fi dhikr al-madain al-mashhura bi-kull makan.
Mugadiscio latitude 11 deg
Note: seen the early date and the latitude being so far of: 2deg instead of 11deg I can only conclude that a different place is meant.
P62
The well-known places that are in (the clime) are: the end of the sea of India by the south part, the Island of Amari those of S.l.mi, T.sali and al-Aqarib, part of the island of Sarandib (Ceylon) on the south side, and part of the island of Arin (1), it extends beyond the country of Nubia to the origin of the Nile of Egypt in the Mounts of the Moon, and to the country of the short-minded blacks (Sudan) , of whose inhabitants the women go naked and the men veiled.
P64
The first clime. The latitude of its beginning, by the Ecuador, is 12 degrees and 1/2, and its hours [of day] are equal to those of night. The latitude of its middle part with relation to the Ecuador is 16 degrees and 25 minutes. The longest of its days has 13 hours, and the shortest 11. The breadth of the climate itself is 7 degrees and 45 minutes, which equals 515 miles and 1/2 and 1/3. Its distance is 25 days and 1/2 and 1/3.
P84
It also mentions that its inhabited part in latitude, by the South and the North, is 79 degrees. Of these, 16 are to the South, behind the Equator, finding the end behind the Mounts of the Moon, the North is of the sea from where arises the Nile of Egypt. Its part inhabited by 63 degrees, and the end is on the island of Thule (2) from the sea of the Northern Great Ocean.
P204
The Nile comes to Egypt from the land of the Sudan, and its original source is on the Mount of the Moon, behind the Equator, where no one can reach. In Misr (12) there are indigo, palm trees, bananas and all sorts of fruits. Its provinces are many.
P234
MENTION OF THE SUDAN
It is a large and extensive country. It extends in length from the western sea to the sea of al-Qulzum (3), where is the country of Nubia. In latitude it includes two climates: the first and the second. It is a country of intense heat, of many deserts and areas, of little rains, rivers, plants and trees. Its inhabitants go naked, by the intensity of the heat, and the woman conceals only its pudenda. They raise their children in small holes they make in the sand. It is a land of many lions, fierce animals, and terrible and great beasts. He has gold in abundance, but [his people] prefer brass to that metal and make ornaments for their wives to wear on their hips. In Nubia there are giraffes, and the capital / country of al-Habasha (Ethiopia) is Yarma (4), an important city.
P278
Among the cities of al-Hind is Zabay (5), a large city, with a wall and four gates. Its king resides in a city called Salhan, at a distance of 20 days, and its inhabitants war with those of al-Zany. In the country gold and silver are known, and there is a mountain with gold and lead mines, Metals are transported from there to all countries. It has gold coins, which are used for transactions, on which the figure of the king is engraved.
P325
The island of al-Zany (Zanzibar) Its people are also naked, and they are savages of the sons of Adam that is they eat people. Behind them are the mountains, and behind the mountains is the Great Sea. In it there are great wonders and terrible beasts, with whose bones the people of al-Hind make [...] for their [...]. It is a great sea, and you cannot guide it except by the Stars, not knowing what is behind, to the south.
Ishaq b. al-Hasan b. Abi'l-Husayn al-Zayyat;
Kitab Akam al-Maryan (Book of the Hill of Coral)
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Taken from: Rendiconti della R. Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche 1928 trans. Codazzi.
Bilad al Sudan
It is a large, large country, which in latitude stretches from the sea to the al-Qulzum (4) sea; it is great and important. Between the town of Ghanah and the villages of Nubia there are abundant territories of deserts and sands. Nubia is very hot and is poor with rains, rivers, plants and trees. Its inhabitants go naked for the excess of heat; Women only cover pudenda. They raise their children in circular holes that they dig in the sands. The country abounds with lions, wild animals, and scary and big beasts. The country is rich in gold; But they are looking for copper more than gold and making from them ornaments for women ... And the country of Nubia and. . . The capital of the country of Habashis is Garmi (4), it is the seat of the reign of the Habash and belongs to the Negus.
They exchange gold for copper; the population does not understand (what the buyer says) and if the merchant wants to trade with one of them, puts what he wants to give on the ground; The other if he agrees he takes it, otherwise he takes his gold and goes. Among the cities in the region is Zagawah (7), which are the boundaries of the Nubia on the Nile, Kus (8), Kuku (9), Alwah (10) in the Nubia on the Nile. Nubia is on the channel that exists between the Nile and the river that comes from below the equator. Countries that stretch beyond the equator are not inhabited because too hot.
The town of az Zabag (5) of India.
It is a large city with walls and four doors; Their king lives in the city called Malgamaìi (?); The town of az-Zabag (5) is 20 days away. They fight the Zang (11). Their country is known as the gold country, there are mountains with gold and lead mines, and the lead is exported. (Gold coins), which are used for trade, dinar is the monopoly of the king, and its population resembles the Turks, only that they are brown and tall. …..
(1) Arin= Djezir Arin derived from qubbat uzain; qubbat al ard: dome of the earth. Mythical island being the belly button of the earth. Found in Al-Dimashqi 1325; Ibn Said al Maghribi (1250); al-Zayyat (d1058); al Garnati (1068).
(2) Thule: mythical island in late medieval times the name for Iceland. (Now name for island close to the South pool.)
(3) al-Qulzum: located at the head of the Gulf of Suez.
(4) Yarma: (or Garmi) also found in Maqrizi (1441); as Garma in Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th)
(5) Zabay: one of the main islands of Indonesia (Sumatra).
(6) its inhabitants war with those of al-Zany. This is the forth mention of expeditions from Indonesia to East Africa. He repeats this in his Kitab Akam al-Maryan (Book of the Hill of Coral) but there the capital is called: Malgamaìi. The complete list: Jahiz (d.868) Al-Fakhar al-Sudan p217; and Buzurg (955): Sailors tale 117; Hudud Al-'Alam (The Limits of The World) (982); Abu Imran Musa ibn Rabah al-Awsi al-Sirafi: Al-sahih min ahbar al-bihar wa-aga’ibiha (978); and Kitab Ghara'ib al-funun wa-mulah al-'uyun (1050AD); and Ishaq b. al-Hasan b. Abi'l-Husayn al-Zayyat (d1058); and Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi (1066).
(7) Zagawah: also called Beri or Zakhawa, are a Sahelian Muslim ethnic group primarily residing in Fezzan North-eastern Chad, and western Sudan, including Darfur.
(8) Kus; Qus; Caus : mentioned as being south of Egypt (Ancient kingdom of Kush); A different Qus is a town in the central part of Egypt on the Nile. Repeated by: al-Zayyat (1058); Al Zuhri : (1137); Nuwayri (1333); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Salamanca translator (1420).
(9) Kuku or Qaqu: the Kuku of al-Zayyat 1058; Ibn al Jawzi 1257; Al-Dimashqi 1325; Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897) has Qaqu; Yakut 1220 Koko
(10) land of Alwa: northeast of the merging of the White Nile and the Bleu Nile; was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Found in Al Khwarizmi (847); Suhrab (945); Ibn al-Fakih al Hamadhani (903); al-Zayyat (1058); Idrisi (1150); Wasif Shah (1209); Ibn Said (1250); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Ibn Abd’essalam al-Menoufi (15th).
(11) The complete list of authors who mention expeditions of the Austronesians against East Africa: Jahiz (d.869) Al-Fakhar al-Sudan p217; and Buzurg (955): Sailors tale 117; Abu Imran Musa ibn Rabah al-Awsi al-Sirafi: Al-sahih min ahbar al-bihar wa-aga’ibiha (978); Hudud Al-'Alam (The Limits of The World) (982); and Kitab Ghara'ib al-funun wa-mulah al-'uyun (1050AD); and Ishaq b. al-Hasan b. Abi'l-Husayn al-Zayyat (d1058); and Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi (1066); Khaqani: (d 1190). ALL THE FOLLOWING CHINESE SOURCES SPEAK ABOUT SELLING SLAVES BY THE PEOPLE FROM MADAGASCAR: Ch'en Yuan-Ching (late12 century); Chao Ju-Kua (1226); Chou Chih-Chung (1366); Ning Xian Wang (1430); Wang Khi (1607).
(12) Misr: other name for Egypt.