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Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274) Al-Tadhkira
(Memoranda on Astronomy)
world map from a 1331 copy (Khurasan)
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The 1331 Ms belonging to Pr. Sami Haddad (Beirut)
Taken from : Joseph Needham ; Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens. Extracts from several of his works are given under the date 1274AD here
only the special map.
The importance of this map lies in the fact that it shows Africa the way the Chinese saw it. Unfortunately I do not know if there are inscriptions on the map and if those inscriptions represent
the Arab or the Chinese knowledge of Africa. (The drawing given is just the outlines of the map as Needham copied them)
For Islamic maps that are close to this map see:
- Caliph Al-Mamoun: Tabula Almamuniana (833) Baghdad
-Note on the Further Evolution of the more Correct Map. (just after 833). Here all the further maps that resemble it are treated.
-Zha Ma Lu Ding (Jamal al-Din): Ta (Yuan) i-t’ung chih (The Record of Great Unified Great Yuan)《大元大一统志》(13th) It was during this period of intense scientific contact between the two cultures that the Chinese started producing world maps that included Europe and Africa.
Chinese maps on which East Africa is also north-south oriented.
-Ch'uan Chin and Li Hui (1402)