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al-Masʿūdī (full name , أبو الحسن علي بن الحسين بن علي المسعودي), –956, was a historian, geographer and Explorer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geography, natural science and philosophy, his celebrated magnum opus The Meadows of Gold () combines universal history with scientific geography, social commentary and biography.John L. Esposito (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004), p. 195
Al-Masʿudi may have reached Sri Lanka and China although he is known to have met Abu Zayd al-Sirafi on the coast of the Persian Gulf and received information on China from him.[Mas‘udi. The Meadows of Gold, The Abbasids, transl. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone, Kegan Paul. London and New York, 1989, p. 11. He presumably gathered information on Byzantium from the Byzantine admiral, Leo of Tripoli, a convert-to-Islam whom he met in Syria where his last years were divided between there and Egypt. In Egypt he found a copy of a Frankish king list from Clovis I to Louis IV that had been written by an bishop.
Little is known of his means and funding of his extensive travels within and beyond the lands of Islam, and it has been speculated that like many travelers he was involved in trade.
Towards the end of The Meadows of Gold, al-Masʿudi wrote:
We know that al-Masʿudi wrote a revised edition of Murūj al-dhahab in 956 CE;Shboul. Al-Mas'udi and His World, pp. 68–69. however, only a draft version from 947 is extant. Al-Masʿudi in his Tanbīh states that the revised edition of Murūj al-dhahab contained 365 chapters.
In The Meadows of Gold, al-Mas'udi wrote his famous condemnation of revelation over reason:
He mentions meeting influential jurists and cites the work of others and indicates training in jurisprudence. According to al-Subki, al-Mas'udi was a student of Ibn Surayj, the leading scholar of the Shafi'ite school. Al-Subki claimed he found al-Mas'udi's notes of Ibn Surayj's lectures. Al-Mas'udi also met Shafi'ites during his stay in Egypt. He met in Baghdad and Aleppo such as Ibn Jabir and Niftawayh; modern scholarship leans toward the view that al-Mas'udi was an adherent of the latter school.Devin J. Stewart, "Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari's al-Bayan 'an Usul al-Ahkam and the Genre of Usul al-Fiqh in Ninth Century Baghdad," pg. 333. Taken from Abbasid Studies: Occasional Papers of the School of Abbasid Studies, Cambridge, 6–10 January 2002, edited by James Montgomery. Leuven: Peeters Publishers and the Department of Oriental Studies, 2004.
Al-Masʿudi knew leading Mu'tazilites, including al-Jubba, al-Nawbakhti, ibn Abdak al-Jurjani and Abu'l-Qasim al-Balkhi al-Ka'bi. He was also well acquainted with previous Mu'tazilite literature. His reasoning, his phraseology, and his expressed high esteem for Mu'tazilities could suggest that he was one of their number. However, Shboul points out that his extant works do not specifically state that he was.
Al-Mas'udi included the history of the ancient civilizations that had occupied the land upon which Islam later spread. He mentions the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Persians among others. He is also the only Arab historian to refer (albeit indirectly) to the kingdom of Urartu, when he speaks about the wars between the Assyrians (led by the legendary Queen Semiramis) and Armenians (led by Ara the Beautiful).See Ter-Ghevondyan, Aram N. ""Արա և Շամիրամ" առասպելի մի արձագանքը արաբ պատմիչ Մասուդի մոտ" ("An Echo of the Legend of 'Ara and Semiramis' Found with Arab Historian Masudi"). Patma-Banasirakan Handes. No. 4 (31), 1965, pp. 249–253. With Russian abstract.
Al-Masʿudi was aware of the influence of ancient Babylon on Persia. He had access to a wealth of translations by scholars such as ibn al-Muqaffa from Middle Persian into Arabic. In his travels, he also personally consulted Persian scholars and Zoroastrian priests. He thus had access to much material, factual and mythical. Like other Arabic historians, he was unclear on the Achaemenid dynasty, though he knew of Kurush (Cyrus the Great). He was much clearer on the more recent dynasties and his estimation of the time between Alexander the Great and Ardashir I is much more accurately depicted than it is in al-Tabari.
His wide-ranging interests included the Greeks and the Romans. Again, like other Arabic historians, he was unclear on Greece before the Macedonian dynasty that produced Alexander the Great. He is aware that there were kings before this, but is unclear on their names and reigns. He also seems unfamiliar with such additional aspects of Greek political life as Athenian democratic institutions. The same holds for Rome prior to Julius Caesar. However, he is the earliest extant Arabic author to mention the Roman Origin myth of Romulus and Remus.
In al-Masʿudi's view the greatest contribution of the Greeks was philosophy. He was aware of the progression of Greek philosophy from the pre-Socratics onward.
He also was keenly interested in the earlier events of the Arabian peninsula. He recognized that Arabia had a long and rich history. He also was well-aware of the mixture of interesting facts in pre-Islamic times, in myths and controversial details from competing tribes and even referred to the similarity between some of this material and the legendary and story telling contributions of some Middle Persian and Indian books to the Thousand and One Nights.
His normal inquiries of travelers and extensive reading of previous writers were supplemented in the case of India with his personal experiences in the western part of the subcontinent. He demonstrates a deep understanding of historical change, tracing current conditions to the unfolding of events over generations and centuries. He perceived the significance of interstate relations and of the interaction of Muslims and Hindus in the various states of the subcontinent.
He described previous rulers in China, underlined the importance of the revolt by Huang Chao in the late Tang dynasty, and mentioned, though less detailed than for India, Chinese beliefs. His brief portrayal of Southeast Asia stands out for its degree of accuracy and clarity. He surveyed the vast areas inhabited by Turkic peoples, commenting on what had been the extensive authority of the Khaqan, though this was no longer the case by al-Mas'udi's time. He conveyed the great diversity of Turkic peoples, including the distinction between sedentary and nomadic Turks. He spoke of the significance of the Khazars and provided much fresh material on them.
sailors, who call the Comoros islands: "The Perfume Islands".]]His account of the Rus is an important early source for the study of Russian history and the history of Ukraine. Again, while he may have read such earlier Arabic authors as Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn al-Faqih, ibn Rustah and Ibn Fadlan, al-Mas'udi presented most of his material based on his personal observations and contacts made while traveling. He informed the Arabic reader that the Rus were more than just a few traders. They were a diverse and varied collection of peoples. He noted their independent attitude, the absence of a strong central authority among them and their paganism. He was very well informed on Rus trade with the Byzantines and on the competence of the Rus in sailing merchant vessels and warships. He was aware that the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are two separate bodies of water.
Al-Masʿudi was also very well informed about Byzantine affairs, even internal political events and the unfolding of palace coups. He recorded the effect of the westward migration of various tribes upon the Byzantines, especially the invading Bulgars. He spoke of Byzantine relations with western Europe. And, of course, he was attentively interested in Byzantine-Islamic relations.
One example of al-Masʿudi's influence on Muslim knowledge of the Byzantine world is that the use of the name Istanbul (in place of Constantinople) can be traced to his writings during the year 947, centuries before the eventual Ottoman use of this term. He writes that the Greeks (i.e. the Byzantines of the tenth century) call it "the City" ( bulin in the Arabic script, which lacks the letter p: so Medieval Greek polin); "and when they wish to express that it is the capital of the Empire because of its greatness they say Istan Bulin. They do not call it Constantinople. It is only Arabs who so designate it". Companion to Historiography, ed. Michael Bentley. Chapter 1: "The Evolution of Two Asian Historiographical Traditions". Routledge Publishing. 2002.
He has some knowledge of other peoples of eastern and western Europe, even far away Great Britain and Anglo-Saxon England. He names it, though he is sketchy about it. He knows Paris as the Frankish Empire capital. He obtained a copy of a list of Frankish rulers from Clovis I to his own time. He makes several references to people interpreted as Vikings, described by him as Majus, they came to Al-Andalus from the North. (2025). 9781474213752, Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781474213752
Al-Masʿudi's global interest included Africa. He was well aware of peoples in the eastern portion of the continent (mentioning interesting details of the Zanj, for example). He mentioned that one of the most dangerous routes to travel is to the land of the Zanj, "I have sailed on many seas, but I do not know of one more dangerous than that of Zanj", also saying that several captains that he had sailed with drowned. He knows less of West Africa, though he names such contemporary states as Zagawa, Kawkaw and Ghana Empire. He described the relations of African states with each other and with Islam. He provided material on the cultures and beliefs of non-Islamic Africans.
In general his surviving works reveal an intensely curious mind, a universalist eagerly acquiring as extensive a background of the entire world as possible.
Al-Masʿudi describes Sistan, Iran, in 947 AD:R. J. Forbes. Studies in ancient technology. Vol. 9. Brill, 1964.
There is the tale (p. 28 ff.) of the arrow that landed at al-Mansur's feet with verses inscribed in each of the three feathers and along the shaft causing him to investigate the unjust imprisonment of a distinguished notable from Hamadan. There is the story of the singer Harun al-Rashid asks to keep singing until the caliph falls asleep. Then a handsome young man arrives, snatches the lute from the singer's hand and shows him how it really should be done. On awakening Harun is told of this and suggests his singer had a supernatural visitation. Al-Mas'udi quotes the lines (five in English) of this remarkable song.
These anecdotes provide glimpses of other aspects of these prominent people, sharing, actually, greater realization of their humanity and the human concerns of their officials and ordinary subjects. One of the more interesting passages is the account of the symposium held at the home of Harun al-Rashid's famous vizier Yahya the Barmakid on the topic of love. A dozen leading thinkers provide their definition of love and then a thirteenth, a Magian judge, speaks at greater length on that theme.
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