A zij () is an Islamic astronomical book that tabulates ephemeris used for astronomy calculations of the apparent place of the sun, moon, stars, and planets.
Etymology
The name
zīj is derived from the
Middle Persian term
zih or
zīg "cord". The term is believed to refer to the arrangement of threads in weaving, which was transferred to the arrangement of rows and columns in tabulated data. Some such books were referred to as
qānūn, derived from the equivalent Greek word, .
Historically significant zījes
The
Zij-i Sultani, published by the astronomer and
sultan Ulugh Beg in 1438/9, was used as a reference
zij throughout Islam during the early modern era.
's
Zij-i Malik Shahi was updated throughout the modern era under various sultanates.
were updated by different empires to suit their various interests, such as the simplified version of
Zij-i Sultani by the
Mughal Empire.
History
Some of the early
zījes tabulated data from
Indian astronomy (known as the Sindhind) and from pre-Islamic
Sasanian Empire models, but most
zījes presented data based on the
Ptolemaic model. A small number of the
zījes adopted their computations reflecting original observations but most only adopted their tables to reflect the use of a different calendar or geographic longitude as the basis for computations. Since most
zījes generally followed earlier theory, their principal contributions reflected improved trigonometrical, computational and observational techniques.
[Benno van Dalen, PARAMS (Database of parameter values occurring in Islamic astronomical sources), "General background of the parameter database" ]
The content of zījes were initially based on that of the "Handy Tables" by Ptolemy, known in Arabic as al-Qānūn, the Zīj-i Shāh compiled in Sasanian Persia, and the Indian by Āryabhaṭa and Brahmagupta. Muslim zījes, however, were more extensive, and typically included materials on chronology, geographical and , star tables, trigonometrical functions, functions in spherical astronomy, the equation of time, planetary motions, computation of eclipses, tables for first visibility of the New moon, astronomical and/or astrological computations, and instructions for astronomical calculations using Epicycle geocentric models.
Over 200 different zījes have been identified that were produced by Islamic astronomers during the period from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. The greatest centers of production of zījes were Baghdad under the Abbasid caliphs in the ninth century,
List
-
Az-Zīj ‛alā Sinī al-‛Arab — by Ibrahim al-Fazari (d. 777) and Muhammad al-Fazari (d. 796/806)
-
Az-Zīj al-Mahlul min as-Sindhind li-Darajat Daraja — by Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq (d. 796)
-
Zij as-Sindhind — by al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850)
-
al-Battani — by Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī (Albatenius) (853–929)
-
Zīj al-Safa'ih ( Tables of the disks of the astrolabe) — by Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin (900–971)
-
Ibn Yunus — by Ibn Yunus (c. 950–1009)
-
Az-Zīj al-Jamī wal-Baligh ( The Comprehensive and Mature Tables) — by Kushyar ibn Labban (971–1029)
-
Zīj-i Malik-Shāhī (Astronomical Handbook with Tables for Malikshah) (1079) — by Omar Khayyam (1048–1141)
-
Almanac of Azarqueil (1088) — by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Azarqueil) (1028–1087)
-
Tables of Toledo — based on Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Azarqueil) (1028–1087)
-
Az-Zīj As-Sanjarī ( Sinjaric Tables) — by al-Khazini (floruit 1115–1130)
-
Zij-i Ilkhani — by Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (1201–1274)
-
al-Zij al-jadīd — by Ibn al-Shāṭir (1304–1375)
-
Hui people Lifa ( Muslim System of Calendrical Astronomy) — published in China a number of times until the early 18th century,
-
Khaqani Zij — by Jamshīd al-Kāshī (1380–1429)
-
Zij-i-Sultani (1437) — by Ulugh Beg (1393–1449)
-
Unbored Pearl (1579–1580) — by Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf (1526–1585)
-
Zīj-i Muhammad Shahi — by Jai Singh II of Amber (1688–1743)
-
Zīj-i Bahadurkhani (1838) — by Ghulam Hussain Jaunpuri (1760–1862)
See also
Notes
-
E. S. Kennedy. "A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 46, 2. Philadelphia, 1956. (A revised version in preparation by Benno van Dalen will include over 200 zijes).
Further reading
