THE TRANSLATION MOVEMENT (786-833 AD)

 THE TRANSLATION MOVEMENT (786-833 AD)

With the patronage of Abbasid Caliph Harun al Rashid , an academy called ‘Baitul Hikma’ was  established. In this academy, Scholars from all over the world were invited to teach and assist the Muslim academics and to help them in the translation of the Greek, Latin, Persian and Sanskrit works into Arabic. The muslims took help of Jacobites, Nestorians , Christians, jews, Greeks, Persians and Indians in the translation of forgotten literature produced by Greeks and Roman scholars. Abbasid Caliph Al Mamun, who ascended the throne in 813 AD, gave great support to Scholars. He favoured the Nestorians, Christians and Jews of his kingdom, who till then were the custodians of Greek sciences . He collected at great expense Greek works and constituted a library. The learned scholars of his court translated the works of Euclid, Archimedes and Aristotle. Ptolemy’s Almagast and his treatise of geography were also translated onto Arabic. Thus, Muslims collected geographical ideas from Greeks, Romans, Iranese, Chinese and Indians. On the basis of their observations, explorations and studies. They developed their own concept and theories with great vigour and speed.They produced innumerable books on various aspects of geography and allied sciences and carried their knowledge to far off lands from the shores of Atlantic to the Pacific and Indian ocean.

Reference: Evolution of Geographical Thought- Majid Husain