Ahmad Al-Ferghani
Birthday: Year 797
Date of death: Year 865
Place of birth:Ferghana
Fields of study: Astronomers, Mathematicians
Biography
And Bu-l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Fargani was a Central Asian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century. Native of Fergana. In Western Europe it was known under the Latinized name Alfraganus. Ahmad Al-Ferghani was one of a galaxy of scholars of Mamun's academy, the so-called "House of Wisdom", an institution founded in the ninth century by Caliph Al-Mamun.
Al-Ferghani's scientific works immortalized his name forever and brought him worldwide fame.
Al Fergani, a great astronomer, mathematician and geographer, lived in the Middle Ages in Central Asia. His full name is Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Ferghani. There is very little biographical information about him, and at present, his single Fergani “nisba” points to the fact that he was a native of the Fergana Valley.
However, one cannot ignore the fact that, in accordance with Muslim tradition, in the Middle Ages, names were given with a prefix to the name, which indicated the place of birth of the person. For example, until 995 the capital of Khorezm was the city of Kotnik, and then it became known as Gurgenj. In some Arab countries this tradition has been preserved to this day. For example, the Egyptian capital Cairo was called Egypt, and the Syrian capital Damascus was formerly called Lebanon. Like them, the medieval city of the Fergana Valley Akhsikat was also called Fergana.
Al-Fergani was born in the Fergana Valley in the village of Kubo (Kuva). He was the deputy of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, governor of the eastern countries.
Perhaps Abdullah Khan strove for knowledge from a young age, and after becoming the ruler of Merv in 806, he began to gather talented young scientists from Transoxiana, Khorasan and Khorezm. Many scientists were gathered even before Abdullah, because Merv was the largest scientific research center even during the Sassanid period. When the last Shah of the Sassanids, Yazdygard ibn Shahriyor, came to Merv to escape persecution by the Arabs, he brought with him many books from the libraries of the former capital.
Under the rule of the Arabs, Merv did not lose its status, but rather, on the contrary, began to resemble the Mongol in its greatness. And at the beginning of the 9th century, Merv became the largest scientific and cultural center of the Islamic Caliphate.
In 809, Caliph Harun al-Rashid died unexpectedly and bequeathed the throne in Baghdad to his eldest son, Muhammad aya-Amin.
In 811, a struggle for the throne began in Khorasan between two brothers Muhammad and Abdullah. And in 813, Abdullah defeated Muhammad. And Muhammad was executed.
This year Abudlah reigned on the throne under the name al-Mamun. And until 819 he lived in Merv, without leaving for Baghdad. As a result, Merv was the capital of the Arab Caliphate from 813 to 819
In 819, al-Mamun moved to Baghdad along with officials and courtiers. Among them was al-Ferghani. On the instructions of al-Mamun, the scientific center “Bayt ul-Khikmat” was created. Al-Fergani worked in this center, but this was often forgotten, and it was hardly mentioned anywhere. It is believed that this happened for the following reason: at that time there were 2 observatories in the caliphate, one in mahalla al-Shamsia in Baghdad, and the second in Damascus, near the Qasiyoun hill. This large center of science had another name - Al-Mamun Academy. First in Mevra, then in Baghdad, the scientists he invited from Khorezm, Fergana, Sogdiana, Shash, Farab, Khorasan continued scientific research.
Two observatories were opened there, equipped with the best astronomical instruments for that era. Astronomers at the Al-Mamun Academy measured the circumference of the Earth, the length of the Earth's meridian in degrees, observed the starry sky, compiled Zijras (tables), and wrote scientific papers.
Two groups of Bayt ul-Hikmat advanced scientists regularly worked in each of these observatories. These scientists led scientific expeditions and led them from Baghdad.
Perhaps al-Mamoun, having arrived in Baghdad, brought al-Ferghani with him to work in a group of scientists from Damascus. Beruni wrote that there are 2 groups of great scientists, of whom Beruni works in Damascus, Ya ibn Abu Mansur, al-Khorazmiy and others work in Baghdad.
In 832-833, Al-Ferghani participated in an expedition to measure the length of the earth's meridian. It was held in the desert between Tambour and ar-Raqqa.
Al-Mamun brought with him from Merv to Baghdad not only scientists, but also workers and warriors. When he came to Baghdad, he disowned all his troops. Al-Ma'mun appointed the governor of Tulun, a Turk from Bukhara, later he became the caliph of Syria, and commander–in-chief of the troops of Palestine and Egypt.
His son Ahmad declared the independence of Syria and Egypt, and created the Tulun clan. Al-Ferghani was sent to Egypt as an adviser, so he was an adviser and confidant of al-Mamun.
If we compare the lives of al-Fargony and al-Khorazmiy, we can understand the following. It is known that the name of al-Khorazmi was last mentioned in written sources in 847, in connection with the death of al-Vosyk. Therefore, the year 850 is considered to be the date of al-Khorezmi's death. And the name of al-Ferghani was last mentioned in 861 in connection with measurements carried out on the Nile River using a Nilometer.
If we consider that he left Merv for Baghdad with al-Mamun in 819 at the age of 20-25, then we can say that he was born in 797 or 798. And he lived until he was 67-68 years old.
The works of Ahmad al-Ferghani, such as “The Book of the Beginnings of the Science of Astronomy”, “The Book of the Causality of the Celestial Spheres”, “The Book of Astronomical Movements, and a Summary of the Science of the Stars”, “The Thirty Elements”, “Theoretical Calculations on the Sphere” are some one of the first works in Arabic on astronomy. The scientist gave a brief description of astronomy in them, mainly referring to the work of the Alexandrian scientist Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD) “Great mathematical system of astronomy.”
In the book, Al-Ferghani placed a table of famous geographical points, placing them in accordance with seven climates from East to West, indicating coordinates. Al-Ferghani is also the author of “Introduction to Geography”, “Names of countries and cities known on Earth, as well as their climatic conditions”.
Fergani's treatise “The Book of Celestial Movements and the Code of Sciences of the Stars” consists of 30 chapters and is a brief encyclopedia of astronomical knowledge of his era. The treatise became widespread in Europe thanks to translations in the 12th century. from Arabic to Latin, and in the 13th century. - into other European languages. First printed in 1493. Fergani's works in the field of astronomy have been used in Europe for 700 years as an encyclopedia and teaching aid.
Being a practitioner and observing celestial bodies, al-Ferghani made many discoveries. Thus, he scientifically proved the sphericity of the Earth, established the date of the longest day of the year - June 22, and the shortest - December 23. Ferghani also discovered the existence of sunspots and predicted a solar eclipse that occurred in 832.
The scientist spent the last years of his life in Cairo. There he was engaged in the construction of an astrolabe - an instrument for determining the location of stars and measuring the distance between them. The scientist gave a mathematical description and proposed measures to improve this device. The fruit of his activities in Cairo was the construction of the so-called Nilomer, or Nilometer. It was built under the leadership of al-Ferghani in 861 to measure the water level of the Nile.
These measurements were very important for Egyptian life. Too much water rise in the Nile could lead to waterlogging and crop failure during years of heavy flooding. According to the descriptions of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, sometimes when the Nile flooded, it flooded not only the entire delta, but also the surrounding areas, so that it took two days to cross from one bank to the other. Nilomer Ferghani, located on the Nile island of Roda, was of key importance in flood forecasting. This building still remains one of the capital's landmarks.
Ahmad al-Ferghani is one of the great Uzbek scientists who made a huge contribution to the development of world science. According to historical data, his invaluable legacy served as a guide to action for the scientists of his contemporaries. This idea is confirmed by the fact that in the 12th century the scientist’s work “The Book of the Fundamentals of Astronomy” was translated into Latin and Hebrew.
In 1998, the world community, under the auspices of UNESCO, celebrated the 1200th anniversary of the great scientist, who made a huge contribution to world science.
