Page 27 - Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean (before portuguese)_Neat

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42 ARAB NAVIGATION
coast of Arabia and probably from an old sea-going family. He was
dead by the time that Sidi Qelebi wrote in 1553. Altogether we have
five works of his, all in one of the two manuscripts from the Biblio-
thfcque Nationale, (MS 2559) and it is from these alone that we
know anything about him.
The only work of his which is dated is his first, known as the
*Umdat al-Mahriya fi dabf al-Hlm al-bahrlya, and the exact date of
this is known only because it is given by Sidi Qelebi in the Muhif.
This work is a fairly straightforward treatise on the navigator’s I really achieved. The great point of the Minhaj is that it reviews the
science, in prose as are all the extant works of Sulaiman. Sulaiman I latitude (qiyas) values given to places, and gives a more accurate
has set himself a plan in his work and has kept to it rigidly, dealing
with all the relative.points under their proper headings. He is always
concise and to the point, and his works are so easy to read compared
with those of Ibn Majid, that they must in all cases form the basis
on which to elucidate the works of the earlier author. The plan of
his work is based generally on that given by Ibn Majid in his Hamya,
which Suliaman quotes—it may be that Sulaiman never saw the
Fawa'id. It is difficult to tell whether Sulaiman’s prose works were
inspired by Ibn Majid’s few prose efforts or whether they are a
direct attempt to improve on the numerous rajaz poems.
The 'Umda is perhaps the clearest of all the navigational works
for it includes both theory and the practical results; the latter
immediately following the former. Thus in the first section general
navigational theory is given with an explanation of why the heavens
revolve and descriptions of navigational terminology. Then we have
a description of all the coasts giving the compass bearings when
following the coast preceded by the relevant theory; then a list of
i
latitudes (Pole Star altitudes) for all thecoasts-of the Indian Ocean,
together with the most important theory of qiyas determination.
The times for sailing (monsoons) are given next. Finally a long list
of set voyages is given with full directions covering the whole of the
Indian Ocean. Thus whereasTbn Majid loses himself in theory,
especially in complicated methods of qiyas measurement, and tends
to neglect the practical results, Sulaiman’s aim is to produce accurate
determinations and list them for reference, reducing theory to a
subordinate position. ' '
However! satisfactory we may. regard the 'Umda, Sulaiman was
obviously not satisfied with it. In'the first place there were certain
results given in it which he himself proved to be wrong after sub­
sequent experience,- secondly he was not satisfied with the insertion
of the theoretical passages into the lists of results. Therefore at some
later date he wrote a revision of his work, this time as two separate
treatises. First he produced a new: work giving lists of compass
{
THE NAVIGATORS AND THEIR WORKS 43
bearings, qiyas measurements, etc. for the coasts of Indian Ocean,
correcting any mistakes which occurred in the 'Umda and omitting
much of the theory. This work he called the Minhaj al-fakhir fi
Him al-bahr al-zakhir. Although Sulaiman may have been pleased
with this work, it is not as rewarding for the modem scholar as the
'Umda. It loses that straightforward plan of theory plus results
equals set voyages—a logical sequence which any navigator would
appreciate and which one feels Ibn Majid was aiming for but never
picture of the higher ranges in the latitude of Jidda, Ras al-Hadd :
and Shatijam (Chittagong), it also includes the longitudinal distances .
across the ocean (masafat) not given in detail before, except vaguely
in Ibn Majid’s Hamya. It also has a section on birds, seaweed, etc.
(isharat) not given in the 'Umda but here one feels that Sulaiman
has begun to waffle and lost his concise and orderly method of
writing. Another section on winds and cyclones and a rather useless
one on the revolutions of the sun and the moon spoil the plan and
bring back the theoretical approach which he has obviously
attempted to reject. Furthermore this is useless theory unlike the
practical theory of the cUmda. In dealing with winds he omits the A
essentials, i.e. the list of sailing dates or monsoons—perhaps he has
no further comments to make on the list given in the 'Umda. Finally
in the appendix he gives a rehash of the set voyages dealing with r ;
South-East Asia and the Bay of Bengal, but he does not repeat the
rest for completeness so we have no universal sailing direction as
we have in the case of the 'Umda. Apart from a few more accurate
V. figures, the Minhaj is an inferior work altogether compared with
the 'Umda. . V
After the Minhaj, Sulaiman produced another work entitled t M
Tuhfat al-fuhul fi tamhid al-uful, a short treatise of sixTolios giving
a concise account of navigational theory. In fact here is the revised
theoretical part removed from the 1Umda when the latter work was
revised to produce the Minhaj. The Tuhfat unlike the Minhaj does
not lose itself in unnecessary material. It is planned properly in a
logical sequence and gives all the theory necessary for navigating.
Thus the order is 1. Generalities, 2. Rhumbs, 3. the zam, 4. types of
routes, 5. qiyas theory, 6. theory of masafat, 7. theory of winds. \
Finally in this sequence Sulaiman produced a commentary on this
last work, which is also included in MS 2559. This must have been
Sulaiman’s last and presumably his greatest work in his own eyes.
But to the European scholar, and possibly to the Indian Ocean
navigator who already has the original Tuhfat, the work is of no use