Near akin to the study of history is that of geography, and this was pursued not only out of curiosity, but for practical purposes; indeed, the vast extension of the Islamic Empire rendered it necessary for the maintenance of the state.
Hence, we have a. whole series of geographical treatise, dating from the third century of Islam, in which the then known world is described, and valuable statistics of various sorts collected.
Special attention was naturally paid to the Arabian Peninsula, which retained its proud position as the home of Islam, and which every Moslem should visit once in his life.
The roads that radiated thither from all parts of the empire are accurately traced, and not a little told us by the way of the manners, customs, and antiquities of the inhabitants of the different countries.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In the seventh century of Islam this material was collected and arranged in alphabetical order as a World’s Gazetteer.
And just as the great cities of the empire produced their historians, so they had their topographers.
There are in existence works dealing especially with Cairo and Baghdad which for their accuracy and exhaustiveness form noble monuments of the national literature.
For the seventh and eighth centuries of Islam we possess books of travel, by Ibn Jubair and Ibn Batuta; the latter is a mine of information to archaeologists, and has been rendered into more than one European language.