Istakhri

Istakhri also belonged to the Balkhi school of cartography, which he helped to popularize. Writing style was innovative for its addition of Islamic traditions throughout the text, and for its inclusion in conjunction with the maps he presented. Istakhri met the celebrated traveller-geographer Ibn Hawqal, while travelling, and Ibn Hawqal incorporated the work of Istakhri in his book Kitab al-Surat al-Ard.

It is believed that al-Istakhri is from the town of Istakahr, an ancient city in the southwestern province of Fars. There is no consensus regarding his origin. The Encyclopedia Iranica states, "Biographical data are very meager. From his nesbas (attributive names) he appears to have been a native of Eṣṭaḵr in Fārs, but it is not known whether he was Persian". Some sources describe him as Persian, while others state he was Arab. Most of his works were written in Arabic and then later translated to Persian. This translation possibly facilitated his works becoming an inspiration for other Persian geographers of the time. His seminal work, Kitab al-masalik wa-I-mamalik or Book of Roads and Kingdoms, was one of the earliest attempts at mapping a large area of land in the Islamic world.

Istakhri's two surviving works are: Masālik al-Mamālik (مسالك الممالك, Routes of the Realms), or Kitab al-masalik wa-l-mamalik (كتاب المسالك والممالك Book of Roads and Kingdoms), a contribution to the "Book of Roads and Kingdoms" tradition. This combines maps with descriptive text to describe the geography of Iran and surrounding kingdoms. It is based mainly on lists of stations of postal routes, and seems intended to help commit those lists to memory rather than to guide travellers through the territory. There is no consistency between the map projections. An illuminated manuscript (MS Or. 3101) dated AH 589 (AD 1193) is held by Leiden University Libraries and is digitally available. Another illuminated manuscript dated AH 706 (AD 1306–07) now resides in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. It contains many maps, though some mentioned in the text are missing. Ṣuwar al-ʿAqālīm (صور الاقاليم, Pictures of the Regions), A Persian treatise of geography. Thought to be a representation of Spain, the text included with the image refers to Spanish territory under the rule of the Umayyads of Cordoba. This gives a reference to the times of 756 CE - 1031 CE. While this image was innovative at the time of its creation, there are some incorrect locations and errors throughout.

In the 9th century, around 150 years after the founding of Islam, Arabic translations of Ptolemy's Geography sparked Islamic interest in the literature of cartography and geographical descriptions. In addition, Arabic geographers utilized the ancient Iranian concept of the seven climes, a system which organized the world into broad regions and informed how Islamic scholars described space. The Abbasid period was increasingly concerned with cartographical improvement to address the needs of administrations and businesses as well as to be able to locate Mecca easily.

Later Arabic cartographers shifted away from the Ptolemaic past to embrace new forms of symbolic mapping. Istakhri belonged to and helped to popularize the Balkhi school, inspired by the earlier works of Ibn Kurradadhbih and the Iraqi school. The Balkhi school was the first to focus on Islamic areas and leave foreign methods behind, instead defining a country in geographical terms. Map divisions were largely territorial and material; however, since few of al-Balkhi's geographical treatises survive, their influence on Istakhri has been long contested. Before 921 CE, Istakhri stated he had completed commentaries on Balkhi's maps and expanded upon them in 933 CE and 951 CE. Afterward, he met Ibn Hawqal, who revised Istakhri's work as well. As none of the existing manuscripts date from their lifetimes, it is difficult to fully know the origins of the Balkhi school and its various works.

While scholars have referred to the category of illustrated maps associated with al-Istakhri as the Atlas of Islam, some modern scholars like Karen Pinto prefer to call it the KMMS tradition. The acronym comes from the first letter of each word of the Arabic title of his Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitāb al-masālik wa-al-mamālik) combined with the first letter of the Arabic word for picture (ṣūrat). Istakhri methodically sections off regional entities that have boundaries and ascribes them to them certain political and religious meanings. In the illustrated geographies, Istakhri follows a standardized format: each manuscript includes 21 maps, one world map and 20 regional maps, arranged in the same fixed order. The text also briefly explains the world and theories about it, then narrows down to discussing the Muslim world in full. Istakhri would oftentimes interweave Islamic traditions with the territory he was writing and mapping. He also wrote about places he had not yet seen, such as Sicily, Italy, by taking extensive notes from the geographical works of those who had been there and reading through previous works on the region. There are also personal anecdotes scattered throughout the text as well. Istakhri discusses how highly he held the values of the structure of the kingdom, good manners, law and order, and the organization of settled life, for example as seen through his writings on the Beja people.