Ebü’l-Fidâ

Ebü'l-Fidâ (el-Melikü'l-Müeyyed İmâdüddîn İsmâîl), who lived between 672/1273-732/1331, is a historian, geographer, and statesman of Eyyûbî descent. He ruled as the melik of Hama and is known for his works in both history and geography.

Life and Career

Full name Ebü'l-Fidâ el-Melikü'l-Müeyyed İmâdüddîn İsmâîl b. Alî b. Mahmûd b. Muhammed b. Şâhinşâh b. Eyyûb, was born in Dımaşk in 672/1273 (Cilt 1, s. 189). He was the nephew of Selâhaddîn-i Eyyûbî and one of the grandsons of Takıyyüddin Ömer, the ruler of Hama; his family belonged to the Eyyûbî dynasty (Cilt 2, s. 35). At the age of just twelve, he participated in the siege of Markab castle with his father and the ruler of Hama, el-Melikü'l-Muzaffer Mahmûd, and subsequently took part in campaigns against the Crusaders. He achieved significant successes in wars against the Crusaders and the Mongols; after his father's death, he became el-Melikü'l-Muzaffer's assistant and rose to become one of the leading emirs of the army (Cilt 1, s. 189).

Upon the death of el-Melikü'l-Muzaffer in 698/1299, Hama passed out of the hands of the Eyyûbî dynasty for a while, but Ebü'l-Fidâ was soon appointed as the naib of Hama by the Mamluk sultan el-Melikü'n-Nâsır Muhammed b. Kalavun. With his knowledge and virtue, he gained the trust and friendship of el-Melikü'n-Nâsır; in 720/1320, he became the melik of Hama with the title of melik and held this position until his death (Cilt 1, s. 189; Cilt 2, s. 35). In addition to being referred to by European researchers primarily by the epithet "Ebü'l-Fidâ", he is also known by the epithets "el-Meliku's-Sâlih" and "el-Meliku'l-Müeyyed" (Cilt 2, s. 35). He passed away in Hama on 23 Muharrem 732 (26 October 1331) and was buried in the türbe he had previously built for himself (Cilt 2, s. 35).

Works

His most renowned work is el-Muhtasar fî Ahbâri'l-Beşer, considered one of the finest examples of its kind (Cilt 1, s. 190). İbnü'l-Verdî, İbnü'ş-Şihne, and İbn Habîb ed-Dımaşkî wrote addenda to the work; among them, İbnü'l-Verdî (d. 749/1349) summarized el-Muhtasar up to the year 729, and he himself penned the events between 729-749 (1329-1349) under the title Tetimmetü'l-Muhtasar fî Ahbâri'l-Beşer. Ebü'l-Fidâ's work titled et-Tibrü'l-Mesbûk fî Tevârihü'l-Mülûk is a brief summary of el-Muhtasar and chronologically lists events during the Eyyûbî period by year. The Arabic text of el-Muhtasar was first printed in four juz (two cilt) in İstanbul in 1286 (1869), and various editions have been published since then (Cilt 1, s. 190).

In the field of geography, he is known for his work titled Takvîmü'l-büldân (Cilt 2, s. 35). In this work, he provided place names, latitude and longitude coordinates of cities, which of the seven main regions they belonged to, which sub-region they were included in, and the correct pronunciation of their names; while preparing his work, he benefited from authors such as İbn Havkal, İdrîsî, İbn Hurdâzbih, İstahrî, İbn Saîd el-Mağribî, Batlamyus, Bîrûnî, Nasîrüddîn-i Tûsî, İbnü'l-Esîr, Yâkūt el-Hamevî (Cilt 2, s. 35). In addition to el-Muhtasar fî Târîhi'l-Beşer and Takvîmü'l-büldân, Nazmü'l-Hâvi's-Sağīr and Şerhu'l-Kâfiye are also among the works he authored (Cilt 2, s. 35).

Regarding the Kurds

In his works, Ebü'l-Fidâ mentioned the Kurds, introducing their cities and villages, and the regions where they lived, especially the Cebel (Loristan) region (Cilt 2, s. 36). In Takvîmü'l-büldân, he referred to the Lor mountain, located between Tüster/Şüşter and İsfahan, which is approximately six days long; he noted that the Kurdish population was large in this mountain and that Kurdish rulers with the status of kings in other countries lived there (Cilt 2, s. 35). However, it is observed that the information Ebü'l-Fidâ provided about the Kurds largely reiterates what authors who lived before him conveyed (Cilt 2, s. 36).