Kazvinî

Kazvinî (full name Zekeriya b. Muhammed b. Mahmud el-Kazvinî), named after the city of Kazvin in Iran where he was born, was a scholar, qadi, and geographer who lived in the 7th Hijri / 13th Gregorian century (Vol. 2, p. 27). He is considered one of the leading figures in the Islamic geography and cosmography tradition and gives extensive coverage in his works to the regions, tribes, and castles inhabited by Kurds.

Life and Duties

Born in H. 600 / m. 1203, Kazvinî is also known by the epithets "Ebu Yahya" and "Imaduddin". He was given the epithet "el-Ensarî" due to his lineage to Enes b. Malik (d. H. 93 / m. 712), upon whom the Mâlikî school is based. Kazvinî, who also received fiqh education, served as a qadi in the cities of Vasit and Hille in Iraq during the reign of the last Abbâsî caliph el-Mu'tasım Billah (H. 640-656 / m. 1242-1258) and remained in this position until Baghdad fell to the Mongols in H. 656 / m. 1258. After this date, he resigned from his post and focused on his scientific writings, continuing these works until his death in m. 1283 (Vol. 2, p. 27).

Works and Fame

He owes his fame largely to two of his books. The first of these is ʿAcâibü'l-Mahlûkât ve Ġarâibü'l-Mevcudât in the field of cosmography, that is, the science of describing the universe; the second is Âsârü'l-Bilâd ve Ahbârü'l-İbad, which deals with descriptive geography and history. These two works gained great fame because they contain valuable and new information (Vol. 2, p. 28). Some researchers have considered Kazvinî to be the greatest cosmography scholar; his style, which made various branches of science accessible to the masses, stood out with high artistic creativity. Due to his importance, he has even been compared to the famous Greek historians Herodotus and Gaius Plinius (Vol. 2, p. 28).

In his book Âsârü'l-Bilâd ve Ahbârü'l-İbad, Kazvinî mentions Kurds from the very beginning of the work. In the three prefaces he wrote, he describes humans as social beings who cannot live alone by nature; he discusses the effect of climate and geography on human nature and development. Like geographers before him, he divided the world into seven regions; he put forward the view that the third, fourth, and fifth regions were suitable for habitation, while the others were either extremely cold or hot (Vol. 2, p. 28).

Records on Kurds

His works contain detailed records about the geography inhabited by Kurds. He introduces the Fenek/Fenik castle, located on the summit of a high, difficult-to-reach mountain near Cezîretu İbn Ömer; he recounts that this fortified castle had been in the hands of the Beşneviyye Kurds for approximately 300 years, and that these Kurds were brave and possessed 'asabiyya, protecting those who sought refuge with them (Vol. 2, pp. 28-29). When speaking of Loristan and its surroundings, he provides information that Kurds dominated the region, possessed emirates, and had their own leaders and rulers (Vol. 2, p. 57). He also mentions Bab el-Ekrad (Kürt Kapısı), which is connected to the Kurds in the Ran (Erran) region (Vol. 2, p. 60).

Kazvinî's geographical interest extends over a wide area: he speaks highly of the beauty of Horasan, the fertility of its soil, and the uniqueness of its people in terms of appearance, disposition, morals, and piety (Vol. 2, p. 68); he relays accounts from others regarding the Nihavend Mountains (Vol. 2, p. 82); he traces the course of the Dicle Nehri through Meyyafarikin and Hısnu Keyfâ (Vol. 2, p. 85); he provides estimates regarding the vastness of Mısır (Vol. 2, p. 77). He draws attention to the role played by Selahaddin Eyyûbî in conquering many cities from the Crusaders in Bilad-ı Şam and touches upon political events related to the Eyyûbî family (Vol. 2, p. 75).

Influence on Later Authors

Kazvinî's influence is also seen in later authors. It has been suggested that Dımaşkî's geography book, even in terms of its spirit of knowledge and criticism, is essentially a compilation of Kazvinî's book (Vol. 2, p. 34). Later writers such as İbn el-Verdî, on the other hand, made direct quotations from his works (Vol. 2, p. 85).