Abu Raikhon Beruni's cartographic heritage
Abu Raikhon Beruni's cartographic heritage
The Central Asian scientist Abu Raikhon Beruni has written a lot of big works concerning various branches of science. During his often travels Beruni profoundly studied a great part of Central Asia.
Beruni has contributed a considerable cartography science. His 10 page- work «Tastikh as-suvar va tabtikh al-kuvar» (Summary of cartography) was devoted to the Khorezm-shah (ruler of Khorezm) Abul Abbas Mamun. The treatise contains information about a creation of a celestial globe. Regarding a geographical map, Beruni wrote the following: «As the Earth is transferred on plane, there is a necessity of writing a book of Geography, which will indicate and describe the longitudes and latitudes of towns and villages, seas, springs, rivers, sandy locations, mountains, mines, peaks, slopes and shallow gullies, and through accurate data will show their features*.
Beruni has demonstrated a new method of identifying the position of a locality by measuring its longitude and latitude. In such a way the scientist has determined the exact longitude and latitude values for the following 80 towns of the ancient Maverannakhr and Khorezm:
Name of locality longitude Latitude
1 Khirat 88° 40 34° 30
2. Balkh (Ancient Bomi) 91° 36° 41
3.0biskun
(Near the Caspian Sea) 79° 15 37°10
4. Kalif
(on the Jeihun river) 90° 15 37°30
5. Maimana 89°50 36°
6, Djurjoniya 81°01 42° 17
7. Kot 85° 41° 36
8. Omuiya 87° 05 39° 10
9. Tavavis (in Bukhara) 87° 50 39° 30
lO.Barskhon
(near Issyk-kul lake)
93° 10 43° 30
There is one more large work written by Beruni on geography and cartography, which has come down to us - «Konuni Mahsudi» («Al-konun al-Mahsudi fil khaiya van nuzhum» - « The law written in Mahsud's name about astronomy science»). The author wrote this work in his last years of life. According to the opinion of researchers there were 10 hand-written copies. The work contains 12 articles, each article being divided into several sections.
connected with the development of world science and education. The musicologists of the East many times underlined a connection between music, medicine, philosophy and mathematics.
Preconditions that are necessary for makom systems to appear were born as far back as the 9th-1 Oth centuries. It was just the period when exact science started developing. Thanks to Abu Nasr Farabi (871-950 A.D.), who made a tremendous contribution to the sphere of musicology, professional music practice was put on a new step. All this turned to become a good precondition for the appearance of the «12 makom system» in large cities of the medieval East.
In our region the system of 12 makoms completely confirmed itself and acquired its originally classical form in the period of Temur and Temurids' reign. It is necessary to underline here a specific contribution made by Sokhibkiran. Amir Temur got together scientists-musicologists from different countries and gave them all necessary conditions for creative activities.
Consequently, the system of 12 makoms arises from long-term scientific work of many people.
The word «makom», means in Sufism interpretation the seven main stages (or steps) that are to be reached by a traveler (salik, myufid) going on the way (suluk) of moral self-improvement.
It is important to keep in mind that the system of 12 makoms, bearing the idea of «perfect person», has various forms of manifestation. For example, a spiritual ascent of the traveler to his goal is «embodied» through pilgrimage to holy towns which is softly (batin) implicated in special names of makoms. In the context of the above we offer the following interpretation of those names:
- Ushshak - passionate love for Great Creator ;
- Navo - melody of passionate love;
- Busalik - decision of the person in love to put himself on the track of learning and spiritual improvement.
The names of the following 7 makoms - «Rast», «Husayniy», «Hidjaz», «Rokhaviy». Zangula», «Iraq», «Isfagan» are allegorically implying the idea of making Great Hadj and, at the same time, symbolizing the steps of spiritual ascent of the man in love towards the perception of the Absolute Truth.
It is not accidentally that the hero in love from poetic lines feels an acute spiritual need for listening to the makoms «Iraq», «Hidjaz». Since in the musical structure of these makoms there are such melodic pearls that stimulate his pure intentions, it is just there that he derives his strength on the way towards moral improvement.
As a whole the projection of the Sufi relationship «salik -suluk» (traveler - way) in the System of 12 makoms can be traced in the following way:
a) each of 12 makoms. consisting of perfect scale, is presented as «suluk» (musical»way»);
b) the function of the traveler is performed by the representatives of «shubat» (musical thee);
c) in musical practice the melodic formations «shube» are relying on definate steps of fret-makom and is developing up to necessary-condition.
In such a way the word «makom» in music also means «creative formation* that is «way», in other words, a specific method of the development of musical material from «imperfect» to «perfect».
Summarizing the above we may add to the makom description the following:
1) Makom is a definite philosophy, a specific musical embodiment of the levels of knowledge. The basis of its philosophic wisdom is spiritual, intellectual self-improvement of a person who is recognizing the Truth by this way.
2) Makom is a method of bottom-up developing a given musical theme, symbolizing a graduate ascent on the steps of improvement.
This additional comment to the makoms is applicable not only to the 12-makom system but also the Shashmakom. Khorezm-makom, and Ferghana-Tashkent-makom.
In pure musical plane we may trace a tendency to a gradual development of melody theme on the basis of improved scale (as an artistic expression of the process of cognition), melody strictly follows the purposeful development of music and invariably leads to the culmination - to a quantitative renovation of the initial image on this way. But the most forcible argument is the makom music itself that is penetrated with a Great Love. Indeed, wonderful melodies of makoms reflect spiritual pureness that is personifying moral-ethic basics of real Beauty and God's truth. It seems this is the reason why the makoms for ages have not lost their artistic value and are going on to with the souls of more and more listeners.
The makoms are awaking in people their best thoughts, aspirations and feelings, they help us to raise our spirit in spite of many obstacles and temptations and by the language of music is calling on us to move towards spiritual perfection.
