Medieval Islamic Maps

Hundreds of exceptional cartographic images are scattered throughout medieval and early modern Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript collections. The plethora of copies created around the Islamic world over the course of eight centuries testifies to the enduring importance of these medieval visions for the Muslim cartographic imagination. With Medieval Islamic Maps, historian Karen C. Pinto brings us the first in-depth exploration of medieval Islamic cartography from the mid-tenth to the nineteenth century. Pinto focuses on the distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, or KMMS), examining them from three distinct angles--iconography, context, and patronage. She untangles the history of the KMMS maps, traces their inception and evolution, and analyzes them to reveal the identities of their creators, painters, and patrons, as well as the vivid realities of the social and physical world they depicted. In doing so, Pinto develops innovative techniques for approaching the visual record of Islamic history, explores how medieval Muslims perceived themselves and their world, and brings Middle Eastern maps into the forefront of the study of the history of cartography.

"Medieval Islamic Maps is a project of great value and importance: it uses maps as documents of political and cultural history and relates them to changes in other arts. Pinto displays profound knowledge of her sources, excellent contextual awareness, indefatigable scholarship, a keen eye for evidence, suppleness in thought, and fluency in expression. She situates her maps against intercultural influences, political circumstances, and agendas of mapmakers and patrons. Her approach is markedly original compared with existing works, which tend to focus on the technical aspects of cartography. Reading Medieval Islamic Maps is a rich and rewarding experience, and any scholar interested in Islam, cartography, or historiography should take notice of this fine work."-- "Felipe Fernández-Armesto, University of Notre Dame", "In Medieval Islamic Maps, Pinto makes an underappreciated and misunderstood genre of historical source very accessible and understandable. Drawing impressively on Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian sources, she guides the reader through key issues relating to their interpretation, and situates them in their cultural, historical, and geographical contexts. It is a work of great originality and importance."-- "Brian Catlos, University of Colorado Boulder", "Through excellent research in multilingual (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish) primary and secondary resources, Pinto provides a significantly original, detailed, and compelling in-depth assessment of medieval Islamic cartography from the mid-10th to the 19th century. The author focuses on a ninth-century tradition of maps known collectively as the Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, or Book of Roads and Kingdoms, by the Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh, and Greek history (notably Ptolemy) from the perspectives of iconography, context, and patronage. In 13 chapters augmented by 150 superb (mostly color) illustrations, 741 scholarly notes, and 686 bibliographic references, she examines these Muslim maps as documents of political and cultural history from a broad humanities context and demonstrates the intersection with Western cartography. Tracing the inception and evolution of these maps, Pinto analyzes them to uncover the identities of their creators, painters, and patrons. Incredibly valuable for research in cartography, historiography, and Islamic studies.This unique compendium is a 'must acquisition for scholars and major libraries. Essential."-- "Choice", "Written with a clear and compelling voice, Medieval Islamic Maps illuminates the history and significance of centuries of medieval Islamic cartography. Pinto includes an abundance of fascinating maps throughout, coaxing the reader into a thorough understanding of them through her use of a Google Earth distortion. One of the most fascinating themes of the book, which shows both depth and breadth, is Pinto's demonstration of how the KMMS mapping tradition--the most widely circulating and longest living cartographic template--became more stylized and less representative over the centuries to finally emerge as an objet d'art. She does this while simultaneously tracing how it intersected with the Western cartographic tradition in one of its afterlives. With a gradual development of her arguments in short, concise chapters, Pinto offers an absorbing--and much-needed--exploration of Middle Eastern cartography that will be an essential addition in the next textbook on Islamic history."-- "Dana Sajdi, Boston College"

Karen C. Pinto is assistant professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern history at Boise State University.