Çağminî

Astronomy and mathematics scholar, physician. (B. 1151?, Çağmin/Harezm – D. 1221?) His full name is Mahmud b. Muhammed b. Ömer el Çağminî el-Harezmî. He was born in a small village called Çağmin in the region of Harezm. Although he is very famous in the Islamic world, there is not sufficient information on his life in classical and modern sources. Due to his successful scientific works in the field of astronomy he was granted the nickname “Father of Astronomers”.

Çağminî’s major success is his work “el Mülahhas fi’1-hey’e” which granted him his reputation and position in the history of Islamic scientists. This book on astronomy which has a wide reputation in the Islamic World and which was used as a teaching book in Ottoman madrasahs has many interpretations and postscripts. One of the two most famous interpretations was written by Kadızade-i Rumi upon the request of Uluğ Bey and it is known as “Şerhu’l-Çağminî”. The other interpretation belongs to Seyyid Şerif el-Cürcanî. The list given by Kâtip Çelebi concerning interpretations and postscripts prove the significance of this book in the Islamic World. Kadızade’s interpretation was later supported by the postscript of Sinan Pasha (1486) upon the request of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, another postscript written by Kadızade’s student Fethullaheş-Şirvanî and presented to Sultan Fatih again and finally by a third postscript written by Abdülali el-Bircendî.

It is known that the postscript written by the Indian scholar İmamüddin b. Lutfullah el-Mütekaddim to Kadızade’s interpretation deeply affected later scientific researches in India. The German translation of “el-Mülahhas” which has many samples in world libraries was done by G. Rutloffand A. Hochheimand published under the title “Die Astronomie des Mahmud ibnMuhammedibn Ömer al-Gagmini”.

H. Suter states that Çağminî was in the same time a physician and says that he has a medicine book called “Kanunçe”. His work titled “Die Mathematiker” which is a summary of Avicenna’s “el-Kanunfi’t-tıb” was translated into Persian upon the order of Timur’s son and successor Şahruh (1405-1447). Facsimiles of its Arabic translation were made in Leknev (1868, 1909), Lahor (1908) and Delhi (1908), of its Persian translation in Calcutta (1792) (Sarton, III/I, p.700). Brockelmann doubts that “Kanunçe” belongs to the astronomer Çağminî, besides not mentioning his work “Kuva’l-kevakib ve zafüha” he claims that the two books on arithmetic “Risale fi hisabi’l-tis’a” and “Şerhuturiki’l-hisab fi mesa ili'l-veşaya” do not belong to him.

A handwritten copy of Çağminî’s “Telhi-su Kütabi’1-Usul” which is a long summary of Euclid’s principles of geometry is in Kitabhane-i Seryezti in Yazd / Iran. Çağminî’s most important work is called “el-Mulahhas fi’l-hey’e” (Selections from Astronomy). This work which has been studied in Ottoman madrasahs for long years was interpreted by Kadızade-i Rumî, and the Ottoman astronomer Sinan Pasha. This work which was interpreted by prominent scholars and thinkers such as Kadızade-i Rumîand Curcanîwas highly appreciated since it showed the main lines of the period’s knowledge accumulation on astronomy; thus studied in madrasahs. His work “El-Mulahhas fi ilmi’l-heyeti’l-basita” was also interpreted by Celaleddin Fazlullah el-Ubeydî. Two interpretations about it were written during the Ottomans, one by Molla Çelebi (1655) “Çağminî Şerhi” and the other by Carullah Veliyüddin (Death 1738) “Şerh-u Çağminî Hâşiyesi”. A detailed bibliography is present in TDV Turkish Religious Foundation of Islam in the article of “Çağminî”.

MAIN WORKS:

Die Mathematiker, el-Mulahhas fi’1-hey’e, Kuva’l-kevakib, Risalefi’l Hisab, Şerh-u Turiki’l-Hisab fi Mesa ili’l-Vesaya, Kive’l-Kevaib, Zaafuha, Kanunçe, Telhis-u Kitabü’1-Usul.

REFERENCE: “Molla Çelebi” (Yurt Ansiklopedisi, c. IV, 1982), Sadettin Ökten / “Mahmûd b. Muhammed b. Ömer el-Çağmînî el-Hârizmî - Astronomi ve matematik bilgini, hekim” (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, cilt. 8, s. 182-183, 1993), İhsan Işık /  “Cârullah Veliyüddin” - “Molla Çelebi” (Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006) - İhsan Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).