Muhammad al-Idrisi Father of Modern Geography and Maps!

Abstract

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani
al-Sabti commonly known as Al Idrisi was a great Muslim
geographer, cartographer and traveler could be rightly called
as the father of modern Geography and Maps! He belonged
to an era when Great Muslim Empire had suffered from decline
and had shown some cracks due to their drifting away
from Quran. He was born in Ceuta, where his greatgrandfather
had been forced to settle after the fall
of Hammudid Malaga to the Zirids of Granada. He spent
much of his early life travelling through North Africa
and Al-Andalus and seems to have acquired detailed information
on both regions. He visited Anatolia when he was
barely 16. He is known to have studied in Córdoba
Apparently his travels took him to many parts of Europe
including Portugal, the Pyrenees, the French Atlantic coast
Hungary, and Jórvík also known as York, in England. Like
Muslim geographers before him, Al-Idrisi traveled many
distant places, including Europe, to gather geographical data.
The Muslim geographers had already made accurate
measurements of the earth's surface, and several maps of the
whole world were available. Al-Idrisi combined this available
knowledge with his own findings to create comprehensive
information for all parts of the known world. As his
fame spread, he gained the attention of European sea navigators
and military planners and eventually that of Roger II,
the Norman King of Sicily, who invited him to produce an
up-to-date world map.