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also referred to as Āl-e Jostān and Āl-e Vahsudān, a local dynasty that ruled from Rudbār in Deylam, the mountainous district of Gilān during the late 8th and early 9th centuries. A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 1, pp. 44-46 JOSTANIDS, also referred to as Āl-e Jostān and Āl-e Vahsudān (Eṣṭaḵri, p. 204; Moḥelli, p. 225), a local dynasty that ruled from Rudbār in Deylam, the mountainous district of Gilān (q.v.) during the late 8th and early 9th centuries. They are known mainly for their resistance against t…

ʿAnnāzids, a Kurdish dynasty who ruled over parts of western Persia and the eastern lands of Iraq from the end of the 4th/10th century to the beginning of the 6th/12th century. The dynasty was descended from the large Kurdish Shādhanjānī clan (Ibn Khaldūn, 4/691; Rashīd Yāsimī, 192). They came to power at more or less the same time as the Kurdish Ḥasanwayhid dynasty (Bidlīsī, 41–42), an era of ʿAbbāsid weakness and the growing power of the Būyids, and ruled for 130 years.Ibn al-Athīr states in al-Kāmil (9/136), the most important source on this dynasty, that they were descended …

ʿAbd al-Dār, Banū, Meccan clan, named after ʿAbd al-Dār, son of Quṣayy b. Kilāb, which was one of the most important clans of the tribe of Quraysh. Its foremost members were in charge of the affairs of Mecca for a considerable period of time, and were influential in shaping events of social and political significance in the period immediately preceding the advent of Islam. During this period, the function of sadāna (overseeing the Kaʿba, and the opening and locking of its door) was held by the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār (al-Masʿūdī, 8). ʿAbd al-Dār, who was the eldest son of Quṣayy b. Kilāb, in…

ʿAmr b. al-Layth was the second ruler of the Ṣaffārid dynasty, and the brother and successor of the dynasty’s founder Yaʿqūb b. al-Layth (r. 247–265/861–879; he had been a coppersmith, hence the title Ṣaffār). ʿAmr’s rule began in Shawwāl 265/May–June 879 after Yaʿqūb’s death, and lasted until his death in 289/902. According to the sources, ʿAmr came from a poor background, working as either a mason or muleteer. When Yaʿqūb functioned as an ʿayyār (irregular soldier or vigilante), ʿAmr accompanied him and was his trusted companion (al-Iṣṭakhrī, 142; ʿAwfī, 1/245, 2/412; Nöldeke, 195). A…

Dūst Muḥammad Khān (first r. 1241–1255/1826–1839; second r. 1259–1279/1842–1863) was the emir of Ghazna, Kabul and their environs during his first period of rule, and during his second his emirate eventually extended his authority over all Afghanistan. He was the first of the Bārakzay/Muḥammadzay line of Durrānī emirs, which overthrew the Sadūzay line, and became the last line of kings in Afghanistan before the creation of a republic in 1973 (see also, Abdālī q.v.). During one of the most tumultuou…

Basīṭ wa Murakkab, meaning the simple and the composite, are terms referring to two general categories that have been employed in various fields of learning, particularly in the field of cosmology in Islamic philosophy.It appears that prior to the age of the translation of Greek literature into Arabic, the term ‘simple’ ( basīṭ), together with other terms used in Greek philosophy and science, was adopted by Christian, particu-larly Syriac, transmitters in their debate and lecture circles. Thereafter, the term ‘simplicity’ ( basāṭa) and words with the opposite meaning, such as tarkīb,…

Ibrāhīm Quwayrā/Quwayr ī , Abū Isḥāq (flor. late 3rd/9th century), one of the earliest commentators of Aristotle’s logical works in Arabic. No precise details survive concerning his life or the dates of his birth or death, save for the fact that he was alive during the reign of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muʿtaḍid bi’llāh (r. 279–289/892–902). His primary importance lies in his role in promoting the study of logic in the Islamic world.According to al-Masʿūdī (p. 105), Quwayrā was one of the final links in the transmission of logic and philosophy from Alexandria and Anti…

Ḥaraka (Motion), while it is usually rega Ḥaraka (Motion), while it is usually regarded in modern science as part of a branch of physics known as mechanics, in pre-modern times motion ( ḥaraka) was treated as a part of natural philosophy ( ṭabīʿiyyāt). This article studies the concept of motion as discussed in the works of Muslim philosophers, theologians and mathematicians, with reference to the earlier discussions in Greek science and to the treatment of the idea in modern science.Contents: 1. Motion in Philosophy A. The Concept of Motion B. Ibn Sīnā’s Definition of Motion C. Other Defi…

al-Dīnawarī, Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad b. Dāwūd (d. 282/895), an expert in lexicography who also studied several other fields including syntax, ḥadīth, mathematics, astronomy, botany and history, and possibly also Qurʾānic exegesis and philosophy.As his nisba suggests, Abū Ḥanīfa was from the now ruined city of Dīnawar in western Iran in the vicinity of Kirmānshāh. During his lifetime, Dīnawar was a flourishing city of some importance due to its geographical position as the gateway to ʿIrāq-i ʿAjam and as a meeting-point between the cultu…

ʿAbbādids (Banū ʿAbbād), a dynasty of Muslim rulers in al-Andalus (414–484/1023–1091) who were the most powerful of the group of mulūk al-ṭawāʾif/los reyes de taifas (party kings) and who ruled over important parts of south-western Spain as the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba collapsed. The beginning of the 5th/11th century saw important changes in Spain, the disintegration of Umayyad rule, the emergence of petty kings in the regions of the Christian controlled north, and then the coming to power of a host of greater or lesser Muslim rulers…

Akbar, Mughal emperor of India (r. 963–1014/1556–1605). His full name was Abū al-Fatḥ Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad (5 Rajab 949–1014/15 October 1542–1605). He was born in Umerkot, a dependency of Thatta in Sind. His father was the emperor Humāyūn (r. 937–963/1530–1556, in two phases), and his mother a Persian by the name of Ḥamīda Bānū Begum. Akbar’s birth and childhood coincided with political upheavals in the Mughal lands, which led to Humāyūn being deposed and taking refuge with the Ṣafawids of Persia. After winning back his throne in Delhi with the hel…

Bakr b. Wāʾil, a major ancient Arab tribal grouping with many branches, and part of the ʿAdnānī Arabs who trace their lineage to ʿAdnān b. Udad b. Ismāʿīl, the son of Abraham. As Abraham was not culturally an Arab, the Bakr b. Wāʾil—as part of the tribal confederation descended from him—are called ‘Arabicised Arabs’ ( mutaʿarrib or mustaʿrib, meaning tribes who were not originally Arabs) (Ibn al-Kalbī, 1; Jād al-Mawlā, 412–413; Zaryāb, 239–241). Five main tribes were included in the Bakr b. Wāʾil: the Banū ʿIjl b. Lujaym, the Banū Ḥanīfa b. Lujaym, th…