Mughals Mapmakers & his wanderful Hajj maps

source wanderful Mughal makers map

Safi Ibn Vali's Mughal Hajj maps

The Salamat Ras departed Surat in India on September 20th, 1676, bringing hundreds of tourists from Gujarat. The passenger on the board was Safi ibn Vali. Unlike those who travelled with him, his voyage was financed by Zib al-Nisa, daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707). In addition to finishing the Hajj, Safi ibn Vali was tasked with making an Hajj guidebook for the future pilgrims. It is believed to be directed towards Indian pilgrims such as himself the book 'Anis Al-Hujjaj' (The Pilgrim's Companion) offers advice on every aspect of the Hajj, including traveling up to Jidda via sea.

The book is one of the many guidebooks for pilgrimage, which come from all regions within the Islamic world, which form an established tradition. They usually include drawings of holy places and Anis al-Hujjaj isn't any exception in this regard. What makes it stand out however is its colorful illustrations that depict different scenes from the pilgrimage, as being the astonishing accuracy of the maps.

Safi Ibn Vali's Anis al-Hujjaj ('Pilgrims Companion'), possibly Gujarat, India, circa 1677-80. Ink and gold with transparent watercolour on paper Modern leather binding. Three separate folios are displayed in a row. Nasser 3 separate folios show here side by side. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. Copyright Nour Foundation. Through the Khalili Family Trust.

The picture below is an illustration of Jidda. Jidda was a port of great importance for pilgrims en route to Hajj and is believed to have been established in the time of Caliph Uthman in the year 647 AD. Safi Ibn Vali, who arrived at the port on his own is the one who mapped major parts within the city. Archaeologist Dr. Geoffrey King examined the map and discovered that the majority of the landmarks and places shown are in the exact same spot today.

The upper portion of the map shows Hawa cemetery, which is believed to have been the burial site of Eve The mother of all humanity. The pink markers are other graves The black square represents the headside of the place of resting for Eve (peace be with her) The white square represents her naval and the gravelly region her feet. In Safi Ibn Vali's day, the grave of her, which spans over 100 feet long could have been marked by something like an edifice. The structure which is seen in the picture below the illustration of 1894 or a similar one to it, was the one he had seen two centuries before. It is now no more standing It was destroyed in 1975, and then covered in the concrete of Saudi government officials.

The middle part of Safi ibn Vasili's map is an old-fashioned city called Jidda. After examining the region the Dr. King observed that everything was correctly put in place; the parade of houses and shops in the old city along with the roads that surround it can be found in the exact same spot in the present. However, there is one unsettling discrepancy: an obvious landmark was laid out in the hands of Ibn Vali on the wrong side of the road. The Shafi'i Mosque, with its green dome, is illustrated in Anis al-Hujjaj on the east side of the main street while today it is located on the west side; "This confuses me- is this street located in Jidda in a different location at the time that it was the Anis al-Hujjaj was composed, or is it simply an mistake?" Given the remarkable accuracy of the map in every way, King believes the discrepancy is particularly puzzling. The Shafi'i Mosque is the most ancient mosque in Jidda and its floor is a good distance below street level and is, according to Dr. King is a sign that it existed prior to the Shafi'i era. The oldest remaining part of the mosque in the present is the Ayyubid minaret, which dates from the 13th century.

There is no doubt about the authenticity of the church depicted by Safi ibn Vali More research needs be conducted in order to come to an unbiased conclusion regarding the contradiction. In the background in the Jidda map there is a picture of the town's governor depicted greeting pilgrims. There are numerous illustrations in Safi Ibn Vali's work, featuring various scenes of the Hajj. In the below folio it depicts pilgrims during the Eid Al-Adha celebrations. In the upper right corner, people in ihram are seen throwing rocks at three pillars, which represent shaytan and others have their heads shaved following the rituals during the Hajj. In the background, animals are slaughtered in preparation in preparation for Eid. Eid sacrifice.

Safi Ibn Vali included a list of other holy sites which aren't included in the Hajj in itself. The image below is a typical diagrammatic representation that is found in the traditional Hajj guidebooks. According to the captions, the structure in the upper area is the place of birth of The Prophet Muhammad (peace and peace be on his name). At the time of Ibn Vali, the area of blessing was characterized by a small, secluded mosque with a dome and courtyard. A simple library built in the 1950's looms over the entire area. The areas that are depicted beneath the upper section are the places of birth for Lady Fatima and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with them both) and the Madrassa of Sultan Sulayman and an Sufi lodge belonging to the Bektashi order. The attire worn by tourists indicate their different nationalities.

Although Safi ibn Vasili's Anis al Hujjaj isn't exclusive in its use but the accuracy in its maps of Jidda as well as other areas including Surat within India or Mocha in Yemen and Mocha in Yemen depicted, is extraordinary and sets the book apart from other guides similar to it. The vivid illustrations provide the reader a feeling of the fervor of the journey, as well as the range of the pilgrims depicted. Since some of the places Ibn Vali illustrates no longer exist in the same way His work is given significance in the past, while also preserving an era that has been forgotten to contemporary.