-- \----- \ t. ii ·· ~ l ---- I \j . \ v-- Fl a ri t~ -es The MARVELOUS BOOK THAT TRAVELED the WORLD and MAPPED the COSMOS TRAVIS ZADEH won­ders­and­rarities WO ND E R S and R A R I T I E S g THE MARVELOUS BOOK THAT TRAVELED THE WORLD AND MAPPED THE COSMOS Travis­Zadeh harvard­university­press cambridge,­mas­sa­chu­setts london,­­england 2023 ­Copyright­©­2023­by­the­President­and­Fellows­of­Harvard­College All­rights­reserved Printed­in­the­United­States­of­Amer­i­ca Cover­art:­The­angel­Ruh­holding­the­celestial­spheres,­illustration­from­the­‘Aja’ib­al-Makh- luqat­(Wonders­of­Creation)­by­Qazwini,­c.1550-1600­|­©­Ashmolean­Museum­/­Bridgeman­ Images Cover­design­by­Marina­Drukman 9780674287648­(EPUB) 9780674287631­(PDF) Publication­of­this­book­has­been­supported­through­the­generous­provisions­of­the­ Maurice­and­Lula­Bradley­Smith­Memorial­Fund First­printing Cataloging-in-Publication­Data­is­available­from­the­Library­of­Congress ISBN:­978-0-674-25845-7­(alk.­paper) Contents Note on Conventions vii Introduction:­Won­der’s­End 1 i.­a­world­within­words 25 1­ ­Stranger­Lands 27 2­ ­Mea­sures­of­Authority 45 3­ ­Astral­Power 73 ii.­won­ders­to­behold 95 4­ ­Cosmic­Order 97 5­ ­Terrestrial­Designs 128 6­ ­Alchemical­Bodies 166 iii.­distant­shores 197 7­ ­Long­Divided 199 8­ ­Across­the­Globe 223 vi } C ONTENTS 9­ ­On­the­Edge 261 Coda:­Acts­of­Enchantment 294 Note on Sources and Method 333 Sigla and Abbreviations 337 Notes 343 Acknowle dgments 407 Illustration Credits 413 Index 417 Note­on­Conventions This­book­references­terms,­names,­and­phrases­originally­recorded­in­dif- fer­ent­alphabets.­This­includes­materials­in­Arabic,­New­Persian,­Ottoman­ Turkish,­and­Urdu.­While­­these­languages­­were­written­using­the­Arabic­ script,­their­pronunciation­and­orthography­varied­in­significant­ways.­An­ effort­has­been­made­to­follow,­with­some­degree­of­consistency,­established­ conventions­for­transliteration.­Persian,­Turkish,­and­Urdu­pronunciations­ of­Arabic­loanwords­and­names­are­rendered­when­appropriate­(e.g.,­fazl, masnavī, mezheb),­save­for­publication­information­in­the­notes­originally­ written­in­the­Arabic­script,­where­Arabic­transliteration­is­generally­used­ for­the­purposes­of­consistency.­Toponyms­and­dynasties­are­rendered­with­ modern­Eng­lish­spellings­(e.g.,­Qazvin,­Mecca;­Ilkhanids,­Timurids).­Proper­ names­and­words­common­to­En­glish­are­not­transliterated.­­Unless­other­wise­ stated,­all­translations­are­my­own.­Many­of­the­dates­for­individuals­and­ events­found­in­the­original­historical­sources­are­only­estimates.­When­ relevant,­the­corresponding­Common­Era­year­is­noted­­after­the­date­in­the­ Islamic­lunar­calendar,­or,­for­modern­publications­from­Iran,­the­Islamic­solar­ calendar.­Without­the­month­or­day­for­a­given­event,­it­is­often­only­pos­si­ble­ to­offer­a­range­of­two­years­when­converting­into­the­Common­Era.­In­such­ situations,­a­symbol­of­approximation­(~)­has­been­used.