İhsan Fazlıoğlu: "Taqi al-Din (Takiyüddin Rasıd)" (En/İng.)
İhsan Fazlıoğlu: "Taqī al‐Dīn Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zayn al‐Dīn
Maʿrūf al‐Dimashqī al‐Ḥanafī"
From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers,
Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, pp. 1122-112
Born Damascus, (Syria), 14 June 1526
Died Istanbul, (Turkey), 1585
Taqī al‐Dīn was the founder and the director of the Istanbul Observatory and worked in the fields of
mathematics, astronomy, optics, and mechanics. He made various astronomical instruments and was
the first astronomer to use an automatic–mechanical clock for his astronomical observations. He
advanced the arithmetic of decimal fractions and used them in the calculation of astronomical
tables.
Taqī al‐Din began his studies, as was normal, with the basic religious sciences and Arabic. Later on,
he continued his religious studies and studied the mathematical sciences with scholars in Damascus
and Egypt, including most significantly his father. It is probable that Taqī al‐Dīn's teacher in
mathematics was Shihāb al‐Dīn al‐Ghazzī whereas the one in astronomy was Muḥammad ibn Abī al‐
Fatḥ al‐Ṣūfī. Taqī al‐Dīn himself states in several of the forewords to his books that he was
particularly interested in the mathematical sciences during his education.
Taqī al‐Dīn, after completing his education, taught for a short while at various madrasas (schools) in
Damascus. He, together with his father Maʿrūf Afandī, came to Istanbul around the year 1550 where
he benefited from his association with a number of prominent scholars. Taqī al‐Dīn would shortly
return to Egypt where he spent most of the next 20 years. A brief trip back to Istanbul, also around
1550, brought him into the company of the Grand Vizier Samīz ʿAlī Pasha, who allowed him to use
his private library and clock collection. Taqī al‐Dīn would benefit from this association when ʿAlī
Pasha was appointed governor of Egypt, where he held positions as a teacher and judge (qāḍī) in
Egypt. Encouraged to deal with mathematics and astronomy by a grandson of ʿAlī Qūshjī, who
collected and gave Taqī al‐Dīn works by his grandfather, by Jamshīd al‐Kāshī, and by Qāḍīzāde, as
well as various observation instruments, Taqī al‐Dīn undertook a serious pursuit of astronomy and
mathematics. While a judge in Tinnīn, Egypt, he made astronomical observations by means of an
astronomical instrument that he mounted in a well that was 25‐m deep.
Taqī al‐Dīn returned to Istanbul in 1570 and was appointed head astronomer (Müneccimbası) by
Sultan Selīm II upon the death of Muṣṭafā ibn ʿAlī al‐Muwaqqit in 1571. He continued his
observations in a building situated on a height overlooking Tophane or in Galata Tower and gained
the support of several high officials. This led to an imperial edict by Sultan Murad III in early 1579
to build an observatory, which was located on a height overlooking Tophane where the French
From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers,
Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, pp. 1122-1123
Courtesy of
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1360
palace is located today. Important astronomical books and instruments were collected there. Little is
known about the size, shape, and so on, but we do have magnificent depictions of the scholars at
work and of the astronomical instruments in use (in Ālāt‐i raṣadiyya li‐Zij‐i Shāhinshāhiyya [Istanbul
Univesity, TY, MS 1993] and in ʿAlāʾ al‐Dīn Manṣūr al‐Shīrāzī's Shāhinshahnāme [Istanbul
University, TY, MS 1404]). Apart from the observatory building, we hear of a well called çah‐i raṣad
that was also used by Taqī al‐Dīn. Unfortunately the observatory did not last long. Due to political
reasons, as well as Taqī al‐Dīn's incorrect astrological prognostications, it was demolished by the
state on 22 January 1580.
Taqī al‐Dīn's most important work in astronomy is entitled Sidrat muntahā al‐afkār fī malakūt al‐
falak al‐dawwār (= al‐Zīj al‐Shāhinshāhī). This work was prepared according to the results of the
observations in Egypt and Istanbul in order to correct and complete Zīj‐i Ulugh Beg, a project
originally conceived in Egypt and furthered by the building of the Istanbul Observatory. In the first
40 pages of the work, Taqī al‐Dīn deals with trigonometric calculation. This is followed by
discussions of astronomical clocks, heavenly circles, and so forth. In the following parts, he treats
observational instruments and their use, the observations of lunar and solar motions, and
trigonometric functions calculated according to sexagesimal. As was normal in the Islamic
astronomical tradition, Taqī al‐Dīn used trigonometric functions such as sine, cosine, tangent, and
cotangent rather than chords. Following the work done at the Samarqand Observatory, he
developed a new method to find the exact value of sin 1°, which Jamshīd al‐Kāshī had put into the
form of an equation of third degree. Additionally, Taqī al‐Dīn employed the method of “three
observation points,” which he was the first to use for calculating solar parameters; apparently
Tycho Brahe was aware of his work. For determining the longitudes and latitudes of the fixed stars,
he used Venus, Aldebaran, and α Virginis (Spica), which are near the ecliptic (rather than the
Moon), as reference stars. As a result of his observations, he found the eccentricity of the Sun to be
2° 0' and the annual motion of apogee 63″. Taqī al‐Dīn's values turn out to be more precise than
those of Nicolaus Copernicus and Brahe. This provides evidence for the precision of Taqī al‐Dīn's
methods of observation and calculation. It is thus a pity that the destruction of the observatory
meant that Taqī al‐Dīn was unable to complete his observation program. Indeed in the absence of a
conclusion to this Zīj, it can probably be concluded that the book was never completed.
Taqī al‐Dīn's second most important work on astronomy is a zīj entitled Jarīdat al‐durar wa kharīdat
al‐fikar. In this work, for the first time we find the use of decimal fractions in trigonometric
functions. He also prepared tangent and cotangent tables. Moreover, in this zīj, as in another of his
zījes entitled Tashīl zīj al‐aʿshāriyya al‐shāhinshāhiyya, Taqī al‐Dīn gave the parts of degree of curves
and angles in decimal fractions and carried out the calculations accordingly. Excluding the table of
fixed stars, all the astronomical tables in this zīj were prepared using decimal fractions.
In addition, Taqī al‐Dīn has some other astronomical works of secondary importance. One of them is
Dustūr al‐tarjīḥ li‐qawāʿid al‐tasṭīḥ, which is about the projection of a sphere onto a plane as well as
other topics in geometry. Another of his works is Rayḥānat al‐rūḥ fī rasm al‐sāʿāt ʿalā mustawī al‐
suṭūḥ, which deals with sundials drawn on marble surfaces and their features. This book was
commented upon by his student Sirāj al‐Dīn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al‐Fāriskūrī (died: 1610) under
the title Nafḥ al‐fuyūḥ bi‐sharḥ rayḥānat al‐rūḥ; the commentary was translated into Turkish by an
unknown writer in the beginning of the 17th century.
In addition to his 20 books on astronomy, Taqī al‐Dīn wrote one book on medicine and zoology, three
on physics‐mechanics, and five on mathematics. He has a monograph entitled Risāla fī ʿamal al‐
mīzān al‐ṭabīʿī on the specific gravity of substances and Archimedes' hydrostatic experiments. All of
his books are in Arabic.
Taqī al‐Dīn's works on physics and mechanics, besides being interesting in their own right, also have
connections with astronomy. In 1559 while in Nablus, he wrote his al‐Kawākib al‐durriyya fī waḍʿ al‐
bankāmāt al‐dawriyya, which dealt with mechanical‐automatic clocks for the first time in the Islamic
and Ottoman world. In the foreword, Taqī al‐Dīn mentions that he benefited from using Samiz ʿAlī
Pasha's private library and his collection of European mechanical clocks. In this work, Taqī al‐Dīn
discusses various mechanical clocks from a geometrical–mechanical perspective. His second book on
mechanics is the one he wrote when he was 26, al‐Ṭuruq al‐saniyya fī al‐ālāt al‐rūḥāniyya. In this
work, Taqī al‐Dīn focuses on the geometrical‐mechanical structure of clocks previously examined by
the Banū Mūsā and Abū al‐ʿIzz al‐Jazarī. In the field of physics and optics, Taqī al‐Dīn wrote Nawr
ḥadīqat al‐abṣar wa‐nūr ḥaqīqat al‐Anẓar, which dealt with the structure of light, its diffusion and
global refraction, and the relation between light and color.
In his mathematical treatises, Taqī al‐Dīn dealt with various aspects of trigonometry, geometry,
algebra, and arithmetic. In the latter, he carried on the work of Kāshī in developing the arithmetic of
decimal fractions both theoretically and practically.
Taqī al‐Dīn was a successor to the great school of Samarqand and, following the lead of ʿAlī Qūshjī,
tended toward a more purely mathematical approach in his scientific work that was beginning to
abandon Aristotelian physics and metaphysics. Taqī al‐Din's most significant achievement in the
history of Islamic and Ottoman astronomy is his foundation of the Istanbul Observatory and his
activities there. Besides using established instruments and techniques, he developed a number of
new ones as well, including his use of the automatic–mechanical clock. Carrying on the work of his
Islamic predecessors, Taqī al‐Dīn's application of decimal fractions to trigonometry and astronomy
stands as another important contribution to astronomy and mathematics.
Selected References
Demir, Remzi (2000). Takiyüddin'de Matematik ve Astronomi. Ankara: Atṯaturk Kūthur Merkeri Yainlari.
İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin et al. (1997). Osmanlı Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi (OALT) (History of astronomy
literature during the Ottoman period). Vol. 1, pp. 199–217 (no. 96). Istanbul: IRCICA.
——— (1999). Osmanlı Matematik Literatürü Tarihi (OMLT). (History of mathematical literature during the
Ottoman period). Vol. 1, pp. 83–87 (no. 47). Istanbul: IRCICA.
Mordtmann, J. H. (1923). “Das Observatorium des Taqî ed‐Dîn zu Pera.” Der Islam 13: 82–96.
Sayılı, Aydın (1960). The Observatory in Islam. Ankara: Turkish Historical Society, pp. 289–305.
Tekeli, Sevim (1958). “Nasirüddin, Takiyüddin ve Tycho Brahe'nin Rasat Aletlerinin Mukayesesi.” Ankara
Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih‐Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi 16, nos. 3– 4: 301–353.
——— (1966). 16'ıncı Asırda Osmanlılar'da Saat ve Takiyüddin'in “Mekanik Saat Konstrüksüyonuna Dair En
Parlak Yıldızlar” Adlı Eseri. Ankara (Turkish–English–Arabic text.): Ankara ūniversitesi, Dil, Tarih‐Cog‐rafya
Fakultesi Yayinlare
——— (1986). “Onaltıncı Yüzyıl Trigonometri Çalısmaları Üzerine Bir Arastırma: Copernicus ve Takiyuddin.”
Erdem 2, no. 4: 219–272.
Tekeli, Sevim, (ed.) (1960). “Alat el‐Rasadiyye li Zic‐i Sehinsahiyye.” İslām Tetkikleri Enstitüsü Dergisi 3, pt.1/
2: 1–30.
Topdemir, Hüseyin Gazi (1999). Takiyüddin'in Optik Kitabı. Ankara: Atṯaturk Kūthur Merkeri Yayinlari.
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