Al-Masudi

al-Masʿūdī (full name ALA, أبو الحسن علي بن الحسين بن علي المسعودي), 896–956, was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geography, natural science and philosophy, his celebrated magnum opus The Meadows of Gold (Murūj al-Dhahab) combines universal history with scientific geography, social commentary and biography. Apart from what al-Mas'udi writes of himself little is known. Born in Baghdad, he was descended from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, a companion of Muhammad. And a member of Banu Hudhayl tribe He mentions many scholar associates met on his travels through many lands: Al-Mas'udi may have reached Sri Lanka and China although he is known to have met Abu Zaid al-Sirafi on the coast of the Persian Gulf and received information on China from him. He presumably gathered information on Byzantium from the Byzantine admiral, Leo of Tripoli, a convert-to-Islam whom he met in Syria where his last years were divided between there and Egypt. In Egypt he found a copy of a Frankish king list from Clovis to Louis IV that had been written by an Andalusian bishop. Little is known of his means and funding of his extensive travels within and beyond the lands of Islam, and it has been speculated that like many travelers he may have been involved in trade. Towards the end of The Meadows of Gold, al-Mas'udi wrote: We know that al-Mas'udi wrote a revised edition of Muruj adh-dhahab in 956 CE; however, only a draft version from 947 is extant. Al-Mas'udi in his Tanbih states that the revised edition of Muruj adh-dhahab contained 365 chapters. Al-Mas'udi lived at a time when books were available and cheap. Major towns like Baghdad had large public libraries and many individuals, such as as-Suli, a friend of Mas‘udi's, had private libraries, often containing thousands of volumes. Early in the Abbasid era the art of papermaking was brought to the Islamic world by Chinese prisoners after the battle of Talas and most large towns and cities had paper mills.