Mahmud al-Jaghmini

Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Umar al-Jaghmini al-Khwarizmi came from the village of Jaghmin (Chaghmin) in Khwarazm. His year of birth is unknown, and very little survives about his life: most of what is known is drawn from his name and from the manuscripts that carry his works.

He worked in astronomy, mathematics and medicine. His best-known book is al-Mulakhkhas fi al-hay'a al-basita (“Epitome of Plain Theoretical Astronomy”). It is a short textbook built on Ptolemy’s system: an introduction on the elements and the heavenly bodies is followed by two parts, on the celestial spheres and on the Earth. It is written in a simplified way, without proofs or heavy calculation, which is why it spread quickly among students.

By tradition the Mulakhkhas is dated to 1220–1221, during the years of the Mongol invasion of Khwarazm; one of its oldest manuscripts is dated 1246–1247. His second well-known work is the Qanuncha (“Little Canon”), a short summary of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine. He is also credited with a treatise on arithmetic.

Sources disagree about the year of his death. Most reference works give 1221, the year the Mongols conquered Khwarazm; some give 1344–1345, but that date probably belongs to a namesake from the mid-14th century who was confused with him. Modern scholars place the Mulakhkhas at the start of the 13th century.

The influence of his works long outlasted him. At least twenty commentaries and supercommentaries were written on the Mulakhkhas, among them the commentary of Qadizade al-Rumi, composed in 1412. The textbook was translated into Persian and Turkish, survives in thousands of copies, and was taught in the madrasas of Transoxiana, Iran, the Ottoman Empire and India into the 18th century. The Qanuncha was likewise widely used in medical teaching.