In accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on the occasion of the 1994th anniversary of Mirzo Ulugbek in 600, large-scale ceremonies and international scientific conferences were held in our country. Meetings and conferences were also held in Paris in accordance with the decision of UNESCO.
Ulugbek was born in March 1394 in the city of Sultaniya in western Iran, during the military campaign of his grandfather Temur. He was the eldest son of Shahrukh Mirza and was given the name Muhammad Taragay, but as a child he was called Ulugbek, a name that later became his main name.
Ulugbek's childhood was spent in the military campaigns of his grandfather Temur. After Timur's death at the beginning of the march to China in 1405, the struggle for the throne continued among his descendants for two years, and in this struggle the hand of Shahrukh, Timur's youngest son, came up high. But Shah Rukh chose Herat as his capital and gave the capital of Movarounnahr Samarkand to his son Ulugbek. Nevertheless, Shah Rukh was considered the sole king of Iran and Turan.
In 1411, Shah Rukh appointed his eldest son Ulugbek as the governor of Movarunnahr and Turkestan. Ulugbek became a governor at the age of 17 and, unlike his grandfather, was not interested in military campaigns, but was more interested in science. Unfortunately, Ulugbek's initial information and information about his coach and mentors are not preserved.
During his childhood, Ulugbek was brought up by his grandmother Saroymulk. Of course, we can assume that this woman taught her beloved granddaughter literacy and told stories and tales on a historical theme. In 1405–1411, Amir Shah Malik was the ancestor of the young mirza. But he could give Ulugbek mainly military and political education.
One can assume that one of Ulugbek's mentors was the astrologer Mawlana Ahmad, as he was one of the greatest scientists in Timur's palace and was able to compile tables of the calendars of the planets for the next two hundred years.
But Ulugbek himself in his later main work, Zij, only calls Qazizada Rumi "my teacher." In fact, Qazizoda was born in 1360, and at the age of 20-25, that is, before the birth of Ulugbek, he joined Timur. As a result, from the very beginning of his life, Ulugbek grew up under the influence of astronomers and mathematicians such as Mavlono Ahmad and Qazizoda Rumi. That is why the exact sciences play an important role in his life.
At the age of twenty, Ulugbek was one of the greatest scholars of his time, and important innovations during his reign have played a significant role in the history of medieval culture.
Giyosiddin Jamshid Kashi, an employee of Ulugbek, wrote a letter from Samarkand to Kashan in 1417 to his father, describing Ulugbek's activity and knowledge as follows: “Praise be to Allah and His blessings, the ruler of the seven climates, the king of Islam (ie Ulugbek) is a wise man. I'm not saying this on the basis of etiquette. The truth is that he first memorizes most of the Qur'an. They memorize and memorize the commentaries and the commentators ’words about each verse, and they write very well in Arabic. He is also well versed in fiqh, as well as in the interpretation and methods of logic.
Due to Ulugbek's interest in science and his desire for the development of the country, he decided to build a new method of education - schools and madrasas, and almost simultaneously built three madrasas in Samarkand, Bukhara and Gijduvan.
Construction of the madrasah in Samarkand began in 1417 and was completed in three years. Soon Ulugbek began to gather teachers and scholars in the madrasah, and thus his astronomical school in Samarkand was formed.
The main teachers of this school were such scholars as Taftazani, Mavlono Ahmad and Qazizoda Rumi, who came to Samarkand in the time of Timur in search of favorable conditions and shelter for their scientific work.
On the advice of Qazizoda, Ulugbek summoned Giyosiddin Jamshid Kashi from Kashan, Khorasan. The number of scholars gathered in Samarkand from different cities of Movarounnahr and Khorasan, by 1417, exceeded 100.
Among them were writers, historians, calligraphers, painters, architects. But scientists in astronomy and mathematics were more honorable and prestigious. Among them, Qazizada and Kashi were the most powerful and influential.
In 1420 there will be a grand opening of the Samarkand madrasah. According to Zayniddin Wasifi in his book Badoi ul-Waqoi, the first teacher was Mawlana Shamsuddin Muhammad Khawafi. The main lectures at the madrasa are given by Qazizoda, Ulugbek, Kashi and later Api Kushchi.
The Samarkand madrasah and scientific circle founded by Ulugbek played an important role in the history of culture and science of the East, had a great impact on the development of the country, as well as the cultural development of many peoples. Many great figures were formed here.
One of the most important scientific directions of Samarkand scientists, gathered around Ulugbek, was astronomy. The earliest astronomical works in Islam were called Zij, and they consisted mainly of tables.
The most perfect "zijs" written before Ulugbek were Beruni's "Qanuni Mas'udi" and Nasriddin Tusi's "Ziji Elkhani" written in 1256 and presented to Khulashkhan. Jamshid Kashi's Ziji Haqqani, written in the early XNUMXth century and named after Shah Rukh, was based mainly on Chinese and Mongol traditions, was of little importance to Islamic countries, and was scientifically shallow. In Movarounnahr, no "zij" was written after the Mongol invasion.
For these reasons, Ulugbek first had to conduct astronomical research and build an observatory. Abu Tahirhoja reports: “Four years after the founding of the madrasah, Mirzo Ulugbek Qazizada consulted with Rumi, Mawlana Ghiyosiddin Jamshid and Mawlana Muiniddin Kashani. builds an observatory building. He will build tall rooms around it. ”
The construction of the observatory lasted from 1424 to 1429. With the end of the observatory, astronomical observations begin. The joint activity of the observatory and the madrasah allowed Ulugbek scientific school to raise astronomy and mathematics to the highest level in the Middle Ages.
Movements related to state affairs, observations at the observatory and lessons at the madrasa, as well as general supervision of scientific work, took a lot of Ulugbek's time. This is probably why the number of scientific works directly attributed to Ulugbek is not large - there are four of them.
The most important, well-known and famous of Ulugbek's scientific heritage is his "Zij", which is also called "Ziji Ulugbek", "Ziji jadidi Koragoniy". In addition to Zij, he wrote a treatise on the determination of the sine of a degree, a treatise on astronomy, the Risolayi Ulugbek (the only copy is kept in the library of Aligarh University in India), and a history book on the history of the nation. rt nation history ”).
Although Ulugbek Zij continues the astronomical tradition that began in the VIII-IX centuries, its scientific level is incomparably higher than theirs. The work consists of two parts: a broad introduction and tables describing the position and position of the 1018 fixed star, and the introduction itself consists of four independent parts.
At the beginning of the introduction, verses from the Qur'an about stars and planets are quoted. Ulugbek is trying to justify the need for astronomical observations. In the next part of the introduction, Ulugbek wrote: "Then Ulugbek ibn Shahrukh ibn Temur Koragon, the poorest of the servants of God, the most aspiring of them, said:"
It is clear from these words that the author of "Zij" was Ulugbek himself. However, Ulugbek fairly rewards those who helped him in this work: “The beginning of the work was the establishment of the banner of perfection and wisdom by the scholar, who is known as Qazizada Rumi, who was the subject of analysis and research. Mawlana Ghiyas al-milla waddin Jamshid, the pride of the rulers of the world, perfect in ancient knowledge, who solves problems, may Allah cool his grave, it was with the help and support of both…
However, his son Arjumand Ali ibn Muhammad Qushchi has been advancing in the field of science since his childhood and is engaged in its branches. Hope and confidence that his fame will spread to the world and countries in the near future and soon, inshallah. And this important book was completely written. Everything that has been observed about the qualities of the stars has been examined and confirmed in this book. ”
It is clear from this large passage that Qazizoda was Ulugbek's mentor, and much of Zij was written with his participation. From this it is clear that Ulugbek does not call another great scientist of Samarkand Jamshid Kashi a teacher, but only Mevlana Azam because he is older than Rumi.
Indeed, he came to Samarkand in 1416, when Ulugbek was known as a 22-year-old young man and scientist, and he died as soon as observations began at the observatory. However, it is known from the history of science that Kashi translated the theoretical part of "Zij" into Arabic, and now there are copies of this translation. So, it is clear that Ulugbek first wrote the theoretical part of "Zij", and then the table part was formed as a result of long observations. Kashi, on the other hand, translated it into Arabic as soon as the theoretical part was written, and died at the beginning of the work on the tables.
Another noteworthy fact is that Ulugbek Ali Kushchi is called "his son Arjumand". In fact, Ali Kushchi was not his son, but a student, and he was more loyal to his teacher in the field of science than Abdullatif and Abdulaziz, that is, his own children. That is why Ulugbek treated him as his own son, and with his help he completed Zij "in the alliance of his son Arjumand Ali ibn Muhammad Kushchi."
It was the most perfect astronomical work of the Middle Ages and quickly attracted the attention of its contemporaries. First of all, this work influenced the work of scientists gathered around Ulugbek in Samarkand. The study of Zij shows that it is mainly intended for practical application and does not aim to present theoretical issues to Ulugbek. Probably for this reason, Samarkand scholars, especially Ali Kushchi, were the first to comment on Zij. Subsequent comments were written by Miram Chalabi and Hussein Birjandi.
After the tragic death of Ulugbek in 1449, Samarkand scholars gradually spread throughout the Middle East. They also bring the achievements of Samarkand scientists and copies of Zij to the places they visited. In particular, Ali Kushchi went to Istanbul in 1473 and built an observatory there. Thus, Ulugbek's "Zij" spread in Turkey and reached European countries through Turkey.
According to current data, there are about 10 Persian versions of Zij and more than 15 Arabic copies. No other astronomical or mathematical work written in the Middle Ages was so popular and widely known. Zij has been studied and commented on in almost all Muslim countries.
Ulugbek "Zij" had a strong influence on Indian scientists. It is said that Babur himself brought the scientific traditions of Samarkand scientists to India. Babur’s successors, like the kings of the past, gather scholars around them and create conditions for their scientific research. Indian scholars in many ways imitate Samarkand scholars.
For example, Farididdin Mas'ud al-Dehlawi (d. 1629), who worked in Lahore and Delhi before Shah Jahan, wrote Ziji Shah Jahani: the number of articles and chapters in it is the same as in Ulugbek Zij, and most of the tables. Taken from Ulugbek. The great Indian scholar Savoy Jay Sing (1686–1743) also wrote his Ziji Muhammad Shah under the great influence of Ulugbek Zij.
Zij also had a great influence on Western European science. In general, Western Europe knew Timur and his children, especially Ulugbek, from the XNUMXth century. Due to Ali Kushchi's activity in Istanbul, the news about Ulugbek's scholarship also spread to Europe.
In 1638, John Greaves (1602–1652), an English scholar and orientalist and professor at Oxford University, came to Istanbul. When he returned, he took a copy of Ulugbek Zij with him to England. Before 1648, he published a table of 98 stars in Zij. In the same year, Greaves also published a chart in Zij. In 1650 he published a Latin translation of the first article of Zij. Greaves republished these last two works in 1652.
Another English scholar and orientalist, Thomas Hyde (1636–1703), published a table of fixed stars in Zij in 1665 in Persian and Latin. It is noteworthy that Hyde was completely unaware of Greaves ’work. This means that copies of Zij somehow reached him as well.
Fifteen years after Hyde's publication, the Polish scholar Jan Hevelius (15–1611) published some of Zij's tables in Danzig. Later, in the 1687th and 1808th centuries, a number of European scholars published parts of Zij. The French orientalist LA Cedio (1876–1847) published a French translation of the preface and preface to the four articles of Zij (1853–28). Finally, in the early twentieth century, the American scholar E, B. Noble published an English translation of the star chart based on 1987 manuscripts of Zij preserved in British libraries (Washington, XNUMX).
However, Ulugbek's "Zij" has not been fully studied in general, nor has it been fully translated into any modern language.
In 1994, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Ulugbek's birth, the first full translation of "Ziji jadidi Koragoniy" into Russian was published. In the same year, Ulugbek's work "History of the Nation" was published in Uzbek in Tashkent.
