Index Z

Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al- (Abu al-Qasim al-Zahravi) (Abul Qasim al-Zahravi) (Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahravi) (Albucasis) (Abul Kasim) (Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn ʿAbbās az-Zahrāwī) (Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi) (Albucasis) (b. c. 936, near Córdoba [Spain] - d. c. 1013).  Undoubtedly the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages.  He is best known for several original breakthroughs in surgery, as an inventor of several surgical instruments, and for his famous Medical Encyclopedia.  Al-Zahravi is considered as “Father of Modern Surgery.”

Al-Zahravi was born and brought up in Zahra, the royal suburb of Cordova (in Arabic, Qurtuba), the capital of Muslim Spain.  During this time Zahra competed in grandeur and magnificence with Baghdad and Constantinople.  Al-Zahravi served in the capacity of the court physician to King al-Hakam II of Spain. 

Al-Zahravi was a prominent surgeon.  Patients and students from all parts of Europe came to him for treatment and advice.  At this time, Cordova was the favorite destination for Europeans seeking surgical operations, and the services of al-Zahravi were much in demand. 

Al-Zahravi’s principles of medical science surpassed those of Galen in the European medical curriculum.  He is famous for his thirty volume medical encyclopedia ‘Al-Tasrif li man ajaz an-il-talif.  Three volumes of this vast encyclopedia deal with the surgical knowledge including his own inventions and procedures.  The last volume contains many diagramsand illustrations of more than two hundred surgical instruments, most of which he developed.  Al-Zahravi gave detailed descriptions of many surgical operations and their treatment, including cauterization, removal of stone from the bladder, surgery of eye, ear and throat, midwifery, removal of the dead fetus, amputation, dissection of animals, and stypics.

As an inventor of many surgical instruments, al-Zahravi is famous for developing instruments for internal examination of the ear, internal inspection of the urethra and for applying or removing foreign bodies from the throat.  He introduced such new procedures as cauterization of wounds, crushing stones inside the bladder, vivisection and dissection. He applied cauterization procedure to as many as 50 different operations.  In addition, al-Zahravi discussed the preparation of medicines and the application of such techniques as sublimation and decantation.  He prescribed the use of diuretics, sudorifics, purgatives, the absorption of pure wine and hot baths.  Al-Zahravi was the first to give detailed descriptions of hemophilia and was the first to use silk thread for stitching wounds.

Al-Zahravi was also an expert in oral surgery and dentistry.  His Al-Tasrif contains sketches of complex instruments that he developed.  He discussed the problem of non-aligned or deformed teeth and procedures to rectify these defects.  In addition, he developed the procedure for preparing and setting artificial teeth made from animal bones.

Gerard of Cremona (1114-1187) translated Al-Tasrif into Latin in the Middle Ages.  It was then translated into Hebrew, French, English and into Latin dialect of the Provencal.  Al-Zahravi’s Al-Tasrif was an essential component of the medical curriculum in European countries for many centuries.  The famous French surgeon Guy de Chauliac (1300-1368) appended its Latin edition to his own book on surgery.  Several editions of this book (surgical chapters) were published including one at Venice (1497), at Basel (1541) and at Oxford (1778).  This book was taught for approximately five centuries as a standard textbook on surgery at universities of Salerno in Italy, Montpellier in France, and several European universities.

After a long and distinguished medical career, al-Zahravi died in 1031.

Al-Zahravi was Islām’s greatest medieval surgeon, whose comprehensive medical text, combining Middle Eastern and Greco-Roman classical teachings, shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance.

Abū al-Qāsim was court physician to the Spanish caliph ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān III an-Nāṣir and wrote At-Taṣrīf liman ʿajazʿan at-Taʾālīf, or At-Taṣrīf (“The Method”), a medical work in 30 parts. While much of the text was based on earlier authorities, especially the Epitomae of the 7th-century Byzantine physician Paul of Aegina, it contained many original observations, including the earliest known description of hemophilia. The last chapter, with its drawings of more than 200 instruments, constitutes the first illustrated, independent work on surgery.

Although At-Taṣrīf was largely ignored by physicians of the eastern Caliphate, the surgical treatise had tremendous influence in Christian Europe. Translated into Latin in the 12th century by the scholar Gerard of Cremona, it stood for nearly 500 years as the leading textbook on surgery in Europe, preferred for its concise lucidity even to the works of the classic Greek medical authority Galen.

 
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahravi see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Abul Qasim al-Zahravi see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahravi see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Albucasis see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi  see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-
Father of Modern Surgery see Zahravi, Abu al-Qasim al-

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Zheng He
Zheng He (Cheng Ho) (Ma He) (Mǎ Sānbǎo) (Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371–1433/1435), was a Hui Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" or "Zheng He to the Western Ocean", from 1405 to 1433.

Zheng He was a Chinese eunuch who commanded a series of maritime expeditions through Southeast Asia to India and the east coast of Africa for the Yongle emperor (r.1402-1424) of the Ming dynasty in the first decades of the fifteenth century.

Zheng He was born and raised in a Muslim family in central Yunnan Province in southwestern China.  Both his father and his grandfather were known by the title hajji, which was conferred upon Muslims who made the pilgrimage to Mecca.  At least during his early years, he was raised as a Muslim and may have acquired some knowledge of Arabic.

In 1381, when his locality was brought under the control of the Ming dynasty, the general in charge of the occupying armies selected Zheng He and a number of other boys for palace service.  He was castrated when he was about ten years old, taken to North China, and assigned to serve on the staff of Zhu Di (who later became the Yongle emperor).  During this time, he gained considerable military experience because, for the most part, his duties entailed following Zhu Di on campaign.

Zheng He is described as being very tall and stout (seven feet tall with a girth of five feet by one account) and as having a loud voice and a commanding stare.  He was thus physically suited for the rigors of warfare and proved himself capable in battle, first during campaigns against the Mongols between 1393 and 1397 and later during Zhu Di’s rebellion of 1399, when he played a key role in the defense of Beijing.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne in 1402, Zheng He became one of his most trusted aides.  During the first years of the reign, he held important military commissions.  In 1405, however, he was put in charge of a large-scale maritime expedition to Southeast Asia, and he continued to supervise such expeditions until his death in 1433.

It is not clear why the Yongle emperor decided to mount these costly maritime expeditions.  Several reasons are usually put forth: that he was afraid the Jianwen emperor, whose throne he had usurped, might have escaped to Southeast Asia, and he wanted to find him; that he wanted to suppress piracy in Southeast Asian waters; and that he wanted to extend the hegemony of the Ming Empire to the shores of India and Arabia.  While there is some truth in each of these reasons, it is likely that it was the last one, the desire to extend the limits of his empire, that kept the expeditions alive for more than two decades.

The Yongle emperor sought to re-establish a universal world empire on the model of the preceding Yuan dynasty.  Whereas the Mongols had only had a land-based empire, the Yongle emperor wanted to establish a maritime empire as well.  Zheng He’s expeditions were intended to extend the hegemony of the Ming empire throughout Southeast Asia and beyond by demonstrating that the Ming navy was formidable and not easily defeated and that the Ming emperor protected maritime trade and was not hostile toward Islam.  It is important to note that Zheng He’s expeditions all carried Arabic speakers conscripted from mosques in China who served as translators, for Islamic merchants had by this time come to control most of the trade routes between China and Arabia.

The first expedition, in 1405, carried a crew of 27,000 and comprised a fleet of more than 60 large vessels (440 feet long) and 255 smaller ships.  The principal goal of this and the next few expeditions was to make the sea routes between China and India safe for maritime trade.  In a major battle near Sumatra, Zheng He destroyed the fleet of a powerful Chinese pirate who had been harassing ships in the Straits of Melaka.  During the expedition of 1409 to 1411, which reached the Malabar coast of India, Chinese luxury goods were displayed in Ceylon and other commercial centers to promote trade with China.

The expedition of 1413 to 1415, however, which reached the Arabian Peninsula, had a distinctly diplomatic cast. From this point on the expeditions revolved around carrying tribute missions to and from China.  The expedition of 1417 to 1419 returned the envoys who had arrived in 1415.  The expedition of 1421 to 1422, which reached the east coast of Africa, returned with even greater numbers of envoys.  However, almost immediately after the Yongle emperor’s death in 1424, influential officials at court began to protest that such voyages were too costly to continue, and the expeditions were suspended until 1431.  Zheng He, already in his sixties, was unable to visit every country in person during the last expedition, in 1431 to 1433.  He may in fact have died en route at Calicut early in 1433, but the details of his death remain obscure.

Although the naval expeditions were discontinued after Zheng He’s death, the hegemony of the Ming emperor throughout Southeast Asia, at least as an arbiter of disputes and successions, remained unchallenged until the Portuguese arrived in the first years of the sixteenth century.  In that respect at least, Zheng He did realize the Yongle emperor’s ambitions.  Furthermore, the expeditions constituted the greatest feat of navigation undertaken in the world until that time.  During the first several expeditions all of the major sea routes between China and the Islamic countries of the West were systematically explored and mapped.  A vast amount of knowledge was added to the corpus of Chinese geography.  Ma Huan, a Muslim interpreter who went on several of the expeditions, kept a record of about twenty places that he had visited.  At least two other accounts were written by other members of the expeditions.  Together these works comprise the only major accounts of travel in Asia from the fifteenth century and offer the most accurate and vivid picture of the region prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.

Cheng Ho see Zheng He
Ma He see Zheng He
Ma Sanbao see Zheng He
Hajji Mahmud Shams see Zheng He

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Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali

Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali (Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Ziryab) (Abu l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Nafi‘) (Ziryab) (Zaryab) (Zorab) (c.789-857).  The greatest musician of Muslim Spain.  He lived during the ninth century.  He was first at the court of the ‘Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, then entered the service of the Aghlabid Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817-838), afterwards went to the court of the Spanish Umayyad al-Hakam I, and was on intimate terms with the latter’s successor ‘Abd al-Rahman II.

Abu l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Nafi‘, nicknamed Ziryab, was a Persian or Kurdish polymath: a poet, musician, singer, cosmetologist, fashion designer, celebrity, trendsetter, strategist, astronomer, botanist and geographer. He was active at the Umayyad court of Córdoba in Islamic Iberia. The name "Ziryab" (Blackbird) was given to him for his dark complexion, eloquence, and melodious voice. He first achieved notoriety at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, Iraq, his birth place, as a performer and student of the great musician and composer, Ishaq al-Mawsili.

Ziryab was a gifted pupil of Ishaq al-Mawsili. He had to leave Baghdad when his skills as a musician surpassed those of his teacher. He moved to Córdoba in the southern Iberian Peninsula and was accepted as court musician in the court of Abd al-Rahman II of the Umayyad Dynasty (822-52).

By the 8th century Muslims occupied most of the Iberian peninsula. While Muslims dominated the Iberia territorially, Christians and Jews were very prominent throughout al-Andalus. Before the Islamic occupation of Iberia several cultures such as Christians, Iberians, Berbers, and Jews created many unique musical styles in Iberia. Christians or Muslims were most likely the key contributors to the music of the early decades during the Muslim occupation of Spain. After the occupation of Persia by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century, Arabs were greatly influenced by the richness of Persian culture and way of life. As the Islamic armies conquered more ground during their wars in the centuries that followed, this culture was spread from western China to the Iberian Peninsula and music was no exception. During the 8th and 9th centuries, a wealth of musicians and artists flocked toward Iberia. While many talented artists immigrated to Iberia, Ziryab surpassed all of them with his extraordinary musical talent.

There are conflicting tales of the early years of Ziryab. Ziryab was most likely born in Baghdad, and was trained in the art of music from a young age. During that time Baghdad was the center of music and culture in the East. According to many sources the accomplished and talented musician Ishaq al-Mawsili was Ziryab’s teacher. The debate continues about how he arrived in al-Andalus, but it is clear he offended his patron or a powerful figure with his musical talent.

One account recorded by al-Maqqari says that Ziryab outperformed his mentor Ishaq al-Mawsili at a concert. Out of jealousy, Ziryab was told to leave the city or face the penalty of death.

Ziryab left Baghdad during the reign of Harun al-Rashid in the year 820. He then traveled first to Damascus in (Syria), then to Ifriqiyya (Tunisia), where he lived at the Aghlabid court of Ziyadat Allah (ruled 816-837). Ziryab fell out with Ziyadat Allah but was invited to Al-Andalus by the Umayyad prince, Al-Hakam I. He found on arrival in 822 that the prince had died, but the prince's son, Abd ar-Rahman II, renewed his father's invitation. Ziryab settled in Córdoba where he was honored with a monthly salary of 200 gold dinars, he soon became even more celebrated as the court's aficionado of food, fashion, singing and music. He introduced standards of excellence in all these fields as well as setting new norms for elegant and noble manners. Ziryab became such a prominent cultural figure, and was given a huge salary from Abd al Rahman II. He was an intimate companion of the prince and established a school of music that trained singers and musicians which influenced musical performance for at least two generations after him. In the 9th century he introduced the New Year celebration based on the Iranian holiday Nowruz to the courts of Andalusia in Iberia and thence to Europe.

Al-Maqqari states in his Nafh al-Tib (Fragrant Breeze): "There never was, either before or after him (Ziryab), a man of his profession who was more generally beloved and admired".

Ziryab is said to have improved the Oud by adding a fifth pair of strings, and using an eagle's beak or quill instead of a wooden pick. Ziryab also dyed the four strings a color to symbolize the Aristotelian humors, and the fifth string to represent the soul. He is said to have created a unique and influential style of musical performance, and written songs that were performed in Iberia for generations. He was a great influence on Spanish music, and is considered the founder of the Andalusian music traditions of North Africa. 

Ziryab's Baghdadi musical style became very popular in the court of Abd al-Rahman II. Ziryab also became the example of how a courtier, a person who attended aristocratic courts, should act. According to Ibn Hayyan, in common with erudite men of his time, Ziryab was well versed in many areas of classical study such as astronomy, history, and geography.

According to al-Tifashi, Ziryab appears to have popularized an early song-sequence, which may have been a precursor to the nawba (originally simply a performer's "turn" to perform for the prince), or nuba, which is known today as the classical Arabic music of North Africa, though the connections are tenuous at best.

Abd al-Rahman II was a great patron of the arts and Ziryab was given a great deal of freedom. He established one of the first schools of music in Cordoba. This school incorporated both male and female students, who were very popular amongst the aristocracy of the time. According to Ibn Hayyan, Ziryab developed various tests for them. If a student didn't have a large vocal capacity, for instance, he would put pieces of wood in their jaw to force them to hold their mouth open. Or he would tie a sash tightly around the waist to make them breathe in a particular way, and he would test incoming students by having them sing as loudly and as long a note as they possibly could to see whether they had lung capacity.

According to the main source, Ibn Hayyan, Ziryab had eight sons and two daughters. Five of the sons and both daughters became musicians of some prominence.  These children kept their father's music school alive, but the female slave singers he trained also were regarded as reliable sources for his repertoire in the following generation.

Ziryab started a vogue by changing clothes according to the weather and season. He suggested different clothing for mornings, afternoons and evenings. The existence of separate winter and summer clothing styles is attributed to Ziryab along with the luxurious dress style still found in Morocco today. 

Ziryab created a new type of deodorant to get rid of bad odors and also promoted morning and evening baths and emphasized the maintenance of personal hygiene. Ziryab is thought to have invented an early toothpaste, which he popularized throughout Islamic Iberia. The exact ingredients of this toothpaste are not currently known, but it was reported to have been both "functional and pleasant to taste".

According to Al-Maqqari before the arrival of Ziryab, all the people of al-Andalus, in the Cordoban court, wore their long hair parted in the middle and hung down loose down to the shoulders, men and women both.  The cultural innovator, Ziryab had his hair cut with bangs down to his eyebrows and straight across his forehead, new short hairstyles leaving the neck, ears and eyebrows free,  He popularized shaving among men and set new haircut trends. Royalty used to wash their hair with rose water, but Ziryab introduced the use of salt and fragrant oils to improve the hair's condition.

Ziryab was a major trendsetter of his time creating trends in fashion, hairstyles, and hygiene. His students took these trends with them throughout Europe and North Africa.

Ziuryab was an arbiter of culinary fashion and taste, who also revolutionized the local cuisine by introducing new fruit and vegetables such as asparagus, and by introducing the three-course meal served on leathern tablecloths, insisting that meals should be served in three separate courses consisting of soup, the main course, and dessert. He also introduced the use of crystal as a container for drinks, which was more effective than metal. This claim is supported by accounts of him cutting large crystal goblets. Prior to his time, food was served plainly on platters on bare tables, as was the case with the Romans. 

Ziryab revolutionized the court at Cordoba and made it the stylistic capital of its time. Whether introducing new clothes, styles, foods, hygiene products, or music, Ziryab changed Andalusian culture forever. The musical contributions of Ziryab alone are staggering, laying the early groundwork for classic Spanish music. Ziryab transcended music and style and became a revolutionary cultural figure in 8th and 9th century Iberia. 

Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali Ziryab see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali
Abu l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Nafi‘ see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali
Ziryab see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali
Zaryab see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali
Zorab see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali
Blackbird see Ziryab, Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali