Maragha Observatory

Timeline

1. 1259Maragha · IranAfter his western campaigns, Ilkhan Hulegu established Maragha as an important base and, at the request of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, built an observatory to consolidate the new dynasty's rule through calendar reform and integrate Persian-Islamic scholarly resources.
2. 1261–1262Maragha Observatory site · MaraghaThe observatory was completed, installing a large mural quadrant (on the order of 40 meters in radius) and armillary spheres; al-Tusi led his team in systematic observations, compiled the Zij-i Ilkhani (Ilkhanid Tables), and gathered scholars from various regions to form the Maragha school.
3. 1265–1270Maragha–Tabriz scholarly circle · IlkhanateBy the late 1260s, the Maragha school's tables and instrument designs had spread via Ilkhanate postal routes to the Middle East and North Africa, and through the Mongol Empire to East Asia; its non-Ptolemaic orbital model research was later thought possibly to have influenced the development of European astronomy.