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Ibn Khordadbeh

Type Figure Region Iran Time c. 820–912 Also known as Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi al-Abbas ibn Khordadbeh

Ibn Khordadbeh was a ninth-century Iranian geographer, merchant, and Abbasid official who served as director of the postal relay system and wrote Kit…

Timeline

  1. c. 820–850Northern Iran · IranBorn into an Iranian bureaucratic family, in his youth he traveled with caravans through Central Asia, India, and the Byzantine frontier, accumulating firsthand commercial knowledge of road distances, relay stations, and tariffs.
  2. c. 850–885Baghdad · MesopotamiaHe entered the Abbasid court and served as director of the diwan of postal relays and intelligence, managing the road and postal relay system and thereby gaining access to firsthand administrative materials on the empire's transport and trade networks.
  3. c. 885–912Baghdad · MesopotamiaDrawing on his commercial experience and official postal records, he wrote Kitab al-Masalik wa'l-Mamalik, detailing the land and sea routes, distances, tariffs, and the states along the way leading from Baghdad to China, India, Byzantium, and other regions.

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