Cartography

What Is Cartography?

Cartography is the process or act of map making. The development of cartography began in the Islamic Golden Age in the 8th to 13th century. The process began where maps were made when Islamic scholars wanted to begin documenting the geographical and celestial features around them. This innovation did not come solely from the Abbasid Caliphate, but was developed in many other civilizations based on their findings. This impacted those other civilizations as well by allowing them the same knowledge as the Abbasid Caliphate. 

Why Is It Important?

 Cartography was important for the Abbasid Caliphate because it helped to shape the understanding they had of the known and unknown world. The religious beliefs of the Islamic people heavily shaped the way they understood their new geographical findings. A line in the Qur'an discusses the topic about a spherical earth, which changed how they perceived the world. They take the line literally and investigate, which resulted in the, discovering that the world neither has a start nor an end. The maps they made took the spherical shape of the planet into account, so it was simpler when mathematical information was included on the maps.

Other Impacts

 Cartography also improved their ability to navigate and trade with the civilizations around them including China, India, and other local Islamic civilizations. Since geographical features such as currents, mountains, and rivers were no documented, it became a much easier process to travel. This more simple travel led to a large increase in trade, which means that cartography encouraged trade.

Future Impacts 

Future impacts of cartography led to more accurate depictions of the known world, which encouraged ancient people to explore further. Centuries later, more modern inventions were made based on the idea of cartography, such as the GPS.