The only Muslim leader whose name is immortalized as the name of the crater of the moon

Muslim leader Samarkand Ulugh Beg is known as a genius scientist

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, – His full name is Muhammad Taragai Ulugh Beg. He is the ruler Timuriyah Dynasty in the period between 1447 and 1449.

His name is widely remembered not only as a king, but also a scientist. The grandson of Timur Lenk succeeded in making the capital of his country, Samarkand, the center of an advanced Islamic civilization in his time.

His attention is devoted to the development of science and science. Not only facilitating the astute scholars, researchers, and scholars who take part in Timuriyah. He was also directly involved in several researches, particularly in the fields of astronomy and mathematics.

The figure whose name is immortalized as one of the craters on the moon does indeed present himself as an umara who is a scholar. He founded many madrasas, libraries, hospitals and laboratories in his empire, especially Samarkand.

One of his most effective legacies is the observatory. This is where scientists observe celestial objects with the help of instruments, such as telescopes or large binoculars.

Observatory Ulugh Beg standing on Samarkand in 1420. Its construction began with a visit by the king of Timuriyah to the Maragha Observatory.

The building, which is located in Maragha around the province of East Azerbaijan, Iran, was now led by a Persian scientist, Nashiruddin Tusi. At that time, the observatory was the most complete and famous in all of Eurasia.

It is said that the governor of Transoxiana established the astronomical research center because he was impressed with the Maragha Observatory which he visited when he was young. Therefore, in building this infrastructure he asked for the help of the main scientist of Maragha, namely Nashiruddin Tusi.

At the time, it was the largest observatory in the world. It was there that sky watchers, including Ulugh Beg himself, conducted various researches. They prepared astronomical tables of the sun, moon, and other planets which had been observed with great precision.

The level of accuracy is not much different from the observations made by modern astronomers who use today’s sophisticated telescopes. Until the 18th century, the Ulugh Beg Observatory was still an institution respected by scholars.

After the visit, Ulugh Beg became very enthusiastic to erect a similar building in Samarkand. To that end, he invited dozens of astronomers and mathematicians from around the world. They were asked to design a larger observatory than that of the Maragha State.

The results are amazing. With the support of Nashiruddin Tusi, the celestial phenomenon research center was not only equipped with the most sophisticated equipment of its time. There, there is also a library with a collection that includes hundreds of thousands of books.

By researching there, Ulugh Beg produced many scientific works. Among others are She-I Sultani, yakni astronomical table that contains descriptions and descriptions of about a thousand stars, as well as various other celestial objects. The book was published in 1437 in Persian.

Until the 18th century, the Ulugh Beg Observatory was still an institution respected by astronomers around the world. Unfortunately, the scientific complex was damaged in 1449 by a local riot.

Much later, precisely in 1908 the building was rediscovered. Now, all that remains of it is the foundation with some of the construction still standing.