Ahmad Nahavandi


Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Nahawandi, also called al-Nahawandi, was an 8th/9th century Persian astronomer. His name indicates that he was from Nahavand, now in modern Iran.

Life

Al-Nahawandi lived and worked at the Academy of Gundishapur, in Khuzestan, Iran, at the time of Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmak, the provincial governor and all-powerful long-time vizier to Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Al-Nahawandi is reported to have been making astronomical observations at the academy in around 800. He and the astronomer and mathematician Mashallah ibn Athari were among the earliest Islamic era astronomers who flourished during the reign of al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph.

Works

Al-Nahawandi compiled zijes under the title.