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Ulugh Beg and the Samarkand Observatory

Uluğ BeyKadızâde-i RûmîGıyâseddin Cemşîd el-KâşîAli Kuşçu

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For everyone

The Timurid ruler and astronomer Ulugh Beg founded one of the largest observatories of the age in Samarkand. The Zīj of Ulugh Beg, prepared from its observations, gave newly measured positions for about 1,000 stars; the tables were used in the Islamic world and Europe until the invention of the telescope. Ali Qushji, who worked at the observatory, later came to Istanbul and influenced the teaching of astronomy and mathematics in the Ottoman Empire.

For specialists

The observatory's main instrument was a giant meridian arc (the Fakhri sextant) with a radius of about 40 m. The Zīj gave the sidereal year as 365 days 6 hours 10 minutes 8 seconds, about 58 seconds longer than today's value. al-Kāshī computed π to 16 decimal places. Ulugh Beg was assassinated in 1449 at his son's instigation, and the observatory soon ceased to function.

Claims

Positions

Historian of science Aydın Sayılı
The observatory developed as a scientific institution in the Islamic world and was a forerunner of modern observatories.[3]

Connections

Parent

Astronomy and cosmology

Related

Ptolemy's Almagest and the geocentric modelCopernicus and the heliocentric model

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Sources

  1. EncyclopediaUluğ Bey. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
  2. EncyclopediaZîc-i Uluğ Bey. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
  3. BookSayılı, A. (1960). The Observatory in Islam and its Place in the General History of the Observatory. Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara

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APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Ulugh Beg and the Samarkand Observatory. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/ulug-bey/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_ulug_bey,
  title        = {Ulugh Beg and the Samarkand Observatory},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/ulug-bey/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

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