An Analysis of the Horoscope Illustration Prepared for the Timurid Sultan Iskandar: Birth of Iskandar

Yıl 2026, Sayı: 25 , 50 - 73 , 31.01.2026

Mozhgan Esmaeilyfar

https://doi.org/10.26650/artsanat.2026.25.0003

https://izlik.org/JA59GG22LS

Öz

Due to the great interest of Iskandar Sultan (Timur's grandson) in illustrating books, especially astronomical ones, relatively many works have been remained since his time. One of them is the book of Birth of Iskandar (Kitab-i Viladat-i Iskandar) written in 813 A.H [A.D 1410] and was presented to him. This book, which is now held at the Wellcome Institute in London, consists of three parts: The first part deals with the astrological calculations of the moment of the king’s birth and the extraction of his horoscope, which ends with a two-page painting. The second part includes the prophecy of the coming years until a few decades after his birth, and the third part explains Sultan's horoscope. The drawing is in fact an illustrated summary of the first and third parts of the book. The symbol of the twelve constellations and the position of the planets in these constellations at the time of Iskandar Sultan's Birth are related to the first part and the inscriptions written in the sectors of the circles in the middle of the image are related to the third part of the book. Moreover, the large outer circle includes Iskandar's horoscope based on the latitude of each zodiac sign at the moment of his birth. The present article has presented an overview of the illustrated symbols and investigated the details of astrology as well as the inscriptions in the image.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Astrology , Horoscope , Timurid era , manuscript , Iskandar Sultan

Timurlu Şehzadesi İskender Sultan İçin Hazırlanan Burç Haritası Minyatürü Üzerine Bir İnceleme: İskender’in Doğumu

https://izlik.org/JA59GG22LS

Öz

Timur’un torunu İskender Sultan Timuri (İskender Mirza) astronomiyle ilgili kitaplara büyük ilgi duymuştur. Bu ilgi sayesinde döneminden günümüze çok sayıda eser ulaşmıştır. Bunlardan biri H 813 [M 1410] yılında yazılarak kendisine sunulan İskender’in Doğumu (Kitâb-ı Velâ det-i İskender) adlı eserdir. Günümüzde Londra’daki Wellcome Enstitüsü’nde bulunan bu eser üç bölümden oluşmaktadır. İlk bölüm hükümdarın doğum anındaki astrolojik hesaplamaları ve burç haritasının çıkarılmasını ele almakta olup iki sayfalık bir resimle sonlanmaktadır. İkinci bölüm doğumundan sonraki yılların kehanetlerini içermektedir. Üçüncü bölüm ise Sultan’ın burç haritasını açıklamaktadır. Kitaptaki görsel aslında birinci ve üçüncü bölümlerin resimli bir özetidir. On iki burç sembolleri ve İskender Sultan’ın doğum anındaki gezegenlerin bu burçlardaki konumları birinci bölüme atıfta bulunurken görselin ortasındaki dairenin dilimlerine yazılmış yazılar kitabın üçüncü bölümüyle ilişkilidir. Ayrıca büyük dış daire, İskender’in doğum anındaki burçların enlemlerine dayalı burç haritasını içermektedir. Bu makale İskender’in Doğumu adlı eserde resmedilen sembollere genel bir bakış sunarak astrolojik detayları ve görseldeki yazıtları incelemiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Astroloji , Burç Haritası , Timurlu Dönemi , yazma eser , İskender Mirz

Kaynakça

• Abd al-Hassan Ibn Ahmad al-Isfahani. Al-Bulhan. (9th A.H) Buddhist Library of London with the number sc27596–OB/6. google scholar
• Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi. Ehsa al-Oloom. Translated by Hossein Khadiv Jam. Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing Company, 2010. google scholar
• Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi. Ahkam al-Mawalid. (3th A.H). Rewritten by Hasan Razavi. Parliament Library of Iran, No. 6420. google scholar
• Abu Rihan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. Al-Tafhim Lavail Sanayeh Al-Tanjim. Translated by Jalaluddin Homayi. Tehran: Homa Publishing, 1988. google scholar
• Astrograph. "Motion." https://www.astrograph.com/learning-astrology/motion.php google scholar
• Barton, Tamsyn. Ancient Astrology. London: Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. google scholar
• Beck, Roger. A Brief History of Ancient Astrology. USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007. google scholar
• Brennan, Chris. “Introduction to Hellenistic Astrology.” Course Part 3: Basic Techniques and Concepts in Hellenistic Astrology”. www.chrisbrennanastrologer.com.. google scholar
• Caiozzo, Anna. “The Horoscope of Iskandar Sultān as a Cosmological Vision in the Islamic World.” Horoscopes and Public Spheres: Essays on the History of Astrology. Edited by Günther Oestmann, H. Darrel Rutkin and Kocku von Stuckrad (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005), 115-144. google scholar
• Carboni, Stefano. Following the Stars: Figures of the Zodiac in Islamic Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. google scholar
• Cooper, Glen M. “C8: Hellenistic Greek Science, Astrology the Science of Signs in the Heavens.” Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World. Edited by Paul T. Keyser and John Scarborough. London: Oxford University Press, 2018, 381-407. google scholar
• Elwell-Sutton, Laurence Paul. “A Royal Tīmūrid Nativity Book.” Logos Islamikos: Studia Islamica in Honorem Georgii Michaelis Wickens. Edited by Roger M. Savory and Dionisius A. Agius. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1984. google scholar
• Ghassemlou, Farid. “A Supplement to Research in the Zijah of the Islamic Period.” History of Science 1 (2003): 53-74. google scholar
• Ghiasian, Mohhamad Reza. “A Royal Manuscript Written for Iskandar Ibn Umar Sheikh: Anthology Preserved in Calouste Golbankian Museum, Istanbul University Library and Wellcome Institute of Medical History.” Heritage Mirror 67 (2019): 55-90. google scholar
• Giahi Yazdi, Hamid Reza. History of Astronomy in Iran. Tehran: Cultural Research Office, 2009. google scholar
• Hartner, Willy. “The Pseudo Planetary Nodes of the Moon's Orbit in Hindu and Islamic Iconographies Author.” Ars Islamica 5/2 (1938): 112-154. google scholar
• Hartner, Willy. “The Mercury Horoscope of Marcantonio Michel of Venice: A Study in the History of Renaissance Astrology and Astronomy.” Vistas in Astronomy 1 (1955): 84-138. google scholar
• Kennedy, Edward S. “A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series 46/2 (1956): 123-177. google scholar
• Keshavarz, Fateme. “The Horoscope of Iskandar Sultan.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 116/2 (1984): 197-208. google scholar
• Mahmud bin Yahya bin Hassan Al-Kashi. The Birth of Iskandar (Kitab-i Viladat-i Iskandar). (813 A.H/1410 A.D). London, The Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. google scholar
• Mohammad Ibn Ahmad Tusi. Aja'ib al-Makhluqat. Translated by Manouchehr Sotoudeh. Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing Company, 2003. google scholar
• Şen, Ahmet Tunç and Cornell H. Fleischer. “Books on Astrology, Astronomical Tables, and Almanacs in the Lajaibrary Inventory of Bayezid II.” Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4). Edited by Gülru Necipoğlu, Cemal Kafadar and Cornell H. Fleischer. Leiden: Brill, 2019, 767- 821. google scholar
• Zakariyya Ibn Mahmoud al-Qazwini. Aja'ib al-Makhluqat. (7th A.H). Majlis Library Document Number: 10-13407. google scholar