Aḥmad ibn MÃÂjid (), also known as the "Arab Admiral" (, ) and the "Lion of the Sea", was an Arab navigator and cartographer born in Julfar, the present-day Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. He was raised in a family famous for seafaring; at the age of seventeen he was able to navigate ships. The exact date is not known, but Ibn MÃÂjid probably died around 1500. Although long identified in the West as the navigator who helped Vasco da Gama find his way from Africa to India, contemporary research has shown Ibn MÃÂjid is unlikely even to have met Da Gama. Ibn MÃÂjid was the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose.
At the beginning of his magnum opus, the FawÃÂþid (see below), Ibn MÃÂjid gives his name in full as ḤÃÂjj al-Ḥaramayn al-Sharëfayn ShihÃÂb al-Dën Aḥmad ibn MÃÂjid ibn Muḥammad ibn ÿAmr ibn Faá¸Âl ibn Duwayk ibn Yà «suf ibn Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn ibn Abë Muÿallaq al-Saÿdë ibn Abë RakÃÂþib al-Najdë (). The Najdë and Saÿdë titles relate his lineage to the central Arabian Peninsula and to the Yemeni Tihamah respectively.
Ibn MÃÂjid wrote several books on marine science and the movements of ships, which helped people of the Persian Gulf to reach the coasts of India, East Africa and other destinations. Among his many books on navigation, KitÃÂb al-FawÃÂâÂÂid fë Uá¹£à «l ÿIlm al-Baḥr waâÂÂl-QawÃÂÿid (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship) is considered one of his best. It is an encyclopedia, describing the history and basic principles of navigation, latitude and longitude by way of celestial navigation, lunar mansions, loxodromes, the difference between coastal and open-sea sailing, the locations of ports from East Africa to Indonesia, accounts of the monsoon and other seasonal winds, typhoons and other topics for professional navigators. He drew from his own experience and that of his father, also a famous navigator, and the lore of generations of Indian Ocean sailors. The book encompassed the entire science of navigation in the Indian Ocean at the time.
Ibn MÃÂjid was known as a muÿallim (âÂÂteacherâÂÂ, the title for pilots), i.e. teacher of navigation. Most of his navigational calculations depended on sophisticated astronomical observations, especially using the lunar mansions (manÃÂzil al-qamar) and the thirty-two stellar rhumbs (akhnÃÂn).
Although Ibn MÃÂjid was long held to have helped the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama cross from Africa to the Indian subcontinent, contemporary research has shown that he would have been in his seventies at the time of Da GamaâÂÂs trip. The actual pilot who sailed with Da Gama was a Gujarati and may have returned to Portugal with da Gama. The man was provided to Da Gama by the Ruler of Malindi and was assumed by Da Gama and his men to be a Christian. He guided Da GamaâÂÂs ships to Mount Eli on the Indian coast after a 23-day voyage.
Researchers have also used the three rutters of Ibn MÃÂjid, particularly the âÂÂSofala RutterâÂÂ, to comprehensively debunk the entire story of Ibn MÃÂjid and any association with Da Gama. The evidence in these, letters written by da Gama himself and Ibn MÃÂjidâÂÂs age (he considered himself too old to navigate in 1498, when da Gama arrived in MalindiâÂÂIbn MÃÂjid would have been 77), all provide a strong refutation of the entire story and it is now accepted as highly unlikely that Ibn MÃÂjid had ever even met Da Gama, let alone given him the route to India. However, his works are thought to have been a valuable source for the Portuguese when they arrived in the region.
Remembered as âÂÂThe Lion of the SeaâÂÂ, Ibn MÃÂjid's true legacy was the substantial body of literature on navigation that he left behind. Arab sailing was at a pinnacle during Ibn MÃÂjid's lifetime, when both Europeans and Ottomans had only a limited understanding of geography in the Indian Ocean. His KitÃÂb al-FawÃÂþid was widely utilized by Arab sailors, and comprised celestial navigation, weather patterns, and charts of dangerous areas in which to sail. This tome, in addition to his poetic works, were the true legacy of the sailor. Two of Ibn MÃÂjidâÂÂs famous hand-written books are now prominent exhibits in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
In the television series ', set in the future, the character Cristóbal "Chris" RÃÂos (portrayed by Santiago Cabrera) is a former Starfleet officer who once served on the Federation starship USS Ibn Majid, NCC-75710, as revealed in the 2020 episode .