Ahmed Bin Majid (Arabic:أحمد بن ماجد) (c.1432 – ?), was an Arab navigator and cartographer born in 1421 in Julphar, which is now known as Ras Al Khaimah. This city makes up one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. He was raised with a family famous for seafaring; at the age of 17 he was able to navigate ships. He was so famous that he was known as the first Arab seaman. He was born at Julfar in northern Ras al-Khaimah in present Oman, and probably died at 1500. He became famous in the West as the navigator who has been associated with helping Vasco da Gama find his way from Africa to India . He was the author of nearly 40 works of poetry and prose.
Works
His most important work was Kitab al-Fawa’id fi Usul ‘Ilm al-Bahr wa ‘l-Qawa’id (Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation), written in 1490. It is a navigation encyclopedia, describing the history and basic principles of navigation, lunar mansions, rhumb lines, the difference between coastal and open-sea sailing, the locations of ports from East Africa to Indonesia, star positions, 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.
