Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the ...

Philosophy in Azarbaijan and the School of Shiraz 205
include his glosses upon the metaphysics of the Shifå˘ and Ishåråt of
Ibn S¥nå, glosses upon the Mu÷åkamåt (Trials) of Qu†b al-D¥n Råz¥, and
a number of theological and scientific works that have a philosophical
component. He died in 952/1545 in Ahmadnagar where he was buried,
having transformed in a notable way the history of Islam in the Daccan
and having played a major role in the spread of philosophy in India.
The tree planted by Shåh appleåhir was further nourished by another
figure from the School of Shiraz whose role in the propagation
of Islamic philosophy and the sciences in India is also of the greatest
importance. He is M¥r Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥, who was a student of Jamål
al-D¥n Ma±m¨d Sh¥råz¥ and who migrated from Shiraz to India. 44 He
was born in Shiraz, where he received his education under the tutelage
of such teachers as Jamål al-D¥n Ma±m¨d, himself a student of
Ghiyåth al-D¥n and Dawån¥, and also directly under Ghiyåth al-D¥n
Man∑¨r. Soon he became a well-known philosopher and scientist, as
well as teacher of the transmitted sciences. The king of Bijapur, ‘Al¥
‘≈dil Shåh, had assembled many men of learning at this court and
invited M¥r Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥ to join them. The latter accepted, leaving
Shiraz permanently for India, where he became such an important
figure both politically and intellectually that the Indian historian Saiyid
Athar Abbas Rizvi writes, “The arrival of Shåh Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥
[another name by which he was known in India] was the turning
point in the history Shi‘ism in northern India.” 45 Rizvi might have
added “and for the intellectual life of the whole of Islam, both Sunni
and Shi‘ite in India.” Akbar wanted Shåh Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥ at his
court, and after the death of ‘Ādil Shåh this became possible. In 991/
1583 the great Persian savant was received royally at the Mogul court
and became one of the most important intellectual, religious, and
political figures of the realm. He was instrumental in reforms in taxation,
in agriculture, in the invention of many mechanical instruments,
in the devising of a new calendar, and most important of all, in educational
reform.
M¥r or Shåh Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥ was a major scientist and engineer.
He was the foremost astronomer and mathematician of his day
in India and in addition the inventor of many instruments and mechanical
gadgets, including a mechanical mill, new means and methods
of irrigation, certain forms of military technology, and so on. 46
There are in fact so may inventions associated with him that it is
difficult to understand how a man who was also a major philosopher
and a political and administrative figure of the highest rank could
have had the time to invent them all. M¥r Fat± Allåh Sh¥råz¥ was also
an accomplished physician. One day when the later history of Islamic
science is written in full, he is bound to occupy an important position