World Philosophy Atlas
Isfahan
- Isfahan
Also Esfahan
Isfahan hosted three phases of Persian philosophical and scientific life. Ibn Sina spent his last productive years here, from about 1024 until 1037. The sultan Malik-Shah invited Omar Khayyam to the city to make the observations needed for a reform of the calendar; an observatory was built, and the resulting Jalali calendar was adopted in 1075. In 1597 the young Mulla Sadra came to Isfahan and studied with Mir Damad and Shaykh Baha'i, the two pre-eminent scholars of his age, before developing his transcendent philosophy.
When
- 1024–1037 Ibn Sina's last years His final period of residence.
- 1075–1092 Malik-Shah's observatory From the adoption of the Jalali calendar to the patron's death.
- 1597–1630 Safavid-era study Mulla Sadra's studies and teachers.
Schools and institutions
- 1092 Observatory of Malik-Shah Built for the calendar reform; the Jalali calendar was adopted in 1075, and the patron died in 1092.
Thinkers
- Ibn Sina c. 970 – 1037worked here, 1024–1037 (Lived in Isfahan from about 1024 to 1037; died in Hamadhan in 1037.)
- Omar Khayyam 1048 – 1131worked here, 1075–1092 (Invited by Malik-Shah to Isfahan for the calendar reform; the patron died in 1092.)
- Mulla Sadra c. 1571 – 1635/6studied here, 1597 (Moved to Isfahan in 1597 and studied with Mir Damad and Shaykh Baha'i.)
- Miskawayh c. 932 – 1030died here, 1030 (Died at an advanced age in Isfahan, then under Kakuyid rule, in February 1030.)
Sources: SEP: Ibn Sina · SEP: Mulla Sadra · Britannica: Omar Khayyam · Encyclopaedia Iranica: Meskavayh, Abu Ali Ahmad