Yahya ibn Abi Mansur ( ar, یحیی ابن ابی منصور), was a senior Persian official from the Banu al-Munajjim family, who served as an astronomer/astrologer at the court of

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

al-Ma'mun Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'm ...

. His Persian name was Bizist, son of Firuzan (). Since his father Abu Mansur Aban was an astrologer in service of caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) ...

, it can be concluded that Yahya spent his childhood in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. His first known position was as an astrologer for

al-Fadl ibn Sahl Abu l-Abbas al-Fadl ibn Sahl ibn Zadhanfarukh al-Sarakhsi ( ar, أبو العباس الفضل بن سهل بن زادانفروخ السرخسي, Abu’l-ʿAbbās al-Faḍl ibn Sahl ibn Zādānfarrūkh as-Sarakhsī; died 818), titled Dhu 'l-Ri'ā ...

, vizier of the caliph al-Ma'mun. After the assassination of al-Fadl, Yahya converted to Islam and adopted his Arabic name. He was also associated with the

House of Wisdom The House of Wisdom ( ar, بيت الحكمة, Bayt al-Ḥikmah), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, refers to either a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad or to a large private library belonging to the Abba ...

and is mentioned as a teacher of the

Banu Musa Banu or BANU may refer to: * Banu (name) * Banu (Arabic), Arabic word for "the sons of" or "children of" * Banu (makeup artist), an Indian makeup artist * Banu Chichek, a character in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' * Bulgarian Agrarian National ...

. He died near

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

in 830 CE.

References

Sources

*D. Pingree.
Banu Monajjem
. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica.'' Ed. Ehsan Yarshater. Columbia University. Retrieved 14 February 2014. *

External links

*
PDF version
* {{Authority control 9th-century Iranian astronomers Converts to Islam from Zoroastrianism People from Amol 830 deaths 9th-century astrologers 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate