death_date era notability title ethnicity main_interests birth_date article_title region
1327 ce mamluk arab geographer '' ` al-dimashqi '' ' arab history and geography 1256 ce al-dimashqi -lrb- geographer -rrb-
 greater syria
al-dimashqi -lrb- geographer -rrb-

sheikh shams al-din al-ansari al-dimashqi or simply al-dimashqi -lrb- -rrb- -lrb- 1256 -- 1327 -rrb- was a medieval arab geographer , completing his main work in 1300 .
born in damascus -- as his name `` dimashqi '' implies -- he mostly wrote of his native land , the greater syria -lrb- `` bilad ash-sham '' -rrb- , upon the complete withdrawal of the crusaders .
he became a contemporary of the mamluk sultan baibars , the general who led the muslims in war against the crusaders .
his work is of value in connection with the crusader chronicles .
he died while in safad , in 1327 .
al-dimashqi -lrb- 1325 -rrb- gives detailed accounts of islands in maritime southeast asia , its inhabitants , flora , fauna and customs .
he mentions `` the country of champa ... is inhabited by muslims and idolaters .
the islam came there during the time of caliph uthman ... and ali , many muslims who were expelled by the umayyads and by al-hajjaj , fled there , and since then a majority of the cham have embraced islam '' .
of their rivals the khmer , al-dimashqi -lrb- 1325 -rrb- mentions they inhabit the island of komor -lrb- khmer -rrb- , also called malay island , are many towns and cities , rich-dense forests with huge , tall trees , and white elephants ; they supplemented their income from the trade routes not only by exporting ivory and aloe , but also by engaging in piracy and raiding on muslim and chinese shipping .
al-dimaski 's writings on syria were published in st. petersburg in 1866 by m.a.f mehren , and this edition was later used for the english translation by guy le strange in 1890 .
