Naubakht
Encyclopedia
Nobakht Ahvazi and his sons were astrologers from Ahvaz
(in the present-day Khuzestan Province
of Iran
).
Nobakht was particularly famous for having led a group of astrologers who picked an auspicious electional chart
for the founding of Baghdad
. His family also helped design the city. Originally Zoroastrians, Nobakht and his sons converted to Islam and were employed as Pahlavi translators of the Abbasid
court.
Ahvaz
-History:For a more comprehensive historical treatment of the area, see the history section of Khūzestān Province.-Ancient history:Ahvaz is the anagram of "Avaz" and "Avaja" which appear in Darius's epigraph...
(in the present-day Khuzestan Province
Khuzestan Province
Khuzestan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahwaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...
of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
).
Nobakht was particularly famous for having led a group of astrologers who picked an auspicious electional chart
Electional astrology
Electional astrology, also known as event astrology, is a branch found in most traditions of astrology in which a practitioner decides the most appropriate time for an event based on the astrological auspiciousness of that time...
for the founding of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. His family also helped design the city. Originally Zoroastrians, Nobakht and his sons converted to Islam and were employed as Pahlavi translators of the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
court.
Sources
- The Golden Age of Persia, by Richard Nelson FryeRichard Nelson FryeRichard Nelson Frye is an American scholar of Iranic and Central Asian Studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University...
, p. 163. - Khandan-i Naubakhti, by Abbas Iqbal, TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, 1933, pp 2–3 & 13. - Islamic Science and Engineering, by Donald Hill, p. 10.