Mahmud ibn Vali and the Persianate geography of early modern Eurasia

ABSTRACT The seventeenth century was a time of upheaval for the geographical traditions of the Persian world, but Mahmud bin Valī remains a little-recognized figure in its intellectual history. His Baḥr al-Asrār, written in Persian, combines classical Islamic geography with empirical observations, and offers a synthesis of historiography, economic geography, and environmental analysis. In contrast to European contemporaries, such as Blaeu and Clüver, who developed a mathematical cartography, Valī’s work remained textual and reflected the descriptive and historical geography that characterized Persian scholarship. His focus on trade networks, irrigation systems, and political landscapes demonstrates the continuing vitality of Islamic geographical traditions in Iran, Central Asia, and Mughal India. By reassessing Baḥr al-Asrār, this work situates Mahmud bin Valī within broader debates about the production of geographical knowledge and affirms the role of the Persian world in shaping an early modern understanding of space, mobility, and territoriality. His contributions challenge Eurocentric narratives of geographical progress and emphasize the continuing influence of Persian intellectual traditions on Eurasian geography.