Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūlī (Arabic: ), (born c. 870
Gorgan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...
– died between 941 and 948
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
) was a
Turkic scholar and a court companion of three
Abbāsid caliphs
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-Muktafī, his successor
al-Muqtadir
Abu’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Ahmad al-Muʿtaḍid ( ar, أبو الفضل جعفر بن أحمد المعتضد) (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name Al-Muqtadir bi-llāh ( ar, المقتدر بالله, "Mighty in God"), w ...
, and later,
al-Rāḍī, whom he also tutored. He was a bibliophile, wrote letters, editor-poet, chronicler, and a
shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as i ...
player. His contemporary biographer
Isḥāq al-Nadīm tells us he was “of manly bearing.” He wrote many books, the most famous of which are ''
Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' and ''
Kitāb al-Shiṭranj''.
Life
Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī was born into an illustrious family of Turkic origin, his great-grandfather was the
Turkic prince
Sul-takin and his uncle was the poet Ibrahim ibn al-'Abbas as-Suli.
Al-Marzubānī, a principal pupil of al-Ṣūlī, who admired him and copied him in the art of compilation, borrowed much of al-Ṣūlī's material for his ''Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ''.
Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī made extensive use of his material in his ''
Kitāb al-Aghānī''.
On Caliph al-Rāḍī's death in 940, al-Ṣūlī fell into disfavour with the new ruler due to his
Shi'a
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
sympathies and he died hiding at
al-Baṣrah, for having quoted a passage about ‘Alī , which caused a public scandal.
Chess
Al-Ṣūlī was among a group of tenth-century chess players who wrote books about the game of
shaṭranj, i.e. “chess”.
Al-Ṣūlī's books were:
*''Kitāb al-Shiṭranj al-Nisḥa al-Awala'' () ‘Chess, the first manuscript’;
*''Kitāb al-Shiṭranj al-Nisḥa ath-Thānīa'' () Chess, the second manuscript; Book on
chess strategy
Chess strategy is the aspect of chess play concerned with evaluation of chess positions and setting of goals and long-term plans for future play. While evaluating a position strategically, a player must take into account such factors as the rela ...
, common
chess opening
A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...
s, standard problems in middle game, annotated end games and the first known description of the
knight's tour
A knight's tour is a sequence of moves of a knight on a chessboard such that the knight visits every square exactly once. If the knight ends on a square that is one knight's move from the beginning square (so that it could tour the board again im ...
problem.
Sometime between 902 and 908 al-Ṣūlī played and beat the reigning shaṭranj champion, al-Mawardī, at the court of Caliph al-Muktafī, and the
Caliph of Baghdad. Al-Mawardī's loss of royal favour was al-Ṣūlī's gain. When al-Muktafī's died, al-Ṣūlī retained the favour of the succeeding rulers, Caliph al-Muqtadir and in turn Caliph al-Radi.
His biographer
Ibn Khallikan, (d. 1282), relates that even in his lifetime the phrase "to play like al-Ṣūlī" was to show great skill at shaṭranj. His
endgame strategies are still studied. Contemporary biographer mention his skill in
blindfold chess
Blindfold chess, also known as ''sans voir'', is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces and do not touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are commu ...
. Al-Ṣūlī also taught shaṭranj. Many later European writers based their work on modern chess on al-Suli's work.
Other Chess players/authors in the Group
*
Al-‘Adlī () wrote:
''
Kitāb al-Shiṭranj'' () ‘Chess’, the first book on chess, and;
''
Al-Nard, wa Isbābha wa-al-La’ab bīha'' (). 'Al-Nard Its Elements and Play'.
*
Al-Rāzī () was a chess rival of al-‘Adlī and the caliph
Al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was ...
attended their matches. He wrote:
''
Kitāb latīf fī al- Shiṭranj'' () ‘A Delightful Book about Chess.’
*Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh
al-Lajlāj ("the stammerer") (), whom Isḥāq al-Nadīm had met, was his best known pupil. He excelled at chess at the
Būyid court of king
‘Aḍud al-Dawlah in
Shīrāz, where he died sometime after 970/71
60 AH He wrote:
''
Manṣūbāt al-Shiṭranj'' () ‘The Stratagems of Chess.’
*Ibn al-Uqlīdasī Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ, one of the most skilful chess players, who wrote ''A Collection of the Stratagems of Chess''.
Al-Suli's Diamond
Al-Ṣūlī's shaṭranj problem, called "Al-Ṣūlī's Diamond", went unsolved for over a thousand years.
As this is shaṭranj, the "queen" (counsellor) is a very weak piece, able to move only a single square diagonally. It is possible to win in shaṭranj by capturing all pieces except the king, unless the opponent is able to do the same on the next move.
David Hooper and
Ken Whyld studied this problem in the mid-1980s but were unable to crack it. It was finally solved by Russian
Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenar ...
.
The solution, starting with 1. Kb4, is given in Hans Ree's "The Human Comedy of Chess", and on the web.
Works
Kitāb Al-Awrāq
*''Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' () ‘Leaves’ or ‘Folios’; unfinished work on the traditions of the caliphs and the poets; the poems and chronicles of the sons of the caliphs, from
al-Saffāḥ to Ibn
al-Mu‘tazz (750 -908) and poems of other members of the
Banū al-‘Abbās who were neither caliphs nor sons of caliphs in rank. This included the poetry of
‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Alī (), the poetry of Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ismā’īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Īsā ibn al-Manṣūr (), the poems of members of the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
Abū Ṭālib the descendants of
al-Ḥasan and
al-Ḥusayn, the descendants of
al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Alī, the descendants of ‘Umar ibn ‘Alī, and the descendants of
Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib; poems of the descendants of
al-Ḥārith ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib; traditions about, and selected poems by,
Ibn Harmah; traditions about al-Sayyid al-Ḥimyarī (), with a selection of his poetry; traditions about, and selected poems by, Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf (); traditions about Sudayf with a selection of his poetry.
Ishaq al-Nadīm speculates that al-Ṣūlī plagiarized al-Marthadī's book on poetry and the poets, as he had seen a copy of his book that had come from al-Ṣūlī's library.
**''Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' published in three parts (1934-6, London):
i) ''Kitāb al-Awrāķ (Section on Contemporary Poets)'': contains anthologies of poets of the ''Muḥadathūn'' (modern poets) and their
diwans. Al-Ṣūlī was interested in the lesser known poets.
Al-Mas'ūdī highly esteemed him for his unique recording of people and events. Of the fourteen poets al-Ṣūlī cites, Abān ibn ‘Abdal-Ḥamīd al-Lāḥiķī and Ashja ibn ‘Amr al-Sulamī are the best known. Part of Abān's versification of the
Kalīla wa Dimna written for
Yaḥyā ibn Khālid al-Barmakī is preserved and published in the edited Arabic edition by
James Heyworth-Dunne (1934).
ii) ''Akhbar al-Rāḍī wa'l-Muttaqī''; chronicle covering a thirteen-year period of the reigns of the caliphs
al-Rāḍīwhom al-Ṣūlī had tutored and been a close companion ofand
al-Muttaqī. It contains many fresh details of their reigns and the literary activities of the court. Although less famous than the histories of al-Mas'ūdī and
Miskawayh, al-Ṣūlī's is an eyewitness-account of the transition to
Buyid
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Co ...
rule. The position of ''
amir al-umara'' was created in 936 during al-Radi's caliphate, which devolved some caliphal executive powers to ''
amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
s'' (princes). The Buyid amirs later exerted these powers to establish their independent dynasty within the Caliphate and the Abbāsid's never regained their full power. However, al-Ṣūlī's account makes clear the limits of the devolved powers to the
amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
s.
iii) ''Ash’ār Awlād al-Khulafā’ wa-Akhbāruhum''; chronicle of the
House of al-'Abbās who were poets.
Other Works
*''Kitāb al-Wazrā'' () The Viziers;
*''Kitāb al-'Abādah'' () Worship;
*''Kitāb Adb al-Kātib 'alā al-Haqīqa'' () Training of the Secretary, according to Standard;
*''Kitāb tafdhīl al-Sinān'' () ‘Superiority of the Aged,’ written for ‘Alī ibn al-Furāt (855 – 924) surnamed Abū al-Ḥasan;
*''Kitāb al-Shāb'' () Youths;
*''Kitāb al-Anwā’'' () Varieties (unfinished);
*''Kitāb suwāl wa-jawāb Ramaḍān li Ibn al-Munajjim'' () Questions about Answers of Ramaḍān of Ibn al-Munajjim;
*''Kitāb Ramaḍān'' () Ramaḍān;
*''Kitāb al-Shāmal fī ‘Alam al-Qur’ān'' () The Compendium, about knowledge of the Qur’ān (unfinished),
*''Kitāb Munāqub ‘alā ibn al-Furāt'' () The Virtues of ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt;
*''Kitāb akhbār Abū Tammām'' () Traditions about Abū Tammām;
*''Kitāb akhbār al-Jubbā’ī Abū Sa’īd'' () Traditions about al-Jubbā’ī Abū Sa’īd;
*''Kitāb al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf'' () Al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf and selected poems;
*Epistle of Al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf about collecting taxes;
*''Kitāb akhbār Abā ‘Amru Ibn al-‘Alā’'' () Traditions about Abū
‘Amr ibn al-‘Alā’;
*''Kitāb Al-Gharar'' () Al-Gharar
Dīwāns of Contemporary Poets edited by al-Ṣūlī
*
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣanawbarī
*
Ibn al-Rūmī (); Ibn al-Rūmī Alī ibn al-Abbās grandson of George the Greek popular poet of Baghdād.
*
Abū Tammām ();
*
al-Buḥturī ();
*
Abū Nuwās
Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī (variant: Al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī 'Abd al-Awal al-Ṣabāḥ, Abū 'Alī (), known as Abū Nuwās al-Salamī () or just Abū Nuwās Garzanti ( ''Abū Nuwās''); 756814) was a classical Arabic poet, ...
();
*
Al-‘Abbās ibn al-Aḥnaf ();
*
‘Alī ibn al-Jahm ();
*
Ibn Ṭabāṭabā ();
*
Ibrāhīm ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūlī ();
*
Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah ();
*
Sawwār ibn Abī Sharā‘ah ();
Legacy
Others who made use of content from al-Ṣūlī’s works:
*
Al-Marzubānī, his principal student who adopted his compilation technique, and frequently cites him in his ''Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ''.
*
Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī in his
Kitāb al-Aghānī
*
Al-Mas'ūdī
*
Hilāl al-Ṣābī
*
Arīb ibn Sa’d al-Qurṭubī
*
Abū Hilāl al-‘Askarī
*
Miskawaihī
*
‘Alī ibn Ẓāfir al-Azdī
*
Ibn Ṭiqṭaqā
*
Al-Suyūṭī
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti ( ar, جلال الدين السيوطي, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī) ( 1445–1505 CE),; ( Brill 2nd) or Al-Suyuti, was an Arab Egyptian polymath, Islamic scholar, historian, Sufi, and jurist. From a family of Persian ...
See also
*
List of Muslim historians
:''This is a subarticle of Islamic scholars, List of Muslim scholars and List of historians.''
The following is a list of Muslim historians writing in the Islamic historiographical tradition, which developed from hadith literature in the time of ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
Robert Charles Bell (1980). ''Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations''. .
*
*
*
* Leder, S. "al-Suli, Abu Bakr Muhammad."
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published ...
, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online.
*
*
*
Murray, H. J. R.
Harold James Ruthven Murray (24 June 1868 – 16 May 1955) was a British educationalist, inspector of schools, and prominent chess historian. His book, ''A History of Chess'', is widely regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive histo ...
(1913). ''
A History of Chess''. .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli
870 births
940s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
10th-century Arabic writers
10th-century historians from the Abbasid Caliphate
10th-century Arabic poets
10th-century Turkic people
Courtiers of the Abbasid Caliphate
Iraqi Turkmen people
History of chess
Iraqi chess players
People from Gorgan
Shatranj players
Amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate