Depictions of Inhabitants From Sagsar Island in Ajá'ib al-Makhlūqát wa Ghará'ib al-Mawjūdát

Abstract

In this study, depictions of two races, shaped as dog-headed people and soft-legged people, lived on Sagsar Island in some Arabic, Persian and Turkish copies of a cosmographic and geographic work Aj delta i'b Al-Makhluq delta t wa Ghar delta i'b Al-Mawjud delta t by Qazwini (d. 1283) from different periods in domestic and foreign libraries are researched. In this context, it is understood that the creature of mixed races from humans and animals was one of the most prevalent monster species in the literature of the Middle Ages. Especially among them, the dog-headed creature named Cynocep-halus is identified as one of the most extensively mentioned exotic human races. Discussions about this subject frequently by travelers like Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta in their travel books refer that odd creatures aroused how much interest colloquially. According to these travelers, the dog-headed people who lived on one of the islands of the Indian Ocean were wild, assailant, cannibal and naked creatures. In the second article of Aj delta i'b Al-Makhluq delta t wa Ghar delta i'b Al-Mawjud delta t which includes four introductions, two articles and an epilogue, respectively, the sphere of fire, atmosphere, hydrosphere and the earth are presented with detailed informations about people living in various islands, sea animals, mountains, rivers, springs, wells, mines, stones, trees, plants, men and women, djinns and animals. Stories about two different races called the dog-headed people and the soft-legged people from Sagsar Island in the sea of Zanj, are menti-oned in the sublunar sphere-themed second article of the work. Information and depictions about the people of the Sagsar Island are found in the Jazirah al-Sagsar section under the Bahr al-Zanj (Sea of Zanj) title in a great deal of copies of the work. But in some copies, there is information about these people living on two different islands named Sagsar and Duvalpa. Besides, the dog-headed people living in Crystal Kiosk, visited by Zulqarnain with his soldiers, are mentioned in the Jazirah al-Qasr (Kiosk Island) section under Bahr al-Hind (Indian Sea) title in the second article of the work. This story is also mentioned in some sections of Iskandarnama by Ahmedi (d. 1412-13) about Zukqarnain's journey to Atwar Island and the Crystal Kiosk on another island and some depictions about them are included in this study for the purpose of comparison. Simi-larly, the story about the encounter of Zulqarnain with a lasso-shaped-legged demon in his Ma-zandaran journey in Iskandarn delta ma is thought probably to have originated from the story about the soft-legged people in Aja'ib Al-Makhluqat and depictions about this story are also added to this study. Moreover in epilogue sections from some copies of Aj delta i'b Al-Makhluq delta t, short infor-mation and some depictions of dog-headed and soft-legged people are found. The creatures rep-resenting these people are illustrated with naked bodies in all of the researched copies and the dog-headed ones with human bodies in all examples, while their heads have only dog shapes in some examples and juxtaposed with dog and human heads in others. These creatures are illust-rated alone in some copies and accompanied by an enslaved human figure in others. As for the soft-legged creatures, they are depicted as a man up to the waist and with curled lines from the waist down like two intertwined snakes. This creature is generally illustrated with light or dark skin like human skin and all the body or just the curled part of it with snakeskin in some examples. In all of the examples, this creature is depicted riding on a human figure enwrapping him from the neck with his strap-shaped legs. All the researched depictions within the context of this article form different periods between the 13th and 19th centuries in the copies of Suleymaniye Library and National Palaces in Istanbul, Munchen Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, representing the painting characteristics of their periods are subjected to consideration with similar ve different aspects. In the meantime, one of the depictions is about the martyrdom of prophet Zakariya from the Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets); copies were also included in this study. Because these depictions have some figures similar to the dog-headed people in Ajai'b Al-Makhluqat wa Gharai'b Al-Mawjudat copies. At the same time, in these depictions, the men who martyred the prophet Zakariya with dog-head are completely dressed as distinct from the people from Sagsar Island. The attitude of dressing of the torturer figures in these depictions creates different interpretations. It is thought that in these depictions, the painters with this practice worked to emphasize the carnal nature of human beings which are prone to malignancy, instead of representing an unordinary creature with an absolutely wild nature.