Kanaka

(b. India; fl. Baghdad [?], ca. 775-820)

astronomy.

Kanaka appears in the Arabic bibliographical tradition as Kankah al-Hind?. In the astrological compendium Kit?b al-Mughn?, written by Ibn Hibint? about 950, there is a passage (Munich Arab. 852, fols. 69v-70) which is alleged to be a quotation from Kankah. Al-B?r?n? in his Chronology (ed., p. 132; trans., p. 129) states that Kankah was an astrologer at the court of H?r?n al-Rash?d (786-809) but attributes to him two specific predictions concerning the fall of the ?Abb?sids and the rise of the Buwayhids, the first of which was in fact made by M?sh?ll?h about 810 and the second by M?sh?ll?h’s epitomizer, Ibn Hibint? (see E. S. Kennedy and D. Pingree, The Astrological History of M?sh??all?h [Cambridge, Mass., 1971], pp. 56-59, 67-68). It is possible, then, that al-B?r?n? had only Ibn Hibint?’s work before him and somehow confused the references in it to M?sh?ll?h and Kankah with al-Rash?d. But al-Jah?n? (fl. 1079) attributer to Kankaraf the same beginning of various cycles used in astrological histroy that was emploued by M?sh?ll?h (f. ZI); perhaps, then, they were associates. It is true that Ab? Ma?shar, in his Kit?b al-ul?f (see D. Pingree, The Thousands of Ab? Ma?shar [London, 1968], P. 16), which was written between 840 and 860, states that Kankth was an authority on astronomy among Indian scientists “in ancient times” —that is, long before al-Rash?d’s caliphate—but Ab? Ma?shar is a notorious liar, so the question cannot be answered on the basis of his statement. One may tentatively conclude, then, that Kanaka was in Baghdad during the reign of al-Rash?d and was an associate of M?sh?ll?h. There has recently been located in Ankara a manuscript of an astrological histroy of the caliphs entitled Kit?b Kankah al-Hindt (Book of Kankah the Indian). This histroy stops in the reign of al-Ma?m?n (813-833).

Among the biographers Ibn al-Nad?m (Fihrist, P. 270) contents himself with listing for astrological treatises which he claims were written by Kankah: Kit?b al-n?m?d?r fi al-??m?r (Book of the N?m?d?r [Used for Determining the Lengths of] Lives”), Kit?b asr?r al-maw?l?d (“Book of the Secrets of Nativities”), Kit?b al-gir?n?t al-kab?r ( “Great book of Conjunctions”), and Kit?b al-gir?n?t al-?aghir ("Small Book of Conjunctions"). These works all dealt with topics of great interest to early ‘Abb?sid astrologers.

In addition the Indian astrologer Kaly?navarman, who wrote his S?r?vali in Bengal about 800, refers (S?r?vali 53, 1) to Kanak?c?rya as an authority on the nativities of plants and animals. If this Kanak?c?rye is identical with Kankah, as is suggested by Ramana-Sastrin, he must have written something on astrology in Sanskrit about 750-775 and may subsequently have traveled to Baghdad. There is, however, no real evidence to connect the two.

If, then, one is willing to accept the traditions of the ninth and tenth centuries as referring to a historical personality, Kankah emerges as an Indian astrologer who practiced his art at Baghdad toward the end of the eighth and in the early ninth centuries but whose works in Arabic fall within the ?Abb?sid tradition of astrology (derived from Greek and Iranian sources); and the existing fragments appear to display no specifically Indian traits.

Later Arab scholars, especially in Spain, constructed elaborate theories regarding the role of Kankah in the history of science; because their fables have been accepted by modern Western historians an article on Kanaka is included here. There were two sources for the development of the Kanakah legend: the story of an Indian embassy to the court of al-Mans??r as related by Ibn al-Adam? (ca. 920) in his Niz??m al-?iqd (see fragment ZI of al-Faz?r?), and that of Mankah al-Hind?, a physician who is alleged to have traveled from India to Iraq and to have translated Sh?n?q (C?n?akya) from an Indian language into Persian (or Arabic) during the time of H?r?n al-Rash?d for Ishaq ibn Sulaym?n ibn ?Ali al-H?shim? (the most complete account seems to be that of ibn ab? Us?aybi‘a, III, 51-52).

Ibn al-Adam? associates the translation of the Z?j al-Sindhind that serves as the basis of the works of al-Faz?r?, Ya?q?b ibn T??riq, and others with an unnamed member of an embassy sent from Sind to Baghded in 773. This passage from Ibn al-Adam? is quoted by S???id al-Andalus? of Toledo (Kit?b t?abaq?t al-umam, ed., pp. 49-50; trans., p. 102) in 1067-1068; his next biographer, Ibn al-Qit?ri (pp. 265-267), who died at Aleppo in 1248-1249, quotes some of Ibn al-Adam?’s story in his article on Kankah but without actually connecting Kankah with the Z?j al-Sindhind. Apparently Abraham ibn Ezra (ca, 1090-1167) was the first to identify Kankah with Ibn al-Adam?’s unnamed scholar (in the preface to his translation of Ibn al-Muthanna’s F??ilal z?j al-khw?rizm? [see fr. Z2 of Ya?q?b ibn T??riq] and in Liber de rationibus tabularum, p. 92); there is no real basis for this invention, although it is dutifully repeated by Steinschneider, Suter, and Sarton.

The confusion of Kankah with Mankah sometimes leads to the attribution of medical knowledge and writings to the former— for instance, by Ibn ab? Us?aybi?a (III, 49). This tradition also is without basis. Finally, pure fancy has produced a fabulous Kankah al-Hind? in alchemical literature. His fantastic exploits are recounted in pseudo-al-Majr?t?ti’s Gh?yat al-?ak?m (ed., pp. 278 ff.; trans., pp. 285 ff.). These stories have no place in serious history.

Kanaka’s significance, then, is as a name to which either serious accounts of the transmission of Indian science to the Arabs or alchemists’ Dreams of ancient philosopher-kings can be conveniently attached. He was so easily subjected to this treatment because, in fact, nothing reliable was known about him.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Standard reference works on the history of science contain notices of Kanaka, but they follow the fictions of Ibn Ezra. The authorities to which I have referred are the following: Abraham ibn Ezra, De rationibus tabularum, edited by J. M. Millás Vallicrosa as El libro de los fundamentos de las Tablas astronómicas (Madrid-Barcelona, 1947); and his trans. of Ibn al-Muthanna, edited by B. Goldstein as Ibn al-Multhanna’s Commentary on the Astronomical Tables of al-al-Khw?rizmi (New Haven, 1967); Ab? Ma?shar, “AKit?b al-ul?f,” in D. Pingree, The Thousands of Ab? Ma?shar (London, 1968); al-B?r?n?, Chronology, edited by C. E. Sachau as Chronologie orientalischer Voelker von Alb??n? (Leipzig, 1878), translated into English by Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations (London, 1879); al-Faz?r?, in D. Pingree, “The Fragments of the Works of al-Faz?r?,” in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 29 (1970), 103-123; Ibn ab? Us?aybi?a, ?Uy?n al-anb??, 3 vols. (Beirut, 1956-1957); Ibn Hibint?, “Kit?b al-anb?, MS Munich Arab. 852; Ibn al-Nad?m, Fihrist, G. Flügel, ed., 2vols. (Leipzig, 1871-1872); Ibn al-Qift??, Ta’rikh al-?ukam??, J. Lippert, ed. (Leipzog, 1903); al-Jah?n?, Latin trans. by Gerard of Cremona, J. Heller, ed., in m?sh?’allah’s De elementis et orbibus coelestibus (Nuremberg, 1549), fols. Ni-Zii. Kay?n?avarman, S?r?val?, v. Subrahamanya Satri, ed., 3rd ed. (Bombay, 1928); pseudo-al-majrit?i, Gh?yat al-?akim, H. Ritter, ed. (Hamburg, 1933), translated into German as “Picatrix.” Das Ziel des Weisen von Pesedo-Ma?r?t??, by H, Ritter and M. plessner (London, 1962); M?sh?ll?h, in E.s. Kennedy and D. Pingree, The Astrological Hitory of M?sh??all?h (Cambridge, Mass., 1971); V. V. Ramana-Sastrin, “Kanaka,” in Isis, 14 (1930), 470; ???id al-Andalus?, Kit??b tabaq?t al-umam, L. Cheikho, ed. (Beirut, 1912), translated into French as Tabaq?t alumam (Succession des Communautés religieuse) by R. Blachère (paris, 1935); and Ya?q?b ibn T?a?riq, in D. Pingree, “The Fragments of the Works of Ya?q?b ibn T?a?riq,” un Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 27 (1968), 97-125.

David Pingree