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Abstract

In this paper, I discuss stories about rulers and princes of three dynasties - Abbasid, Norman and Timurid – and their narrative representation as prime knowers of the mathematical sciences, geography and history. I argue that they constitute one set of positive forms of sanctioning or contesting knowledge in those societies by prescribing hierarchies of knowledge forms and hierarchies of people and institutions that decide about the veracity of knowledge. I suggest that these stories share their origin and meaning in an environment of legitimizing propaganda for the various rulers and princes. I also claim that the value and position of scientific knowledge in these stories differ, starting from what apparently were personal interests of a ruler and leading to its integration into what was considered necessary for the education of a prince and the cultured behaviour of a ruler. Hence, these stories about knowledge and rulers present images of knowledge that delineate the status of scholars in those three societies and thus define possibilities and set boundaries for learning and practicing scholarly fields.