Ya'qubi

ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab  Muslim geographer.

Life
Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a family of noble background, his great-grandfather was Wadih, the freedman of the caliph Al-Mansur and ruler of Egypt during the reign of al-Mahdi. Until 873, he lived in Armenia and Khorasan, working under the patronage of the Tahirid Governors; then he traveled to India, Egypt and the Maghreb. In 872, he listed the kingdoms of Bilād as-Sūdān, including Ghana, Gao, and Kanem.

His methodical approach to writing history includes personal observations and interviews to close relations on topics that Yaqubi could not encounter first-hand. He covered on topics of natural, human and economic geography as well as noting down cultural, historical and topographic information.

His sympathies with Ahl al-Bayt are found throughout his works.

He died in Egypt on AH 284 (897/8).

Works

 * Ta'rikh ibn Wadih (Chronicle of Ibn Wadih)
 * Kitab al-Buldan (Book of the Countries) - biology, contains a description of the Maghreb, with a full account of the larger cities and much topographical and political information (ed. M. de Goeje, Leiden, 1892).