1154 AD: An 800yo Description of Maoris

January 9, 2019

By AHNZ

It may be New Zealand and Maoris are being discussed by Westerners some eight centuries ago within the pages of the Tabula Rogeriana. It is a wonderful map showing place names and topography recognisable today. Also, it is companioned with a commentary of all of these places which describes the lands and the people…

“(New Zealand Maori) Men’s hairstyles resemble which we call alcan and which is called in the Indian language el-bouhari.”- Al-Idrisi (1154AD)

Al-Idrisi, the author and cartographer, was an Arab Scholar working for Italy which was run by Normans. More about him in the following post.

 

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Images:
How Abel Tasman’s journal depicted Maori men in 1842, and Joseph Banks in 1770

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