Acâibü'l-Mahlûkât ve Ğarâibü'l-Mevcûdât Nüshalarındaki Segsar Adası Sakinlerinin Tasvirleri
Depictions of Inhabitants From Sagsar Island in Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt

Summary/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 Ajā’ib Al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib Al-Mawjūdāt by Qazwīnī (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 Cynocephalus 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 Ajā’ib Al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib AlMawjūdāt 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 mentioned 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 dogheaded 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

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