Omar Khayyam: Mathematician, Astronomer and Poet Timeline

Omar Khayyam: Mathematician, Astronomer and Poet 23

1048 Omar Khayyam is born in Nishapur Birth in Khorasan under early Seljuk rule Omar Khayyam was born in Nishapur, Khorasan. The date of 18 May 1048 comes from a reconstruction of the horoscope recorded by the historian al-Bayhaqi.
1068 Omar Khayyam travels to Bukhara After studying science, philosophy and astronomy in Nishapur Having studied mathematics, astronomy and philosophy in Nishapur, Khayyam went to Bukhara around 1068. He used its well-known library there.
1070 Omar Khayyam begins his Treatise on Algebra Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra and Balancing In Samarkand Khayyam began his major treatise on algebra, which he dedicated to Abu Tahir. It sorts cubic equations into types and solves them geometrically by intersecting conic sections.
1070 Omar Khayyam moves to Samarkand under Abu Tahir's patronage Chief judge Abu Tahir Abd al-Rahman ibn Alaq supports his work Around 1070 Khayyam reached Samarkand, where the chief judge Abu Tahir became his patron. This support allowed him to carry on his mathematical research.
1072 Omar Khayyam's future patron Malik-Shah I becomes Seljuk sultan Succession after the death of Alp Arslan Malik-Shah I followed his father Alp Arslan as Seljuk sultan, with Nizam al-Mulk serving as his grand vizier. The two men would soon become Khayyam's most important patrons.
1074 Omar Khayyam enters the service of Sultan Malik-Shah Invited by Grand Vizier Nizam al-Mulk to meet the sultan at Merv In 1074 Nizam al-Mulk invited Khayyam to meet Malik-Shah at Merv, and Khayyam joined the sultan's service. This began nearly two decades of court patronage.
1074 Omar Khayyam is commissioned to build an observatory at Isfahan Royal observatory at the Seljuk capital Malik-Shah asked Khayyam to set up an observatory at Isfahan and to reform the Persian calendar. Khayyam stayed in Isfahan for about eighteen years, probably the most settled period of his life.
1074 – 1079 Omar Khayyam leads astronomers in calendar reform observations A panel of eight scholars works under his direction From 1074 to 1079 Khayyam directed a group of eight scholars making observations at Isfahan. They compiled astronomical tables and gathered the data needed for a new solar calendar.
1077 Omar Khayyam reworks the theory of ratios Later books of his Euclid commentary In the same commentary Khayyam offered a new definition of ratio and proportion as an alternative to Euclid's. This work brought the concept of ratio closer to that of number.
1077 Omar Khayyam completes his commentary on Euclid's postulates Commentary on the Difficulties Concerning the Postulates of Euclid's Elements Khayyam finished this commentary at the end of December 1077. In it he examined Euclid's parallel postulate and proved properties of quadrilaterals that anticipate ideas of non-Euclidean geometry.
1079 Omar Khayyam completes his Treatise on Algebra Systematic geometric theory of cubic equations Khayyam most likely finished his algebra treatise around 1079. It is considered one of the major achievements of medieval mathematics.
1079 Omar Khayyam measures the length of the solar year 365.24219858156 days At the end of the Isfahan observations, Khayyam and his colleagues gave the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days. This is remarkably close to modern values.
1079 Omar Khayyam's Jalali calendar is inaugurated New solar calendar named after Sultan Jalal al-Din Malik-Shah The Jalali calendar, based on the work of Khayyam's team, was inaugurated on 15 March 1079. It was more accurate than the Julian calendar and is the basis of the modern Iranian calendar.
1080 Omar Khayyam writes his Treatise on Being and Duty Risala fi'l-kawn wa'l-taklif In 1080 Khayyam wrote this philosophical treatise in answer to questions from Abu Nasr Muhammad Nasawi, a student of Avicenna. It sets out his views on creation, necessity and religious obligation.
1092 Omar Khayyam falls from favour as the Isfahan observatory closes End of royal funding for astronomy After Malik-Shah's death the Isfahan observatory fell out of use, and Khayyam lost his standing at court. Later sources say he then made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
1092 Omar Khayyam's patron Nizam al-Mulk is assassinated The Seljuk grand vizier is murdered Nizam al-Mulk, the grand vizier who had brought Khayyam to court, was assassinated in October 1092. His death was the first in a series of events that ended Khayyam's peaceful years.
1092 Omar Khayyam's patron Sultan Malik-Shah dies Death of the sultan a month after his vizier Malik-Shah died in November 1092, about a month after Nizam al-Mulk was murdered. Khayyam lost the second of the two patrons who had supported his astronomical work.
1112 Omar Khayyam meets Nizami Aruzi at a banquet in Balkh The encounter recorded in the Chahar Maqala In 506 AH (1112–13), the young writer Nizami Aruzi met Khayyam and the scholar al-Isfizari at a gathering in Balkh. Nizami's Chahar Maqala is the only account of Khayyam written by someone who knew him.
1112 Omar Khayyam predicts the site of his grave A grave where trees shed blossoms twice a year In Balkh, Khayyam told Nizami Aruzi that his grave would lie where trees would shed their blossoms on him twice a year. Nizami later said he found the prophecy fulfilled when he visited the tomb in Nishapur.
1118 Omar Khayyam returns to Khorasan as Sanjar becomes sultan Departure from Isfahan for Sanjar's capital at Merv Malik-Shah's son Sanjar became overall ruler of the Seljuk empire in 1118 and made Merv his capital. Some time after this Khayyam left Isfahan for Khorasan.
1118 – 1131 Omar Khayyam spends his final years in Merv and Nishapur Last years in Khorasan In his last years Khayyam lived between Merv and his home city of Nishapur. The quatrains later collected as his Rubaiyat cannot be dated, and scholars still debate which ones he actually wrote.
1121 Omar Khayyam's balance treatise is preserved by al-Khazini Included in the Book of the Balance of Wisdom Al-Khazini's Book of the Balance of Wisdom, written in 1121 for Sultan Sanjar, includes Khayyam's method for finding the proportions of gold and silver in an alloy. It uses specific gravity measured with a balance.
1131 Omar Khayyam dies in Nishapur Death at about 83 Omar Khayyam died in Nishapur on 4 December 1131 and was buried in the city. His grave is now marked by the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam.