Idrisi Muhammed al was an Arab geographer and cartographer born in 1100. He studied in Córdoba, Spain, then traveled a lot. He became secretary of the commission set up to map the world. Al-Idrisi collected information about the contemporary world himself, and also used the stories of other travelers, merchants, pilgrims, sailors, as well as Polish participants of the Crusade. The geographer wrote the so-called “The Book of Roger”, which contains information about Poland called Bulunija (from the Latin Polonia).
Muhammed Al-idrisi wrote about Poland:
The land of Bulunija is a land of scholars and students of knowledge (…) Its cities are flourishing and have a large population (…) Its cities include the city of Krak (Krakow). It is a beautiful and great city, with many houses, inhabitants and markets , vineyards and gardens (…) It is a hundred miles from the city of Krak to the city of Ginazna (Gniezno)… .
