Petros Baronyan or al-Barun al-Mukhtari: The Armenian Visionary Behind the Ottoman Qibla Indicator
Petros Baronyan, also known by his Arabic title al-Barun al-Mukhtari, was an 18th-century Armenian inventor and dragoman (interpreter) who served the Dutch embassy in Istanbul. In 1738, he created a notable Qibla indicator, known as the Qibla-numā-yi āfaqi, to assist