Nobakht was particularly famous for having led a group of astrologers who picked an auspicious electional chart for the founding of Baghdad.
Originally Zoroastrians,[1] Nobakht and his sons converted to Islam and were employed as Pahlavi translators of the Abbasid court.
[2] While part of al-Mansur’s court, Nawbakht is said to have correctly predicted the caliph’s victory over Ibrahim b.
[3] It’s suspected that part of Nawbakht’s career included translating scientific works from Pahlavi into Arabic, and the Risāla fī sarāʾir aḥkām al-nujūm ("A treatise on the secrets of astrology", an unpublished manuscript) is attributed to him although this attribution remains unconfirmed.
[2][3] According to Sean Anthony, Nawbakht's accumulation of wealth and social status placed his family in such a position that they would go on to become notorious for patronizing and entertaining intellectuals of 'Abbasid society.