Nobakht Ahvazi (), also spelled Naubakht Ahvaz and Naubakht, along with his sons were astrologers from Ahvaz (in the present-day Khuzestan Province, Iran) who lived in the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Nobakht was particularly famous for having led a group of astrologers who picked an auspicious electional chart for the founding of Baghdad. His family also helped design the city. Originally Zoroastrians, Nobakht and his sons converted to Islam and were employed as Pahlavi translators of the Abbasid court. Life as a court astrologer Nawbakht was the most prominent among 'Abbasid caliph al-Mansur's court astrologers. He rose to this position after having successfully predicted al-Mansur's rise to power as a caliph. There were other astrologers retained at the court, including Mashallah (d. ca. 199/815 or 204/820) who aided Nawbakht in his analysis of the stars in determining ”the most auspicious date and time for the foundation of the new capital, the round city of Madīnat al-Salām (“The City of Peace”)”, historically known as Baghdad. While part of al-Mansur’s court, Nawbakht is said to have correctly predicted the caliph’s victory over Ibrahim b. ‘Abdallah who, along with his brother, had rebelled against the ‘Abbasid rule. In addition to al-Mansur’s victory, Nawbakht predicted the death of Ibrahim as well. Reportedly, Nawbakht was so confident in the accuracy of his calculations that he volunteered to be imprisoned until the outcome of the encounter between Ibrahim and the ‘Abbasid army was reported, and agreed to being executed should he had been mistaken. 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works from Pahlavi into Arabic, and the Risāla fī sarāʾir aḥkām al-nujūm (“A treatise on the secrets of astrology”, an unpublished manuscript) is attributed to him although this attribution remains unconfirmed. Al-Mansur gifted the astrologer with 2,000 jeribs of land south of Baghdad as an (grants of land given by a caliph in exchange for service). Descendants In addition to being known as an influential 'Abbasid astrologer, Nawbakht is known as a father and ancestor to a very successful family under 'Abbasid rule and as part of the court - various sources refer to Nawbakht as the progenitor of a lineage of court astrologers, thus successfully elevating his family's position in the 'Abbasid court. 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