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Al-Birun ( )Alberonius

An imaginary rendition ofAl Biruni on a 1973

Afghan post stamp

Full name Ab RaynMuammad ibn AmadAl-BirunBorn September 5, 973

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Khwarazm, Samanid

Persia

Died December 15, 1048

(aged 75)

Era Islamic Golden Age

Region Khwarazm

Ziyarid dynasty(Rey)[1]

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Ghaznavid

dynasty(Ghazni)[2]

Main interests Physics,

anthropology,comparative sociology,

astronomy, astrology,

chemistry, history,geography, mathematics,

medicine, psychology,

philosophy, theology

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Notable ideas Founder of

Indology

Major works Ta'rikh al-

Hind, The Mas'udi Canon,Understanding Astrology

Influenced by[show]

Influenced[show]

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Ab al-RaynMuammad ibn Amadal-Brn[n 1] (born 5September 973 in Kath,

Khwarezm, died 13December 1048 in

Ghazni[3]), known as

Alberonius in Latin andAl-Biruni in English,[4]

was an Iranian[5]-

Chorasmian[6][7] Muslim

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scholar and polymath of

the 11th century.

He is regarded as one of

the greatest scholars of

the medieval Islamic eraand was well versed in

mathematics, astronomy,

physical and naturalsciences, and also

distinguished himself as a

geographer, historian,

chronologist and

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linguist.[7] He is also

considered as impartial

writer on custom and

creeds of various

nations[7] and was giventhe title al-Ustdadh ("The

Master").[7] According to

Francis Robinson, Al-Biruni earned the

"founder of Indology" and

"first anthropologist"

titles for his remarkable

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description of early 11th-

century India,[8]

although the first in-

depth study of India by

any Westerner wasprovided by the Greek

ambassador Megasthenes

(ca. 350290 BC) in his"famous"[9] four-volume

Indica.

Contents

[hide]

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1 Life

2 Mathematics andAstronomy

3 Physics

4 Geography5 Pharmacology and

Mineralogy6 History and

Chronology

7 History of Religions8 Indology

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9 Works

o 9.1 Chronicle of Nationso 9.2 Persian work

10 Notes and references

11 Further reading12 External links

o 12.1 Works of Al-Biruni

online

[edit] LifeHe was born in outer

district of Kath the capital

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of Afrighid dynasty of

Chorasmia.[10] The word

Biruni means outer-

district in Persian

language and due tobeing born in the outer

district of Kath, this

became his nisba.[10] Hisfirst twenty-five years

were spent in Chorasmia

where he studied fiqh,

theology, grammar,

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mathematics, astronomy,

medics and other

sciences.[10] The Iranian

Chorasmian language,

which was the native oflanguage of

Biruni,[11][12] survived

for several centuries afterIslam until the

Turkification of the

region, and so must some

at least of the culture and

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lore of ancient

Khwarezm, for it is hard

to see the commanding

figure of Biruni, a

repository of so muchknowledge, appearing in

a cultural vacuum.[13]

He was sympathetic tothe Afrighids which were

overthrown by the rival

dynasty of Ma'munids in

995. Leaving his

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homeland, he left for

Bukhara then under the

Samanid ruler Mansur II

the son of Nuh. There he

also corresponded withAvicenna[14] and there

exists extant exchanges of

views between these twoscholars.

In 998, he went to the

court of the Ziyarid amir

of Tabaristan, Shams al-

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Mo'ali Abol-hasan

Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir.

There he wrote his first

important work, al-Athar

al-Baqqiya 'an al-Qorunal-Khaliyya (literally:

"The remaining traces of

past centuries" andtranslated as "Chronology

of ancient nations" or

"'Vestiges of the Past") on

historical and scientific

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chronology probably

around 1000 A.D., though

he later made some

amendations to the book.

Accepting the definitiedemise of the Afrighids at

the hands of the

Ma'munids, he madepeace with the

Ma'munids who then

ruled Chorasmia. Their

court at Gorganj (also in

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Chorasmia) was gaining

fame for its gathering of

brilliant scientists.

In 1017, Mahmud of

Ghazni took Rey. Mostscholars, including al-

Biruni were taken to

Ghazna, the capital of theGhaznavid dynasty.[1]

Biruni was made court

astrologer[15] and

accompanied Mahmud on

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his invasions into India,

living there for a few

years. Biruni became

acquainted with all things

related to India. He mayeven have learned some

Sanskrit.[16] During this

time he wrote the Kitabta'rikh al-Hind, finishing

it around 1030.[17]

[edit] Mathematics and

Astronomy

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This section requires

expansion.

An illustration from al-

Biruni's astronomical

works, explains thedifferent phases of the

moon.

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Diagram illustrating a

method proposed and

used by Al-Biruni to

estimate the radius and

circumference of theEarth

Ninety-five of 146 books

known to have beenwritten by Brn, about65 percent, were devoted

to astronomy,

mathematics, and related

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subjects like

mathematical

geography.[18][19]

[edit] Physics

Al-Biruni contributed tothe introduction of the

experimental scientific

method to mechanics,unified statics and

dynamics into the science

of mechanics, and

combined the fields of

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hydrostatics with

dynamics to create

hydrodynamics.[20][21]

[edit] Geography

This section requiresexpansion.

Brn also devised hisown method of

determining the radius of

the earth by means of the

observation of the height

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of a mountain and carried

it out at Nandana in

India.[22]

[edit] Pharmacology and

MineralogyThis section requires

expansion.

Due to an apparatus he

constructed himself, he

succeeded in determining

the specific gravity of a

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certain number of metals

and minerals with

remarkable precision.[23]

[edit] History and

ChronologyThis section requires

expansion.

Biruni's main essay on

political history, Ketb al-

mosmara f abrrazm (Book of

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conversation concerning

the affairs ofrazm) isnow known only from

quotations in Bayhaqs

Tr-e masd. Inaddition to this variousdiscussions of historical

events and methodologyare found in connection

with the lists of kings in

his al-r al-bqa and inthe Qnn as well as

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elsewhere in the r, inIndia, and scattered

throughout his other

works.[24]

[edit] History of ReligionsThis section requires

expansion.

Brn is one of the mostimportant Muslim

authorities on the history

of religion.[25] Al-Biruni

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was a pioneer in the

study of comparative

religion. He studied

Zoroastrianism, Judaism,

Hinduism, Christianity,Buddhism, Islam, and

other religions. He

treated religionsobjectively, striving to

understand them on their

own terms rather than

trying to prove them

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wrong. His underlying

concept was that all

cultures are at least

distant relatives of all

other cultures becausethey are all human

constructs. What al-

Biruni seems to bearguing is that there is a

common human element

in every culture that

makes all cultures distant

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relatives, however foreign

they might seem to one

another. (Rosenthal,1976, p. 10). Al-Biruni

was disgusted by scholarswho failed to engage

primary sources in their

treatment of Hindureligion. He found

existing sources on

Hinduism to be both

insufficient and

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dishonest. Guided by a

sense of ethics and a

desire to learn, he sought

to explain the religious

behavior of differentgroups.

Al-Biruni divides Hindus

into an educated and anuneducated class. He

describes the educated as

monotheistic, believing

that God is one, eternal,

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and omnipotent and

eschewing all forms of

idol worship. He

recognizes that

uneducated Hindusworshipped a multiplicity

of idols yet points out

that even some Muslims(such as the Jabiriyya)

have adopted

anthropomorphic

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concepts of God. (Ataman,

2005)

[edit] Indology

This section requires

expansion.

Brns fame as an

Indologist rests primarilyon two texts.[26] Al-

Biruni wrote an

encyclopedic work on

India called Tarikh Al-

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Hind (History of India,also known as Indica, orsimply India) in whichhe explored nearly every

aspect of Indian life,including religion, history,

geography, geology,

science, and mathematics.He explores religion

within a rich cultural

context. He expresses his

objective with simple

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eloquence: I shall not

produce the arguments of

our antagonists in order

to refute such of them, as

I believe to be in thewrong. My book is

nothing but a simple

historic record of facts. Ishall place before the

reader the theories of the

Hindus exactly as they

are, and I shall mention in

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connection with them

similar theories of the

Greeks in order to show

the relationship existing

between them (1910, Vol.1, p. 7; 1958, p. 5) An

example of Al-Birunis

analysis is his summaryof why many Hindus hate

Muslims. He explains that

Hinduism and Islam are

totally different from each

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other. Moreover, Hindus

in 11th century India

considered all foreigners,

not just Muslims, impure

and refused to have anyconnection with them.

Furthermore, when the

Muslims entered India,the land had already been

devastated by two

previous invasions by the

Sakas and the Hunas. On

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top of that, Mahmud of

Ghazni, the Muslim sultan

of India and a

contemporary of al-

Biruni, plundered thewealth of the region.

(Ataman, 2005). Al-Biruni

intended to facilitatedialogue between Hindus

and Muslims. He thought

that the two groups had a

great deal they could

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learn from one another.

(Biruni, 1910, Vol. 1, p.

17). Al-Biruni collected

books and studied with

Hindu scholars to becomefluent in Sanskrit. He

translated books both

from Sanskrit to Arabicand vice versa. (Ataman,

2005). While others were

killing each other over

religious differences, Al-

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Biruni had a remarkable

ability to engage Hindus

in peaceful dialogue.

Mohammad Yasin puts

this dramatically when hesays, The Indica is like amagic island of quiet,

impartial research in themidst of a world of

clashing swords, burning

towns, and burned

temples. (Indica is

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another name for Al-

Birunis history of India).(Yasin, 1975, p. 212).

[edit] Works

This section requiresexpansion.

A statue of Biruni adorns

the southwest entrance of

Laleh Park in Tehran, Iran

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Most of the works of Al-

Biruni are in Arabic

although he wrote one of

his masterpieces, the

Kitab al-Tafhimapparently in both

Persian and Arabic,

showing his mastery overboth languages.[27]

Brns catalogue of hisown literary production

up to his 65th lunar/63rd

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solar year (the end of

427/1036) lists 103 titles

divided into 12

categories: astronomy,

mathematical geography,mathematics, astrological

aspects and transits,

astronomicalinstruments, chronology,

comets, an untitled

category, astrology,

anecdotes, religion, and

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books of which he no

longer possesses

copies.[28] His extant

works include:

Critical study of what

India says, whether

accepted by reason or

refused (Arabic

), also known as theIndica - a compendium of

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India's religion and

philosophy

The Book of Instruction

in the Elements of the Art

of Astrology (Kitab al-tafhim li-awail sinaat al-tanjim).

The Remaining Signs of

Past Centuries (Arabic

) -a comparative study of

calendars of different

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cultures and civilizations,

interlaced with

mathematical,

astronomical, and

historical information.The Mas'udi Canon

(Persian ) - an

extensive encyclopedia onastronomy, geography,

and engineering, named

after Mas'ud, son of

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Mahmud of Ghazni, to

whom he dedicated.

Understanding

Astrology (Arabic

) - a questionand answer style book

about mathematics and

astronomy, in Arabic andPersian.

Pharmacy - about drugs

and medicines.

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Gems (Arabic

) aboutgeology, minerals, andgems, dedicated to

Mawdud son of Mas'ud.Astrolabe.

A historical summary

book.

History of Mahmud of

Ghazni and his father.History of Khawarazm.

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[edit] Chronicle of

Nations