ali berun
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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
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