Al-Biruni

For other uses, see Al-Biruni (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Al-Burini.

Abu Rayhan al-Biruni
ابوریحان محمد بن احمد البیرونی
An imaginary rendition of Al Biruni on a 1973 Soviet postage stamp
Personal
Born973
Kath, Khwarezm (modern-day Uzbekistan)
Diedc. 1050 (aged 77)
Ghazni, Ghaznavid Empire (modern-day Afghanistan)
ReligionIslam
EraIslamic Golden Age
RegionKhwarezm, Central Asia
Ziyarid dynasty (Rey)[1] Ghaznavid dynasty (Ghazni)[2]
DenominationSunni[3]
CreedAshari[3][4][page needed]
Main interest(s)Geology, physics, anthropology, comparative sociology, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography, mathematics, medicine, psychology, philosophy, theology
Notable work(s)The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, Gems, Indica, The Mas'udi Canon, Understanding Astrology
Muslim leader
Influenced by
Influenced

Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni /ælbɪˈruːni/ (Persian: ابوریحان بیرونی; Arabic: أبو الريحان البيروني; 973 – after 1050),[5] known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian[6] scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern geodesy", Founder of Indology and the first anthropologist.[7]

Al-Biruni was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist, and linguist. He studied almost all the sciences of his day and was rewarded abundantly for his tireless research in many fields of knowledge.[8] Royalty and other powerful elements in society funded al-Biruni's research and sought him out with specific projects in mind. Influential in his own right, Al-Biruni was himself influenced by the scholars of other nations, such as the Greeks, from whom he took inspiration when he turned to the study of philosophy. A gifted linguist, he was conversant in Khwarezmian, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit, and also knew Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac. He spent much of his life in Ghazni, then capital of the Ghaznavids, in modern-day central-eastern Afghanistan. In 1017, he travelled to the Indian subcontinent and wrote a treatise on Indian culture entitled Tārīkh al-Hind ("The History of India"), after exploring the Hindu faith practiced in India.[a] He was, for his time, an admirably impartial writer on the customs and creeds of various nations, his scholarly objectivity earning him the title al-Ustadh ("The Master") in recognition of his remarkable description of early 11th-century India.

  1. ^ Kennedy 1975, p. 394.
  2. ^ Ataman 2008, p. 58.
  3. ^ a b Akhtar 2011.
  4. ^ Kaminski 2017.
  5. ^ Bosworth 2000.
  6. ^ Strohmaier 2006, p. 112
    MacKenzie 2000
    Curtis & Stewart 2009, p. 85
    Dale, Stephen F. (3 May 2018). Babur: Timurid Prince and Mughal Emperor, 1483–1530. Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-316-99637-9.
    Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217)". In Boyle, J.A. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. Vol. Cambridge University Press. pp. 7–141. Page 7: "The Iranian scholar al-Biruni says that the Khwarazmian era began when the region was first settled and cultivated, this date being placed in the early 13th-century BC)" page 141 "the Khwarazmian al-Biruni'"
    Frye, Richard Nelson (February 2000). The Golden Age of Persia. Phoenix Publishing, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-7538-0944-0. The contribution of Iranians to Islamic mathematics is overwhelming. ..The name of Abu Raihan Al-Biruni, from Khwarazm, must be mentioned since he was one of the greatest scientists in World History
    Panaino, Antonio (27 October 2021). Erexsha'a death or self sacrifice (in Italian). Mimesis. p. 32. ISBN 978-88-575-8526-0.
  7. ^ Ahmed 1984, pp. 9–10.
  8. ^ Yano 2013.
  9. ^ Verdon 2015, p. 52.


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