Al-Biruni

Abū Rayḥān
Ray ān Muḥammad
Mu ammad ibn Aḥmad
A mad Al-
Bīrūnī (Chorasmian/Persian: ‫اﺑﻮرﯾﺤﺎن ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬
‫ ﺑﻦ اﺣﻤﺪ اﻟﺒﯿﺮوﻧﯽ‬Abū Rayḥān Bērōnī;[4][5]
New Persian: Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī[6]) (973–
1050), known as Al-Biruni (Arabic: ‫)اﻟﺒﻴﺮوﻧﻲ‬
in English,[7] was an Iranian[8][9][10][11]
scholar and polymath. He was from
Khwarazm – a region which
encompasses modern-day western
Uzbekistan, and northern Turkmenistan.
 Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni

An imaginary rendition of Al Biruni on a 1973

Soviet post stamp
Native name Abū Rayḥān
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad
Al-Birunī

Born 973
Kath, or Khiva,[1]
Khwarezm, Afrighid
dynasty (modern-day
Uzbekistan)

Died c 1050 (aged 77)

Died c. 1050 (aged 77)
Ghazni, Ghaznavid
Empire (modern-day
Afghanistan)
Residence Khwarezm, Central
Asia
Ziyarid dynasty
(Rey)[2]Ghaznavid
dynasty (Ghazni)[3]

Academic background

Influences Aristotle, Ptolemy,

Aryabhata,
Brahmagupta, Abū
Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī,
Rhazes, al-Sijzi,
Iranshahri, Abu Nasr
Mansur, Avicenna, al-
Battani, Al-Tamimi

A d i k
 Academic work

Era Islamic Golden Age

Main interests Geology, physics,

anthropology,
comparative sociology,
astronomy, astrology,
chemistry, history,
geography,
mathematics,
medicine, psychology,
philosophy, theology
Notable works The Remaining Signs
of Past Centuries,
Gems, Indica, The
Mas'udi Canon,
Understanding
Astrology
Influenced Al-Sijzi, Avicenna,

Omar Khayyam al
 Omar Khayyam, al-
Khazini, Zakariya al-
Qazwini, Maragha
observatory, Islamic
science, Islamic
philosophy

Biruni is regarded as one of the greatest

scholars of the medieval Islamic era and
was well versed in physics, mathematics,
astronomy, and natural sciences, and
also distinguished himself as a historian,
chronologist and linguist.[10] He studied
almost all fields of science and was
compensated for his research and
strenuous work. Royalty and powerful
members of society sought out Al-Biruni
to conduct research and study to uncover
certain findings. He lived during the
Islamic Golden Age, in which scholarly
thought went hand in hand with the
thinking and methodology of the Islamic
religion. In addition to this type of
influence, Al-Biruni was also influenced
by other nations, such as the Greeks,
who he took inspiration from when he
turned to studies of philosophy.[12] He
was conversant in Khwarezmian, Persian,
Arabic, Sanskrit, and also knew Greek,
Hebrew and Syriac. He spent much of his
life in Ghazni, then capital of the
Ghaznavid dynasty, in modern-day
central-eastern Afghanistan. In 1017 he
travelled to South Asia and authored a
study of Indian culture (Tahqiq ma li-l-
hind...) after exploring the Hinduism
practised in India.[a] He was given the title
"founder of Indology". He was an
impartial writer on customs and creeds of
various nations, and was given the title
al-Ustadh ("The Master") for his
remarkable description of early 11th-
century India.[10]

Life
He was born in the outer district of Kath,
the capital of the Afrighid dynasty of
Khwarezm (now a part of Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan)[14][10] (or
Chorasmia).[15][14] To conduct research,
Al-Biruni used different methods to tackle
the various fields he studied. Many
consider Al-Biruni one of the greatest
scientists in history, and especially of
Islam because of his discoveries and
methodology. He lived during the Islamic
Golden Age, which promoted astronomy
and encouraged all scholars to work on
their research.[14] Al-Biruni spent the first
twenty-five years of his life in Khwarezm
where he studied Islamic jurisprudence,
theology, grammar, mathematics,
astronomy, medicine, philosophy and
also dabbled in the field of physics and
most other sciences as well.[15] The
Iranian Khwarezmian language, which
was the language of Biruni,[16][17] survived
for several centuries after Islam until the
Turkification of the region, and so must
some at least of the culture and lore of
ancient Khwarezm, for it is hard to see
the commanding figure of Biruni, a
repository of so much knowledge,
appearing in a cultural vacuum.[18] He
was sympathetic to the Afrighids, who
were overthrown by the rival dynasty of
Ma'munids in 995. He left his homeland
for Bukhara, then under the Samanid ruler
Mansur II the son of Nuh. There he
corresponded with Avicenna[19] and there
are extant exchanges of views between
these two scholars.

In 998, he went to the court of the Ziyarid

amir of Tabaristan, Shams al-Mo'ali Abol-
hasan Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir. There he
wrote his first important work, al-Athar al-
Baqqiya 'an al-Qorun al-Khaliyya (literally:
"The remaining traces of past centuries"
and translated as "Chronology of ancient
nations" or "Vestiges of the Past") on
historical and scientific chronology,
probably around 1000 A.D., though he
later made some amendments to the
book. He also visited the court of the
Bavandid ruler Al-Marzuban. Accepting
the definite demise of the Afrighids at the
hands of the Ma'munids, he made peace
with the latter who then ruled Khwarezm.
Their court at Gorganj (also in Khwarezm)
was gaining fame for its gathering of
brilliant scientists.

In 1017, Mahmud of Ghazni took Rey.

Most scholars, including al-Biruni, were
taken to Ghazni, the capital of the
Ghaznavid dynasty.[2] Biruni was made
court astrologer[20] and accompanied
Mahmud on his invasions into India, living
there for a few years. He was forty-four
years old when he went on the journeys
with Mahmud of Ghazni.[14] Biruni
became acquainted with all things related
to India. He may even have learned some
Sanskrit. During this time he wrote his
study of India, finishing it around 1030.[21]
Along with his writing, Al-Biruni also
made sure to extend his study to science
while on the expeditions. He sought to
find a method to measure the height of
the sun, and created an early version of
an astrolabe for that purpose.[14] Al-Biruni
was able to make much progress in his
study over the frequent travels that he
went on throughout the lands of India.[22]

Mathematics and astronomy

An illustration from al-Biruni's astronomical works,
explains the different phases of the moon.

Diagram illustrating a method proposed and used

by Al-Biruni to estimate the radius and
circumference of the Earth

Ninety-five of 146 books known to have

been written by Bīrūnī were devoted to
astronomy, mathematics, and related
subjects like mathematical geography.[23]
His religion contributed to his research of
astronomy, as in Islam, worship and
prayer require knowing the precise
directions of sacred locations, which can
only be accurately found using
astronomical data.[14] Biruni's major work
on astrology[24] is primarily an
astronomical and mathematical text, only
the last chapter concerns astrological
prognostication. His endorsement of
astrology is limited, in so far as he
condemns horary astrology[25] as
'sorcery'.
In discussing speculation by other
Muslim writers on the possible motion of
the Earth, Biruni acknowledged that he
could neither prove nor disprove it, but
commented favourably on the idea that
the Earth rotates.[26] He wrote an
extensive commentary on Indian
astronomy in the Tahqiq ma li-l-hind
mostly translation of Aryabhatta's work,
in which he claims to have resolved the
matter of Earth's rotation in a work on
astronomy that is no longer extant, his
Miftah-ilm-alhai'a (Key to Astronomy):
[T]he rotation of the earth does in
no way impair the value of
astronomy, as all appearances of
an astronomic character can
quite as well be explained
according to this theory as to the
other. There are, however, other
reasons which make it
impossible. This question is most
difficult to solve. The most
prominent of both modern and
ancient astronomers have deeply
studied the question of the
moving of the earth, and tried to
 refute it. We, too, have composed
a book on the subject called
Miftah-ilm-alhai'a (Key to
Astronomy), in which we think
we have surpassed our
predecessors, if not in the words,
at all events in the matter.[27]

In his description of Sijzi's astrolabe he

hints at contemporary debates over the
movement of the earth. He carried on a
lengthy correspondence and sometimes
heated debate with Ibn Sina, in which
Biruni repeatedly attacks Aristotle's
celestial physics: he argues by simple
experiment that vacuum must exist;[28] he
is "amazed" by the weakness of
Aristotle's argument against elliptical
orbits on the basis that they would create
vacuum;[29] he attacks the immutability of
the celestial spheres;[30] and so on.

In his major extant astronomical work, the

Mas'ud Canon, Biruni utilizes his
observational data to disprove Ptolemy's
immobile solar apogee.[31][32] Not only did
he perform research on theories, but he
also wrote an in-depth analysis and
explanation of an astrolabe and how it
should work. He drew many different
depictions of various instruments that are
considered to be the precursors of more
modern objects such as clocks and the
astrolabe, in which other scientists were
able to use to complete these inventions
in the coming years.[14] More recently,
Biruni's eclipse data was used by
Dunthorne in 1749 to help determine the
acceleration of the moon,[33] and his
observational data has entered the larger
astronomical historical record and is still
used today[34] in geophysics and
astronomy.

Physics
"Al-Biruni contributed to the introduction
of the experimental scientific method to
mechanics, unified statics and dynamics
into the science of mechanics,[35][36] and
combined the fields of hydrostatics with
dynamics to create hydrodynamics.[35] He
came up with different methods for
exploring densities, weight, and even
gravity. Along with those methods, Biruni
went so far as to describe instruments
that go along with each of those areas as
well. Although he never entirely focuses
just on physics in any of his books, the
study of physics is present throughout
many of his various works. Biruni also
came up with different hypotheses about
heat and light.[14]

Geography

Four directions and Political divisions of Iran by Abū

Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī

Bīrūnī devised a method of determining

the earth's radius by means of the
observation of the height of a mountain.
He carried it out at Nandana in Pind
Dadan Khan in Pakistan.[37] He was
heavily interested in the workings of the
earth and included research about the
planet in many of his works. The result of
his discovery of radius measurement was
due to Biruni's arduous research about
the earth.[14]

In his Codex Masudicus (1037), Al-Biruni

theorized the existence of a landmass
along the vast ocean between Asia and
Europe, or what is today known as the
Americas. He deduced its existence on
the basis of his accurate estimations of
the Earth's circumference and Afro-
Eurasia's size, which he found spanned
only two-fifths of the Earth's
circumference, and his discovery of the
concept of specific gravity, from which he
deduced that the geological processes
that gave rise to Eurasia must've also
given rise to lands in the vast ocean
between Asia and Europe. He also
theorized that the landmass must be
inhabited by human beings, which he
deduced from his knowledge of humans
inhabiting the broad north-south band
stretching from Russia to South India and
Sub-Saharan Africa, theorizing that the
landmass would most likely lie along the
same band.[38]
Pharmacology and mineralogy
Biruni's most important work was a major
pharmacopoeia, the "Kitab al-saydala fi
al-tibb" (Book on the Pharmacopoeia of
Medicine), describing essentially all the
medicines known in his time. It lists
synonyms for drug names in Syriac,
Persian, Greek, Baluchi, Afghan, Kurdi,
and some Indian languages.[39][40]

Due to an apparatus he constructed

himself, he succeeded in determining the
specific gravity of a certain number of
metals and minerals with remarkable
precision.[41]
History and chronology
Biruni's main essay on political history,
Kitāb al-musāmara fī aḵbār Ḵᵛārazm
(Book of nightly conversation concerning
the affairs of Ḵᵛārazm) is now known only
from quotations in Bayhaqī's Tārīkh-e
masʿūdī. In addition to this various
discussions of historical events and
methodology are found in connection
with the lists of kings in his al-Āthār al-
bāqiya and in the Qānūn as well as
elsewhere in the Āthār, in India, and
scattered throughout his other works.[42]
Al-Biruni's study of history was not
limited to the aforementioned topics, he
also touched upon the topic of the earth's
creation. He elaborated upon the fact that
the earth was created from the elements
and not solely through divine creation.
Even though Islam did influence his
study, he did acknowledge the role of the
elements.[14]

History of religions
Bīrūnī is one of the most important
Muslim authorities on the history of
religion.[43] Al-Biruni was a pioneer in the
study of comparative religion. He studied
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism,
Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and other
religions. He treated religions objectively,
striving to understand them on their own
terms rather than trying to prove them
wrong. His underlying concept was that
all cultures are at least distant relatives of
all other cultures because they are all
human constructs. "What al-Biruni seems
to be arguing is that there is a common
human element in every culture that
makes all cultures distant relatives,
however foreign they might seem to one
another."[44]

Al-Biruni divides Hindus into an educated

and an uneducated class. He describes
the educated as monotheistic, believing
that God is one, eternal, and omnipotent
and eschewing all forms of idol worship.
He recognizes that uneducated Hindus
worshipped a multiplicity of idols yet
points out that even some Muslims (such
as the Jabiriyya) have adopted
anthropomorphic concepts of God.[45]

Anthropology
Al-Biruni wrote about the peoples,
customs and religions of the Indian
subcontinent. According to Akbar S.
Ahmed, like modern anthropologists, he
engaged in extensive participant
observation with a given group of people,
learnt their language and studied their
primary texts, presenting his findings with
objectivity and neutrality using cross-
cultural comparisons. Akhbar S. Ahmed
concluded that Al-Biruni can be
considered as the first Anthropologist,[46]
however, others argue that he hardly can
be considered an anthropologist in the
conventional sense.[47]

Indology
Bīrūnī's fame as an Indologist rests
primarily on two texts.[48] Al-Biruni wrote
an encyclopedic work on India called
Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūlah
maqbūlah fī al-ʿaql aw mardhūlah
(variously translated as "Verifying All That
the Indians Recount, the Reasonable and
the Unreasonable"[49] or "The book
confirming what pertains to India,
whether rational or despicable"[48]) in
which he explored nearly every aspect of
Indian life, including religion, history,
geography, geology, science, and
mathematics. During his journey through
India, military and political histories were
not of Al-Biruni's main focus. Instead, he
decided to document the more civilian
and scholarly areas of Hindu life such as
culture, science, and religion.[50] He
explores religion within a rich cultural
context.[51] He expresses his objective
with simple eloquence: He also translated
the works of Indian sage Patanjali with
the title Tarjamat ketāb Bātanjalī fi’l-ḵalāṣ
men al-ertebāk.

I shall not produce the arguments

of our antagonists in order to
refute such of them, as I believe to
be in the wrong. My book is
nothing but a simple historic
record of facts. I shall place
before the reader the theories of
the Hindus exactly as they are,
and I shall mention in 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-Biruni's analysis is his

summary of why many Hindus hate
Muslims. Biruni notes in the beginning of
his book how the Muslims had a hard
time learning about Hindu knowledge and
culture.[51] He explains that Hinduism and
Islam are totally different from each other.
Moreover, Hindus in 11th century India
had suffered waves of destructive attacks
on many of its cities, and Islamic armies
had taken numerous Hindu slaves to
Persia, which—claimed Al-Biruni—
contributed to Hindus becoming
suspicious of all foreigners, not just
Muslims. Hindus considered Muslims
violent and impure, and did not want to
share anything with them. Over time, Al-
Biruni won the welcome of Hindu
scholars. Al-Biruni collected books and
studied with these Hindu scholars to
become fluent in Sanskrit, discover and
translate into Arabic the mathematics,
science, medicine, astronomy and other
fields of arts as practiced in 11th-century
India. He was inspired by the arguments
offered by Indian scholars who believed
earth must be globular in shape, which is
the only way to fully explain the
difference in daylight hours by latitude,
seasons and earth's relative positions
with moon and stars. At the same time,
Al-Biruni was also critical of Indian
scribes who he believed carelessly
corrupted Indian documents while
making copies of older documents.[52] He
also criticized the Hindus on what he saw
them do and not do, like their deficiencies
in curiosity about history and religion.[51]

One of the specific aspects of Hindu life

that Al-Biruni studied was the Hindu
calendar. His scholarship on the topic
exhibited great determination and focus,
not to mention the excellence in his
approach of the in-depth research he
performed. He developed a method for
converting the dates of the Hindu
calendar to the dates of the three
different calendars that were common in
the Islamic countries of his time period,
the Greek, the Arab/Muslim, and the
Persian. Biruni also employed astronomy
in the determination of his theories, which
were complex mathematical equations
and scientific calculation that allows one
to convert dates and years between the
different calendars.[53]
The book does not limit itself to tedious
records of battle because Al-Biruni found
the social culture to be more important.
The work includes research on a vast
array of topics of Indian culture, including
descriptions of their traditions and
customs. Although he tried to stay away
from political and military history, Biruni
did indeed record important dates and
noted actual sites of where significant
battles occurred. Additionally, he
chronicled stories of Indian rulers and
told of how they ruled over their people
with their beneficial actions and acted in
the interests of the nation. But, his details
are brief and mostly just list rulers without
referring to their real names. He did not
go on about deeds that each one carried
out during their reign, which keeps in line
with Al-Biruni's mission to try to stay
away from political histories. Al-Biruni
also described the geography of India in
his work. He documented different bodies
of water and other natural phenomena.
These descriptions are useful to today's
modern historians because they are able
to use Biruni's scholarship to locate
certain destinations in modern-day India.
Historians are able to make some
matches while also concluding that
certain areas seem to have disappeared
and been replaced with different cities.
Different forts and landmarks were able
to be located, legitimizing Al-Biruni's
contributions with their usefulness to
even modern history and archeology.[51]

The dispassionate account of Hinduism

given by Al-Biruni was remarkable for its
time. He stated that he was fully objective
in his writings, remaining unbiased like a
proper historian should. Biruni
documented everything about India just
as it happened. But, he did note how
some of the accounts of information that
he was given by natives of the land may
not have been reliable in terms of
complete accuracy, however, he did try
to be as honest as possible in his
writing.[51] Mohammad Yasin compares it
to "a magic island of quiet, impartial
research in the midst of a world of
clashing swords, burning towns, and
plundered temples."[54] Biruni's writing
was very poetic, which may diminish
some of the historical value of the work
for modern times. The lack of description
of battle and politics makes those parts
of the picture completely lost. However,
Many have used Al-Biruni's work to
check facts of history in other works that
may have been ambiguous or had their
validity questioned.[51]
Works
Most of the works of Al-Biruni are in
Arabic although he wrote one of his
masterpieces, the Kitab al-Tafhim
apparently in both Persian and Arabic,
showing his mastery over both
languages.[55] Bīrūnī's catalogue of his
own literary production up to his 65th
lunar/63rd solar year (the end of
427/1036) lists 103 titles divided into 12
categories: astronomy, mathematical
geography, mathematics, astrological
aspects and transits, astronomical
instruments, chronology, comets, an
untitled category, astrology, anecdotes,
religion, and books he no longer
possesses.[42]

Selection of extant works

A Critical Study of What India Says,

Whether Accepted by Reason or
Refused (‫ﺗﺤﻘﻴﻖ ﻣﺎ ﻟﻠﻬﻨﺪ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻘﻮﻟﺔ ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻟﺔ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ ;)اﻟﻌﻘﻞ أو ﻣﺮذوﻟﺔ‬or Indica; or Kitab al-
Hind; Kitab al-Bīrūnī fī Taḥqīq mā li-al-
Hind.;[56] or Alberuni's India
(Translation)[57] – compendium of
India's religion and philosophy.
Book of Instruction in the Elements of
the Art of Astrology (Kitab al-tafhim li-
awa’il sina‘at al-tanjim[58]); in Persian
The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries
(‫ – )اﻵﺛﺎر اﻟﺒﺎﻗﻴﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻘﺮون اﻟﺨﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬a
comparative study of calendars of
cultures and civilizations, (including
several chapters on Christian cults)[59]
with mathematical, astronomical, and
historical information.
Melkite Calendar, or Les Fetes des
Melchites – Arabic text with French
translation extract from The Remaining
Signs of Past Centuries.[60]
The Mas'udi Canon (‫– )ﻗﺎﻧﻮن ﻣﺴﻌﻮدي‬
encyclopedia of astronomy, geography,
and engineering, dedicated to Mas'ud,
son of Mahmud of Ghazni of the
eponymous title.
Understanding Astrology (‫اﻟﺘﻔﻬﻴﻢ ﻟﺼﻨﺎﻋﺔ‬
‫ – )اﻟﺘﻨﺠﻴﻢ‬a question and answer style
book about mathematics and
astronomy, in Arabic and Persian.
Pharmacy – on drugs and medicines.
Gems (‫ – )اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻫﺮ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻌﺮﻓﺔ اﻟﺠﻮاﻫﺮ‬geology
manual of minerals and gems.
Dedicated to Mawdud son of Mas'ud.
Astrolabe
A Short History
History of Mahmud of Ghazni and his
father
History of Khawarezm
 Kitab al-Āthār al-Bāqīyah ‘an al-Qurūn
al-Khālīyah.[61][62]
Risālah li-al-Bīrūnī (Epître de Berūnī)[63]

Persian work

Biruni wrote most of his works in Arabic,

as the scientific language of his age,
however, his Persian version of the Al-
Tafhim[55] is one of the most important of
the early works of science in the Persian
language, and is a rich source for Persian
prose and lexicography.[55] The book
covers the Quadrivium in a detailed and
skilled fashion.[55]

Legacy
After Al-Biruni's death, in the Ghaznavid
dynasty and following centuries his work
was not built on, nor referenced. It was
only hundreds of years later in the West,
that his books became read and
referenced again, especially his book on
India which became relevant to the British
Empire's activity in India from the 17th
century.[64]

A film about his life, Abu Raykhan Beruni,

was released in the Soviet Union in
1974.[65]
Lunar crater Al-Biruni, on the far side of the Moon,
as seen by Apollo 14

The lunar crater Al-Biruni and the asteroid

9936 Al-Biruni were named in his honour.

In June 2009, Iran donated a pavilion to

the United Nations Office in Vienna—
placed in the central Memorial Plaza of
the Vienna International Center.[66]
Named the Scholars Pavilion, it features
the statues of four prominent Iranian
scholars: Avicenna, Abu Rayhan Biruni,
Zakariya Razi (Rhazes) and Omar
Khayyam.[67][68]

The statue of Al-Biruni in United Nations Office in

Vienna as a part of Persian Scholars Pavilion
donated by Iran

Notes and references

Notes
a. Al-Biruni's idea of al-Hind (India) was a
cultural zone, more or less coinciding
with the present day India.[13]

Citations

1. Patrologia orientalis . Robarts –

University of Toronto. Paris Firmin-Didot.
1907. p. 291.
2. Kennedy, E.S. (1975-06-26). "The
Exact Sciences". In Frye, R. N.; Fisher,
William Bayne. The Cambridge History of
Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to
the Saljuqs . Cambridge University Press.
p. 394. ISBN 9780521200936.
3. Ataman, Kemal (2008). Understanding
Other Religions: Al-Biruni's and
Gadamer's "fusion of Horizons" . CRVP.
p. 58. ISBN 9781565182523.
4. Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (1879).
The Chronology of Ancient Nations: An
English Version of the Arabic Text of the
Athâr-ul-Bâkiya of Albîrûnî, Or "Vestiges
of the Past" . Translated by Sachau,
Eduard. Oriental translation fund of Great
Britain & Ireland. "In our time the word is
pronounced Biruni (or Beerooni), e.g. in
Teheran. but the vowel of the first syllable
is majhul, which means that in more
ancient times it was pronounced Beron
(or Bayroon)... That the name was
pronounced in this way in Central Asia
about the author's time, we learn from
indisputable statement regarding our
author from the pen of Alsam'ani, a
philologist and biographer of high
repute."
5. Mackenzie, D.N. (2014-09-25). A
Concise Pahlavi Dictionary . Routledge.
ISBN 978-1-1366-1396-8.
6. BĪRŪNĪ, ABŪ RAYḤĀN. Encyclopædia
Iranica, (1989, December 15). Retrieved
August 20, 2015.
7. Encyclopædia Britannica, al-Biruni
(Persian scholar and scientist) –
Britannica Online Encyclopedia ,
Britannica.com, retrieved 2010-02-28
8. Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political
and Dynastic History of the Iranian World
(A.D. 1000–1217)". In Boyle, J.A. The
Cambridge History of Iran: The Saljuq and
Mongol Periods. Vol . Cambridge
University Press. p. 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)"
Frye, Richard Nelson (February
2000). The Golden Age of Persia .
Phoenix Publishing, Incorporated.
ISBN 9780753809440. "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"
Khan, M. A. Saleem (2001). Al-
Biruni's Discovery of India: An
Interpretative Study .
iAcademicBooks. p. 11.
ISBN 9781588681393. "It is generally
accepted that he was Persian by
origin, and spoke the Khwarizmian
dialect"
 Rahman, H. U. (1995), A Chronology
of Islamic History : 570 – 1000 CE,
London: Mansell Publishing, p. 167,
ISBN 1-897940-32-7, "A Persian by
birth, Biruni produced his writings in
Arabic, though he knew, besides
Persian, no less than four other
languages."
9.
"Al-Bīrūnī | Persian scholar and
scientist" . Encyclopedia Britannica.
Retrieved 2018-07-06.
Lindberg, David C. (1980-03-15).
Science in the Middle Ages .
University of Chicago Press. p. 18.
ISBN 9780226482330. "A Persian by
birth, a rationalist in disposition, this
contemporary of Avicenna and
Alhazen not only studied history,
philosophy, and geography in depth,
but wrote one of the most
comprehensive Muslim astronomical
treatises, the Qanun Al-Masu'di."
Massignon, L. (1951). "Al-Biruni et la
valuer internationale de la science
arabe" ". Al-Bīrūnī Commemoration
Volume A.H.362-A.H.1362 . Iran
Society. pp. 217–219. "In a
celebrated preface to the book of
Drugs, Biruni says, "And if it is true
that in all nations one likes to adorn
oneself by using the language to
which one has remained loyal, having
become accustomed to using it with
friends and companions according to
need, I must judge for myself that in
my native Khwarezmian, science has
as much as chance of becoming
perpetuated as a camel has of facing
Kaaba. "
Strohmaier 2006, p. 112
MacKenzie 2011
Samian, A.L. (1997-07-31). "Al-
Biruni" . In Selin, Helaine.
Encyclopaedia of the History of
Science, Technology, and Medicine
 in Non-Westen Cultures. Springer
Science & Business Media. p. 157.
ISBN 9780792340669. "his native
language was the Khwarizmian
dialect"
10. Boilot, D.J., Al-Biruni (Beruni), Abu'l
Rayhan Muhammad b. Ahmad New Ed.,
1, pp. 1236–1238, "He was born of an
Iranian family in 362/973 (according to al-
Ghadanfar, on 3 Dhu'l-Hididja/ 4
September – see E. Sachau, Chronology,
xivxvi), in the suburb (birun) of Kath,
capital of Khwarizm....was one of the
greatest scholars of mediaeval Islam, and
certainly the most original and profound.
He was equally well versed in the
mathematical, astronomic, physical and
natural sciences and also distinguished
himself as a geographer and historian,
chronologist and linguist and as an
impartial observer of customs and
creeds. He is known as al-Ustdadh, 'the
Master'." in Bearman, Bianquis &
Bosworth 2007
11. Berggren, J. L.; Borwein, Jonathan;
Borwein, Peter (2014). Pi: A Source
Book . Springer. p. 680. ISBN 978-1-
4757-4217-6. "The Persian polymath, al-
Birüni, a younger contemporary of Abu'l-
Wafa', calculated the perimeters of
inscribed and ..."
12. Healey, Christina (2006). Al-Biruni.
13. Verdon, Noémie (2015).
"Conceptualisation of al-Hind by Arabic
and Persian writers". In Ray, Himanshu
Prabha. Negotiating Cultural Identity:
Landscapes in Early Medieval South
Asian History . Routledge. p. 52.
ISBN 978-1-317-34130-7.
14. Sparavigna, Amelia (2013). "The
Science of Al-Biruni" . International
Journal of Sciences. 2.
15. Bosworth 1968
16. Strohmaier 2006, p. 112.
17. MacKenzie 2011.
18. Bosworth, C.E., Ḵh̲ W Ārazm in
Bearman, Bianquis & Bosworth 2007
19. Papan-Matin, Firoozeh (2010).
Beyond Death: The Mystical Teachings of
ʻAyn Al-Quḍāt Al-Hamadhānī . BRILL.
p. 111. ISBN 9004174133.
20. Hodgson, Marshall G. S. (1974). The
Venture of Islam: Conscience and History
in a World Civilization . University of
Chicago Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-
0226346779.
21. Waardenburg, Jacques (1999-08-19).
Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions: A
Historical Survey . Oxford University
Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780195355765.
22. Khan, M.S. (1976). "Al-Biruni and the
Political History of India" . Oriens. 25/26.
23. Saliba 1989.
24. Al-Biruni, R. (2004-03-01). The Book
of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of
Astrology . Kessinger Publishing.
ISBN 9780766193079.
25. Noonan, George C. (July 2005).
Classical Scientific Astrology . American
Federation of Astr. ISBN 9780866900492.
26. Douglas (1973, p.210)
27. Al-Biruni, trans. by Edward C. Sachau
(1888), Alberuni's India: an account of the
religion, philosophy, and literature, p.277
28. Berjak 2005, part 5.
29. Berjak 2005, part 3.
30. Berjak 2005, part 8.
31. Rosenfeld, B. "Book review of Life
and Works of al-Buruni by P. Bulgakov" .
Journal for the History of Astronomy. 5:
135. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
32. Covington, Richard. "Rediscovering
Arabic Science" . Aramco World.
Retrieved 2018-10-05.
33. Houtsma M. Th. in Encyclopaedia of
Islam (Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.;
Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs,
W.P., eds.), (2007).
34. Stephenson, F. Richard (2008-03-24).
Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation .
Cambridge University Press. pp. 45, 457,
488–499. ISBN 9780521056335.
35. Alikuzai 2013.
36. Rozhanskaya, Mariam; Levinova, I. S.
(1996). Rushdī, Rāshid, ed. Statics .
Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic
Science. Psychology Press. p. 642.
ISBN 9780415124119. "Using a whole
body of mathematical methods (not only
those inherited from the antique theory of
ratios and infinitesimal techniques, but
also the methods of the contemporary
algebra and fine calculation techniques),
Muslim scientists raised statics to a new,
higher level. The classical results of
Archimedes in the theory of the centre of
gravity were generalized and applied to
three-dimensional bodies, the theory of
ponderable lever was founded and the
'science of gravity' was created and later
further developed in medieval Europe.
The phenomena of statics were studied
by using the dynamic approach so that
two trends – statics and dynamics –
turned out to be inter-related within a
single science, mechanics. The
combination of the dynamic approach
with Archimedean hydrostatics gave birth
to a direction in science which may be
called medieval hydrodynamics. [...]
Numerous fine experimental methods
were developed for determining the
specific weight, which were based, in
particular, on the theory of balances and
weighing. The classical works of al-Biruni
and al-Khazini can by right be considered
as the beginning of the application of
experimental methods in medieval
science."
37. Pingree 1989.
38. Starr, S. Frederick (12 December
2013). "So, Who Did Discover America? |
History Today" . www.historytoday.com.
Retrieved 2018-07-06.
39. Kujundzić, E.; Masić, I. (1999). "[Al-
Biruni—a universal scientist]". Med. Arh.
(in Croatian). 53 (2): 117–120.
PMID 10386051 .
40. Levey, Martin (1973). Early Arabic
Pharmacology: An Introduction Based on
Ancient and Medieval Sources . Brill
Archive. p. 179. ISBN 90-04-03796-9.
41. Anawati 1989.
42. Pingree 2010.
43. de Blois 2010.
44. Rosenthal 1976, p. 10.
45. Ataman 2005.
46. Ahmed, Akbar S. (1984). "Al-Beruni:
The First Anthropologist". RAIN (60): 9–
10. doi:10.2307/3033407 .
JSTOR 3033407 .
47. Tapper, Richard (1995). " "Islamic
Anthropology" and the "Anthropology of
Islam" ". Anthropological Quarterly. 68 (3):
185–193. doi:10.2307/3318074 .
JSTOR 3318074 .
48. Lawrence 1989.
49. George Saliba. "Al-Bīrūnī" .
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved
Aug 12, 2017.
50. Khan, M.S. (1976). "Al-biruni and the
Political History of India". Oriens. 25/26.
51. Khan, M.S. (1976). "Al-Biruni and the
Political History of India". Oriens. 25/26.
52. Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (1910).
"On the Hindus in General, as an
Introduction to Our Account of Them".
Alberuni's India: An Account of the
Religion, Philosophy, Literature,
Geography, Chronology, Astronomy,
Customs, Laws and Astrology of India
about A.D. 1030 . 1. London: Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trübner. p. 17see also Vol 2 of
Al-Biruni's India.
53. Kennedy, E.S.; Engle, Susan;
Wamstad, Jeanne (1965). "The Hindu
Calendar as Described in Al-Biruni's
Masudic Canon" . Journal of Near
Eastern Studies. 24
24.
54. Yasin, Mohammad (1988). Reading in
Indian history . New Delhi, India: Atlantic
Publishers & Distri. p. 19. ISBN 978-8-
1715-6120-9. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
55. S.H. Nasr, "An introduction to Islamic
cosmological doctrines: conceptions of
nature and methods used for its study by
the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, al-Bīrūnī, and Ibn
Sīnā", 2nd edition, Revised. SUNY press,
1993. pp 111: "Al-Biruni wrote one of the
masterpieces of medieval science, Kitab
al-Tafhim, apparently in both Arabic and
Persian, demonstrating how conversant
he was in both tongues. The Kitab al-
Tafhim is without doubt the most
important of the early works of science in
Persian and serves as a rich source for
Persian prose and lexicography as well
as for the knowledge of the Quadrivium
whose subjects it covers in a masterly
fashion"
56. Kitab al-Bīrūnī fī Taḥqīq mā li-al-Hind,
Hyderabad: Osmania Oriental Publication
Bureau, 1958
57. Kegan, Paul, ed. (1910), Alberuni's
India, 2, translated by Sachau, E.C.,
London: Trench, Truebner
58. "Kitāb al-tafhīm li-awā'īl ṣinā'at al-
tanjīm ‫ ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﺘﻔﻬﻴﻢ ﻷواﺋﻞ ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺘﻨﺠﻴﻢ‬Bīrūnī,
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ‫ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ‬،‫ﺑﻴﺮوﻧﻲ‬
‫ "أﺣﻤﺪ‬. Qatar Digital Library. 2014-05-16.
Retrieved 2018-11-20.
59. Patrologia Orientalis tom.10 p.291
60. Patrologia orientalis . Robarts –
University of Toronto. Paris Firmin-Didot.
1907 [1903]. pp. 291–312.
61. Sachau, C.E., ed. (1878), Chronologie
orientalischer Volker, Leipzig: Brochhaus
62. The Chronology of Ancient Nations,
translated by Sachau, C.E., London: W.
H. Allen, 1879
63. Kraus, Paul, ed. (1936), Epître de
Berūnī (in French), Paris: Maisonneuve
64. "BBc Radio: In our Time – Al-Biruni" .
65. Abbasov, Shukhrat (1975-04-14), Abu
Raykhan Beruni , Pulat Saidkasymov,
Bakhtiyer Shukurov, Razak Khamrayev,
retrieved 2018-07-04
66. UNIS. "Monument to Be Inaugurated
at the Vienna International Centre,
'Scholars Pavilion' donated to
International Organizations in Vienna by
Iran" . Retrieved 11 September 2016.
67. "Permanent mission of the Islamic
Republic of Iran to the United Nations
office – Vienna" . en.viennaun.mfa.ir.
68. Hosseini, Mir Masood. "Negareh:
Persian Scholars Pavilion at United
Nations Vienna, Austria" . Retrieved
11 September 2016.

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Further reading
Wilczynski, Jan Z. (1959). "On the
Presumed Darwinism of Alberuni Eight
Hundred Years before Darwin". Isis. 50
(4): 459–466. JSTOR 226430 .

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"BĪRŪNĪ, ABŪ RAYḤĀN – Index" .

www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved
2018-07-07.
"Al-Biruni (973–1048)." Encyclopedia of
Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001.
Encyclopedia.com. 5 Feb. 2015.
Al-Bīr Complete Dictionary of Scientific
Biography | 2008 | Copyright
"Abu Rayhan al-Biruni." Encyclopedia
of World Biography. 2004.
Encyclopedia.com. 5 Feb. 2015
Hogendijk, Jan: The works of al-Bīrūnī
– manuscripts, critical editions,
translations and online links
Elliot, Henry Miers, Sir; Dowson, John
(1871), "1. Táríkhu-l Hind of Bírúní", The
History of India, as Told by Its Own
Historians. The Muhammadan Period ,
2, London : Trübner & Co. (At Packard
Institute )
Sachau, C. Edward (1910),
ALBERUNI'S INDIA – An account of ...
India about A.D. 1030 , 1, Kegan Paul,
Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd., London
 Sachau, C. Edward (1879), The
Chronology of Ancient Nations ,
London: William H. Allen And Co.,
retrieved June 24, 2017

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