Encyclopedia of Islam

Biruni, Abu Rayhan, al-

 

(ca. 973–

1051)  Persian scholar famous for his books on 

Indian religion and civilization, history, mathematics, 

astronomy, pharmacology, and medicine

Al-Biruni was born near the city of Khwarazm 

(modern Khiva in Uzbekistan) and gained his 

early 

edUcation

 from scholars in this region of 

Central Asia. When the Turkish ruler Mahmoud 

of Ghazna (r. 998–1030) conquered Khwarazm 

K  106  

Biruni, Abu Rayhan, al-

---

in 1017, he drafted al-Biruni into service as his 

court astronomer and astrologer in a

Fghanistan

.

Between 1022 and 1030, al-Biruni accompanied 

Sultan Mahmoud in a series of attacks he launched 

into northern i

ndia

, which provided the scholar 

with an opportunity to study Hindu religion and 

philosophy for a period of about 10 years. He 

met with Brahmins and even studied Sanskrit, 

the sacred language of Hindus. The result of 

these studies was his unprecedented book, the 

India Book (Kitab al-Hind), which he finished 

writing in 1031 after he returned to Ghazna. The 

book described in detail Hindu religious beliefs, 

ritual practices, philosophy, the caste system and 

marriage, as well as India’s accomplishments in 

mathematics

 and 

science

. He wrote it from a 

comparative perspective that privileged his own 

Islamic religion and culture but acknowledged the 

accomplishments of the Hindus at the same time. 

Al-Biruni also translated Sanskrit texts on Hindu 

cosmology and philosophy into Arabic. Scholars 

estimate that he wrote nearly 180 books on differ-

ent subjects in his lifetime, mostly in Arabic, but 

many of these have been lost.

See also h

indUism

 

and

 i

slam

.