Contents 

1. Introduction
2. Biographical Sketch of Al-Biruni
3. Al-Biruni’s Travel to India
4. Al-Birun’s India, Aims of Writing it
5. Contents of Al- Biruni’s India
6. Issues Discussed by Al-Biruni in the Book of India
7. Methodology of Author
8. Criticism Leveled against the Author
9. Points of Strength and Weakness
10. Recommendations
11. References

 

Introduction

Al-Biruni’s book of India, written in the 11th century AD, is a seminal work that provides an unparalleled glimpse into the prevailing culture and society of the region at the time. Al-Biruni’s approach to data collection and analysis was highly sophisticated, and his text reflects centuries of accumulated wisdom on topics ranging from linguistic diversity to religious beliefs. His meticulous attention to detail serves as a valuable resource for contemporary scholars seeking to gain insight into pre-modern Indian society.

Al-Biruni’s book of India has been considered one of the most valuable sources of Indian culture and civilization at that time. Al-Biruni’s book of India covers a wide range of topics including geography, philosophy, religion, literature and science.

Biographical Sketch of Al-Biruni 

Little is known about Biruni’s personal background. Al-Biruni himself states, “in accordance with my natural disposition I was from my youth possessed with real greed to acquire knowledge.

Al-Biruni was the most talented scholar in the medieval Islamic world. He wrote some 150 books, more than half of which concerned astronomy or mathematics. The remainder explored virtually any branch of knowledge from physics to gems to foreign cultures.

Al-Biruni was born in Khwarezm, in what is now Uzbekistan, on September 4, 973. His childhood is largely unknown. Al-Biruni started learning languages at a young age to fulfil this deep yearning since he believed that language was an essential component of doing comparative research. He was proficient in both Arabic and Persian because Khawarizmian was his native tongue. He acquired at least enough understanding of Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew to utilize dictionaries while studying. Later in life, he decided to learn Sanskrit because it was the key to navigating Indian society. According to Al-Biruni himself, his grasp of Sanskrit advanced to the point where, with the help of gurus, he was able to translate some Indian texts into Arabic and Arabic literature into Sanskrit.

Early Education

A prince Abu Nasr Mansur who was also a mathematician and astronomer taught him. Al-Biruni lived during a time when the eastern Islamic world was experiencing political unrest. He had to relocate frequently due to local dynasty wars, and he had the privilege of serving more than six different rulers. He met the renowned philosopher-scientist Avicenna while he was staying in the city of Gurgan, which is now in northern Iran (Ibn Sina). The two exchanged scientific concepts in letters they wrote to one another.

Mahmud of Ghazni took control of the Ghazna kingdom in 998, which covered what is now Afghanistan and northeastern Iran. Al-Biruni and Avicenna were ordered to join his court in Ghazna (now the city of Ghazni, in eastern Afghanistan). Al-Biruni continued to work in Ghazna till the end of his life, but Avicenna was able to flee. On some of the sultan’s numerous military trips to India, he accompanied Mahmud. Al-Biruni made notes about Indian culture, language, and religion while on these journeys. He included these in what would eventually become his best-known book. About 1052, at Ghazna, he perished.

Al-Biruni’s Intellectual Career

Al-Biruni was a virtuoso at using astronomical principles to apply mathematical theories. He used both the findings of his own observations and those of other astronomers in his study. He calculated latitudes, longitudes, distances between cities, and directions between cities using geometrical concepts. A prime illustration of his techniques is the lunar eclipse of July 5, 1004. Al-Biruni calculated the longitude difference between Ghazna and a city in what is now Turkmenistan as 10.2° using the times of the eclipse in both locations. His prediction was rather close to the mark; the actual value is 9.3°. Later, this method was widely used across Europe. In addition to producing astronomical devices, Al-Biruni also authored a book on the astrolabe.

Al-Biruni made significant contributions to mechanics, the study of how objects move when forces are applied, in the field of physics. He conducted research on both moving and still matter. Al-Biruni experimented with weighing and gauging materials using balances. He produced a form of hydrostatic equilibrium. By submerging the thing in water and measuring the amount of liquid it displaces, this is used to weigh an object. He made use of this device to calculate the density of stones. Al-Biruni is recognized for being one of the earliest researchers to use experimental techniques in the study of mechanics in addition to his many other accomplishments.

Al-Biruni’s Travel to India 

As a result of the altered political circumstances in his country—which would have been disastrous otherwise but were fortunate for him—Biruni, who had studied in Kath, had the long-awaited opportunity to carry out his research on “Indian” topics under the generous patronage of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.

The troops revolted and assassinated Prince Abu al-‘Abbas al-Mamun of Khwarazm (1016–17), who was a brother-in-law of Sultan Mahmud. At the time, Biruni was working as the Prince’s valued courtier and counsellor. The Sultan then took control of Khwarazm, put an end to the rebellion, and rewarded the Mamunid Court’s scholarly men, including Biruni.

Biruni had long been looking for primary sources on Hindu astronomy, and he now knew with certainty that Ghazni was his ultimate goal for his Indian studies. He was happy to have the chance to travel with the Sultan to Ghazni thanks to Sultan’s favour and support. There, he carried out his studies to his complete pleasure and without any interruption. He travelled with the Sultan of Ghazni, from Ghazni, Biruni continued his field research, made expeditions into the Subcontinent’s interior, and made it as far as Multan and probably further south to Sind. He visited and stayed at Fort Nandana (Jhelum district) sometime in the years 411-414 A.H. (1020 – 1924 A.D.), where he carried out his famous experiment to more precisely measure the length of one degree of the meridian circle’s arc and calculate the radius and circumference of the Earth, with his results being very close to those of today. Over the course of around 12 years (408-420/1017-1029), he conducted oral research, investigated the primary sources, acquired Sanskrit books, and gathered as much information as he could. He published up to 28 works on Indian subjects.

Al-Birun’s Book of India, Aims of Writing it 

The INDICA or ALBIRUNI’S BOOK OF  INDIA is the most well-known of his works on this topic. These are succinct and practical titles made up of contemporary researchers, the last one by Edward Sachau. Biruni himself came up with a much more poetic and descriptive title for his book. He may have written the book’s title in a poem in an exultant moment after realizing it was finished, perhaps to allude to the local Sanskrit tradition in which writings were frequently written in verse:

Kitaab mali al-Hind min maqulah maqbulatun fi al-aql ano mardhulah.

The INDICA is a thorough display of the cultural accomplishments of Indians, mostly but not just of Hindus. In terms of history, it is the first book that can be found that provides a “full, objective, and scientific portrayal of a culture.” Biruni earned the title of “Father of the Science of Cultural/Social Anthropology” as a result. The author of “Alberunis India,” an English translation of Biruni’s original work, made the following observations in 1888. 

In general, it is the method of our author not to speak himself, but to let the Hindus speak, giving extensive quotations from their classical authors. He presents a picture of Indian civilization as painted by the Hindus themselves”

Al-Biruni remained in India for thirteen years to observe, inquire, and learn. As a result, he wrote Kitab fi tahqiq ma li’l-hind, a mammoth commentary on Indian philosophy and culture. No other author would come close to remarkable Biruni’s comprehension of practically every facet of Indian life for nearly 800 years. The Gita, the Upanishads, Patanjali, the Puranas, the Vedas, and the scientific writings of Nagarjuna and Aryabhata, among other publications, were among the important religious and astronomical works in India that he read and marked. Al-Biruni also documented some of Mahmud of Ghazni’s more heinous pillaging, particularly at Mathura and Somnath.

Al-Biruni chose to capture the civilian and academic sides of Hindu society, looking at culture, science, and religion, rather than the military and political history, while travelling around India.  He examines religion in a vibrant cultural setting. He uses straightforward eloquence to state his goal: Also, he translated Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras under the title Tarjamat ketb Btanjal fi’l-al men al-ertebk.

The aim of writing this book was India at that time was not a good place for foreigners and especially for Muslims and Indian culture was new to Muslims. They were not aware of their language, customs, religion etc.  He states, that he compiled this book for Muslims who want to interact with Indians and to discuss science, literature or religion with them. 

Al- Beiruni was the first Muslim scholar who wrote about Indian society, culture, literature and religion. In fact, he tried to help Muslims to understand this new culture, to him it was necessary for both different cultures to have a better understanding of each other. 

Contents of Al- Biruni’s India 

Although there are 80 chapters in the English translation of Alberuni’s India however, his discussions are divided into 10 major groups as below: 

 Religion

On the Hindu in general and on the Hindu belief system, the source of their religious and civil law, prophets, the beginning of idol worship and description of idols, description of earth and heaven according to their religious traditions, fasting and religious festivals 

 Philosophy

 soul connection to matter, state of the soul, different worlds of Paradise and Hell, nature of liberation 

 Literature

 Veda, Puranas, grammatical and metrical kinds of literature. Hindu literature on astronomy and astrology, Literature on yoga, Vasudeva and the wars of Bharta, Narayna and his appearances in different times, 

 Calendar

different sums of days, the composition of years and months out of days, the resolution of the year into months,

 Astronomy

 motion of the universe according to ancient Hindu astronomers, star cycles, solar and lunar eclipses

Physics

division of time, four measures of mana, measures of time, 

Geography

 the rivers of India their sources and courses, the shape of the earth and heaven according to Hindu traditions, the definition of inhabitable earth according to Hindu traditions, Lanka or the cupola of earth, differences of longitude, 

 Customs

 strange manners and customs of theirs, cast system, customs about burial and funerals, lucky and unlucky days  

Astrology

measures of time which are large than the life of Brahman, Places of planets, distances and sizes of planets, 

 Laws

on Lawsuits, Punishments and Expiations, inheritance laws

Issues Discussed by Al-Biruni in the Book of India 

In each chapter, he adopted a distinctive style and had a question in the beginning. 

For instance, why do a lot of Hindus despise Islam? In the first chapter of his book, Biruni mentions how difficult it was for Muslims to learn about Hindu knowledge and culture. He highlights the fundamental differences between Hinduism and Islam. Al-Biruni asserted that the fact that Hindus in 11th-century India had seen waves of damaging raids on many of their cities, as well as the Islamic troops’ taking of numerous Hindu slaves to Persia, had contributed to Hindus’ developing suspicion of all outsiders, not just Muslims. Hindus did not want to interact with Muslims because they believed them to be violent and filthy. Over time, Al-Biruni won the welcome of Hindu scholars.

The observations made by Al-Beruni about Indian society, particularly the caste system, are exceedingly relevant. No other non-Indian source provides such a thorough and insightful analysis of the caste system as it existed in early mediaeval India. He claims that ancient Kings were responsible for the creation of the caste system and asserts that when a strong-willed man introduces a new political or social order that is supported by religious authority, it eventually becomes the social norm. He mentions the existence of eight classes of people who are not a part of the varna system, divided into groups based on their professions and guilds. In his work, he also discusses polygamy and claims that certain Hindus held the belief that a Brahman might have four wives, a Kshatriya three, a Vaisya two, and a Sudra one, according to their caste.

Al-Biruni also had harsh words for Indian scribes who, in his opinion, carelessly tainted Indian records when copying older documents. He also chastised Hindus for their actions and inactions, saying that they lacked historical and religious curiosity.

Methodology of Author 

The product of many years of toil and endurance, Biruni’s Kitab fi Tahqiq ma li’l-Hind marks a significant break from the historical and narrative customs that had been upheld in the nation up until that point. The work is of a very critical tone, in contrast to the prevalent Puranic traditions of preserving lineages or the West Asian Tarikh tradition of describing political history in a chronological fashion.

The lengthy report by Al-Beruni is broken up into 80 chapters, each with a subheading outlining the subjects it addresses. The first chapter serves as an introduction, in which he discusses the challenges he faced and the approaches he used in order to produce an account of Indian society. Al-Biruni states:

In the majority of my writing, I simply relate without criticizing the author’s approach, unless there is a particular justification for doing so.  I only use the technical phrases and appropriate Sanskrit names when the context of our discussion requires them. If a word is original and has a meaning that can be expressed in Arabic, I only use that word; if the Sanskrit word, however, is more useful, we maintain it and strive to transliterate it as faithfully as we can. Even if there is an Arabic equivalent, if the word is secondary or derived but nevertheless used frequently, we maintain it and explain its meaning before employing it.

Dr AmatulRafi states in her work:

His legacy is attributed to proper methodology, or scientific approaches, textual and empirical studies, empathy and sympathy of followers, depths of knowledge covering all its dimensions, comparative analysis of religions, documenting and recording of data and accuracy with the sole objective of gaining accurate knowledge to the extent that his religious conviction never allowed him to depreciate any faith or community. 

 Al-Biruni was not an armchair scholar, he travelled in different parts of north India and collected important sources of Indian literature, he met many pandits and scholars in India then he compiled the magnum opus of Indica or Book of India. 

His main contribution was his methodology in Book of India was to present an opponent’s belief in a manner that would be fair, objective and completely holistic. 

Criticism Leveled against the Author

Al- Biruni claimed that pure Hinduism which was practised by the real practitioners is monotheistic. He says that it is the masses of Hinduism who mistakenly adopted idol worship. This claim of him is criticized by many religious studies scholars. 

According to a BBC podcast His work on astrology is also criticized by religious groups and the faqihs gave a verdict on him. 

Points of Strength and Weakness 

•  Al-Biruni acquired some of the most important and primary sources of Indian religion, he absorbed their culture to write his magnum opus Book of India. 
•  Indica or Al-Biruni’s India was based upon his own experiences 
• At the beginning of this book by defending the need to write this book he says it is important to mention the truth even if it is against an enemy. He also mentions how rare is it for the scholar to describe an opposing opinion without reading from his own biases
•  He wanted to do justice to the truth and explain the reality of Indian Civilization without being just a critic 
•  He presented the ideas of Hindu civilization to his reader as they were at that period 
•  Al-Biruni treated Hinduism as a civilization that needed to be described in detail 
•  He adopts a neutral stance in describing the people of India 
•  One of the weak points of Kitab al-Hind is, some scholars have the opinion that al-Biruni did not even go to India because there is little description of places where he traveled. There were Indian people in Mahmud’s army and Biruni learnt all of his knowledge while staying in Mahmud’s court.
• Another weak point raised by scholars is that there is no description of Buddhism in Al-Birun’s India. If he was in India how could it be possible that he did not even encounter Buddhists?

Recommendations 

As Ibn Sina and Ibn Khaldun, Al-Biruni is criticized by many Muslim scholars that he is not a pro-Hadith and pro-Fiqh. His work has lack Quranic or Hadith references. Although he was not a Faqih or Muhadith we cannot only expect Muftis or Mufasireen to produce such a work. 

Muslim Scholars of the present time period need genuine curiosity, research and exploration like al-Biruni.

References 

Ahmad, Riaz. ‘Al-Biruni: A Great Muslim Scientist, Philosopher and Historian (973 – 1050 Ad)’ 10, no. 1 (n.d.).

‘Alberuni’s India’. Accessed 19 February 2023. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_5949073_002/.

AmtulRafi, Dr. ‘Approaches of Al Beruni in Studying Religions in Context of His Study of Hinduism’. Accessed 19 February 2023. https://www.academia.edu/44931818/Approaches_of_Al_Beruni_in_studying_Religions_in_context_of_his_study_of_Hinduism.

BBC. ‘BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time, al-Biruni’. Accessed 20 February 2023. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00smnlk.

Khān, M. S. ‘Al-Bīrūnī and the Political History of India’. Oriens 25/26 (1976): 86–115. doi:10.2307/1580658.

Kousar, Nazia. ‘Travelogue of Al-Beruni on India’. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management 2, no. 7 (July 2019).

Muslim Heritage. ‘Manuscript Review: “The Indica” or “Al-Bayruni’s India,” by Al-Bayruni​’, 24 September 2018. https://muslimheritage.com/al-biruni-india/.

Pandith, Reeba. ‘Al Biruni's Kitab-Ul-Hind’. Accessed 20 February 2023. https://www.academia.edu/45077160/Al_birunis_Kitab_Ul_hind.

Singh, Avinash. ‘Al-Biruni's India’. Accessed 20 February 2023. https://www.academia.edu/33759626/Al_Birunis_India.