Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048) was a brilliant polymath who wrote on diverse subjects in the natural and human sciences, including calendars, history, geography, astronomy, Indology, mineralogy, and pharmacology. Born in Khwarazm, he lived in various places in Central Asia, Iran, and medieval Afghanistan. His fortunes came to be closely linked with the Ghaznavid dynasty at its apogee, during the reign of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (d. 1030). Не was widely famed for the meticulous, objective and systematic quality of his thought, and remained an admired scientist and scholar of the eastern Islamic world in subsequent centuries. His curiosity ranged across cosmic, earthly, and human timescales and his willingness to be puzzled by reality and interested in others' perspectives, strikingly in his observations on Indian culture and religion, demonstrate a remarkably open and tolerant mind.
In this book, Malagaris places Biruni in his historical and cultural context within the long-term history of Central Asia. He outlines the trajectory of Biruni's life, clarifying key questions about his associations, travels, and patrons. Following an overview of Biruni's chief interests, Malagaris details Biruni's major works to illustrate the breadth of his output and his intellectual approach, especially his attention to language, his esteem for knowledge, and his commitment to objective truth. An account of the institutional context and competition among patrons helps explain some of his friendships and rivalries, notably with Avicenna. Malagaris also shows how varied paths of transmission affected the legacy of Biruni and his reception in global scientific and literary traditions. Finally, a detailed bibliographic essay, timeline, and list of key works will guide readers into further study of Biruni and his thought.
George Malagaris is Research Fellow and Dean of Scholars at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. He researches the social and intellectual history of the medieval Islamic world focusing on Central Asia. Under the auspices of the Sultanate of Oman, he has served as an academic consultant for the reconstructed Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies in Uzbekistan. He has written on warfare in medieval Eurasia and on the reception of medieval Muslim rulers, and is currently preparing a study of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna.
This book aims at a concise overview of the life, works, and legacy of Abu Rayhan Biruni (973-1048), one of the world's great polymaths. A master of several of the sciences of his day, he remains a crucial reference point, not only for the history of the eastern Islamic world, but for the development of the human and natural sciences in general.
This study provides a framework and guide to Biruni, his thought, reception, and the scholarship about him. It situates the scholar and scientist within millennia-old cultural and intellectual trends in Central Asia, Iran, and India, and it offers a periodization of his life and works. His major writings are treated within a wider context, as well as in some detail, in order to present the underlying qualities of his thought across the full range of his interests, and his approach to language, knowledge, and truth. Biruni emerged from a tradition of Arabic science in medieval Islam, as embodied externally in formal institutions and texts and internally in terms of ideas and the people who conveyed them. His reception in the history of culture and science reveals a process of canonization which runs from the medieval period to modern times.
Each chapter begins with an introduction of its subject matter. For readers coming to this history from other backgrounds, it may help to begin with the chapters on 'Biruni's world', his 'Autobiography and biography', and on his milieux in 'Knowledge, institutions and relationships'.
For those interested in his ideas, the best starting points will be the chapters, 'Overview of key works' and 'Aspects of his thought'. 'Biruni in history' explains his reception in subsequent institutional and social contexts. Those interested in further research can refer to 'Further reading', which describes the accessible publications, primarily but not exclusively in English, used for the sources and scholarship. The Timeline' of important events and a list of Biruni's 'Key works' should help readers track the course of his story and writings.
The conventions for the series require minimal diacritics and the avoidance of footnotes. Diacritics, when necessary for clarity in identifying persons and titles, have been con-fined to parentheses and to the bibliographic essay, and in the main text are minimal as required. Death and regnal dates for historical figures are given typically at the first mention. The majority of dates appear in the Common Era (CE) solar calendar, which corresponds to the Gregorian Christian (AD) calendar. A few important dates appear also in the Islamic Hijri lunar calendar (AH). Modern scholarship varies in the use of the article prefix in a person's name ('al-' meaning 'the'), so we find 'Kindi' or 'al-Kindi', 'Ghazali' or 'al-Ghazali'. To be consistent with the usage in other titles in this series, I have referred to al-Biruni simply as 'Biruni'.
It was at times a challenge to showcase the many scholarly contributions which assisted with the writing of this book. Some are implicitly rather than overtly acknowledged. I hope that readers will be able to form their own opinions based on the passages quoted from sources referenced in the bibliography.
Hindu (887)
Agriculture (93)
Ancient (1022)
Archaeology (615)
Architecture (535)
Art & Culture (864)
Biography (598)
Buddhist (545)
Cookery (158)
Emperor & Queen (497)
Islam (235)
Jainism (274)
Literary (876)
Mahatma Gandhi (360)
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