Al Biruni and His Kitab - ul - Hind

Al - Biruni

1. Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present day Uzbekistan.

2. Khwarizm was an important centre of learning where Al-Biruni was educated.

3. He was well versed in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit.

4. Mahmud Ghazni made the very first attack on India in 1001. He attacked India 17 times in 25 years. His last attack was on Somnath Temple.

5. Between 1015 and 1017, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets as hostage to his capital and Al-Biruni was one of them. In Ghazni, Al-Biruni developed an interest for India.

6. In 1017 CE, When the Punjab became a part of the Ghaznavid Empire, Al-Biruni came to India and spent years in the company of Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit, and studying religious and philosophical texts.

7. He travelled widely in the Punjab and parts of northern India. He collected information about society, culture, science, mathematics and medicine to write a book which was known as Kitab-ul-Hind.

8. Al-Biruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is simple and lucid. It is divided into 80 chapters on subjects such as religion and philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures, iconography, laws and metrology.

9. Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskrit traditions, and concluding the chapter with a comparison with other cultures.

Problems or barriers obstructed Al-Biruni in understanding India.

1. Al-Biruni, discussed several “barriers” that he felt obstructed in understanding India.

   1. First barrier - Language was the first barrier. According to him, Sanskrit was so different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and concepts could not be easily translated from one language into another.

   2. Second barrier was the difference in religious beliefs and practices.

   3. Third Barrier was the self-absorption (आत्म मुग्धता) and consequent insularity (Narrow mindedness – कूप मंडूकता) of the local population.

2. How he overcame from these problems

3. He learned the language and understood the facts from first hand resources.

4. He used citation and was depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmans often citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, and Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manusmriti, etc., to provide an understanding of Indian society.

Al-Biruni and His description of the caste system

1. According to Al-Biruni, the highest caste is the Brahmana, who were created from the head of Brahman. The next caste is the Kshatriya, who was created from the shoulders and hands of Brahman. After them the Vaishya, who were created from the thigh of Brahman? At last the Shudra, who were created from his feet.

2. As these classes differ from each other, they live together in the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings.

3. Al-Biruni tried to explain the caste system by looking for parallels in other societies. He noted that in ancient Persia, four social categories were recognized

   1. knights and princes

   2. Monks, fire-priests

   3. Lawyers, physicians, astronomers and other scientists

   4. Peasants and artisans.

4. He attempted to suggest that social divisions were not unique to India. At the same time, he pointed out that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in their observance of piety.

5. Although he accepted the explanation of caste, system by Brahmins but Al-Biruni disapproved of the notion of pollution. He insists that how can the notion of pollution be based on birth?

6. Al-Biruni’s description of the caste system was deeply influenced by his study of normative Sanskrit texts which laid down the rules governing the system from the point of view of the Brahmana.