Professor of Arabic and Islamic Science, Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. (2) Al-Biruni also composed an encyclopedia of astronomy, a treatise on geography and most significantly, a History of India (Tarikh al-Hind). By the age of 22 in the year 995, he left his homeland and went to Bukhara. Taken together, these two works preserve the best premodern description of the cultures al-Bīrūnī came to know. (4) He wrote 146 titles in all, almost half were on … Salah seorang ilmuwan tersebut ialah Al Biruni atau nama asalnya Abu al-Raihan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. Figure 1. His time is known as the Golden Age of Islam. Adding all the titles in the index, as well as those found later, brings his total production to 146 titles, each averaging about 90 folios. Due to his such contribution, he was given the title of ‘the Founder of Indology’. Al-Biruni's fame as an Indologist rests primarily on two texts. https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Biruni, MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive - Biography of Abu Arrayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, al-Biruni - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Listing al-Bīrūnī’s works is relatively easy, for he himself produced an index of his works up to when he was about 60 years old. Al-Biruni worked on the study of medicine and people. Al-Bīrūnī lived during a period of unusual political turmoil in the eastern Islamic world. Despite the fact that most people believed that astrology was “the fruit of the mathematical sciences,” as al-Bīrūnī called it, his personal opinion of the discipline was “as weak as that of its least adherents.” However, he was fully aware of the importance of astrology as a tool for teaching mathematical and astronomical disciplines. He wrote a book on medicine in which he made a list of drugs with similar names. Al-Biruni devised a more sophisticated and reliable method to achieve this objective. During his journey throug… Therefore, he learned languages like Hebrew, Greek, and Sanskrit. Furthermore, in a perfect al-Bīrūnī manner, each work contains extremely original comments on seemingly unrelated subjects. His relatively minor works are only minor in size, for they are at least as sophisticated as his major works. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. However, he lived well into his seventies, and, since some of his surviving works are not mentioned in this index, the index is a partial list at best. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Abu Arrayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. He was … Avicenna (Ibn-Sina) lived around. equivalent to 4 th of September, 973 A.C. (Al-Shahb, 1968: 7). Besides, he learned Sanskrit to understand their scriptures. ), Muslim astronomer, mathematician, ethnographist, anthropologist, historian, and geographer. For example, al-Bīrūnī developed new algebraic techniques for the solution of third-degree equations, drew a subtle distinction between the motion of the solar apogee and the motion of precession, and explored many other applied mathematical techniques to achieve much higher precision and ease of use of tabulated astronomical results. Al-Biruni became aware of every walk of Indian life. However, the place of al-Biruni’s . He studied mathematics and astronomy under Abu Nasr Mansur. To carry out his method Biruni only needed three things. Even though al-Bīrūnī was possibly the unwilling guest of a merciless warrior, he still made use of the occasion to pen the acute observations about India that would earn him fame as an ethnographer, anthropologist, and eloquent historian of Indian science. Join Facebook to connect with Muhammad Al Biruni and others you may know. There is only one hint, in a book known only by its title from other sources, Ibṭāl al-buhtān bi-īrād al-burhān (Disqualifying Falsehood by Producing Proof), that he ever approached such speculative cosmological questions. Persian scholar and polymath. The Ghaznavid and Seljuq periods produced first-rate scholars such as al-Bīrūnī (died 1048) who, writing in Arabic, investigated Hinduism and gave the first unprejudiced account of India—indeed, of any non-Islamic culture. Al-Biruni's Classic Method. He also travelled to South Asia or Central Asia (modern day Afghanistan) with Mahmud of Ghazni (whose son a… Upload media. Wikisource. Salah seorang ilmuwan tersebut ialah Al Biruni atau nama asalnya Abu al-Raihan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. Nevertheless, he managed to become the most original polymath the Islamic world had ever known. He said this in the context of demonstrating his total disgust with flattery, even when it was being directed at him. Al-Rāzī, in full Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī, Latin Rhazes, (born c. 854, Rayy, Persia [now in Iran]—died 925/935, Rayy), celebrated alchemist and Muslim philosopher who is also considered to have been the greatest physician of the Islamic world.. One tradition holds that al-Rāzī was already an alchemist before he gained his medical knowledge. Abu Sa'id Ahmed ibn Mohammed ibn Abd al-Jalil al-Sijzi was an Iranian Muslim astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. Al-Biruni became a well-known mathematician and an expert on astronomy (the study of planets and stars) in the Golden Age of Islam when his time’s other known figures, e.g. Besides being a challenging mathematical problem, determining the direction of Mecca is a religious requirement for the performance of the ordained five daily prayers in Islam. Even then his comments were apparently restricted to the particular problem of latitude theory in Ptolemaic astronomy. Due to his intelligence, Al-Biruni not only remained closed to the rulers but he even helped settle disputes between tribes and also worked for them on scientific and religious matters. He capped that particular discussion with a solution to the rather sophisticated spherical trigonometric problem of determining the direction of Mecca along the local horizon at Ghazna. By his own admission, in a poem preserved in a medieval biographical dictionary, al-Bīrūnī claims that he did not know his own father, much less his family origins. Muhammad ibn al-Katib Sinan al-Qunawi, also known as Muhammad ibn Yusuf, was an Ottoman astronomer and muwaqqit in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Beliau dilahirkan pada tahun 362 H (973 M) diBirun, ibu negara Khawarizm atau lebih dikenali sebagai Turkistan. Al-Biruni was born on 5th September 973 at Khwarazm in Uzbekistan, and his full name was “Abu Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmed Al-Biruni“. Some of the mathematical works of this prince were written especially for al-Bīrūnī and are at times easily confused with al-Bīrūnī’s own works. He posed as an outsider to both Arabic and Persian as he evaluated their scientific utility, and he enunciated his now famous personal preference “to be criticized in Arabic rather than be praised in Persian.”. His only other competing encyclopaedic work, in terms of depth and extent of coverage, is The Chronology of Ancient Nations, which is devoted to a universal anthropological account of various cultures and which even records the lore of long-dead cultures or of other cultures that were about to disappear. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Al-Biruni gave the best medieval account of the Hindu numerals. Al-Biruni en un sello iraní de 1973. Name in native language. The Ghaznavid and Seljuq periods produced first-rate scholars such as al-Bīrūnī (died 1048) who, writing in Arabic, investigated Hinduism... Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. His Istīʿāb al-wujūh al-mumkinah fī ṣanʿat al-asṭurlāb (“Exhaustive Book on Astrolabes”) discusses the possibility of Earth’s motion, as a consequence of a particular case of one astrolabe projection, only to dismiss it quickly as philosophical speculation that should not preoccupy the practical astronomer and applied mathematician. View the profiles of people named Muhammad Albiruni. Their quality was generally high, but a tendency toward facility can be observed in such buildings…, Abū Naṣr’s pupil al-Bīrūnī (973–1048), who produced a vast amount of high-quality work, was one of the masters in applying these theorems to astronomy and to such problems in mathematical geography as the determination of latitudes and longitudes, the distances between cities, and the direction from one city…. After his long research life, he died at the age of 77 years in the year 1050 at Gazni, Afghanistan. Al-Bīrūnī also dedicated his Al-Āthār al-bāqiyyah ʿan al-qurūn al-khāliyyah (The Chronology of Ancient Nations) to Qābūs. Salah satu tokoh ilmuwan besar itu adalah Abu Rayhan Muhammad Al-Biruni (973-1048 M). Al-Biruni’s method to measure the radius of the Earth, from (Source: Ref.13) This way he laid the foundation of knowing planetary distances. (362–440/973–1048) One of the greatest and most original scientists in the Islamic tradition, the Persian born al Biruni made vital and lasting contributions to the fields of astronomy, mathematics, geodesy, geography, mineralogy, pharmacology Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni wa s born in 2 nd of Dzulhijjah 362 A.H., which is . After a period in which al-Bīrūnī undertook extensive travels—or rather escapes from wars, and a constant search for patrons—the entire domain of the Sāmānids fell under the brutal reign of Maḥmūd, son of Sebüktigin. The great medieval Islamic scientist and astrologer Abu'l-Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni was born in 973 A.D. in Kath, then capital of the Principality of Khwarizm, the present day city of Khiva in Uzbekistan. Since he spent the first twenty-five years of life in studies like logic, Islamic laws, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy – the study of stars and planets. Al-Bīrūnī, in full Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī, (born Sept. 4, 973 ce, Khwārezm, Khorāsān [now in Uzbekistan]—died c. 1052, Ghazna [now Ghaznī, Afg. He was also involved in a vitriolic exchange in Bukhara with the young Ibn Sina, who later gained fame for his Canon of Medicine. Muhammad Al Biruni is on Facebook. Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni was born in 2 nd of Dzulhijjah 362 A.H., which is . Beliau dilahirkan pada tahun 362 H (973 M) diBirun, ibu negara Khawarizm atau lebih dikenali sebagai Turkistan. In 423 H./1034 CE, al-Biruni composed a list of works which he had written until he was 61 solar years (that is, 63 lunar years) old. He served more than six different princes, all of whom were known for their bellicose activities and a good number of whom met their ends in violent deaths. He came in contact with Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and exchanged views with him on various subjects. At the time, Muslim cultures had inherited Greek learning and were advanced … He dedicated work to 'Adud al-Daula, who was probably his patron, and to the prince of Balkh. Al-Bīrūnī, in full Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī, (born Sept. 4, 973 ce, Khwārezm, Khorāsān [now in Uzbekistan]—died c. 1052, Ghazna [now Ghaznī, Afg. Abu Rehan Al-Biruni was the original name of … At the age of forty-four in 1017 AD, Al-Biruni joined the court of Mahmud Ghaznavi, where he was appointed as an advisor on the study of planetary bodies. Wikipedia. Date of birth. This list is the basis of the standard bibliography by Boilot: Scan For most of his works, al-Biruni also indicates the number of leaves.Al-Biruni's list of his own works is an appendix to his treatise on the works of Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi, see below. Facebook gives people the power to share … Al-Biruni discovered the mathematical methods to find the distance between the Sun and Earth or Moon and the Earth with the help of old astrolabes. We use cookies for the improvement of user experience. He was born in Khwarazm, then part of the Samanid Empire (modern Khiva, Uzbekistan). Introduction Al-Biruni or in full Abū al-Rayhān Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bīrūnī was a Persian-Khwarezmian Muslim scholar and polymath. But even if the impulses for geometric design were originally created at the highest intellectual level, the designs themselves rapidly became automatic patterns. A.C. Sparavigna - The Science of al-Biruni – Dec 2013 3 Figure 1 - Al-Biruni’s method to measure the radius of the Earth, from Ref.13 As discussed in [12], al-Biruni considered the world, that is the universe, had come into existence in time, as Muslims believed, and then it was not eternal like Aristotle told. Its expressive title, Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūlah maqbūlah fī al-ʿaql aw mardhūlah (“Verifying All That the Indians Recount, the Reasonable and the Unreasonable”), says it all; it includes all the lore that al-Bīrūnī could gather about India and its science, religion, literature, and customs. Al-Biruni is one of the major figures of Islamic mathematics. Just 29 years old, he had written half a dozen papers on astronomy and geodesics. First Step In his search for…, …as the scholar and scientist al-Bīrūnī or the poet-mathematician Omar Khayyam. A short while after al-Bīrūnī found refuge in the Sāmānid capital of Bukhara, a prince of another local dynasty, Qābūs ibn Voshmgīr, was also dethroned and sought help from the Sāmānids to regain his throne. He contributed to astronomy, mathematics, physics, medicine and history. 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" or "The book confirming what pertains to India, whether rational or despicable" ) in which he explored nearly every aspect of Indian life, including religion, history, geography, geology, science, and mathematics. Moreover, his contribution to botany is very valuable as he determined that flowers have petals in a series of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 but 7 and 9 were not in anyone. In the introduction to his book on pharmacology, he wrote about the importance of language in identifying drugs and in that context took an excursion into the relative worth of languages. Later, in 998 AD, he moved to Tabaristan in Iran where he wrote his first book known as “The Remaining Traces of Past Centuries”. His book on Indian culture is by far the most important of his encyclopaedic works. Al Biruni, born in 973 A.D. in what is now Uzbekistan, was one such. Al-Biruni was an outstanding astronomer, mathematician, physicist, Physician, geographer, geologist and historian. In the latter work, for example, is the most elaborate treatment of the Jewish calendar—more extensive than any surviving medieval Hebrew source and much more scientifically reasoned than any other treatment that this calendar had received up to that time. He stayed there for around three years for getting education. For example, in the introduction to his book on gems, al-Bīrūnī gave an elaborate description of man’s place in nature and society and the social need for economic systems. Allegedly depicts a passage from Isiah 21, presenting it as a prophecy about Muhammad: shown riding on a camel next to Christ, who is riding a donkey, Al-Biruni asserts that the Prophet's arrival at the watchman's tower announced the destruction of Babylon. For example, he raised questions about the formation of mountains and explained the existence there of fossils by positing that Earth was once underwater. Al-Biruni died at Gazni, in Afghanistan. Gurunya yang terawal ialah Abu Nasr Mansur ibn Alt ibn Iraqin yang juga merupakan seorang pakar ilmu matematika dan alam. In that context he wrote of precious metals and gems, which were considered foundational for any economic system, and he wrote of diamonds and their particular social importance. A famous Muslim scientist Avicenna (Ibn Sina) also lived in his time. According to Max Meyerhoff, Al-Biruni is perhaps the most prominent figure in the phalanx of those universally learned Muslim scholars who characterize the Golden Age of Islamic Science. (1) He contributed theorems to geometry that thereafter bore his name. A pioneer of Ottoman astronomy, especially in the field of astronomical instruments and timekeeping, he served as muwaqqit at various mosques, and eventually at the Sublime Porte under Suleiman the Magnificent. equivalent to 4 th of September 973 A.C. (Al-Shahb, 1968: 7). Avicenna managed to escape, but al-Bīrūnī did not, and he worked in Ghazna until the end of his life when he was not accompanying Maḥmūd on his campaigns into northern India. Knowledge of trigonometry. abu raihan muhammad al-biruni (973 - 1048 c.e.) He laid the foundation of the study on multiple religions like Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Muhammad Hassan Burni is the author of the book Al Biruni Urdu pdf. Help was apparently given, for the next record of al-Bīrūnī is when he was in the company of Qābūs in the city of Gurgān near the Caspian Sea. He was born in 973 and his contributions to science made him one of the greatest Muslim scientists and astronomers. He also worked in Shiraz making astronomical … Apart from mathematics, he knew about planets and stars, languages, geography, cultures and history. Nevertheless, al-Bīrūnī’s original input is clearly noticeable in almost every chapter. He earned fame due to his research on India and wrote notes on its culture and people. Omissions? Maḥmūd took Ghazna as his capital in 998 and demanded that both al-Bīrūnī and Avicenna join his court. (He also raised these questions in his book on India). Gurunya yang terawal ialah Abu Nasr Mansur ibn Alt ibn Iraqin yang juga merupakan seorang pakar ilmu matematik dan alam. Of his own personal background even less is known. Thus, not only did al-Bīrūnī not miss a chance to demonstrate the very useful role of the mathematical sciences in religion, but he also used the occasion (as he had done in his treatise on astrology) to include other scientific matters. His time is known as the Golden Age of Islam. He invented a device through which he successfully determined the specific. Abu Rayhan Muhammad al-Biruni (973-1039) was an unlikely figure to take up so abstruse a task. An equally encyclopaedic scientific work is the inimitable Al-Qānūn al-Masʿūdi (“The Masʿūdic Canon”), dedicated to Masʿūd, the son of Maḥmūd of Ghazna, in which al-Bīrūnī gathered together all the astronomical knowledge from such sources as Ptolemy’s Almagest and “Handy Tables” after having had these two particular works updated. At the end of this book he makes a mention of having translated two Sanskrit books into Arabic, one called Sakayawhich deals with the creation of things and their types, and the second, Patanjal dealing … Updates? In both cases he treated these matters with a scientific objectivity that matches the modern explanation. Al-Biruni (Al-Beruni) is known for his works on multiple fields. From a young age he undertook serious scientific research and study, publishing a treatise on cartography at the age of 22. As he traveled to Central and South Asia, he studied people, their customs and cultures. In it he not only defended the role of the mathematical sciences against the attacks of religious scholars who could not understand the utility of the mathematical sciences but also detailed all that one needed to know about determining longitudes and latitudes on land. The information on Al-Biruni’s early life is rare. Besides, he was a keen traveler, therefore, he visited India and worked on its languages, religion, and people. Al-Biruni (Al-Beruni) is known for his works on multiple fields. ), Muslim astronomer, mathematician, ethnographist, anthropologist, historian, and geographer. After all those disciplines were clearly laid out in question-and-answer format, al-Bīrūnī then allowed his patron to venture into astrology proper—but not before warning her that he himself thought little of the subject. Wikiquote. Abu Ar Rayhan Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Biruni, atau dikenal dengan nama al- Biruni ini terlahir menjelang terbitnya fajar tanggal 4 September 973 M di Kath, sebuah kota di sekitar wilayah aliran sungai Oxus, Khwarizm (Khiva, Uzbekistan). The Taḥdid nihāyāt al-amākin li-taṣḥīḥ masāfāt al-masākin (“Determination of the Coordinates of Places for the Correction of Distances Between Cities”) is al-Bīrūnī’s masterpiece in mathematical geography. The rest of the book details all the various projections of astrolabe parts, mainly retes (star projections), that al-Bīrūnī was familiar with or could imagine. At Qābūs’s court, al-Bīrūnī met the famous philosopher-scientist Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and exchanged with him a philosophical correspondence that did not lack jealousies and slighting. Almost half of the titles were on astronomical and mathematical subjects. He served more than six different princes, all … He is notable for his correspondence with al-Biruni and for proposing that the Earth rotates around its axis in the 10th century. Apart from mathematics, he knew about planets and stars, languages, geography, cultures and history. The author of the book is a famous writer and historian. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. He was a colleague of the fellow philosopher and physician Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), the historian, philosopher and ethicist Ibn Miskawayh, in a university and science center established by prince Abu al-Abbas Ma'mun Khawarazmshah. (3) He was the most original polymath the Islamic world had ever known. Description: Detail of image from the Chronology of Ancient Nations by Al-Biruni. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Since the al-Biruni’s self-constructed instrument could have measure angles up to 10’ of the arc, the key to the precision of the measurement is a precise sine value, which he seems to have obtained from various Indian sources [14]. He wrote a book on Indian history and culture known as “The History of India”. He was born in Khwārezm, in the region beyond the ancient Oxus River (the river now known as the Amu Darya), and he was educated by a Khwārezm-Shāh prince, Abū Naṣr Manṣūr ibn ʿIrāq, a member of the dynasty that ruled the area and possibly a patron of al-Bīrūnī. He wrote the writing on the life of the great personality of the medieval period of history. His Al-Tafhīm li-awāʾil ṣināʿat al-tanjīm (“Elements of Astrology”) is still the most comprehensive treatment of the topic as it was then known.