Al-Biruni's Views on Indian Philosopliy of Science

Chapter 6 Al-Biruni’s Views on Indian Philosopliy of Science

Birani, who was living in the Islamic Golden-Age of Iran, was influenced by profound inquiry of Indian science and philosophy. For, in this long Period many Indian books were translated from Sanskrit into Arabic. Also, in his time most of the Muslims were followers of Greek philosopher like Aristotle and Plato, and he was too completely aware of Greek philosophy and science. In consequence, this profound knowledge helped Biruni to improve his capacities in the field of philosophy and science. And, in fact, Biruni is the first Iranian philosopher, who systematized philosophy of science. Biruni used method of synthesis of empirical approach along with rational approach in his philosophy. And later on, the Western philosophers of renaissance period such as Francis Bacon were influenced by Biruni. In this chapter, the approach of Biruni towards philosophy of science in two sections are argued: 1) Section I: Indian Science, and 2^ Section XL Philosophy of Science.

Section I: Indian Sciences:

The history of science and technology in the Indian Subcontinent begins with prehistoric human activity at Mehrgarh, in present-day Pakistan, and continues through the Indus Valley Civilization to early states and empires. Following independence science and technology in the Republic has included automobile engineering, information, communications as well as space, polar, and nuclear sciences.' So, this plenteous background of Indian science on one hand, and on the other hand Islamic Golden-Age of Iran that many Indian works on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry are translated into Persian and Arabic, shows that Biruni before coming to India along with Mahmoud Ghaznavid, was quite acquainted with Indian science. ^

Biruni and Indian Sciences:

The Indica or the Ketab Tahqiq Malele-Hind is considered as an extensive and profound study of Biruni on Indian culture, philosophy, religious

269 systems and sciences. And it is initially written for Muslims who wanted to converse with the Hindus in all fields of their sciences as well as philosophy and religious systems particularly Hinduism. Approximately two-third of the Indica deals with the achievements of Indian sciences.^ Biruni about Indian sciences says, “The Hindus cultivate numerous other branches of science and literature, and have a nearly boundless literature.”^ He goes on to say, “The Hindus have numerous books about all the branches o f science. How can anybody know the titles of all of them, more especially if he is not a Hindu, but a foreigner?”’ Biruni learns Sanskrit language perfectly and after that studies all the scientific books of the Hindus again into original language. For, he knows very well the books that previously have been translated from Sanskrit into Arabic by mistake is quite inevitable. In this case Biruni says, ‘The Muslims are not acquainted with the Hindu methods of astrology, and they imagine that Hindu astrology is the same as theirs, and relate all sorts of things as being of Indian origin. While I cannot find a single trace of similarity with the Hindus themselves.”* That’s why, Edvard sachau who has translated Biruni’s works states, “Certainly we do not know of any Indianist like him, before his time or after.”’

According to classification of Biruni the most important Indian sciences, which Biruni explains in detail are: (1) Astronomy, (2) Chemistry, (3)

Medicine, (4) Alchemy, (5) Linguistics, (6) Anthropology, (7) Geography.

(1) Astronomy:

Biruni says, “The science of astronomy is the most famous among the Hindus, since the affairs of their religion are in various ways connected with it. If a man wants to gain the title of an astronomer, he must not only know scientific or mathematical astronomy, but also astrology.” He continues, ‘The standard book on astronomy is called Siddhanta (i.e. straight, not crooked nor changing). This book is known among Muslims as “Sindhind”. The Hindus have five Siddhantas, the most important Siddhanta belonged to Brahmagupta, Pulisa and Aryabhata.” Biruni stated, “Up to the present time I cannot procure

270 these books, except Pulisa and Brahmaguptas’ books. I have commenced to translate of them, but I have not yet finished my work.”* The distinguished personalities of this important branch of science are included; (a) Aryabhata, (b) Siddhanta, (c) Brahmagupta. It is necessary to make it clear that Siddhanta is the name of the standard book on “Indian astronomy” as well as one of the great Indian astronomer.

(a) Siddhanta: Another great mathematician-astronomers from the Classical- age of Indian is Siddhanta (425. B.C). He propounded the theory of force gravity before renaissance and Biruni.®

(b) Aryabhata: One of the significant figure of astronomy and mathematics is

Aryabhata (476- 550 C.E). Aryabhata is considered as one of the prominent scientist of ‘Classical-Age’ of Indian mathematics and astronomy. He anticipated before renaissance that the sphere of the stars is stationary, and the earth revolves and produces the daily rising, setting of planets and stars. Furthermore, there was a prevalent view in the other parts of the world that the sky rotates.'” Aryabhata’s works the Aryabhata-Sidhanta and the Aryabhatiya (or the Aryabhatlyam, a Sanskrit astronomical treatise) had the great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition. Besides that the Muslims during the Islamic golden age were particularly influenced. Some of his results were cited by Khwarizmi (780- 850 A.D.), Khayyam (1048 -1131 A.D.) and in the II"'century Biruni stated, “Aryabhata’s followers believed that the earth rotated on its axis.” " Biruni respected Aryabhata and his accuracy as an astronomer. Biruni criticized Brahmagupta‘S for being unduly harsh and hostile to him. There are altogether thirty eight references to Aryabhata and his work in the Indica. Fifteen of which simply mentioned his name and twenty three times discussed his astronomical theories.'^

(c) Brahmagupta: The last mathematician- astronomer of the ancient India was Brahmagupta (598-670 A.D). In the 7th Cen. Brahmagupta recognized gravity as a force of attraction. He introduced extremely influential concepts to basic mathematics, which was including the use of zero in mathematical calculations and the use of mathematics and algebra in describing and predicting astronomical events.'"* Brahmagupta is considered as the “Father

271 of zero” and the “Father of decimal system”. Arabic translation of his works soon became available in the Islamic World. Khwarizmi (780-850 A.D.) one of the greatest Persian mathematician is influenced by decimal system of Brahmagupta. The real impact of Brahmagupta’s discoveries are felt in the Islamic Golden Age. The Caliph Abbasid al-Mansoor (712-775 A.D.) invited Kanka one of the Ujjian scholar to lecture on Brahmagupta’s application of mathematics to astronomy. Then, The Caliph ordered his writings to be translated into Arabic in 771 A.D. The writing of Brahmagupta had a major impact on the subsequent writers in Persian, especially scientists like Khwarizmi, the “Father of algebra” and Biruni.'^ Most of the mathematical solutions discovered in India, now belong to the Western legacy, like second order interpolation formula which is invented a thousand years before in India and is now called the Newton- Stirling formula.”

(2) Chemistry:

It is said that chemistry originated in India, earlier than in any other cou n try.W ill Durant writes that something about the chemical excellence of cast iron in ancient India, and about the high industrial development o f the Gupta times.'’ The most significant chemical industries in ancient India are: dyeing, tanning, soap-making, lass and cement... by the sixth century the Indian civilization was far ahead of the Europe in industrial chemistry. They were masters of calcination, distillation, sublimation, steaming, fixation, the production of light without heat, the mixing of anesthetic and soporific powders, and the preparation of metallic salts, compounds and alloys.^®

(3) Medicine:

The beginning of medicine in Ancient India goes back to Sushmta (500 B.C.) and Charaka (300 B.C.). Charaka is considered as the “Father of medicine”^' and Sushmta is known as the “Father of Indian surgery”.^^ The earliest works on medicine by Charaka and Sushmta are translated into Arabic language during the Abbasid caliphate or the Golden-Age of Iran. Razi (Razes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) in their writing were frequently referring to these

272 important Indian medical works. Also some parts of Indian medical such as surgery, knowledge of medical sciences herbs and herbal treatments are also transmitted from India to Baghdad by the caliphate of Abbasid.'^ Biruni expresses, “The medicine is also important as well as astronomy. But the latter stands in close relation to the religion of the Hindus.” Then he states, ‘They have a book called by the name of its author, i.e. Charaka. It is considered as the best works on medicine. According to the Hindus belief, Charaka was a Risi. This book is translated into Arabic.”^"* The Ketab al-Saydananh fi al-Tibb is regarded as a considerable work of Biruni in the field of Pharmacology. Biruni was interested all his life in gathering precise information on plants and their medical uses. The main body of the work is about 197 drugs and herbal treatments of India, Greek, Arab and Persian. Biruni writes about Indian drug, “There is a simple drug from “India-Shalajit” or “Shalajmah”. ^^It is a fish which is found in the Indian Ocean and it is very difficult to catch it. Its skin is kept in a jar and is used for joining bones which is amazing.

(4) Alchemy:

Biruni states, ‘The Hindus do not pay particular attention to alchemy, but no nation is entirely free from it. The Hindus who are adept in this art try to keep it conceal, and avoid from association with those who do not belong to them. Therefore, I (Biruni) am not able to leam from the Hindus, which methods they follow in this science. Or, what elements they principally use, whether a mineral or an animal or vegetable one. So, I guess that they incline towards the mineralogical method of alchemy”. Biruni goes on to say, ‘The Hindus have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them. They call it “Rasayana”. Rasayana^^ is a word composed with Rasa, i.e. gold. It means, an art which is restricted to certain operations, drugs and compound medicines, and most of them are taken from plants. Its principles restore the health of those who are ill beyond hope, and gives back youth to fading old age.” ^*

273 (5) Linguistics:

In linguistics, Biruni can speak, read and write in a number of different languages, including Khwarezmian ( an Eastern Iranian language), Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac languages. Besides, he was able to speak some Hindi and Latin. According to him, Sanskrit is so different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and concepts cannot be easily translated from one language into another.^® John Hospers says, “Among human beings, language is the principle instrument of communication. We encounter different problems in the study of each of these.In fact, Biruni about one thousand years ago, is completely aware of this problem. Briuni specifies three significant characteristics for Sanskrit language as follows: (1) He says, “If you want to learn Sanskrit you will not find it easy. Because the language has an enormous range, both in words and inflections, something likes the Arabic. They apply one and the same thing by various name, both original and derived. That’s why nobody can distinguish between the various shades of meaning of a word, unless he understands the context in which it occurs, and its relation both to the following and the preceding parts of the sentence is properly known. The Hindus, like other people, take pride of this enormous range of their language, whilst in reality it is a defect. (2) Most Sanskrit words and names begin with consonants without vowels and we find it very difficult to pronounce them. (3) The scientific books of the Hindus are composed in various favourite metres. It causes that their books soon become corrupted by additions and omissions, in order to facilitate their books should be learned by heart. Because they consider as rightful only which is known by heart, not that which exists in writing. Now, it is well-known that in all metrical compositions there are much obscure, verbosity and constrained phraseology merely intend to fill-up the metre. Hence, the metrical form of literary composition is one of the causes, which made the study of Sanskrit literature so particularly difficult.” On the other hand, Biruni complains to Indian scribes. He writes, “Indian scribes are careless, and do not take pains to produce correct and well- collated copies. In consequence, the scientific works of the Hindus by the

274 negligence of those scribes become totally spoiled in the first or second copy full of faults. So that the texts appear as something entirely new, which neither a scholar nor the one familiar with the subject, whether Hindu or Muslim, can any longer understand.”^' Another important subject of linguistic is phonology. Indian phonology is so different from Arabic. Biruni points out how some of his Muslim predecessors have fallen into sad mistake through their misspelling of Indian words which they thought they have got right but have not.^^

(6) Anthropology:

Except some paragraphs that are approximately related to anthropology in the Ketab Tahqiq Malel-Hind, the rest of the book is estimated nearly twenty percent strictly dedicates to anthropology matters. The significant subjects which are propounded by Biruni are: (1) Obligatory sacrifices, (2) Alms, (3) Pilgrimages and the visiting of sacred places, (4) Bold rules about what is allowed or forbidden in eating and drinking, (5) On matrimony, the menstrual courses, embryos and childbed, (6)Punishments and expiations, (7)0n inheritance, and what are the duties of the deceased’s children, (8) How people buried the dead’s bodies, (9) Fasting and the various kinds of it, (10) On festivals and festive days. Biruni declares that most of the Hindu festivals are celebrated by women and children only. He presents the list of thirty eight festivals with complete details of them, and (11) On days which are considered lucky and unlucky times by Hindus.

(7) Geography:

Biruni has composed a number of works on geography, and especially he presented extensive and accurate information about Indian geography. Biruni got too much benefited by the geographical knowledge of the Hindus, Greeks, ancient Persians as well as the Islamic travelers and geographers who were living before him like: All al-Masudi (896-956 A.D.) and Ya’qubi (died 897 A.D). Biruni in a small treatise, in 26 pages known as the book Al-Biruni’s Knowledge of Indian Geography, illustrated such accurate and unique information about three portions of Matsya, Adity and Vayupuranas of India. ” Indeed, this small essay can be considered as a very

275 systematic pattern for other geographers. In addition, Biruni presented some useful philosophical and anthropological views. For example, in part of “Countries and People" of this small treatise Biruni has written, “Khurasan, Persia, Irak and Mosul up to the frontiers of Syria were B u d d h istic .o r “The front Daihak near Somanath was the home of Nagarjuna, who was the author of a book on Rasayana.”” In addition, five chapters of Indica are dedicated to characteristics of the geography of India. Besides, one chapter also allocates to the human geography of India as well. From Biruni’s views we also learn that India is far ahead of the West in science, mathematics and astronomy. A.Rahman, a pioneer in the field of history and technology in India, elaborates that the scholars are aware of the development of sciences in India through the work of Biruni particularly in mathematics and astronomy.^®

Section II: Philosophy of Science:

Biruni as a Pioneer of Philosophy of Science:

Biruni is the first Iranian philosopher, who has discussed the philosophy of science. He has used empirical approaches as well as rational approaches in all o f his philosophical investigations. In fact, Biruni much earlier than Francis Bacon has systematized the philosophy of science, but it is not clear why in none of Encyclopedias have mentioned his name as a pioneer of the philosophy of science. In other words, immediately after the name of Aristotle, Francis Bacon is introduced as the founder of philosophy of science. Whilst, the successive efforts of Biruni towards systematization of science one thousand years ago was so much profound works that no one else could do it too, even Bacon. In addition, Biruni recommends to other scientists that it is impossible to restrict the science and knowledge by religious, racial and nationality limitations. For example, he invents an instrument for determination of the prayer’s religious times. But, unfortunately on authority of the Imam of Ghazna Mosque, it is declared unlawful. For, Biruni has designed it based on the Greek’s calendar and scholar’s calculations.” Biruni

276 about this painful event, in one of his treatises writes, “Imam of Mosque is so stupid person that does not allow us using this scientific instrument. For, he thinks it belongs to foreigner and we should not use it lawfully. It means that, we have to leave out eating and walking since the Greeks eat and walk like us.” ^“

Distinction between Biruni and Bacon in Their Methodology:

As it was mentioned, Biruni long time before Francis Bacon has systematized the philosophy of science in Iran. In scientific methodology of these two distinguished personalities, there are some similarities and dissimilarities as follows: (1) They both have the same scientific methodology based on: Induction, experience and observation and experimentation.^® (2) Bacon as well as Biruni followed inductive arguments, but Biruni is regarded as a founder of that and Bacon is considered as the follower of Briuni in his scientific inquiries. (3) Unlike Francis Bacon, Biruni along with his keen observations, insights and scientific foresights, have a special proficiency over all branches of sciences. (4) The last point, which differentiated the two cases: is that Biruni unlike Bacon simultaneously is recognized as an empiricist as well as rationalist person. Biruni like Bacon does not make difference between formal and non/informal, exact and non-exact, namral and non-natural sciences. For him anything which is established systematically on observation and can be proved by repeated experimentation should be entitled as ‘science’. Taking insights from Indians he uses gemology and astrology even to predict the future events,

and his study of Yoga and Ayurveda enables him to cure/ prevent discus scientifically/ medically. To study human mind-emotions, beliefs and customs scientifically is possible in a stronghold of Biruni. All this highlights the impact and influence o f ancient Indian thoughts available in the Vedas on Biruni. He made use of the Upanisads and Vedas, scientifically is systematising human fund of knowledge. If scientific insights talk of truth as independent of time, place and individual then Indian thoughts and ideas, just because there are not based on Abrahamic religions

277 should not be rejected and critisied. Rather one should accommodate and adopt wisdom from any faith and religions practices. This indicates and proves Biruni’s scientific attitudes which is not traceable in Bacon’s Western thoughts and sciences. As we have mentioned before, the “Persian Renaissance” of Iran occurred long time before the “Western Renaissance”. And Biruni is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of that era. Some of the important scientific efforts of Biruni before the discoveries of renaissance are: Now, to clear up the scientific situation of Biruni, it is necessary to have a glance at the significant discoveries of the renaissance. The most important discoveries of the Renaissance are:

1. The New World:

According to the ancient beliefs of Greeks and also Indians, at least for 2500 years, the world was globe and all the subsequent scientists of the world have learnt the idea from them.’*" In 1492, while Columbus was going to prove this ancient theory, he sailed the West to find a new commercial route to the East. In fact, since Columbus did not inform the geographical specification of that land, accidentally lunched at the other place that he thought was India. But the real name of that land was Continental America that he did not recognize till his death. About four hundred centuries before Columbus, this land (Continental America) is exactly discovered by Biruni. Biruni knew the exact geographical specification of that region, and he pointed out a new continent in the other side of the earth. Although, this significant discovery of Biruni, deliberately is not important for the Western scientists, but some of the Eastern scholars such as Hasan Barani Boland Shari (Indian scientist) and Jalal al-Din Homaee (Iranian scholars) emphasized on this fact.""

2. The Force of Gravity:

According to the ancient Greek and Indian theories, the spherical shape of the earth and “Force of Gravity” caused all substances to be absorbed towards the centre of the earth. Biruni in this case followed them, and in his book entitled the Ketab Tahdid nihayat al-Amakin li- Tashihmasaft

278 al-Masdidn explained the same idea. He found out this scientific discovery four hundred years before Newton.“^ Of course, it should be made emphatically clear that long before Biruni and Newton the theory of Force of Gravity was discovered by a great Indian mathematician-astronomer scientist called Siddhanta (425 He put forth the gravity’s theory. Siddhanta believed that the earth owing to its force of gravity and draws all things to itself.'*^

3. The Earth Rotating on Its Own Axis:

Biruni, in his well-known the book Meftah al-Elm-e-Elahee (key to Astronomy)” clearly knew that the earth rotates on its axis daily and moves yearly round the sun."*’ Galileo Galile (1564-1642 A.D.) proves that the earth is not fixed and revolves around the sun. Although, he presented this scientific theory, but the “Roman Inquisition” investigated him."** For the church thought that the earth stands and everything in the sky moves around it."*’ Of course, Aryabhata (476-550 A.D.) one of the eminent figure of Indian astronomy and mathematics believed that the earth rotates on its axis as well.-'*

4. The New Religion:

One of the considerable subject on Renaissance was new religious reformation. This new momentous movement is innovated by Martin Luther (1483-1546 A.D). He challenged the status o f the Roman “Catholic Church”^’ as a “Protestant reformation”.“ Biruni as a synthesizer of the religious beliefs and founder of scientific “Comparative Religions”, before Martin Luther has presented three decisive solutions to adjust with all religious problems.

1. To Stop Superstition, Prejudice and Sectarianism: an important case- study for prejudice and sectarianism was Roberto Nobili (1577-1656 A.D). Among the missionaries who went to India, there was also little initial inclination towards learning and intellectual debates between Christianity and Hinduism. One of the most important of these missionaries was the great Italian Jesuit Roberto Nobili. He had great aptitude and energy in learning

279 Indian language. Sometimes, he is known as the first European Sanskrit scholar. He, similar to Biruni, studied the Upanisads, Vedas and scientific and literary texts of the Hindus. According to Wilheim Halbfass,^' prejudice and dogmatic limitations frequently play a dominating role in the approach of missionaries to Indian thought. Nobili learned Indian language in order to teach and understand Indian religious faiths. On the contrary, Biruni got his success due to his freedom from any prejudice and scientific temperament that caused him to became successful in Indological matters. Another significant difference between Nobili and Biruni is in their social and psychological content situation. Nobili went to India as a Christians Missionaries, so his position was completely obvious.^^ But Biruni went to India along with political ruler Mahmud, who (Mahmood) was interested in converting the Hindus by governing force, otherwise kill them.”

2. To Observe the Sensitivity of Religions: These Sensitivities are: (a) “Hall marks”: according to Biruni, “Hall-marks” are considered as the fundamental thoughts and practices of religions.*'' The significant kind of the “Hall marks” are: The “Trinity of Christianity”, the “Incarnation -Avatara” - of Indian religions, the “Order of Sabbath” in Judaism and finally the shibboleth of Islam in which there is “No god but God and Muhammad is His prophet.”’* (b) Idolatry: Biruni, in this point, separates educated and uneducated Hindu people from each other. He always stresses that uneducated Hindus worship a multiplicity of idols. But educated people believe in God and have a strong tendency towards monotheism. Also, Biruni states, “The unitary Hindus begin their books with “Om”, the word of creation, as we begin with “In the name of God”. They believe that “Om” will bring them blessing and confirm the unity of God”. (c) Sunna or Customs; Biruni is acquainted well enough with the binding force of religious custom (Sunna). He mentions that people love their customs, have reverence to them, and find it difficult to abandon them. But it is

necessary to be modified.”

280 3. The Mutual Understanding of Religions: Biruni believes that in foreign religions the preliminary difficulty is understanding correctly and reporting accurately of their teaching. Biruni to deal with this problem writes, “The writer of a comparative study must himself take great care about the wording of every sentence, even though he himself does not believe in them.” ^*

Sub-section 1: Biruni and Science:

In former sections, all peculiarities of Biruni as a great philosopher, founder of comparative religion, anthropologist, linguist and histographer were mentioned preciously. In this sub-section, we shall talk about the eminent scientific status of Biruni among his contemporaries. As we know, Biruni is acknowledged as one the important polymaths of the Islamic Golden-Age. He compiled a lot of unique works in all fields of science. Although, most of them were lost through the passage of the time, but some of them are still are extent in manuscript form in different libraries of the world. Now, let us see, what was causing Biruni to became one of the great figures of the Golden-Age of Iran. According to Biruni’s scientific works, it seems that these following factors are practicable regarding the scientific inquires of him. 1] Profound knowledge in all fields of science and having proficiency over the different languages. In fact, Biruni by means of these capabilities could access to the original references, and could compare and verify the scientific books carefully. 2] Having a creative mind, so that his approaches in scientific inquires are totally different from his predecessors. Indeed, Biruni in his scientific attitudes, has presented a new scientific framework, which had a considerable influence over his followers. 3] Refining the predecessors’ information without any prejudice, just for sake of science and its development in a proper manner. 4] Separating uncertainty from certainty, so that if any subject or available references did not satisfy him, he preferred to be assisted by authoritative and unbiased people. 5] Reasoning^^ was one of the important features o f Biruni in his scientific methodology. Biruni never accepted anything without reason. He emphatically

281 announced, “Behind each phenomenon, there was some intellectual reason, but people could not discover it.”®“ 6] Applying induction and empirical observation in his scientific works. The scientific works of Biruni are divided into three different subjects as follows: (1) Mathematics and Astronomy, (2) Pharmacology, and (3) Mineralogy.

1. Mathematics and Astronomy:

Before going to India, Biruni used to know Indian astronomy and mathematics from Arabic translation of some Sanskrit texts. So 95 of 146 books o f Biruni, about 65 percent, are devoted to astronomy, mathematics, and related subjects like mathematical geography.*' Will Durant on Biruni’s contributions to astronomy writes, “ He wrote treatises on the astrolabe, the planisphere, the armillary sphere, and formulated astronomical tables for Sultan Masud. He took it for granted that, the earth is round, noted ‘the attraction of all things towards the centre of the earth,’ and remarked that astronomic data can be explained as well by supposing that the earth turns daily on its axis and annually around the sun, as by the reverse hypothesis.”” Biruni in the field of mathematics and astronomy has comprehensive scientific works. But some of them are dedicated to just astronomy, and rest of them are common between mathematics and astronomy, or mathematical geography as follows: 1] The book Quanon Masudi fial-H ay’ah wa’l-Tanjim: it is considered as one of Ae most important astronomy-mathematic encyclopedia of Biruni, which has dedicated to Sultan Masud. It is said that Masud rewarded him with an elephant-load of silver, but Biruni returned it to the treasure. This eminent book of Biruni is an astronomical and mathematical text such that only the last chapter concerns to astrological prognostication.®^ As a technical work of medieval astronomy, the book Quanon Masudi is notable, for Biruni’s approval of the theory, that the earth rotates its axis. His endorsement of astrology is limited, insofar as he condemned horary astrology as sorcery 2] Biruni wrote the book Al-Tafliim (understanding astrology) and dedicated to lady Rayhanah, one of the members of the Kharazm court. She was carried off

282 to Ghazna by Mahmud in 1017. Biruni’s instructions to Rayhanah were certainly comprehensive and based upon the method of a question and answer between a master and student. Biruni in the book Al-Tajhim tried to explain the elementary mathematics, astronomy, geography, chronology and the making of astrolabe as an observational instrument. Biruni wrote this book, both in Persian and Arabic languages.*”^ The English text of al-Tafhim has been translated by Robert Ramsay Wright ( London Luzac 1934). This critical Enghsh translation is based on Persian and Arabic manuscript. He said that this is the complete work, not just a re-publication of the part on Astrology. This is superior to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos (written in the 2nd century) and moreover, was known to mediaeval European astrologers.^^ 3] Another work of Biruni in astronomy field is translation of the book Almagest. This book was written by Ptolemy (100-170 A.D.). Almagest served as the basic guide of the Islamic and the European astronomers, until about the beginning of the 17“’ century. It was translated into Arabic in 827 A.D. And then from Arabic to Latin in the last half of the 12“' century. Biruni translated this book into Sanskrit language.*’ 4] Next authentic book of Biruni in the field of astronomy is the book Miftah-ilm- al-Hai’a (key to Astronomy) that is no more extant. We are told that Biruni in this book claimed that according to his astronomical theory, he has solved all the problems related to Earth’s rotation. 5] The Tahdid Nihayat al-Amakin li-Tashih Masafat al-Masakin (Determination of the coordinates of places for the correction o f distances between cities)” is Biruni’s masterpiece in madiematical geography.'’* This book has been translated to English by Edward Stewart Kenned in 1973 (270 pages).^® In addition of these five separate books of Biruni in the field of astronomy and mathematics, some parts of the Ketab Tahqiq Malel- Hind have been dedicated to astronomical and mathematical subjects.

283 2. Pharmacology:

The Ketab al-Saydanah fi al-Tibb is a considerable work of Briuni in the field of pharmacology. Biruni was interested in his life in gathering precise information on plants and their medical usages. At the end of his long life, he wrote the Ketab al-Saydanah fi al-Tibb with the help of his erudite friend Abu Hamed Ahmad Ibn Mohammad Nahsha’i, who was conversant in the field of medicine. The book is divided into one introduction (which is the first chapter) and five chapters as follows: the first chapter presents an ‘etymology for the Arabic words for druggist.’ The second chapter gives ‘technical terminology for categories of drugs.’ The third one is on the ‘general theory of medicaments.’ And in the fourth and fifth chapters Biruni has stated his ‘preference for Arabic over Persian as a language of science’, and the ‘names polyglot dictionaries’ available to him. The main body of the work is an alphabetical listing of drugs comprising about 720 articles. (Altogether 197 drugs are mentioned, since some drugs are cited under several synonyms). For a typical entry, the name of the substances is given in Arabic, Greek, Syriac, Persian, Indian languages, and sometimes also in one or more less common languages or dialects such as Hebrew, Khwarezmian, Tocharian (Tokharian ), Zabuli and so on. There follows a full presentation of the Arabic variants and synonyms, liberally illustrated with quotations, its place or places o f origin named. Also the therapeutic properties of herbals are given, and their sources are fully and critically mentioned.™

3. Mineralogy:

Gemstones are special types of minerals. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Indians as well as the Roman, knew a great deal about gemstones. Muslim scientists recently over a thousand years have started to build on and extended this knowledge. One of those Iranian Muslims, who was interested in the field of mineralogy, is Biruni. The authentic work of Biruni in this field is named Ketab al-Jamahir fi Ma’rifat al-Jawahir, which deals with the properties of various precious and semiprecious stones. Biruni wrote this book during Mawdud’s region (the son of Masood Ghaznavid). Biruni in

284 mineralogy performed a lot of observations carefully, and recorded them in details. He described the mineral deposits from the entire world known to him such as China, India, Ceylon, Byzantium, Egypt, Mozambique and the Baltic region. This important reference on precious stones is quoted by the later scientists frequently. The Ketab al-Jamahir fi Ma’rifat al-Jawahir is the third authentic text known on mineralogy, and equal precision in density measurement, was not achieved in Europe, until the 18"' century. Biruni introduced the scientific method into mineralogy in his book Ketab al-Jamahir fi Ma’rifat al-Jawahir, and that is why Biruni is considered as the most exact of experimental scientists. The Ketab al-Jamahir fi Ma’rifat al-Jawahir comprises two parts: The first chapter is on the important gemstones and significant descriptions are given by Biruni and about the important of gemstones available different nations. Likewise, he gives classification of 20 gems (precious and semiprecious stones) according to their properties. These properties are: the colour, powder colour, their varieties, rock occurrences, characteristics, dispersion, hardness, density and crystal shape. The second part is on minerals and metals. Biruni described about 10 known minerals and metals, and their peculiarities. Biruni gives different stories towards the believes of people. Also Biruni due to an apparatus, which he constructed himself, ” and he succeeded in determining the specific- gravity of a certain number of metals and minerals, with remarkable precision. By the help of his apparatus, he weighted many metals and minerals.’^ His measurement is correct to three decimal places of accuracy, and is almost as accurate as modem measurements for these minerals. And that’s why G eorge Saliba considers Biruni as an “Instrument maker”. It means that Biruni for development of his scientific projects has invented some apparatus by himself, which were well- constructed and worked precisely.

Sub-section 2: Medicine:

Biruni is acknowledged as the father of pharmacology and also innovator of classification of plants, seven centuries the leamed Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778 A.D.).^'' However, Biruni is not regarded

285 as a physician like Razi (865-927 A.D.) and Avicenna ( 930-1037 A.D.)/^ although he was familiar with the field of medicine very well. For, he and Avicenna were the significant students of Abu Sahl Masihi (960-1000 A.D.), the erudite Persian philosopher, mathematician and physician/® Although, Biruni never compiled any independent medicine book, but two eminent books of him namely the Ketab al-Saydanahfi al-Tibb, and Ketab al- Jamahir fi Ma ’rifat al-Jawahir are categorized in the field of pharmacology and medicine. In the former book, Biruni as a learned pharmacologist related the healing properties of medical plants; and his own experiences in details, along with the views of Razi in Al-Hawi and Avicenna in Qanon. The latter book, is not completely devoted to the therapeutic aspects of the gems, stones, and minerals. But, at the end of book Biruni presented 72 accurate recipes of the compounds, containing stones and minerals and their dosages along with the procedures of administrations. Also the healing properties of them for body’s organs. For, Biruni and the Islamic system of medicine, believed that one of the most prominent features of stones and minerals was that they were converted into in compounded forms that can be absorbed by the body, in compounded forms.”

Conclusion:

From the above discussions it can be said that the background of history of science in the Indian Subcontinent goes back to long time before. And Biruni along with this ancient background of Indain science and the many Indian works that have been translated in the Islamic Golden-Age o f Iran, had completely proficiency over the most of Indian sciences. Also, Biruni leamt Sanskrit language perfectly, for he knew very well the books that previously have been translated from Sanskrit into Arabic are full of mistake. According to classification of Biruni the most important Indian sciences are: (1) Astronomy, (2) Chemistry, (3) Medicine, (4) Alchemy, (5)

Linguistics, (6) Anthropology, and (7) Geography.

Biruni is a well-known polymath in Iran and in the West, and he has compiled a lot of unique scientific works. Although, most of them have been disappeared through the passing of the time, but some of them still be

286 exist as manuscripts in different libraries of the entire world. The scientific works of Biruni can be divided into three different subjects as follows: (1) On Mathematics and Astronomy, (2) On Pharmacology, and (3) On mineralogy. Biruni in the field of philosophy of science is known as the first Iranian philosopher-scientist. Biruni used method of synthesis of both empirical approach as well as rational approach in his philosophy. In fact, Biruni has systematized science much earlier than Francis Bacon. However, it is surprising and not clear why, in none of the Encyclopedias his name is mentioned as ‘a pioneer of philosophy of science’. On the contrary, the efforts of Biruni towards systematization of science about one thousand years before are so much profound than anyone else, even including Bacon. Based on authentic historical records, the “Persian renaissance” of Iran occurred long time before the “Western renaissance”. And Biruni is considered as one of the outstanding figures of that era. Some of the important scientific efforts of Biruni before the discoveries of renaissance are: 1. The Force of Gravity: Biruni discovered it four hundred years before Newton. 2. Rotation of Earth: The Earth rotates on its own axis. Biruni six hundred years before Galileo clearly knew that the earth rotates on its axis daily and moves yearly around the sun. 3. The New Religion: Biruni who is recognized as the founder of scien tific “Comparative religions”, five centuries before Martin Luter.

Notes and References:

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' Http:// WWW. Wikipedia; Translation of Indian Texts into Arabic under the Abbasids;

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/nd/a; Sichuan. E; Rupa Publication; New Delhi; 2007; P.145.

U b id

^Ibid;?.\\6.

‘ /f>W;P.106.

’ Ibid; P.650. Pp.140-141.

’ Http;// WWW. Wikipedia; Siddhanta; last m odified on 11 O ctober 2014; at 03: 17.

287 Http;// WWW. Wikipedia; Ao'afc/iato; last modified on 13 September 2014; at 23: 03. " Http:// WWW. Translation of Indian Texts into Arabic under the /Ibbasids; Douglas Galbi;

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'■ Http;// WWW. Encyclopedia .Com; Brahmagupta; last modified on 15 September 2014.

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'■* Http:// W WW . Indian Science. Organ; The Needham Question; October 31; 2011.

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W aj'i of Thinking of Eastern People: India, China, Tibet and Japan; Nakamura. H; Tthe

East-W est C enter Press; 1964; P. 148.

Gupta was an ancient Indian empire, which existed from approximately 320 to 550 CE and

covered much of the Indian Subcontinent.

“ The Story of Civilization (Vol.- I); Durant. W; Simon and Schuster; New York; 1935.

P.550.

='Http:// WWW. Wikipedia; Charaka; Last modified on 2 August 2014 at 13: 33. Http://

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-* Al-Beruni’s India; Sachau.E; P. 144. ^ Shalajit or Shalamjmah, is used in Ayn'eda, the traditional Indian system of medicine.

“ A l-B eruni’s India; Sachau.E; P. 144.

Rasayana, is a Sanskrit word with literal meaning: Path (Ayana) of essence (rasa). It is a

term that in early Ayrvedic medicine means the science of lengthening lifespan, and in later

(post 8th-century) works sometimes refers to Indian alchemy.

A l-B eruni’s India; Sachau.E; Pp.175-176.

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Ibid; P.280. ” Al-Beruni’s Knowledge o f Indian Geography; Law.B.C; P. 1.

” Ibid.

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Ibid; P. 47

Proceeding of Theology in Europe (Vol.-l); Forooghi. M; ZavvarPub.; Iran; 1988; P. 144. ^ Al-Biruni’s Commemoration Volume; Barani.S; Essay of Muslim Researches in Geodesy,

P.3.

■" Abureyhan-e-Birunr, Azkaee. P; P.91; and Al-Biruni’s Commemoration Volume-, Homaee.J;

Essay of the New Thoughts and Scientific Invention ofBiruni; P.109.

Future Magazine; Vameqi. 1; Essay of Writing ofBiruni in Persian Language; P. 486.

" The Story of Civilization (Vol.-l); Durant. W; Simon and Schuster; New York; 1935; P.526.

** Ibid.

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Ibid

** Http:// WWW. Wikipedia ; Aryabhata

A Glossary o f Literary Terms; Abrams. M.H; Rinehart and Winston Pub.; New York; 1971;

P. 145.

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Indian a nd Europe; Halbfass. W P.148.

^-Ibid.

Al-Beruni’s India; Sachau. E;P. xxvi.

AL-Binmi's Commemoration Volume; Jeffery. A; Essay of al-Biruni’s Contribution to

Comparative Religion; P. 124. ^^Ibid. ^ Al-Beruni’s India; Sachau. E; P.35.

” AL-Biruni’s Commemoration Volume; Jeffery. A; Essay of al-Biruni’s Contribution to

Comparative Religion; P.128.

’‘A l-B iruni’s India; Sachau. E; P.65.

” /^etab al-Jamahir fi Marefate al-Jawahir, Briuni. A; Mohammad Said. H. (tr.).; Pakistan

Hijra Council; Islamabad; 1930; P.20. Athar al-Baqia; Biruni. A; Alizadeh. A. (tr.).; Diba Pub.; Tehran; 2010; P.65.

Http;//WWW. IranicaonIine.org; Biruni, Abu Reyhan, Mathematics and Astronomy (Vol. -

IV); Saliba. G; Pp. 277-279. Abureyhan-e- Biruni; Azkaee. P; New design Publication; Tehran; 1997; P.38.

“ Biography and Works of Biruni; Safa.Z; ; Amirkabir Publication; 1655; Iran; P.98 and

History o f Literature in Iran (Vol.-V); Safa.Z; ; Ferdos Pub. Iran; 2006; P. 165.

289 “ Http:// WWW. Wikipedia; Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni; Last modified on 12 November 2014; at 20:18.

“ Biography and Works of Biruni\ Safa.Z; Amirkabir Pub.; 1655; Iran; P.98, and History o f Literature in Iran ('Vol.-'Vy,Sa{a.Z; Ferdos Pub.; Iran; 2006; P. 165.

Ketab al-Tcrfhim\ Biruni. A; Homaii. J; (tr.).; Amirkabir Pub.; Tehran; 1939. Pp. 10-12.

Tahdid Nihayat al-Amakin li-Taslilh M a s^ t al-Masdkin; Biruni. A; Aram. A. (tr.).; Tehran

University Press; Tehran; 1960; P. 45.

“ Mathematical Geography is a branch of geography that deals with the figure and motions of

the earth, its seasons and tides, its measurement, and its representation on maps and charts by

various methods of projection. Http://WWW. Merriam Webster; Mathematical Geography;

last modified 2014.

Tahdid Nihayat al-Amakin li- Ta^hih Masqfat al-M as^in\ Biruni. A; Aram. A. (tr.).; Tehran

University Press; Tehran; 1960; P. 45.

™ Ketab al-Saydanah fi al-Tibb (Vol.- I and II) ; Biruni.A; Kasani. A. (tr.).; Sotodeh. M and

Afshar. 1. (ed.).; Beheshti University Press; Tehran; 1963; P. 125.

” Ketab al-Jamahir ft M a’rifat al-Jawahir; Biruni.A; P.15.

''■Ibid.

" Ibid.

’■* Http:// WWW. Wikipedia; List o f Islamic Scholars described as father of founder of a field;

last modified on 16September 2014; at 10:24. ^Ubid.

'"‘ Ibid.

” Ketab al-Jamahir ft M a’rifat al-Jawahir; Biruni.A; P.80.

290