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Primary sourceBookc. 1030

Al-Biruni's India

Al-Biruni · c. 1030

A pioneering Arabic study of Hindu religion, science and society, written by Al-Biruni after years living and travelling in India.

Al-Biruni wrote this book himself, making it a primary record of his scholarship and travels in India.

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Title page of 'Alberuni's India', an English edition by Dr. Edward C. Sachau, Vol. I, London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1910. Includes a line drawing of a seated multi-armed Hindu deity holding objects, with a subtitle about religion, philosophy, astrology and customs of India about A.D. 1030.
Al-Biruni, Tahqiq ma li-l-Hind, c. 1030. Shown here: title page of the 1910 English edition translated by Eduard Sachau.

About this source

What it is

This book, also known as Kitab al-Hind, was written by the Persian polymath Al-Biruni in the early 11th century. It examines the history, religions, philosophy, mathematics and customs of India, drawing on years he spent in the Indus Valley and Punjab, where he learned Sanskrit.

Why it matters

Scholars have called it one of the first objective studies of another culture's religion. Al-Biruni criticised earlier Arab writers for superficial and judgemental accounts of India, and instead tried to present Hindu beliefs and knowledge in their own terms, comparing them with Greek ideas he also knew.

Look closer

  • Why might Al-Biruni have wanted to present Hindu ideas fairly, given the political situation of his time?
  • What does his comparison with Greek thought tell you about how he understood knowledge?
  • What parts of Indian life or belief might still be missing from his account?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Al-Biruni on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Manuscript miniature painting of a scene with a central figure in white robes and a black cloak, a bearded man in a blue robe and white turban placing his hand on the central figure's arm, and other turbaned figures standing around in a landscape with stylized clouds and trees, with an Arabic inscription band below.Book

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Hand-drawn diagram from a manuscript showing the Sun at right and the Moon at left orbiting Earth at center. Red lines show sunlight; eight small moon discs show phases, lit in red and dark in black. Arabic-script labels and text appear below and beside.Artifact

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Diagram of the Phases of the Moon

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Circular hand-drawn map in Arabic script showing a ring-shaped ocean enclosing land masses, with the words Al-Muhit al-Shamali at the bottom and Janub at the top. Below the map is a block of Arabic handwritten text in several lines.Artifact

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Al-Biruni's World Map of the Distribution of Land and Sea

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Two facing pages of an old Arabic manuscript in brown ink with red headings. The left page has a red and black diagram of concentric circles with labels. The right page is dense handwritten text in columns.Book

Primary source

Page from the Oldest Manuscript of the Tafhim

Al-Biruni

Open double-page manuscript spread in Arabic script. The right page has an illuminated floral and geometric frontispiece with gold and blue panels and a central title cartouche above dense text. The left page is a text block framed in blue ink lines. An oval red-stamped seal appears at upper right.Book

Secondary source

Tarikh-e Beyhaqi

Abul-Fazl Bayhaqi · 11th century CE

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