Brilliant Biruni: Life Story of a Genius Abu Raihan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad (973-1053 C.E.)

201 Pages·2009·1.3 MB·English

by  Mohammad Kamiar

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Brilliant Biruni
A Life Story of Abu Rayhan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad
M. Kamiar
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2009
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by M. Kamiar
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kamiar, Mohammad.
Brilliant Biruni : A life story of Abu Rayhan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad / Mohammad S.
Kamiar.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6243-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-6243-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6244-9 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-6244-1 (ebook)
1. Biruni, Muhammad ibn Ahmad, 973?–1048. 2. Muslim scientists–Iran–Biography.
3. Scientists–Iran–Biography. 4. Geography–History–To 1500. 5. Biruni, Muhammad
ibn Ahmad, 973?–1048–Sources. 6. Science, Medieval. 7. Science and civilization. I.
Title.
Q143.B5K36 2009
509.2–dc22
[B] 2008029120
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
S
Contents
Preface v
Chapter 1 Village of Vasemereed, Khwarazm, South of Lake
Aral, Central Asia 1
Chapter 2 Into the Darkness 8
Chapter 3 Into Slavery 12
Chapter 4 Mulla Hassan 16
Chapter 5 The Ghuzz 28
Chapter 6 Yalldowz 32
Chapter 7 The Escape 47
Chapter 8 Yalldowz Again 51
Chapter 9 The People of Tammami 57
Chapter 10 Abu Nasr Mansur 65
Chapter 11 The Andalusians 72
Chapter 12 Debates 81
Chapter 13 Lady Rayhana (Sweet Basil) 98
Chapter 14 Political Turmoil 105
v
vi S Contents
Chapter 15 The Wandering Years 120
Chapter 16 The City of Gorgan 124
Chapter 17 Azarmidoukht 130
Chapter 18 Maria Again 141
Chapter 19 Fruitful Years 147
Chapter 20 The City of Ghazna 158
Chapter 21 India 164
Chapter 22 The End 174
Glossary 176
References and Further Readings 184
Index 188
About the Author 192
S
Preface
My real encounter with Biruni was little over a quarter of a century ago when
I was a graduate student of geography at Michigan State University. At that
time, all students were required to take a course called “GEO 852: Philoso-
phy of Geography.” I took this course with Professor Lawrence Sommers in
the fall term of 1979. I selected Biruni, as a Muslim geographer, as a topic for
one of my research papers.
The formal research paper had to be only five pages. It was filled with
technical terms and jargon and included three pages of footnotes and refer-
ences. For the first time, I learned that Biruni was able to calculate the height
of a mountain by measuring its shadow. I also found out about Biruni’s the-
ory of location of landmasses opposite to Eurasia. Thus, he knew about the
Americas five hundred years before the Europeans discovered the New
World. Fortunately, Dr. Sommers enjoyed reading my paper. In his comment
at the end of my paper, he used the word “excellent” and believed that it was
a publishable paper. This encouragement and support inspired me to collect
all references written about Biruni, including his own research works.
This collection was published as A Bio-Bibliography for Biruniby the Scare-
crow Press in 2006. This book has a brief biography and geography of Biruni’s
birthplace, and all available references related to him were put together un-
der a single title. For the first time, names of all of Biruni’s 183 books in Ara-
bic, Persian, Transliteration, and English, with brief annotations, were given
in one place. Again, for the first time, some selected resources available on
Biruni on the Internet were provided.
vii
viii S Preface
The aforementioned more technical book about Biruni makes research
very convenient for the students and scholars in the fields of geography, clas-
sical works, medieval research, and Islamic civilization. It is, however, to be
used for serious research and investigation in related fields with specific agen-
das. This means that A Bio-Bibliography for Biruni is not geared toward pub-
lic consumption. Therefore, I was led to write the present book for that pur-
pose. In the book in your hand, I have tried to give the reader a simplified
version of the life of one of the greatest scholars in the history of the world.
This is the life story of the boy who became Biruni, a life story of the survival
of a scientist who brightened the dark skies of the Middle Ages.
It is only smart for the public to be entertained and educated about other
cultures. Post–September 11 is a very critical time in our history. With
knowledge alone can we fight against the misconception and resultant dis-
crimination and prejudices so persistent all around the world. A great ma-
jority of the people in the world have not heard Biruni’s name, a man who
worked for the peace and prosperity of mankind.
I would like to acknowledge all the help I received from all librarians at
Michigan State University, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, and
the Library of Congress. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Molouk, my
daughter Anahiat, and my son Arash for the time they allowed me for this
public service. However, any problem in this book should be referred to me.
I assume responsibility for any mistakes.
C H A P T E R O N E
S
Village of Vasemereed, Khwarazm,
South of Lake Aral, Central Asia
It was moments before daybreak and the roosters were getting ready to sing.
It was a windy, squally, and very cold day. Large drops of semifrozen rain were
striking the wooden door of the little house. It had been raining all night and
the sky was filled with thick black clouds. One could still hear the wailing of
hungry wolves and the cry of jackals from afar.
The village of Vasemereed was not very different from other such lonely
places on the northern edge of this desert-like steppe, which was a grazing
land for several Turkish tribes collectively known as the Ghuzz. It was small,
and it was lonesome. At this hour, the village was sleeping within its own
mud walls on this desert without a horizon. The endless darkness and late au-
tumn’s bitter cold would force even the more experienced peasants to stay in-
doors in such weather.
A little house bedaubed by mud in the northeastern corner of the village
was where Professor Abu-Jafar Ahmad Ibn Ali Andijani’s family lived. It was
located at a considerable distance from the other houses that circled the
water-mill. After his death, Professor Andijani’s widow and his seven chil-
dren, four sons and three daughters, were living here. The native villagers ad-
dressed them as the Birunis, or “those who came from outside” or just “out-
siders.” In Persian the word Birun means “outside.” The reason they were
called by this name was that they had emigrated from the city of Khwarazm.
This family was still seen as strangers by the local population.
The village of Vasemereed was composed of some houses in irregular rows
lacking order and planning. The facades of the houses were arranged in var-
ious directions. The village had a square shape and was surrounded by a high
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