Abu Rayhan al-Biruni

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Abu Rayhan al-Biruni

973–1048

Geographer

The Importance of Geography . One of the greatest Muslim geographers was al-Biruni, who once said, “This subject is an all-important one for travellers and merchants. It is desired by princes and noble personages, sought for by judges and doctors of law, the delight of commoners and men of rank.”

Intellectual Achievements . Born in Khalwarizm, Khorasan (in present-day Turkmenistan), al-Biruni was considered one of the foremost Persian scholars and scientists of his age. Writing in Arabic, he could also speak Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Syriac, and in addition to his geographical works, he wrote on astrology, mathematics, physics, medicine, and history.

Royal Geographer . In 1017 al-Biruni was captured during a war with the sultanate of Ghazna (in Afghanistan) and was made royal geographer to Sultan Mahmud. While traveling with the sultan on military expeditions he became an expert on the peoples, cultures, and physical geography of India, writing Tahqiq al-Hind (Facts About India, circa 1030).

Geographical Writings . In his works on geography al-Biruni discussed the roundness of the Earth and gave latitudes and longitudes of many places. Despite political divisions, Muslim lands represented a vast territory of common culture in which travel and research could take place. As al-Biruni said, “To obtain information concerning places of the earth has now become incomparably easier and safer. Now we find a host of places which in the Ptolemaic Geography are indicated as lying to the east of other places, actually situated to the west of the others named, and vice versa.” Al-Biruni and other Muslim geographers were able to use advances in mathematics such as algebra and trigonometry to determine more accurately the exact locations of places on the Earth and thus revise the latitude and longitude information in their charts.