They are occupied with dirty work, like the cleansing of the villages and other services. selfstudyhistory.com. The Shahi rulers of Kapisa/Kabul who ruled from the early 4th century until 870 CE were Hindu Brahmins. The closed attitude of society, lacking dynamism did not go untouched by Alberuni. His work has elements of scientific historiography and advices historians to be more careful with their sources and critically examine them. He came to India in the war-train of Mahmud and lived here for many years. Alberuni was a renowned philosopher, a mathematician and a historian. He even finds faults with them for their want of sympathy and communication with other peoples whom they call mlechchas. The disorganized people of the country finally surrendered themselves to foreign invaders. Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskrit traditions, and concluding the chapter with a comparison with other cultures. His book Tahqiq-i-Hind is the most incisive made by any visitor to India. Alberuni was born at Khiva in 973 A.D. and he was two years younger than Mahmud of Ghazni. Hindus are said to differ among themselves as to which of these castes is capable of attaining ‘moksha’. Accordingly, Rana Sanga came to be the most distinguished indigenous contender for supremacy but was defeated by the Mughal invader Babur at Battle of Khanwa in 1527. In addition to it, Alberuni is also credited to have translated many Sanskrit works into Persian and Arabic. He considered history as unfolding of God’s divine plan, through prophets. India at that time was not an ideal place for a foreigner like Al-Biruni whose intention was to study this new culture with a view to establishing friendly relations between the two cultures, Hinduism and Islam. India at that time had enjoyed several centuries of power and prosperity and had just entered the period of muslim invasions. Disclaimer 9. Before publishing your articles on this site, please read the following pages: 1. He studied mathematics and astronomy under Abu Nasr Mansur. All this makes sense in the context of ‘feudal localism’ which ruled out or other types of connection between one region of the country and another. Babur D). Then something white came forth from the water, of which the Creator created the egg of Brahman. Furthermore, Mahmud needed people fluent in Indian languages in order to help him in his military raids and negotiations in al-Hind. At the same time, he pointed out that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in their observance of piety. He talks of various kinds of castes and distinctions in the society. Amir’s assertion is that till Muslims came to India, there was no historical writing. Observing the consuming arrogance of Hindus he notes, ‘The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, and no science like theirs. He was born in Khwarazm, then part of the Samanid Empire (modern Khiva, Uzbekistan). selfstudyhistory.com. Al Beruni extensively quotes from vast corpus of Sanskrit literature, like Patanjali, Gita, Puranas, Samkhya philosophy etc. He was a great philosopher, […] He came in contact with Mahmud when he had invaded Khiva and he … ाण स्थल (इतिहास वैकल्पि…, Toppers' Interview: Chandrajyoti Singh [Rank 28, CSE- 2019] History Optional, History Optional Complete Online Course cum Online Test Series- 2021, History Optional Online Course, Answer Writing Cum Test Series- 2020, Toppers' Interview: Nandini Maharaj [Rank 42/ CSE 2018], Click here for Topper's Answer Sheets and Interviews, Toppers' Interview: Vikram Grewal [Rank 51/ CSE 2018] [History Optional], Toppers' Interview: Nidhi Siwach [Rank 83/ CSE 2018] [History Optional], Toppers' Interview: Raj [Rank 433/ CSE 2018] [History Optional], Toppers' Interview: Ishmeet Kaur [Rank 505/ CSE 2018] [History Optional], Toppers' Interview: Phadke Vikram Dnyandeo [Rank 530/ CSE 2018][ Marks in History Optional 324]. His approach was scientific and religious prejudices do not mar the quality of his observations. Prohibited Content 3. He expresses his objective with simple eloquence: He read the major Indian religious and astronomical texts; in his account he highlights parts of the. A further comment of Alberuni is also worth-noting. He accompanied Mahmud in his conquests to South Asia. He was motivated by scientific and intellectual curiosity and wanted to know what all factors have determined the thought process of Indians. ... Mucho más que documentos. When one travels around India today, one sees mainly Muslims’ imposing mosques, tombs and forts. Al-Biruni is the first scholar, at least in the Muslim world, whose interest in other religious traditions went beyond the then common tendency of treating the Hindus as heretics or polytheists, despite their apparently idolatrous practices. 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