The Tahqiq ma li' l-Hindi,(Kitab fi tahqiq ma li l-Hindi), Book of Inquiry into India, was written by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī and finished in 1030c.[1] Biruni accompanied Sultan Mahmud, as court astrologer, in his military expeditions to India.[2]
Content edit
Al-Biruni gives a sincere and concise look at Indian culture and Hinduism. He did this by collecting Indian books and studying with Indian sages.[3] He did not record political history or military history, instead he recorded the cultural, scientific and religious history of India.[4]
Al-Biruni criticized the Hindus for their disinterest in history and chronology, stating, "The Hindus do not pay much attention to the historical order of things, they are careless in the chronological succession of their kings, and when they are pressed for information and are at a loss, not knowing what to say, they invariable take to story telling."[5]
Modern era edit
The Tahqiq ma li' l-Hindi was translated into English by E.C. Sachau under the title Alberuni's India, considered a landmark achievement of Islamic scholarship.[6]
References edit
- ^ James Edward Montgomery, Abbasid studies, (Peeters Publishers, 2004), 264.
- ^ Hamid Dabashi, Shi'ism: A Religion of Protest, (Harvard University Press, 2011), 105.
- ^ Malika Mohammada, The foundations of the composite culture in India, (Aakar Books, 2007), 43.
- ^ al-Bīrūnī and the Political History of India, M.S. Khan, Oriens, Vol. 25/26, 1976, 86.
- ^ al-Bīrūnī and the Political History of India, M.S. Khan, Oriens, Vol. 25/26, 1976, 88.
- ^ Part IV:Islam in Medieval India, P. Hardy, C. Brunner and Lelyveld, Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800, Ed. Ainslie Thomas Embree, (Columbia University Press, 1988), 437.
- "The battle of Montlhery had been won by the League of Public Weal..." --The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy, 1363-1477, Robert Douglas Smith, Kelly DeVries, page 144.
- "At the end of this bloody battle, there were neither winner nor losers. The Count of Charolais had not been able to prevent Louis XI from taking refuge in Paris. The king of France had not succeeded in eliminating his adversaires and had suffered major losses..." --"Battle of Montlhery", Bertrand Schnerb, "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology", volume 3, ed. Clifford J. Rogers, page 27.
- "The soldiers of the two sides ravaged various parts of the French countryside, found an indecisive battle (Montlhery) out Paris in July..." --James B. Collins, The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560, page 185.
- "The battle of Montlhery, fought in the hot, dusty afternoon of 16 July 1465, was bloody but indecisive." --Richard Vaughan, Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy, page 385.
- "On 16 July 1465 Louis XI withdrew from the battle of Montlhéry, against the league of Le Bien Publique." -- Craig Taylor, Chivalry and the Ideals of Knighthood in France during the Hundred Years War, page 146
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