al-Biruni
In Our Time: Culture
BBC
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 August 2017
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Central Asian polymath al-Biruni and his eleventh-century book the India.Born in around 973 in the central Asian region of Chorasmia, al-Biruni became an itinerant scholar of immense learning, a master of mathematics, medicine, astronomy and many languages. He corresponded with the age's greatest scientist, Avicenna, and made significant contributions to many fields of knowledge.In 1017 al-Biruni became a member of the court of the ruler Mahmud of Ghazna. Over the course of the next thirteen years he wrote the India, a comprehensive account of Hindu culture which was the first book about India by a Muslim scholar. It contains detailed information about Hindu religion, science and everyday life which have caused some to call it the first work of anthropology.With:James MontgomeryProfessor of Classical Arabic at the University of CambridgeHugh KennedyProfessor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of LondonAmira BennisonSenior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of CambridgeProducer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co.uk. |
| 0:09.0 | I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:11.0 | Hello, if you were to point a reasonably powerful telescope at the surface of the |
| 0:15.8 | Moon at latitude 17.9 degrees, longitude 92.5 degrees, you'll find yourself looking |
| 0:21.9 | at the Al-Byruni crater. This lunar feature is |
| 0:25.0 | named in honor of a 10th century Muslim scholar who was not only one of the |
| 0:29.0 | greatest figures of medieval signs but is also claimed as one of the outstanding scholars of all time. |
| 0:35.3 | Born in Central Asia, Al-Byruni, was an astonishing polymath, master of mathematics, |
| 0:40.1 | astronomy and medicine and he was equally at home in five languages and was as |
| 0:44.1 | great a scholar of the humanities as he was a scientist. Perhaps Alberoni's |
| 0:47.8 | most remarkable book is The India, a comprehensive account of Hindu religion, |
| 0:52.0 | science, history and customs. |
| 0:54.3 | It's the first work about India by a Muslim scholar and is so compelling a portrait of one |
| 0:58.6 | culture seen from the perspective of another of another that it's been described as the first work of anthropology. |
| 1:05.0 | With me to discuss Al-Byruni and his groundbreaking work are Amira Benison, |
| 1:10.0 | Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, |
| 1:14.0 | Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at University of London, |
| 1:20.0 | and James Montgomery, Professor of Classical Arabic at the University of Cambridge. |
| 1:24.3 | Hugh Kennedy, can you give us Al-Baroni's full name, |
| 1:26.6 | first of all, and then we'll go on from there? |
| 1:29.6 | Yes, his Abu-Raihan, Mohammed Mohammed al-Byruni, and the B-runi bit, the by which he's always known, reflects |
| 1:36.4 | the fact that he was born apparently in the suburb, the Bihruun of the city of Cath in Chorazam. |
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