BIRUNI 

ABU-R-RAII;IAN MUHAMMAD AL-BIRUNI] (973-1048), Arabian scholar, was born of Persian parentage in Khwarizm (Khiva), and was a Shi'ite in religion . He devoted his youth to the study of history, chronology, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and medicine . He corresponded with Ibn Slna (see AVICENNA), and the answers of the latter are still preserved in the British Museum . For some years he lived in Jurjan, and then went to India, where he remained some years teaching Greek philosophy and learning Indian . In 1017 he was taken by Mahmud of Ghazni to Afghanistan, where he remained until his death in 1048 . His Athar ul-Bakiya (Vestiges of the Past) was published by C . E . Sachau (Leipzig, 1878), and a translation into English under the title The Chronology of Ancient Nations (London, 1879) . His History of India was published by C . E . Sachau (London, 1887), and an English translation (2 vols., London, 1888) . Other works of his, chiefly on mathematics and astronomy, are still in manuscript only .

See C . Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (

Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp . 475-476 . (G . W .