Who is the author of 'Kitab-ul-Hind' (Tahqiq-i-Hind)?

"Kitab-ul-Hind" (full name "Tahqiq ma li-l-Hind", meaning "Research on what is in India") was written in Arabic by the Persian scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni around 1030 CE.

About the book:

• It is one of the most important sources on Indian society, religion and science in the early 11th century.
• It has 80 chapters on topics such as religion, philosophy, festivals, customs, social laws, the caste system, astronomy, astrology, alchemy, weights and measures, geography and literature.
• Al-Biruni tried to understand Indian ideas objectively, using Sanskrit texts and comparing them with Greek ideas.
• He noted barriers to understanding, such as differences in language and religion and the self-centred attitude of local scholars.
• He described the four varnas and noted that, in theory, they were similar to the social classes of ancient Persia.

About Al-Biruni (973-1048):

• He was born in Khwarazm (in present-day Uzbekistan).
• After Mahmud of Ghazni conquered Khwarazm, Al-Biruni was taken to Ghazni, and he came to India with Mahmud's armies.

He spent years in India and learned Sanskrit. He translated works such as Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras" into Arabic and translated Euclid's works into Sanskrit.

He was also an outstanding astronomer, mathematician and geographer. He estimated the radius of the Earth with remarkable accuracy.

Other foreign travellers' accounts of India:

• Megasthenes (Greek): "Indica".
• Fa-Hien: "Fo-kwo-ki".
• Hiuen Tsang: "Si-yu-ki".
• Ibn Battuta (Morocco): "Rihla" (14th century, under Muhammad bin Tughlaq).
• Abdur Razzaq (Persia): visited Vijayanagara (1443).

Medieval Indian histories:

• Minhaj-us-Siraj: "Tabaqat-i-Nasiri" (about the early Delhi Sultanate).
• Amir Khusrau: "Khazain-ul-Futuh", "Tughlaq Nama".
• Ziauddin Barani: "Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Ibn Battuta wrote the "Rihla".
• ✗Amir Khusrau wrote "Khazain-ul-Futuh".
• ✗Minhaj-us-Siraj wrote "Tabaqat-i-Nasiri".