Book Review [151] : Al Beruni's India

Every student of Indian History must have heard the name of Persian Polymath Al Beruni (973 - 1048 AD), this person had done more serious work on India than perhaps any one else before the arrival of European orientalist. He was the scribe cum companion of Mahmud of Ghazni. He had written very serious works on India and Tarikh Al-Hind is his magnum opus. 

His work on India was translated by German orientalist Dr. Edward Sachau (1845-1930). In this book i.e. Al Beruni's India Dr. Sachau had covered almost all comments on India by Al Beruni. Al Beruni had written on almost every aspects on Indian civilization from religion to language, society to politics and from Maths to science. He had vicious hatred towards Hindus in general and at many places call them perverts, liars and cunning. At some places he did give credit to Indians and praises Hindu Shahi Kings of Kabul valley fully and regret their demise. Surprisingly he did not mention Buddhism much in his book though he writes that Buddhists and Hindus hate each other but they are one with respect to their attitude towards foreigners.

Insularity of Hindus

He writes that on the difference between Hinduism and Islam and general attitude of Hindus towards foreigners :

·   Hinduism is totally opposite to Islam. Among Hindus there is very little dispute about theological topics and even if the dispute arises they will utmost fight with words but they will never stake their soul or body or their property on religious controversy. Their entire fanaticism is directed against those who do not belong to them i.e. against all foreigners. They call them Mlechha or impure and forbid having any connection with them. They think any connection would impure them. Hindus consider as impure anything which touches the fire and water of a foreigner. Once polluted they don’t welcome the polluted again in their fold. They are not allowed to receive anybody who does not belong to them, even if he wished it, or was inclined to their religion. Aversion to foreigner is not only a trait of Hindus but it is common to all nations towards each other. 

     He furthers writes that:

    Hindus consider all knowledge come from them and all other people and nations are ignorant and barbarians.

   Lack of Scientific approach

   Al Beruni further writes that Indians lack methods of strict scientific deductions. The science of Hindus is in a state of utter confusion and devoid of any logical order and always appease to the sentiments of crowd and it has inherent religious dogmas in it. Hindus mathematical and astronomical literature is like a mixture of pearls and dung and both are equal in the eyes of Hindus since they cannot raise themselves to the methods of a strictly scientific deduction. In Greeks one can find philosophers like Socrates who refused to appease dogmatic people. He did not call the star gods and opposed Idolatry for which he was condemned to death.

History

Al Beruni says that the famous idol of Hindus at Multan was dedicated to sun and was made of wood and covered with red leather. Huen Tsang had also mentioned about this temple. It was called Aditya and was very much worshipped. Muhammad bin Qasim did not break this Idol as it was a flourishing trade center and wealth had been accumulated. In mockery he hung a piece of cow’s flesh on its neck. On the same place a mosque was built. When the Karamatians occupied Multan, Jalam Ibn Shaiban broke the idol in pieces and killed its priests.

The Idol of Thaneshwar was made of bronze and Al Beruni says it is lying in the hippodrome in Ghazni.

Hindu Kings of Turkish origins ruled Kabul. The first such King was Barahatakin. The last such Hindu Turkish King was succeeded by his Brahmin minister. Anandpal, Trilochanpal were the last of the rulers. Al Beruni praises Hindu Shahi Kings. They did what was good and right and were men of noble bearing and noble sentiment.

Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the Shiva Linga of Somnath. The upper part was broken. Parts of Idol were installed before the door of the Mosque of Ghazni on which People rub their feet to clean them from dirt and wet.
These were the reasons why Hindus hate Muslims according to him.

 Hindu Customs

About the Hindu customs Al Beruni says that they differ from Muslims to such a degree that they appear to us monstrous. If any custom of Hindus resembles Muslim custom it has certainly just the opposite meaning. Hindus do not cut their hairs and Hindus do not eat Cow meat. In washing Hindus begin with their feets and then they reach their face. In all consultations Hindus take the advice of women. They do not ask permission to enter a house but when they leave it they ask permission to do so. He calls Hindus perverts and praises Islam for abolishing these habits in part of India where People had become Muslims. He further says that the greediness of the ignorant Hindu Princes for gold making does not know any limit. They can kill even the innocent children if the kill is required to make gold. The science of Alchemy should banish. Hindus have firm belief in charms and incantations. In general Hindus are liars.

Geography of India

He says that Kannauj is in ruins. He says the Kashmiri people are very insular. They hardly allow outsiders to enter their country though they allowed Jews to enter their territory.  The Gilgit region was ruled by the Turks. The king has the title Bhatta Shah. The capital of Kashmir suffers from the inroads of these Turks. He mentions Rameshwar as the southern tip. Setubandha is further south. Setubandha is the dike of God Rama that he builds to connect India to Lanka. His idea about Indian geography is very detailed and he mentions almost accurately all rivers, towns of India.

Religion/Astronomy and Cosmology

Very detailed take on Hindu religion, astronomy and cosmology. He quotes Brahmagupta in much detail.  He does not say about untouchability though he talked about caste system and the inherent hierarchy. The sudras were not allowed to hear Vedas. He mentions that there is a tree in Prayag from which Brahmans and Kshatriyas commit suicide by throwing them in the river from that tree.

This is a great work on India and its a shame that we did not write such books on our tormentors and never tried to learn their ways, their strengths and their weakness. For this insularity we paid the price in medieval period.
Highly Recommended (9/10)