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Full Description
Translated and annotated by orientalist Edward Sachau (1845-1930), this 1887-8 two-volume work is the account by Muslim polymath and traveller Alberuni (973-1048) of Indian political and social life in the medieval period. Sachau published the manuscript in Arabic in 1885-6, at the same time working on an English translation. Alberuni, born in Chorasmia, south of the Aral Sea, was one of the leading scholars of his day. He accompanied the Afghan ruler Mahmud on his invasion of India in the early eleventh century, and remained there for thirteen years, making a detailed study of Indian life and culture, and in particular studying the Hindu religion. Alberuni claims that his work is not polemical in nature, but a simple historical record of facts, and he commends the learning of the Hindus in philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. Volume 2 discusses among other subjects astronomy, religion, ritual and law.
Contents
49. A summary description of the eras; 50. How many star-cycles there are both in a 'kalpa' and in a 'caturyuga'; 51. An explanation of the terms 'adhimâsa', 'ûnarâtra', and the 'aharganas', as representing different sums of days; 52. On the calculation of 'ahargana' in general, that is, the resolution of years and months into days, and, vice versa, the composition of years and months out of days; 53. On the ahargana, or the resolution of years into months, according to special rules which are adopted in the calendars for certain dates or moments of time; 54. On the computation of the mean places of the planets; 55. On the order of the planets, their distances and sizes; 56. On the stations of the moon; 57. On the heliacal risings of the stars, and on the ceremonies and rites which the Hindus practise at such a moment; 58. How ebb and flow follow each other in the ocean; 59. On the solar and lunar eclipses; 60. On the parvan; 61. On the dominants of the different measures of time in both religious and astronomical relations, and on connected subjects; 62. On the sixty years samvatsara, also called 'shashtyabda'; 63. On that which especially concerns the Brahmans, and what they are obliged to do during their whole life; 64. On the rites and customs which the other castes, besides the Brahmans, practise during their lifetime; 65. On the sacrifices; 66. On pilgrimage and the visiting of sacred places; 67. On alms, and how a man must spend what he earns; 68. On what is allowed and forbidden in eating and drinking; 69. On matrimony, the menstrual courses, embryos, and childbed; 70. On lawsuits; 71. On punishments and expiations; 72. On inheritance, and what claim the deceased person has on it; 73. About what is due to the bodies of the dead and of the living (i.e. about burying and suicide); 74. On fasting, and the various kinds of it; 75. On the determination of the fast-days; 76. On the festivals and festive days; 77. On days which are held in special veneration, on lucky and unlucky times, and on such times as are particularly favourable for acquiring in them bliss in heaven; 78. On the karanas; 79. On the yogas; 80. On the introductory principles of Hindu astrology, with a short description of their methods of astrological calculations; Annotations; Index.
