Al-Biruni’s Remark About Medieval Indian Theory

By : Yue Pan

Page No: 167-176

Abstract
As a Medieval Muslim polymath, al-Biruni had also been an observer of Indian astronomy. He gave some opinions on Indian theory of precession in his Tahqiq ma li-l-Hind. Al- Biruni adhered to Ptolemaic theory of the movement of the sphere of the fixed stars, which is opposite to medieval Indian theory of precession. It was such a contradiction that made al- Biruni misjudge medieval Indian theory of precession. This case reveals a particular aspect, both of the difference between pre-Ptolemaic Greco-Indian astronomy and Ptolemaic Greek one, and of the influence of Greek thought on Muslim scholars including al- Biruni.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/GB.2021.43.2.4