Abu Rayhan Beruni is a great Uzbek thinker and scientist, one of the great geniuses of the Middle Ages. He thoroughly mastered all the sciences of his time, first of all catastrophism, physics, mathematics, theology, and mineralogy. With his contribution to the development of these sciences, his name is among the great figures of world science.
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Beruni was born on September 973, 4 in the ancient city of Kot. In his genealogy, the word "berun" means "outside city", and "Beruni" means "one who lives in the outside city".
Beruni's interest in science was strong from a young age. He studied under the famous scholar Abu Nasr ibn Iraq Mansour. Ibn Iraq wrote a number of works on catastrophes and riyazat, and dedicated 12 of them to Beruni. Beruni always mentions his teacher's name with great respect.
Beruni was involved in almost all fields of science. Having thoroughly studied the rich science and culture of the East, they also got to know Greek science and became great scientists. Beruni was also a poet and literary critic. In addition to his mother tongue, he learned Arabic, Sugdian, Persian, Syriac, Greek and ancient Jewish languages. Later, he studied Sanskrit in India. According to one of his scientific works, Beruni made important astronomical observations in the city of Kot in 990 during his stay in Khorezm. He himself invented astronomical instruments for these observations.
The struggle for the throne among the Khorezm nobles did not allow the scientist to continue his scientific work, so he was forced to leave his homeland at the age of 22 and lived in exile in the city of Jurjan on the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea for some time. Then he went to the ancient city of Ray, after 998 he came back to Jurjan, where he met his second teacher, physician, astronomer, philosopher Abu Sahl Isa al-Masih, and received education from him. Beruni began to write the work "Osor al-Baqiya an al-Qurun al-Kholiya" ("Monuments left by ancient peoples") during the emigration period in Jurjan and finished it in 1000. "Osor al-Baqiya" brought great fame to Beruni, showing him to be a great scientist interested in all fields of science. In addition, Beruni wrote more than 10 works on the history of astronomy and netrology in Jurjon. Beruni was summoned by the new ruler of Khorezm, Abu Abbas Ma'mun II ibn Ma'mun, to Urganch, the new capital of the country. He was received with great honor by Khorezmshah. Beruniy worked in the scientific center that was created under the direct leadership of Ma'mun in Urganch. Beruni actively participates in the country's political affairs as the closest adviser to King Ma'mun II.
The capture of Khorezm by Mahmud Ghaznavi puts Beruni's life in danger. He was taken as a prisoner to the city of Ghazna along with all the scholars of Khorezmshah's palace. Beruni's life in Ghazna in 1017-1048, on the one hand, was finally difficult, but on the other hand, it was the most productive period for his scientific activity. Beruni's work "Famous People of Khorezm" was also created during this period. His important astronomical-geographical work "Tahdid nihiyot al-amonia li tashidi dashat al-masokin" ("Determining the final boundaries of places to check the distance between settlements" - "Geodesy") was completed in 1025. Beruni's work "Basic Concepts of the Art of Astrology" was written in Ghazna in 1029. Persian and Arabic copies of the work have reached us. It contains important information about several sciences related to the astronomy of that time. Beruni's famous large work "India" "Tahqiq mo li-l-Hind min ma'quda fi-l-aql av marzula" ("The Book of Determining the Reasonable and Unreasonable Doctrines of the Indians") was written in 1030 , this masterpiece has been highly appreciated by Western and Eastern scholars, including contemporary Indian scholars. Academician VR Rosen assessed that "among the entire ancient and medieval scientific literature of the East and the West, there is no equivalent work." Beruni, who accompanied the king on one of Mahmud Ghaznavi's campaigns to India, where his thorough study of the Sanskrit language allowed him to get to know Indian culture, literature and Indian scholars of that time, and to create an immortal work about this country. Mahmoud Ghaznavi died in the year when "Hindistan" was finished, and his son Mas'ud took the throne in his place. During this period, Beruni's condition improved considerably. He dedicated the work "Masud's Law" on astronomy to Sultan Masud. One of the scientists of that century, Yaqut, wrote: "Masud's law" erased the traces of all the books written before that on mathematics and astronomy.
After compiling the list of his works, Beruni wrote two more important books. One of them is Mineralogy. For its time, this treatise is considered the best, unrivaled work in the field of mineralogy in Central Asia and the Middle East, and even in Europe. The manuscript of Beruni's last work, "The Book of Medicinal Plants", was found in Turkey in the 30s of the XNUMXth century. The work is known as "Saydona", in which Beruniy Sharq gives a full description of medicinal plants that grow in Central Asia.
According to Beruni's student Abu-l Fadl al-Serakhsi, he died on December 1048, 11 in Ghazna (now Afghanistan).
Beruni left a great scientific legacy to the last generations. We know that Beruni's more than 160 translations, works of various sizes, and correspondence related to various fields of science of his time have survived. In addition to the above-mentioned large-scale works, he created a number of treatises on astronomy, astrology, mathematics, geodesy, geology, mineralogy, geography, arithmetic, medicine, pharmacognosy, history, philology, and translated from Sanskrit to Arabic and from Arabic to Sanskrit. , engaged in artistic creation and wrote poems. "Introduction to Astrology", "Key to Astronomy", "The Book of the Sun that Heals the Soul", "On the Necessity of Two Actions", "Principles of Multiplication", "A Sanskrit Translation of Ptolemy's Almagest", "Useful Questions and Correct Answers" ri answers", "Corrections to Farghani's "Elements", "Caution by the Turks", "Information about White-robed and Karmat", "Collection of Poems", "Translation of information about Al-Muqanna ", "Correspondence with Ibn Sina" are among them.
Beruni's works had a great influence on the recent development of the culture of the Muslim East. In recent works written in Arabic and Persian, the works of Bayhaqi, Shahrizohri, Qifti, Yaqut Hamavi provide important information about Beruni. Christian John Bar Ebrey (1226-1286), a Syrian historian and physician who lived in the XNUMXth century, evaluated Beruni as follows: "Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Beruni, who crossed the sea of Greek and Indian philosophy in those past years gained fame. He is an expert in mathematics and has written a number of important books in this field. He went to India and lived there for several years, learning from Indian philosophers their art and teaching them Greek philosophy. His works are extremely numerous, mature and extremely reliable. In a word, during Uoz's time, after that and until now, among his colleagues, there was no scientist who was so knowledgeable in the science of astronomy and who deeply knew the basis and subtleties of this science.
Since the XNUMXth century, interest in Beruni's heritage has become more widespread in European and Asian countries. His works were translated into Latin, French, Italian, German, English, Persian, and Turkish languages. Books and translations of European scholars dedicated to Beruni's works were published. These researchers highly appreciated the work of Beruni. The American historian J. Sarton gives the highest assessment to Beruni's heritage and considers him to be the world's first sage of his time. The famous orientalist VR Rosen notes that his scientific views are surprisingly wide and that he is typical of the spirit of real science in the modern sense.
Beruni's work has been receiving great attention in Uzbekistan, his home country. HM Abdullayev, IM Mominov, V. Yu. Zohidov, Ya. G'. Famous scholars such as Ghulomov, U. Karimov, SA Bulgakov have created a number of pamphlets and works about Beruni's work. A number of international scientific conferences dedicated to him were held in Tashkent. For the first time, the multi-story selected works of Beruni, including the main works such as "Ancient Monuments", "India", "Masud's Law", "Geodesia", "Saidona" in Uzbek and Russian languages Uzbekistan Sciences was published by the Academy. In the field of science, the State Prize named after Beruni was established.
