The period of direct and deeper cultural relations between the Arabs and the Indians began a century after the rise of Islam in Arabia, and with the foundation of the Abbasid empire in the middle of the 8th century. This period marked the beginning of a long history of cultural contact which lasted several centuries. During no period of their ancient and medieval history perhaps, did the Indians have such close relations with the Arabs as they did during this period. The process of exchange was reciprocal, and covered the dissemination and diffusion of the maximum amount of knowledge in the sciences and arts, religion and philosophy and social and cultural ideas and values.
As early as the ancient period Arabs had established cultural relations with India. We here evidences from the south India that Arabs traded with the region before the rise of islam and the history of the Mappila community of Kerala reveals the story of cultural contacts from the time immemorial. With the arrival of Islam the Mappila community became the disseminators of the new faith due to their early contact with Arabia. The Arabs established their colonies at different parts of South India and this provided place for a cultural synthesis between the Arab culture on the one hand and indigenous culture on the other. In the north the contact began by the beginning of the eighth century a.d. Sind and some parts of Punjab had come under the Arab political influence and formed the eastern wing of the Abbasid Empire whose capital was at Baghdad. Gradually, Sind acquired great prominence in Arab affairs for not only was it ruled militarily and administratively by the Arabs, but a large number of Arab merchants, travellers, missionaries and men of learning migrated to this province and made it their permanent home. Thus within a short period Sind and parts of Punjab became important centres for the diffusion of Arab culture in India. From here Arab religious thought, cultural values, language and philosophy radiated to different parts of the country.
The political boundary of the Arabs of Sind roughly lay along the lower course of the Indus between Multan in the north and al-Mansura and Dabal in the south. Then- immediate neighbours to the east were the powerful Indian rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty whose kingdom extended from Gujarat up to the banks of the Ganges; they were the most formidable enemies of the Arabs of Sind and usually at war with them. Here it may be emphasized that as a result of these estranged political relations the Arabs in general and the Arabs of Sind in particular were unable to get access to other parts of northern and central India. There was, therefore, no possibility of cultural exchange between the Arabs and the Hindus of the north at this period, and this is the reason why Arabic accounts of this period deal mainly with either Sind and Punjab or with southern and eastern India.
In South India Indo-Arab relations rested on a totally different basis. In Sind the Arabs exercised their political power but for the South they came as travellers, merchants and occasionally as missionaries. As such, relations were based not on political antagonism but on cordiality and friendship. The rulers of the Deccan belonging to the Rashtrakuta dynasty and zamorins of Calicut welcomed the Arab merchants and travellers in their Kingdom, protected their lives and property and gave them full freedom of religious practice and other facilities. The cordial relations between the Arabs and the Indians in South India, provided for the opportunity for cultural exchange and intellectual communication. The Arab writers of this period are full of praise and admiration for the rulers of south India. As in Sind, the Arabs had settled down in many parts of South India as merchant communities, e.g. in Konkan (Maharashtra), Malabar (Kerala), and in many of the coastal towns of Andhra Pradesh, Madras and Mysore. Gujarat and Kathiawar had large numbers of Arabs following different vocations and many Arab merchants and travellers visited Eastern India, Bengal and Assam during this period.
Among the Indians who visited the Arab world during this period, there were many scholars, scientists and physicians who visited Baghdad which was a great centre of intellectual and cultural activity. Also there was continuous traffic of Indian merchants and traders to Iraq, Egypt, the Persian Gulf and other regions. Apart from scholars and merchants, many Indian prisoners of war or emigrants also settled down there and became arabizised. These arabicized Indians are referred to as al-Zutt by Arab historians. They were most probably the Jats.
There is a story based on Keralolpathi that Cheraman Perumal, the last Perumal of Kerala, became a convert to Islam, visited Mecca and received the blessings of the prophet Muhammad in Jeddah. According to some historians a Zamorin also had visited Mecca after converting to Islam. The zamorin and his allies accorded all facilities to the Arab because it was due to their influence the country was prospered.
Thus it may be said that the main agents, both among the Arabs and the Indians, were responsible for the transmission of ideas and beliefs and for direct or indirect cultural influences were due to the presence of the scholars, Sufis and missionaries, merchants and travellers, and above all the cultured, impartial and unprejudiced rulers of India as well as the Abbasid Caliphs and their illustrious ministers and courtiers.
Baghdad, the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate for over five centuries(a.d.750-1258) and the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, provided the maximum opportunity and scope for the growth of a scientific and cultural atmosphere and a free and liberal academic environment. This was the period when Indian scientists, physicians and philosophers visited Baghdad and came in contact with a new, rising nation and a dynamic Islamic society. Financial assistance by the State and patronage of Caliphs like Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (a.d. 754-75), Harun al-Rashid (a.d. 786- 809) and al-Ma'mun (a.d. 813-833) were not the only factors that resulted in the general promotion of learning and education among the Arabs and in research and academic activity. The positive and deliberate efforts of some of the Caliphs like aJ-Ma'mun in giving full freedom of work to those engaged in research in various academic centres in the city was a factor that enhanced the intellectual pursuits.
India's cultural contacts with the Arab world were established from the time immemorial and many Pre Islamic customs and beliefs have crept to India and vice versa. However it was with the Advent of Islam and Prophet Muhammed the Arab influence made a conspicuous effect up on Indian soil. The Muslim Arabs in their urge in acquiring knowledge from different sources came across with the valuable sources of Indian sciences along Greek, Roman and Iranian. Education was in fashion and academic institutions and centres of higher learning and research, like the 'house of wisdom' (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad were being inaugurated. No doubt some of the theological and linguistic sciences like the Traditions (Hadith), history, grammar, and rhetoric had already been sufficiently advanced by Arabs and the reading and writing of Arabic had become fairly popular. At the same the Arab scholars and the educated class were also quite familiar with the natural and physical sciences, mathematics, philosophy and logic of the ancient Greeks, Indians and Iranians. Whatever may have been the causes of the dissemination of the Greek sciences in the Arab world of the time, it is certain that Indian science, philosophy, wisdom-literature and religious thought first appeared in the Arab academic circles thro the efforts of the early Abbasid Caliphs and their ministers, Barmakids. The latter were converts from Buddhism and originally came from Balkh in Central Asia during the Umayyad period, gradually acquiring high administrative posts and ultimately rising to the positions of viziers under the Abbasids. As they were highly placed in society and interested in India, they were able to invite Indian scientists to Baghdad and give them all encouragement and facilities for work. It is said that Caliph al-Mansur received embassy from Sind which consisted of Indian pundits who presented the Caliph with several treatises on mathematics and astronomy which were translated into Arabic with the help of the pundits by the orders of the Caliph. Thus from about the middle of the eighth century an era of Indo-Arab scientific co-operation may be said to have begun. The scientific literature of India that was introduced in Baghdad actually belonged to the Maurya and the Gupta periods. Indian philosophers and scientists of these periods were generally treated by the Arabs on a par with the ancient Greeks. Aftern Maurya and Gupta periods, India, had passed through a phase of general decline in science and learning; on the other hand the Arabs, having assimilated India's scientific knowledge and achievements, advanced in the subsequent centuries.
India's ancient scientific literature was introduced to the Arabs either at Baghdad directly where Sanskrit works were made available the scholars or indirectly via Jundishapur which was a centre of medical and other learning and where Greek, Indian and Iranian knowledge intermingled. The Arab scholars visited libraries of different countries and brought with the books and scholars. A translation bureau was maintained where the books in different languages were translated.
Astronomy was one of the first sciences that was introduced in Baghdad academic circles towards the end of the eighth century a.d. It was through Surya Siddhanta (Ar.: Sindhind) that Arab scientists became acquainted with Indian astronomy. The work is said to have been introduced by an Indian traveller in about a.d. 771. It was rendered into Arabic by al-Fazari at the order of Caliph al-Mansur (a.d. 753-775). From this time onwards and as a result of the pioneering effort of al-Fazari, the Arabs with greater effort and interest studied Indian astronomy. Among other Sanskrit astronomical works introduced to the Arabs at this time were: Aryabhatiyam (Ar.: Arjabhad or Arja-bhar) by Aryabhat of Kusumpura (b. a.d. 476); Khanda kadyaka (Ar.: al-Arkand) by Brahmagupta (b. a.d. 598) who flourished in Ujjain.
The introduction of these works gave an impetus to the growth of astronomical studies in Baghdad. A number of astronomers engaged themselves in the study of the Indian works. They produced several works and elaborated commentaries after the style of the Indian works, adding to them the results of their own observations and readings in the observatories at Baghdad. Among them was Ibrahim b. Habib al-Fazari (a.d. 753-775) who wrote Kitab al-Zij based on the Siddhanta. Muhammad b. Musa al-Khwarizmi (d. after a.d. 847) based his work, the astronomic tables (al-Zij), on that of al-Fazari's and syncretized the Greek and the Indian system, at the same time adding his own contributions. He also wrote another treatise al-Sindhind al-Saghir (the small Sindhind). Another astronomer Habash b. 'Abd Allah al-Marvazi (flourished during the second half of the 9th century) wrote Sindhind (based on the Siddhanta). Thus, for several centuries to come, Arab astronomers continued to be interested in Indian astronomy and produced commentaries and translations. Al-Biruni (d. 1048) made a special study of the subject during his sojourn in India during the llth century. He translated several Sanskrit works on astronomy into Arabic.
The contribution of Indian astronomy in the growth of astronomy was both conceptual and philological. Many Sanskrit astronomical terms were Arabicized and freely used by Arab astronomers in their treatises. The "language of the Hindus" is described by al-Biruni as being "extremely rich in nouns both original and derivative, so that in some instances they call one thing by a multitude of different names." He says, "So have heard them saying that they have a thousand names all meaning sun; and, no doubt each planet has quite as many, or nearly as many names, since they could not do with less (for the purposes of verification)".
Describing the reasons for the popularity of astronomy among the Indians al-Biruni says that it was "most famous among them, since the affairs of their religion are in various ways connected with it. If a man wants to gain the title of an astronomer, he must not only know scientific or mathematical astronomy, but also astrology."
Like astronomy Indian mathematics was also introduced to the Arabs towards the end of the eighth century. Through the translations of the Sanskrit mathematical treatises into Arabic rendered by al-Fazari, the Indian numeral system (in Arabic, Hindi, and in Europe, Arabic) and the concept of the zero became known to the Arabs. The tables of al-Khwarizmi and Habash al-Hasib (d. between 867 and 874) "probably spread the use of them throughout the Arabic world." But, as pointed out by Hitti, the Arab astronomers and mathematicians were slow to adopt this ingenious invention of the Indians, for as late as the eleventh century scientists like Bakr Muhammad al-Karaji (d. between 1019 and 1029) wrote all numbers in his al-Kafi fi'l-Hisab in words. But Ahamad al-Nasawi (d.c. 1040) used the Indian numerals in his Hisab al-Hindi. The Arabic numerals (ghubar) were written from right to left and, according to their position (from right), they represented units, tens, hundreds, etc. The Arabs developed the Algebra using the Indian Arithmetic.
In geometry, while the basis of Arabic geometry was the works of Euclid (Book X of the Elements and a number of other works works),there were unmistakable traces of the Indian Siddhant in their works. In trigonometry the Arabs were vastly superior to Greeks and the Indians, to whose sine and cosine tables added tables of the other trigonometrical functions, and established the fundamental relations between them.
Indian concepts and methods of Geography were well known to the Arabs. Among the various geographical concepts with which the Arab scientists became acquainted was the view of Aryabhata that the daily rotation of the heavens is only apparent, being caused by the rotation of the earth on its own axis. The concept was described by several Arab geographers in their works. Other concepts with which the Arabs were acquainted were: 1. The proportion of water and land on the surface of the earth was half and half; 2. The landmass, which was compared to a tortoise, was surrounded by water on all sides, and was shaped like a dome whose highest point had Mount Meru on it; 3. The Northern hemisphere was the inhabited part of the earth and 4. The inhabited part of the earth was divided into nine parts.
Arab astronomers and geographers mistook Ujjain (Ar.: Urayn or Uzayri) for the 'Cupola of the Earth' (Qubbat al-ard). According to the Indian system, the Prime Meridian passed through Ceylon, the Cupola of the Earth, and the same meridian passed through Ujjain and reached the legendary Mount Meru in the North, which was supposed to be directly under the North Star. This was the highest point of the land-mass, which was shaped like a dome. But since the Prime Meridian also passed through Ujjain which had a great reputation for astronomical studies, it was mistaken for being the Cupola by the Arab geographers and astronomers. Although the Arab geographers usually calculated the longitudes of towns from the Canary Islands after the practice of the Greek astronomers, some of them calculated them from the Prime Meridian passing through Ujjain.
Apart from the Barmaki viziers several courtiers of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809) like Abu 'Umar 'Ajami, Ishaq b. Sulayman al-Hashimi and Abu Hatim al-Balkhi were interested in medicine. It is related that when Harun al-Rashid suffered from a serious disease, the Arab physicians of Baghdad who were well versed with Greek medicine were unable to cure him. So. at the suggestion of the courtiers, an Indian physician named Manka (Manikya?) was called in by the Caliph. He treated the Caliph and cured him. He was rewarded and was later attached the hospital of the Barmakids. He translated several works from Sanskrit into Arabic or Persian. Among other Indian scions of Baghdad was Ibn Dahn, probably a descendenl Dhanapati and Salih, the son or descendent of Bhela. Salih treated Ibrahim, a cousin Caliph Harun al-Rashid of epilepsy. He was probably a private practitioner of Indian medicine in Baghdad. When Ibrahim declared dead by the royal physician Gabriel Bakhtishu who was an expert in Greek medicine, Salih challenged him and demonstrated that the patient was still alive, by pricking a needle into Ibrahim's left hand which the patient immediately withdrew. He was them taken out of the coffin and dressed properly. Salih then prepared some snuff of Kundush (verartilum Alburn) and blew into the nose of the patient. After about ten minutes his body quivered and he sneezed; then he sat up and kissed the hand of the Caliph. These stories show, how popular Indian physicians had been in Baghdad during the early Abbasid period. But the Indian medical system was known to the Arabs probably from very early times. The Quraysh tribe of Prophet Muhammad handled the drug and spice trade and hence came into frequent contact with India and Persia. The drug merchants supplied not only "directions for use" but possibly medical, pharmacological, botanical and mineralogical explanations. The first Arab physician, Al-Harith (born in Ta'if), a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad, travelled to India and to Persia where he studied and taught in the famous school at Jundishapur.
Indian medical science (Ayurveda) was properly introduced to the Arab world. after Several of the classical Indian works on the subject were translated into Arabic under the patronage of the early Abbasid caliphs. Thus the Arabs became familiar with Indian physicians like Kanka (Kanakyanai Sanjhal (Sandelia?), Shanaq (Chanakya) and Jaudhar (Yashodhara?). Among the works translated into Arabic were: Charaka, Susrud (Susruta), Astankar (Ashtanghradaya), Nidan, Sindhastaq or Sindhastian (Siddhayogd) and the Book of Poison A work by an Indian woman physician, Rusa, dealing with women's diseases was also translated into Arabic. Besides, several other works on different types of snakes and their poisons, drugs, treatment of pregnant women, intoxicants, diseases and medicaments, effects of mania and hysteria, were also rendered into Arabic.
Thus by the middle of the 9th century a.d. the Arab writers had at their disposal not only most of the Greek medical works but also most of the important Indian medical works. However, the medical works and theories of the Indians did not appeal to them and the names of Charaka and Susruta are very sparingly mentioned by them. Ashtanghradaya and the Nidana are referred to by only Ali b. Rabban al-Tabari and his pupil Abu Bakr Zakariyya al-Razi. The former in his work Firdaus al-Hikma (completed in a.d. 850) gave a brief account of the whole system of Indian medicine at the end of the book, based on Charaka, Susruta, Nidana and Ashtanghradaya. Similarly, al-Razi referred to many Indian medical works in his Magnum Opus, al-Hawi. After 'Ali and al-Razi, Arabic medical writers seldom refer to Indian medical works except Charaka and Susruta which are referred to in connection with drugs and medicaments.
TheYunani (Greek) medical system as practised in India today, is the successor of this very ancient system in which the knowledge and experience of the Greeks, Iranians, Arabs and Indians
As compared to the scientific literature of India, literary works in Sanskrit were less known to the Arabs. There were hardly any Arabic renderings of the classical works. The reason for this probably lay in the fact that by the time the Arabs became aware of Indian literature Arabic literature was sufficiently advanced both in prose and poetry and had developed various forms and styles. Hence, the urge to look for or to accept forms and styles from foreign sources was absent. This applied to classical Greek literature also, which largely remained un translated into Arabic. Arab literary critics, however, studied Greek theories and concepts of literary criticism, especially the works of Aristotle. In this also Arab men of letters seemed to have felt little or no need to adopt new literary forms, like the drama that were foreign to Arab genius. Similarly, the great Indian epics and philosophical works like the Upanishads, the Ramayana, etc. were not rendered into Arabic probably on account of their religious content.
One of_the Indian literary works that became well known in the Arabic-speaking world of the middle ages was the Arabic translation of the Pahlawi version of the Pancatantra entitled Kalila wa Dimna. During the reign of Nushirwan (a.d. 531-79), Buzurimihr was specially sent to India (Ganges) to procure a copy of the Fables of Bidpai also known as Kalila wa Dimna. He procured this book and the game of chess and the work was rendered into Pahlawi. The title of the work derived from Karataka and Damanaka, the two jackals who figure in the first book of Pancatantra. The Arabic rendition was done by Ibn al-Muqaffa (d.c. 757), a_Zoroastrianj convert to Islam
Al-Mas'udi mentions Kitab al-Sindbad or 'the Book of the Seven Ministers, the Master, the Youth and the King's wife' by a certain Sindbad who lived during the reign of Korash. This work corresponded to the Persian Sindbadnameh and the plan of this work was taken from Pancatantara. The story is added as a note in The Thousand and One Nights. Parts of Mahabharata were rendered into Arabic by Abu Salih b. Shuayb and later by Abu1-Hasan Ali Jabali (c. 1026). Again, the ethical writings of Canakya (Shanaq) and the Hitopadesa, and other works ranging from logic to magic were translated from Sanskrit into Arabic.
Mysticism
The Arabs came in direct contact with Buddhism as a living force in India and Central Asia soon after the rise of Islam in Arabia. In Central Asia, the conquest of Balkh brought them face to face with Buddhism and its adherents. In Sind, they had much closer and intimate relations. There is enough historical evidence indicating the flourishing state of Buddhism in Sind at the time of the Arab conquest. At this period both Buddhism and Hinduism flourished side by side. The King was a Brahmin, and the governors were generally Buddhists. The ruler of Brah-manabad, Agham Lohana
also had professed Buddhism and his spiritual guide Samani Budhgui owned an idol-house or temple which was called Budh Nawwihar. The Arabic works give us valuable information regarding Buddism of early medieval times in central Asia and parts of Northern India. The Arabic chronicles mention about a sect called the Shamaniya. The adherents of this sect are described as those who rejected totally the idea of a Creator or of the apostles(rusul) and confirmed the truth of Retribution and Punishment. These could be no other than a sect of the Buddhists. In his division of the Hindu religions, Shahrastani (a.d. 1086-1153) classified the Brahmans as those who basically rejected the prophecy. They are further divided into three categories: one of these is termed as the ashab al-budda, or the Buddhists. They are said to have conceived of Buddha as one who is not born to any one. He never married and never ate and drank. He never grow old and never die. In the second category fall 'the people of meditation and contemplation', ashab al-tanasukh and in the third 'those who believed in the transmigration of the soul ashab alfikra. The concept of Buddha as presented by Shahrastani is akin to the concept of Bodhisattva. Arabic work on the life of Gautama Buddha were also current at this time even though of a legendary character. Books like Kitab al-Budd,Kitab al-Balawhar wa Budhasaf and Kitab Budhasaf Mufrad were current among the Arabs. The legend of Balahvar "was rendered into Arabic verse by a heretical poet Aban al-Lahiqi (d.815) and approximated with the Shi'i doctrine of the absent imam by Babawayh Qummi (d. 991).
The scholars maintain different opinions on the influence of Islam on Indian mysticism and vice versa. The opinion of Mr. R.A Nicholson seems to be right when he says, "Just as the Christian type cannot be understood without reference to Christianity, so the Mohammedan type must be viewed in connection with the outward and inward 'development of Islam." The fact that Islamic asceticism had its origins in the concepts of 'piety' and 'fear' of God as embodied in the Qur'an is indisputable but the later stages of the growth of Sufism betray certain concepts which were alien to Islam. Among "the most important external" influences on Sufism Nicholson enumerates Christianity, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism and Buddhism. So that the external influences may not be overemphasized while losing sight of the internal factors, namely, the teachings of Islam, Nicholson further clarifies the point. He says, "Even if Islam had been miraculously shut off from contact with foreign religions and philosophies, some form of mysticism would have arisen within it, for the seeds were already there." According to him Sufism in its "method so far as it is one of ethical self-culture, ascetic meditation, and intellectual abstraction, owes a great deal to Buddhism." But in spirit, he points out, the two systems are poles apart. While the "Buddhist moralises himself, the Sufi becomes moral only through knowing and loving God." Nicholson compares the Sufi concept of fana with Nirvana and remarks, "Both terms imply the passing away of individuality, but while Nirvana is purely negative, fana is accompanied by baqa, everlasting life in God." Aziz Ahmad in his study 'Sufism and Hindu Mysticism' has authentically clarified many of the problems relating to the subject. "Sufism," he says, "seems to have come into contact with Hindu and Buddhist mystical ideas at a later stage, an after most of its principal features had been developed either in its original Islamic tradition or by the infiltration of neo-Platoni and Christian elements." Among the main features analogous to Sufism and Buddhism quoted by him on the authority of scholars like Goldziher, Nicholson, Zaehner and others are: th 'noble path' of the Buddhists and mystic 'path' (tariqa) of th Sufis; Sufi 'concentration' (muraqaba) and the Buddhist dhyana. Abu Yazid's 'imagery of oceans and rivers' is also traced to Buddhist sources like, Udanavarga . Sufi exercises like habs-i dam (holding back of breath) had similarity with Buddhist channels from yogic pranayama ; the Sufi concept of 'peace with all' (Sulh-i Kul) had its model in Mahayana Buddhism the use of the robe, rosary, etc.are also seen in that sect. Al-Biruni has drawn many interesting parallels between the teachings of the Hindu scriptures and Sufi thought. He points out the kinship between] the doctrine of Patanjali wherein Brahman is compared to an Asvattha tree where the desire of the intelligent man is to fell this tree, to settle in the place where it had grown and finally to attain the divine light, and that of the Sufi regarding meditation on the Truth, i.e. God, for they say, "As long as you point to something, you are not, a monist; but when the Truth seizes upon the object of your pointing and annihilates it, then there is no longer an indicating person nor an object indicated." One of the fundamental Sufi concepts was the essential unity of all existence (wahdat al-wujud). They conceived of Truth (Haqq) or God as being immanent in the whole world (wahdat al-shuhud) and did not distinguish between Khaliq (Creator) and makhluq (created one) as the traditional Islamic belief had taught and in a final stage the sufi thought all is God. This pantheistic view of life dominated the entire history of Sufism in Islam. It is incorrect to say that the similarities are due to the borrowing of one from the other; on the other hand the similarities insist that all truths are emanated from one and same source.
The local people even after conversion to Islam retained many of their old customs. They had marriage-relations with big local Arab owners and had thus acquired great influence and power. The Fatimid Isma'ili preachers spread in various parts of India for spread Ismaili shiism. The converts adopted Arabic names, literature was written mainly in Arabic, local Hindu traditions were abandoned and the process of arabicisation went very deep.
Arab Knowledge and Learning
Fom the beginning of the eighth up to the end of the ninth century Sind remained under direct Arab rule. Al-Mansura and Multan, the two important political and cultural centres of the Arabs in Sind had lost their importance by the end of the 10th century a.d. In a.d. 980, the Qaramita, an extremist Shi'a sect, captured Multan and had turned it into a seat of their own schismatic propaganda. However, the presence of Arab scholars, religious men and merchants in Sind is attested by several Arab travellers to the region, like al-Mas'udi, Ibn Hauqal, al-Maqdisi and others whose eye-witness accounts throw considerable light on the geography and the social, cultural and religious life of Sind during this period.
Al-Mas'udi describes with great veneration his meeting a descendant of Prophet Muhammad named Hamza, in al-Mansura in about 915-916. He also encountered several members of the family of Ali b. Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Pro-phet and met some descendants of Umar b. 'Ali and those of Muhammad b. 'Ali. Al-Maqdisi speaks of the presence of some scholars in al-Mansura, one of whom was Qadi Abu Muhammad Mansuri, a follower of Imam Da'ud the Zahirite and author of many works. Another authority speaks of Abu Hafs, muhaddith (Specialist in Prophetic Traditions) of Basra, having visited Sind in the early days of the conquest. In Sind, he must have been the fountain-head of the narration of Hadith (Traditions). However, after its conquest by the Sultans of Delhi, Sind produced a number of specialists of Islamic sciences and traditions whose names and works are recorded by several authors. Delhi and Sind produced a number of specialists of Islamic sciences and traditions whose names and works are recorded by several authors. Arab scholars, merchants and travellers also visited other parts of India like Gujerat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Bengal and Assam during this period. But it seems that the visiting Arab scholars were either experts of Islamic sciences like exegesis of the Qur-an, Traditions and Islamic Jurisprudence or they were interested in religious propaganda, like the Ismalites etc. But there is no evidence to show that Arab scientists and philosophers of this period visited India. On the other hand it seems that Indians were not unaware of the scientific achievements of the Arabs and of the countless scientific and philosophical works produced in Arabic by a galaxy of authors in different parts of the Arab world. Indian scientists and scholars did visit Baghdad and other parts of the 'Abbasid empire. But it is strange that Indian scholars did not profit from the intellectual renaissance taking place at this time in the Arab world This fact is partly explained by al-Biruni who visited India in the early decades of the llth century a.d.
Al-Biruni was one of the first Muslim scientists who visited India in the beginning of the llth century a.d. He possessed profound knowledge of Greek, Roman and the ancient Iranian sciences. He came to India to study Indian sciences and learn from Indian wisdom. He not only accomplished this task but rendered a great service to India by presenting faithfully India's ancient cultural and scientific legacy to the Arabic-speaking world of his time through his monumental work on India entitled Tahqiq ma li-l-Hind,or Tarikh al Hind. He learnt the Sanskrit languageand endeavoured to collect Sanskrit manuscripts. He had acquired vast proficiency in Hindu astronomy. The reputation of al-Biruni seems to have travelled far and wide in India for some pandits from | "the forbidden land" of Kashmir and other Hindu astronomers posed questions to him which he answered in special treaties. Al-Biruni translated the following works into Arabic- Samkhya by Kapila, the Book of Patanjali, Paulisasiddha Brahmasiddhanta, both by Brahmagupta, Brihatsamhita, jatakam, the latter two by Varahamihira. In the opinion of Sachau, he probably dictated meaning to his pandits and they moulded the words into slokas Al-Biruni also wrote for a certain handbook of astronomy in Arabic, called The Arabian Khanda Khadyaka. Sachau enumerates twenty-two works by al-Biruni which pertain to Indian subjects like astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc. As for his work on India, Sachau remarks, "If in our days a man began studying Sanskrit and Hindu learning with all the help afforded by modern literature and science, many a year would pass before he would be able to do justice to the antiquity of India to such an extent and a degree of accuracy as Alberuni has done in his Indica".