An Anthropologist in the 11th Century: Al-Bîrûnî and Tahkîku'l Mâ Li’l-Hind

Al-Biruni, also known as Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, was born in Khwarezm and was a scientist who excelled in mathematics, as well as medicine, astronomy, physics, natural sciences, and philosophy. Centuries before anthropology was set as a major field of study, following his conquest of India, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni sent Al-Bîrûnî to India to collect information about this culture. Obeying his orders, long before anthropology's introduction to the academy and buttressed with several ethical rules, Al-Bîrûnî made deep research on the local language, that is Sanscrit, belief, family and social life, numerical system, legislation, astrology and compared them with other cultures like Greek, Roman, Arab, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, wrote his masterpiece called as "Tahkîku'l Mâ Li’l-Hind" (The research on the land of India) between years 1017-1030 A.D. In this article, the work "Tahkîku'l Mâ Li’l-Hind" is examined as an outcome of anthropological research, while Al-Bîrûnî is considered as an anthropologist: Al-Bîrûnî's approach to Indian culture and the method he used in evaluating the culture are discussed comparatively with modern anthropological theories and ethics, especially with Bronislaw Malinowski’s, as he is one of the pioneers in the field.