Bücher von Muhammad ibn Ahmad Biruni

Translated and annotated by the German orientalist Edward Sachau (1845-1930), this two-volume 1887-8 work is an account of Indian life in the early medieval period by Muslim polymath and traveller Alberuni (973-1048). Volume 1 discusses among other subjects Hindu beliefs, the caste system and the calendar.

Alberuni's India is one of the greatest achievements of medieval scholarship. Not for nearly eight hundred years would any other writer match Alberuni's profound understanding of almost all aspects of Indian life.