Which traveller was from Uzbekistan and lived during the tenth and eleventh centuries? |
Marco Polo Ibn Battuta Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan 'al-Biruni' Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin |
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan 'al-Biruni' |
The correct answer is Option 3: Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan 'al-Biruni' Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni was from Uzbekistan and lived during the Tenth-Eleventh centuries. Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present day Uzbekistan. Khwarizm was an important centre of learning, and Al-Biruni received the best education available at the time. He was well versed in several languages: Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. Although he did not know Greek, he was familiar with the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers, having read them in Arabic translations. In 1017, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni; Al-Biruni was one of them. He arrived in Ghazni as a hostage, but gradually developed a liking for the city, where he spent the rest of his life until his death at the age of 70. |