When the Punjab became a part of the Ghaznavid empire, contacts with the local population helped create an environment of mutual trust and understanding. Al-Biruni spent years in the company of Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit, and studying religious and philosophical texts. While his itinerary is not clear, it is likely that he travelled widely in the Punjab and parts of northern India. Travel literature was already an accepted part of Arabic literature by the time he wrote. This literature dealt with lands as far apart as the Sahara desert in the west to the River Volga in the north.
The line that follows this passage has been left out. What does it say about where readers of Al-Biruni's work were found in the centuries after he wrote?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Mostly outside India, with only a few readers in India
Option (1) Mostly in India, with only a few readers outside India — Incorrect. This reverses the point. Few people in India would have read Al-Biruni before 1500, so India did not hold most of his readers.
Option (2) Mainly among the Brahmana scholars he had met in the Punjab — Incorrect. He learnt Sanskrit and studied texts with Brahmana scholars in the Punjab, but they do not appear as his readers. Few people in India read him in this period.
Option (3) Mostly outside India, with only a few readers in India — Correct. Few people in India would have read Al-Biruni before 1500. So most of his readers were found beyond India.
Option (4) Mainly among Persian scribes at the courts of northern India — Incorrect. Few people in India read him in this period, so a readership among Persian scribes at north Indian courts does not fit.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 From Khwarizm to the Punjab … “few people in India would have read Al-Biruni before 1500, many others outside India may have done so.” |