Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Question:

Which of the following statements are correct?

A. Al-Biruni wrote 'Kitab-ul-Hind' in Arabic.
B. It is a voluminous text divided in 80 chapters.
C. 'Kitab-ul-Hind' is the Arabic translation of 'Ramayana'.
D. Al-Biruni's expertise in several languages allowed him to translate texts.
E. The language in which Al-Biruni excelled was Greek.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Options:

A, C, D only

B, D, E only

A, B, D only

C, D, E only

Correct Answer:

A, B, D only

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) → A, B, D only

Given statements:

A. Al-Biruni wrote 'Kitab-ul-Hind' in Arabic. (Correct)
B. It is a voluminous text divided in 80 chapters. (Correct)
C. 'Kitab-ul-Hind' is the Arabic translation of 'Ramayana'. (incorrect)
D. Al-Biruni's expertise in several languages allowed him to translate texts. (Correct)
E. The language in which Al-Biruni excelled was Greek. (incorrect)

Correction:

C. 'Kitab-ul-Hind' is not the Arabic translation of 'Ramayana'. It is a text with its own details having nothing to do with the Ramayana.
E. Al-Biruni DID NOT KNOW Greek.

Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan. 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.

Al-Biruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is simple and lucid. It is a voluminous text, divided into 80 chapters on subjects such as religion and philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures, iconography, laws and metrology. Generally (though not always), Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and concluding with a comparison with other cultures. Some present-day scholars have argued that this almost geometric structure, remarkable for its precision and predictability, owed much to his mathematical orientation. Al-Biruni, who wrote in Arabic, probably intended his work for peoples living along the frontiers of the subcontinent. He was familiar with translations and adaptations of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts into Arabic – these ranged from fables to works on astronomy and medicine. However, he was also critical about the ways in which these texts were written, and clearly wanted to improve on them.