SERABIBI MULTIMEDIA ARTISTS ASSOCIATION
Synopsis
Al-Biruni was a 11th century middle-eastern explorer and savant. Born at a time, and in a
region, conducive to intellectual excellence, al-Biruni became proficient in such disparate
sciences as astronomy, mathematics, history, geography, philosophy, and many others. As
an explorer, he travelled through Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and
northwestern India. We will follow him along this travel-route and retrace his intellectual
journey. Despite his achievements, al-Biruni remains a little known figure for Europeans.
This documentary aims at familiarizing the western audience with this savant.
Authors
Noemie Verdon is a doctoral student in oriental languages and cultures at the University of
Lausanne. She was able to study Al-Biruni very incisively through her knowledge of
Sanskrit and Arabic. Her doctoral thesis focuses more specif ically on the philosophy of
Indian that al-Biruni transcribed.
After completing a Master of Arts at the University of Lausanne, Vladimir Loncar has been
working for three years in audio-visual media. He partnered with ABBC Productions,
Zoovista SA, and Smala, among others.
Lausanne, December 2010
Vladimir Loncar & Noemie Verdon
SERABIBI MULTIMEDIA ARTISTS ASSOCIATION
Place du Tunnel 4
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland
– tel. 021 312 31 49 / 076 431 84 06 – – Place du Tunnel 4, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
Project Presentation
The green corresponds to the Ghaznevid Empire.
Our first objective is to follow the travel-route that one thousand years ago al-Biruni
used. This will allow to retrace the steps of the early Muslim invaders in Central Asia and
India. We will start in Uzbekistan, in the region of Khwarizm (Khat), situated near the river
Amu Darya, where he was born on the 4th September 973.
We mainly know about of al-Biruni's life through his accounts of his discoveries: for
instance, his observation of a lunar eclipse in Kath in 997 indicates his presence there.
Between 999 and 1000, al-Biruni wrote his first important book, The Chronology of
Ancient Nations in Gorgan, modern-day north-eastern Iran. Therefore, we will incorporate
in our documentary his staying there.
From 998 to 1030, Ma mud of Ghazna, the powerful sultan, established the Ghaznevid
reign durably in Central Asia, in present-day Afghanistan. In 1017 notably, Ma mud of
Ghazna conquered the region of Khwarizm and al-Biruni followed the sultan to Ghazna,
situated South of Kabul. Between 1019 and 1020, he spent some time in Kabul and in
Laghman, Northwest of Kabul. He was named official astronomer and astrologer at the
court of the Ghaznevid dynasty circa 1020.
From 1017 to 1030, al-Biruni accompanied some of the military campaigns of Ma m d
of Ghazna through Pakistan to India. The territories conquered by Ma mud of Ghazna in
present-day Pakistan included Peshawar, Sialkot, Multan and Lahore, where he placed a
governor establishing there the authority of the Ghaznevids. In India, he reached
Thaneswar in Haryana, Kanauj and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and Somnath, in Gujerat.
With this documentary film we will, on the field, look for the remains of the world alBiruni encountered at the beginning of the 11th c. CE, especially in Uzbekistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. We will explore the wonderful remains of his ancient
world, by rediscovering his paths, visiting museums and ruins.
We will be able to understand better the early meeting of civilisations, between Muslim
and Indian ancient societies, as well as the incredible rise of Muslim science and culture at
the very beginning of the 2nd millennium.
Al-Biruni is said to have written between 120 and 180 works of which some thirty only are available today: a
treatise on astronomy, astrology, geometry and arithmetic, a monograph on India, and a treatise on
mineralogy, among others. Al-Biruni calculated the circumference of the earth, latitudes and longitudes,
established that the speed of light is far greater than that of sound, and determined the specif ic gravity of 18
precious metals and stone. Apart from this, al-Biruni did not work in a vacuum: he was in contact with
numerous other scholars, such as the philosopher Ibn Sina (980-1030) also known under the name
Avicenna, and the Iranian poet Ferdowsi (973-1020). He corresponded heatedly with Ibn Sina about
philosophical issues. This correspondence exemplif ies a dynamism of scientif ic exchanges and contacts and
highlights his interests in various domains.