The Commemoration Volume of Birūni International Congress in Tehran [یادنامه بیرونی، مجموعه سخنرانی های فرانسه و انگلیسی]

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The Con11ne1norotio11 Vol11111e 01" Biruni lnlerncttionol Congress 111

Tehran

B. Eng lish and French Papers

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FortraH of Albin1nt

By·-: Ah Azm·gui 11

The Comn1emorotion Volume of

Biruni International Congress In Tehran

B .. English and French Papers

HIGH COUNCIL OF CULTURE AND ARl Centre for Research and Cultural Co-ordination

38

Tehran-Iran 1976

Table of contents AI- Birtlni, Sas oevres et ses Pensees.

z.

1-

"AL·· BIRUNI, The Founder of com parative Studies in Human Culture".

G. Morgenstieme.

2-

The Khwarazmian Historical Background of Biruni 'Life.

c. E. Bosworth.

11

8-

Alberuni and SOme Problems of Medieval Science.

A. Rahman

29

4-

COngres Al - Biruni 1978

J. Duchesne-Guillemin

87

6-

L1Sts of the Achaemenid Kings in Biruni and Barhebraeus.

Ehsan Yarshater.

46

6-

Al - Biruni et l'algebre.

Rashdi Rashed.

68

7-

Le Kitab al- Saydana

Fr. Georges Anawati,

76 99

Safa 1

d' Albiruni.

8-

B1runi and Rashid Al-Din,

J. A. Boyle.

9-

Al-Biruni on the Astrolabe

Laurence Paul Elwell Sutton 118

10- Aneient Iranian Festivals According to Al-Biruni

Jamshid Cawasji. Katrak.

129

11- Al-Biruni et sa oonnaissance de la philosophie grecque

'Abdurrahman Badaw1

168

12- Al-BIRUNI in Germany

Hans R. Roemer

181

l

13- Quelques "percees philosophiques" de Biruni : themes et methOde

Louis Gardet

14- Le Calendrier de l'Eglise Melchited' Antioche dans 1· Oeuvre d' Al-Biruny

Fouad Ephrem Boustany 211

15- Al-Biruni et les mouvements de la terre.

J. Vernet Gines

219

16- Painting of al-Atharu'l Baqiya in the Edinburgh Manuscript.

Hertha KirketerpMoller

236

17- Al Biruni et Ibn Sina se presentants d'une epoque et d'une culture

Ibrahim Madkour

247

1~ Al-birUni's Kitab

Hakim Mohammad Said

259

19- The Citations from 'Plato's Phaedo' in al-Biruni's 'Ta'rikh al-Hind'

J. N. Mattock

267

20- Christian Feasts in B1runi 's al-Qanun al-Mas udi

George A. Saliba

291

193

Al-Saydsnell

21- Some New Material Pertaining Ch. Burgel to the Quotations from Plato's Phaido in BirU.ni's Book on India, 22- Studies in: Risala Li-L-Biruni Fi FihriSt

Albert. Z. Iskandar,

366

379

2

Kutub Muhammad B. Zakariyya 'Al-Razi 23- Les dix questions posees par Abu Rayhan . al-Biruni a Ibn Sina et les reponses ·qu'il a recues de 1ui

Mubahat Turker-Kuyel. 396

.24- Transmission and FiguratiOn:An Aspect of the Islamic COntribution to Mathematics, Science and Natural Philosophy in the Latin West

John E. Murdoch

407

26- The Physical and the Mathematical in Ibn al-Haytham's Theory of Light and Vision

A. I. Sabra

439

26- Chrsitian Trinity in Al-Biruni and Ibn Rushd: scientific vs. philosophical MethOd

A.Bausani

479

27- La methOde historique chez Al-Biruny

Ali Chabbi

496

28- Ai-Birunl and Indian Astronomy

F. C. Auluck

613

3

29- on Some

Franz Rosenthals

686

M. Sagh1r Hasan Masumi

667

Epistemological and MethOdological presuppositions or al-B1rdn1 80- Al-Birtlni 's Devotion to the Quran

4

I

Al-Biruni Sn CJeUvra et • • Pea■eea

Prof. Dr. z. SAFA, Secretaire general du Congres mondial de Biruni

a. Prologue · Al-Biriioi, le c6l~bre savant iranien, est connu comme une des plus gran • des figures de l'ancien monde scientifique. Ses idees et conceptions originales, son habiletc dans l'exposc, son adresse dans la description, la vigueur de son temperament littcraire, l'ont mis au rang des grands wpenseurs du monde. On coostate dans sa personne un chercheur entrainc pendant toute sa lon-

guc vie derriere la soif de la verite, un investigateur qui n'a pas oublie d 'etendre ses regards dans chaque coin ou il soup~nait l'existence de quelque nouveaute scientifique, et enfin un savant qui nc menageait aucun effort pour connaitre les peuples, leurs savoirs, leurs moeurs et leurs coutu~es. 11 est digne des cloges des snvants contemporains qui regardent dans sa personne un genie du monde islamique. "Malgrc le recul des temps, dit le Baron Carra de Vaux, c'est une figure qui parait jeune encore de noi ',

jours; il se distingue et sc detache pour ainsi dire, de son epoque, pour se rapprocher de nous. La nature de son esprit, son processw, soot presque modemes; il est critique, aiguisc, penetrant, analyste passionnement curieux. Comme d'autres grands penseurs dont il cvoque de loin le rnuvenir, un . Leonard de Vinci, un Leibniz, Albirouni rcunit en lui les facultes les plus

II divcrses: philosophc, historicn, voyageur, linguistc, ~rudit ct poete, mathe. maticicn, astronomc, geographc ii a marque dans tous ces genres; mais c'cst surtout !'union intimc chez Iui du goOt philosphique ct de l'habitude d'cnvi!ager le cote mathematique des questions qui donnc son h t cac c oeuvre"(l) .

.1. A

son

Citons encore Aldo Mieli qui le considere comme "un veritable genie qui, bicn quc hautment apprecie aujourd'hui, ne l'cst pas encore au point que meritc sa grandeur"l 2). N'oublions pas de memc le fameux G. Sarton qui le connatt comm.e un des plus grands scicntistes de la civili!ation islamiquc, ct tout en comi • dcrant les domaincs de scs travaux, un des plus grands M:icntistes de tous les temps. (S) Nombrcux sont lcs 8ogcs ~is, mais, pour en finir, donnom la prio • rite a\ Eduard Sachau, le savant

a qui

nous dcvons beaucoup pour cc qui

est de la presentation ct de la reputation d'AI Biriini en Occident. C'est lui qui le presentc comine

UD

jugc tr~ severe cnven lui- memc, ainsi qu'envers

tout le monde. II attend, dit Sachau, la purcte de tow, parce qu'll les possede vtaiment. Chaque fois qu'il nc comprend pas une question, ou unc partie d'unc question, ii n'hesitc pas de s'e:itcuser de son ignorance. Meme

a l'dgc de 50 ans

ii promet de poursuivrc ses efforts clans lcs domaines des

sciences et de redigcr clans un temps convenable le resultat de ses recherches; ainsi ii se croit responsable cnvcrs tout le monde pour n'avoir pu cxpliquer la veritel(4).

t. Les Penseurs de l'Islam, tome dcuximie, Paria 1921, p. 75-76. 2, La science arabc, Leiden 1939, p. 99.

3. G. Sarton, "An Introduction to the History of Science," Vol. I, Baltimore, 1927, p. i07.

4. E. Sachau, Alb!runi's India, London, Vol. I, 1910, introduction, p. XX.

III

b. Nom et titres: Son nom cat d'apres les textes arabes, Abu al - Ray};ian Mul;iammad ibn Al;imad al - Bayriini al -Khwarizmi. Pour Jes pcrsans, il est connu sous le nom d'Abii Ray}.ian-e- Birfmi ou simplement Abu Ray}.ian( 1), surnomme "Maitre". II "a etc connu dans le moyen Age occidental, ou son nom est devenu populaire sous la forme un peu alterce de Maitre Aliboron''l 2). "Abu al- Ray}.J.An" est une sorte de titre, connu, en arabe, sous l'appellation de "konyah", et AI- Bayriini n'est qu'une sorte de prononciation propre de la Iangue arabe pour le mot persan "Biriini" qui dans quelques dialectes. Iraniens se prononce Beriini, c'est

a dire

"au dehors de ...• ". Dans

l'ancien Khwarazm (aujourd'hui Khiveh) ceux qui vivaient en dehors de la ville ou aux environs et dans Jes villages, etaient surnommes "Biriini". L'habitude de partager Jes villes en deux parties interieure et exterieure ~tait en vogue dans tout le Plateau; comme exemple, la ville de Ray (au aud de T~httan) ~tait divi~e en deux parties distinctes: int~rieure (dariini) et ext~rieure (biriini)( 1 ).

1. S'adreuer aux sources suivantca, sur !'ensemble dca titres mentionm!s dans le texte:

Yaqat de Ham.Ah: Mu'djam al-Odaba, le Caire, Vol. 17, p. 180; Nizami-e-

'Arac;U: Tchahir-Maqllla, Leiden 1910, p. 54; Abil'l Fa41 Bayhaq1: l'Histoire, Mashhad 1971, p. 907, 909, 91.1; Ibn Abi Opybi'ah: 'Oyan al-Anba', Beyrouth, 1965 p. 459; AlBayhaqi: Tatemmah, Lahore, 1351 a.h. p. 62. 2. Baron Carra de Vaux, Jes Penseura de l'Islam, tome dcwrione, Paris 1921, p. 76. S. Al-Bladhuri: Fo~ al-Boldin, le Caire 1932, p. 315.

IV Anjourd'hui m~mc, Jes agglomerations qui cnvironncnt un centre urbain s'appcllcnt, en pcnan, "biriin- c- shahr" (cxtericur de la ville ou banlicuc). Les savants arabisants qui

DC

conccvaicnt point le mot "Biriini",

le traduisircnt par divcn accents. Scul Al-Sam'ani dans son livrc Al-Ansib, a bicn pronond ct traduit cc mot en l ' c ~ n t irinsi:

Al-Biriini est unc analogic pour le mot "dchors" de khwarazm, ct l'on attribuc

a cdui qui n'cst point

de la ville, c.a.d. qui est hon de la

ville. Ccttc pcnonnc s'appcllc anbidjak(2) dans lcur languc, ci est connu sous cc titre Abi-Rayban, l'Astronomc, Al-Blriini." Le lieu de naissancc de Biriini, s'appclait Khwarazm (khorasmic des Grccs, Khowarizm des tcxtcs arabcs ct Khivch d'aujourd'hui). C'cst unc region deltaiquc ct fertile en aval d'Amii-darya, situec au sud d'un lac, qui dans le temps portait le mbnc nom (Aral d'aujourd'hui). C'cst un tcrritoirc connu dans lea temps ancicns par lea geographcs ct lcs annalistcs. II dcvait avoir des l'antiquite, quclquc importance politiquc ct culturcllc, il cause de sa situation economiquc, clans la rc5gion de l'Asic ccntralc. C'cst ccttc contrec qui est connuc, d'apres Marquart, ct par conse1- "Kitab-al-Ansab"

of Abd Al-Karim ibn Mui}ammad AI-Sam'lnl (Leiden,

1921) p. 99. 2. "Anbidjak" cat un mot Khwll.razmien ~uivalant d'"avijak" c.A.d. impur, dam lea textea pahlaviqUCI (ou le "persan moyen"), 3. Le nom iranien, "Khwll.razm" a'«rit par lea Orientaliate■ d'apm lea arabea Khwll.rizm.

Dan■ cette

eaaai j'ai employ~ la prononeiation originalc.

V

qucnt par la plupart des avcstalogucs, commc le plus ancicn bcrccau de la race "Arya", c.a.d. "Airyanem-Vaedjaw" de l'Avcsta(1). D'apres maintes allusions des historicns grccsC'), cc tcrritoire formait unc satrapic Achemenidc avcc la Parthic ct Sogdiane, ou parfois sculc. En considerant quc les Achemenids accordaient a chaquc contrec unc sorte d'autonomic, on pcut conclurc quc Khwarazm rejouissait pendant toutc la durec de l'cmpirc Pcrsc d'un pouvoir autochton et d'un gouvcmcmcnt local. Par la on pcut comprendre Flavius Arricn (le livre IV, 15, 4 - 5) quand il nous raconte la rencontrc d'Alcxandrc ct Pharasmancs, le roi de Khorasmic, A Bactric. Nous nc possedons prcsque aucun renscigncmcnt sur l'etat social ct politiquc de Khwlirazm avant la domination arabc en 712 J.C. Pcut ~trc lcs notes et lcs explications du fameux livre d'Al-A.thar, al-Baqiah d'Al-Biriini, dont nous parlerons plus loin, nous sont lea meillcurcs references pour l'etudc de ce qui conccme ccttc periodc peu connue. D'apres lcs allusions faitcs par Ptolemec (Claude), le grand savant du 2eme sieclc, ct par lcs evocations des touristes ct voyageurs chinois(2 ) nous pouvons conclure quc dans l'antiquite1 lcs habitants de Khwlirazm vivaicnt sur lcs deux rives de delta d'Amii -daryli, c.a.d. dam la con tree oricntalc, qui desormais fut nomme la ville klith (lcs ruincs de Shaikh 'Abbas Vali) ainsi quc sur lcs cotes occidcntalcs de delta ou sc situait pendant la periodc islamiquc la celebrc ville Gorgandj quc lcs musulmans appclerent "Djurdjanyah", aujourd'hui Urgandj. Ccs dcux grandcs villcs, pcrtdant toutc la periodc d' Al -Biriini. (X. emc ct XI emc sieclc) etaicnt le siege des gouvcmcmcnts

OU

le theAtrc des evencmcnts de KhwArazm.

D'apres Biriini "'imarat" c.a.d. la construction de Khwarazm date de 1. A voir, l'Encyclop6die de l'hlam, art. Khwarizm, par W.Barthold.

2, Voir article Khwirizm, Encyclopl!die de l'Islam, tome II.

VI 980 avant l'~re Scleuqide(l). (Soulignons ici que l'~re S~eucide commence en 312 avant J.C.). De la, la construction de Khwirazm devait etre commcncec en 1292 avant J.C., et la construction de "Fir" c'est a dire la fortercsse de la ville Kath, d'apres Biriini, apparticnt aux descendants de Kai Khosrow, le roi de l'Iran et, d'apr~ d'autrcs historicns, on l'attribue a 616 apres Alexandre (304 J.C.). Done, la ville Kith, en dehors de laquclle

Abu Rayban naquit, commen~a sa vie, _vers le debut du IV eme siecle. D'apr~ les indications et les rcnseigncmcntsdc Biriini, on conclut quc Qutaybab, le commandant arabe, apres la conquete de Kbwarazm, fut oblige de renouvcler son expedition contrc Khwarazm a la suite des revoltcs contre lcs arabes; il cbassa la dynastic rcgnante en la rcmplac;ant par une autre dynastic r6gionale connue sous le titre de Shahiyah. C'est apres cette dcuxieme expedition qu'il imposa l'ere d'Hcgire, qui correspond a 622 J.C.(2), et le calcndrier arabc, a la place de l'erc Khwirazmidc. C'cst a partir de cette date que d'apr~ Al- Biriini, la nouvelle dynastic a pris le pouvoir clans ses mains, sous le titre de Khwarazmshah. C'cst d'aillcurs cettc dynastic qui s'appelle quelquefois cbez les auteurs pcrsans ct arabes la Famillc 'Iraq, et c'est cctte meme famille qui s'installa dans la ville Kath. Dans cctte lignce on rencontre un grand matbcmaticicn au nom de "Abu NaF Ma~iir'' maitre ct protecteur d'Abii Rayl;i.an pendant sa jeuncasc, dont nous parlerons plus loin. Cette dynastic comptait parmi lcs tributaires des Samanids qui occupaicnt de 874 a 999 J.C. lcs tcrritoircs de Transoxiane, l'ancien Khorissan, jusqu'aux limitcs de Ray (Raga, au sud de Tcheran) et la contrce de Kirman d'aujourd'hui (au sud-est de l'Iran). Lcur lignce se rattachait a la bourgeoisie agraire de Khorassan ct lcur consanguinitc rcmontait a Bahram 1. Al-Athii.r al-Bii.qiah, ~dition d'E. Sachau, Leipzig 1923, p. 35. 2. Al-Athii.r al-Bii.qiah, p. 36.

VII Tchiibin, le celebrc commandant ct conquerant de Ja fin du VI emc ct le commencement de VII emc sieclc de l'erc chreticnnc( 1). La dynastic Shahiyah, qui nous intercase a cause de son lien avcc Biriini, regnait jusqu'cn 385 d'Hegirc (995 J.C.) a Kith, ct lcur chute coincide, a 4 annecs de difference, avcc ccllc des Saminids. Bien des annees avant ccttc chute, unc autrc dynastic habitant Gorgindj (Urgandj) profita des evencmcnts politiqucs, rcfusa la domination de l'ancicnnc dynastic, ccssa d'~trc sous la soumission locale ct brisa sa relation avcc lcs Shihiyahs (Vera l'an 922 J.C.). Sous le regnc de Ma'miin ibn Mubammad qui excr~ait sa domination sur Gorgandj, le dcmier roi de Kath, c.a.d. Khwarazmshah Abu 'Abdcllah, qu' Abu Rayl;ian nomma "Shahid" (martyr), fut tue en l'cn 995 J.C., ct toutc la contrec de K.hwarazm fut sous la domination de la famillc Ma'munidc. Nous vcrrons plus loin qu'Abu-Ray.l,lan avait etc nomme pendant 7 annees commc consultant de l'Etat sous le regne du dcrnicr Ma'munid, le

Khwirazmshih Abii'l'Abbas Ma'miin. Ccttc dynastic rcbdlc qui put vaincrc le royaumc Khwirazm, nc dura quc jusqu'a l'an 408 d'Hegirc (1017 J.C.) apres lcqucl la contrec rcsta sous la domination du Sultan Ghaznavid Mal}.miid fils de Sabuktakinc. Ccttc dcrnierc dynastic etait parmi les serfs turcs des Siminids, qui, en 962 s'organisa a Ghaznah, ct avcc les expeditions de Sabuktakinc ct son fils Malpniid, soumit unc grandc partic de Sind, Sistan (Drangiana), K.horassin ct Ray. ct crea

Wl

nouvd Empire qui perdit tres rapidement toute les con -

trees iranicnncs d'aujour'hui ainsi quc Khwirazm, a cause de l'invasion des Saljiiqids (1040 J.C.). C'cst apra cct evenemcnt quc Khwirazm dut passer sous le regnc des Saljiiqids, ainsi qu'unc autrc dynastic, d'originc turquc, nommec toujours Khwirazmshihide, jusqu'a la grandc invasion des Mongols, 1. Al-Athlr al-blqiah, p. 39.

VIII qui aboutit au ravage et a la destruction terrible de Gorgandj en 1221J.C. On n'a point besion de chercher a connaitre la lignee des anciens Khwarazmiens avant leur relation avec d'autres races des la fin du 13e J

-

·-

.

..

J

siecle. Abii-Raytian nous les a decrits. n1..r".J:.,ill_L,..J.)~ ~ • c.a.d. une branche de l'arbre corpulent de la race iranienne( 1).

W. Barthold, l'illustre orient;\liste et un veritable expert de l'histoire de la civilisation des peuples de l'Asie centrale, nous decrit plus clairemcnt(ll): "Les renseignements que Biriini donne sur le calendrier et les fetes des Khwarizmiens montrent qu'une tres ancienne culture iranienne s'itait conservee au Khwarizm jusqu'au VIII eme siecle et chez les zoroastriens jusqu'au XI eme siecle apres J.C.; ce:: zoroastriens n'etaient plus alors (on sait que la Chronologie fut composee en 1000 J.C.) que des fidMes peu zelcs pour leur foi et ne possedaient plus que quelque connaissance des usages extirieurs de leur religion". De plus, c'est un autre grand savant qui se dresse pour refuter les pretentions existantes sur la lignee du Maitre en disant:(!!) "Donnons encore quelque1 precisions sur la vie d'Al~Biriini. Bien que les turcs en veuillent faire actuellement un turc(•), i1 se reconnait (prologue

I. AI-Athar al-baqiah, p. 47. 2. Encyclop6lie de l'Islam, art. Khwlirizm par

w.

Barthold.

3. Aldo Mieli, la science arabe, Leiden 1939, p. 99, 4. De m~me Mr. Aldo Mieli, dans son livre, page 76, nous signale: "On affirme d'ailleurs, et 'la chose est juste en principe, que la partie principale de la science arabe d'orient, est une creation de la Perse; qu'appartiennent

Jes

plus

sans

beaux noms,

contestation possible,

en effet, c'est l

elle

ceux des savants Jes plus grands, comme par

exemple ceux d'un Al Razi, d'un Ibn-Sinl, d'un Al Bir11ni". II nous signale ainsi (page 78) que la plupart des peuples islamiques ont essaye de s'approprier des titres iraniens:

-+

IX A la Pharmacopec, chap. 4) du point de vuc de la languc comme un Khwarizmicn, c'est A dire usant d'un dialcctc iraniquc

tres

barbarc ct prcsquc

incomprehensible; il doit ainsi ~trc rcconnu commc un iranicn, cc qui correspond aussi A son sentiment". Hcurcuscmcnt nous avons unc documentation indiscutablc et complete,

ainai quc _des recherches, cfficaccs dans le cadre linguistiquc de l'Iran sur la languc Khwarazmicnnc(l). Abii

RaY:biin est le plus ancien ~crivain, quc nous fournit des rcnsc -

igncmcnts p~cicux sur la languc de Khwarazm en nous donnant beau coup d'cxcmplcs sur les mots, les noms des jours, des mois ct des fetca Khwii• razmicnne jusqu'A scs jours, dans son famcux livrc Al-Athar al- baqiah; ct d'aillcurs, c'cst le Maitrc, lui-memc qui nous signalc dans le chap. 4 de son livrc intituM "Al- $aydanah" (Pharmacologic), quc la languc indigenc de Khwarazmc est sa proprc languc materncllc. (2). "Le Dr. Suhely Unver, Professeur d'Histoire de la MMecine l l'Univcrsit~ d'Istanbul, a soutenu (voir le num~ro de Novembre 1934 de la Ciba Zeitschrift, Basel) que ces grands savants iraniens et d'autres encore, ne sont que des turcs. 11 n'est pas n~essaire de refuser des affirmations qui n'ont pour base qu'un nationalisme 6tag&~ ... "

-+-

1. Zabiollah Safa, A History of Iranien Literature, vol, I, 6th Edition, Tehran 1969, p. 142-144. W.B. Henning, Bibliography of important Studies on old lranien Subjects, Tehran 1950, p. 35. 2. Voir pour Jes rcnseignements langue de Khwirazm jusqu'l 13~ siecle:

plus d~tailles sur la g~graphie, l'histoire et la

Al Khwarizmi, Das Kitab ~llrat Al-ArQ des Abu Ca'far Mul).ammad ibn MllSl AlKhwarizmi, ~dition de Hans von Mzik, Wien, 1926, p. 80-81 et 145-147,. ~hrib: Das Kitab 'AAA'ib AI-Akalim As-Sab'a, Mition de Hans von Mzik, Wien, 1929, difl'&ents passages. · AI-I,takhri: Masllik al-mamilik, 269-305.

Mition

lbn Khordadhbeh: Kitab al Masililr: Leiden 1889, plusieun passages.

wa'I

de

M.J. de Goeje, Leiden 1927, p,

Mamllik, ~dition de M.J. de Goeje,

-

Ibn AI-Faqih: Kitab al Boldin, Mition de M.J. de Goeje, Leiden 1906, plusieun passages,

X -

Ibn 1;1auqal: $urat al,Arc;l, ~dition de J.H. Kramers, Leiden 1938, p. 477-482, Nizli.mi-e-'Aruc;li: Chahar MaqAla, Leiden, 1910, p. 76-80, 193-197, 241-244. Al-Moqaddassi: AJ.isan al-Taqasim, Mition M.J. de Goeje, Leiden 1906, p. 284289. Jli.cut's Geographisches Worterbuch, (Mu'djam al-boldan), ~dition de Wustenfeld, Leipzig 1873, le mot (Khwarizm). Mol.iammad ibn Mal.imud de Tils: Ajli.'ib al-Makhl0cjli.t, ~ition de M. Sottoodeh, T~heran, 1966, plusieu~ pages. W. Barthold, Article Khwarizm, Encyclop~ie de l'Islam, Tome II. Turkestan, t. II, St. Petersbourg, 1900 p. 141, Sqq., 289 Sqq., 345 Sqq. P. Lerch, Khiwa oder Kharezm, St. Petersbourg 1873. M.J, de Goeje, Das alte Bett des Oxus, Leiden 1875. K.A. lnostrance, 0 do-musalmanskoi Kulture Khwiniskago Orzisa (Zurn. Minist. Nar Prosv, 1911 fevr,) p, 284 Sqq. Zabihollah Safa: A Histoey of Iranian Litterature of the Islamic Era, vol. I, 6th Edition, Tehran 1969, p. 208; and vol II, 5th Edition, Tehran, 1972, p. 29 Sqq. A. Zeki Validi

and

W.B.

Henning,

Uber die Sprache der Chvarezmier=Der

vmte Deutsche Orientalistentag zu Boon 1936. Part of Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Ge,ellschaft 1936. S.L. Volin, Noviy Istocnik dlya izuceniya xorezmiyskogo Yazika-Zap. Inst. Vostok, Ak. Nauk, vol. VII, 79-91. A.F. Freyman, Xorezmiyskiy Yazik-ibidem, 306-319, A. Zeki Validi Toghan, IIII, fasc. 2.

Hwaresmischc

Satze

in

einem Arabi,hen Figh-Werke,

XI

c. Milieu Intellectuel de Biruni Paasons en revue le "Milieu intdlectud et m~ditatif" de Khwarazm

a l'l~poque de la naissance d'Abu- Ray~in, La civilisation ct Jes sciences etaicnt a lcur apogee aux X cmc ct XI emc sicclc de C.J. dans toutcs lcs contrecs de l'Iran, ct de me.me, dam la Transoxianc ct Khwarazm. Ccttc exaltation coincide avec !'apparition dc:i grands hommcs de science des pays islamiqucs, En cffet, c'cst

a

a I'Est

ccttc epoquc quc lea centres d'etudcs

scicntifiqucs ct rationndlcs de la civilisation islamiquc s'y installercnt. Dans toutc la Transoxiane ct Khwirazm, commc clans les departcmcnts de Samarkand, Bukhara, Kath ct Gorgandj, des ecoJcs, des bibliothequc:i, des heipitaux, des centres scicntifiqucs sc multipliercnt, ( 1) ct Jes savants y etaicnt en s1:lrcte.

Par bonhcur, lcs rois ou ]es gouvcrncurs locaux de l'lran ~taient de vrais partisans c1: adcptcs des savants ou quclqucfois, cuxm~mcs sc rangcaient parmi lcs savants de lcur temps commc le cclebrc Emir Ziarid Qibus, le grand roi Samanid Nul;l, l'illwtrc Emir ~affarid Khalaf etc. A l'epoquc de la jcuncsse d'Abu Ray~an, ct pendant science

etait en vogue ct battait son plcin a Khwarazm.

SCI

M@mc

etudes, la

a l'approchc

1. Nous n'avons ni auez dc place ni aucz de tempt pour parler de taus lea cen-

t.res scientifiquet cu de, savant.I de cette tpoque. Neanmoin,, citons pour reference: l'Hi1toiR des aciencc1 rationndle, de la civilisation islamiquc (ttoWanc edit. Teheran, 1966, p. 151-155) par Dr.

z.

Safa; l'HistoiR de la litllraturc en Iran par le meme auteur dont

dana le lcr ct lc 2e volumes, lea centres scicntifiquc1, la biblioth~ucs et !es scicnilitea de la memc periodc y sent mcntionnes.

XII de la decadence de la lignee "Shahiyah", sumommce •Iraq, !es savants etaient fort respectcs. Citons parmi eux, Abii Rayl}.an et le prince de cette lignee, Abii Na~r Man~iir qui comptait parmi !es plus illustres mathematiciens de la civilisation islamique. Abii Rayl;ian, clans ses reuvres, l'a plusieurs fois commemorc sous le •I

-

titre~..,...1_!-" I

:J_J c'est a dire

"Ami favori du Khalif de !'Islam". Ce

titre etait offert ordinairement par !es Khalifs aux grands princes infl.uents de la localite des provinces de !'Empire Islamique. Abii Na~r composa douze epitres sur !es mathematiques pour son disciple Biriini et

a son

nom, ( 1) clans lesquelles on peut croire qu'il repondit a

ses questions posees. En plus de ces douze epitres, trois autres essais sur !es mathematiques composent la collection des epitres d'Abu N~r dediees

a

Biriini( 2). II a traite neuf autres epitres qui ne soot pas encore publices(3). Quand le pouvoir de Khwarazm passa au ma'munids, !'importance du centre scientifique de Khwarazm fut augmentee, car cette epoque coincide avec la decadence des Samanids; tandis que Khwarazm gardait encore son pouvoir, et la plupart des savants qui passaient auparavant (capital des Samanid.s) preferaient se ressembler

a

a Bukhara

Gorgandj, le nouveau

capital de Khwarazm. De meme le chancelier de Khwiirazm etait un savant nommc Abu· I-Hossain al-Sohayli qui jusqu'en 404 d'Hegire (1013 J.C.) garda son titre. Sa presence

a la

cour des Khwarazmshahs, augmentait de

plus la ertoirc des ouvragcs de Mui}.. b, Zakaryi alRlzi, p, 3-4.

3, Le Profcsseur Helmi Ziya Ulken a fait unc traduction de cc rccucil en fran~ais ct l'a publi6 avec le texte arabe dans lcs Opusculcs d'lbn-Sina, Istanbul 1953, intro., p. 4-21.

XXXV La cause principalc de }'importance et de la distinction de Biriini est dans son sys~mc de mediation mathematiquc, sa sympathic pour }'observation dans lcs probl~mcs des sciences naturcllcs, ainsi quc sa conviction dans lcs rbultats obtcnus par le raisonnemcnt ct l'cxpericncc. Commc Razo, il n'hcsitc pas a doutcr sur lcs opinions de scs predeccsscurs pour lcs reaffirmcr de nouveau ou lcs refuter finalcmcnt; ct c'cst quand les recherches, lcs observations, les resultats des experiences, les affirmations ct lcs refutations, sc rasscmbl~rcnt dans son esprit, qu'ils se traduisirent a nous presenter l'hommc genial avec tant d'initiativcs et d'innovations ct des diff~cntes nouvcllcs scicntifiqucs quc nous avons passes en revue. Connaitrc un hommc, erudit actif, qui sc pr~ccupc par son genie proprc am rcchrchcs, aux meditations des sujets, aux decouvertes et a la redaction pcrmancntc des ceuvres, n'cst point un aimplc probl~c a relater en quclqucs lignca ou a decrirc dans un aper~ general. C'est pourquoi jusqu'a cc jour, on n'cst point parvenu a decrirc cc genie ahurissant, etonnant et fantastiquc qui nous restc encore inconnu, m~mc par les etudcs des quclqucs savants Europecns ou Asiatiqucs,

G. Morgenstierne. Oslo. Norway. Professor. Morgenstierne, read his paper at 8:30 A.M. Monday Sept. 17th. 197 3.

"AL-BIRUNI, The Founder Of Comparative Studies in Human Culture.. I have no intention of inflicting upon you a lecture on Albiruni 's personality or his marvelleusly extensive and diverse work. I possess no qualifications for doing so, and the eminent specialists assembled here will be treating all aspects of his various activities to you. My aim is simply to draw attention to one single point, no doubt known to you, but still, in my opinion, worthy of being specially emphasized on this occasion. Al biruni was eminent in nearly all b-ranches of natural science cult1.vated at his time: mathematics, astronomy. chronology and so on, beside expressing surprisingly modern ideas on a subject like geology, to judge by a note in his "India" on the origin of the alluvial plains of Northern India. His books on the history [of Khwarezm and of the Karmatian sect] have been

1

lost to us, but extracts from them -show that they must have been remarkable contributions to historical research. But in none of these branches of science and learning does Albiruni stand forth as a real innovator. Mathematics, astronomy, history etc. had been studied tor thousands or years before his time. In one field, however, we are fully entitled to can him a pioneer, an explorer of hitherto untrodden paths. He was the first man known to us to have seriously taken up the Comparative Study of Human Culture. This struck me as a rather marvellous thing about him when I first read, in my early youth, his book on India, I hope you will excuse me if I quote here the homage offered by the Latin poet Lucretius to his revered master, the Greek philosopher Epicurus, which I wrote in 1915 on the fly-leaf of Sachau's translation: E tenebris tan tis tam cl arum extollere 1umen qui primus potuist1 ... Tu.pater, es rerum inventor ... Thou who first wast able to shed l1ght over such darkness ... Thou, O Father, art the original explorer/pioneer/ of these subjects. In a certain, embryonic stage of development a comparative Study of Human Culture may be said to have existed even in the earliest and most primitive societies. Some knowledge about one's neighbours, friends

2

or enemies, was essential for the survival of one's own tribe. And everybody enjoyed hearing tall tales about the curious customs of other peoples and comparing them with the sensible and rational behaviour of one's own society. This common human curiosity can develop Quite far without resulting in anything amounting to an independent branch of systematic research. Herodotu's curiosity and the interest he took in mankind in all its varieties led him to enqliire into the customs llnd beliefs of e.g. the Egyptians, whose ancient civilization he highly admired, and of numerous other peoples. After him Poseidonius and otl)er Greeks went further in what we may call ethnographic studies of various peoples and t.ri bes. Among early Islamic writers we may mention Ibn Fazlan who has left us a most interesting account of the weird and gruesome burial customs of a Viking chiftain on the Volga. It reads very much like a Victorian age missionary's description of human sacrifices, say in Dahomey. and gives us, the not too remote descendants of those Vikings, a perhaps salutary shudder. But the highly civilized Ibn Fazlan does not dream · of making any comparison between his own culture and that of the northern barbarians. Many other . excellent Moslem descriptions of foreign lands and civilizations could be mentioned. And the Chinese took an interest in the peoples borp.ering upon their Empire, not only for political and military reasons. Chinese travellers have also left US· charming and intimate pictures of everyday life,

3

e.g. in Cambogia. Only the Brahmins of India considered all peoples outside the pale of Hinduism to be barbarous "mlecchas" and were, except in a few very special cases, completely uninterested in their customs and cultures. But all of what has been mentioned here does not amount to any real "COmparati ve Studies". Nor do such studies by necessity arise out of the learning of foreign languages. Even when it was carried much further than necessary for everyday, practical purposes did such points of view not emerge. Babylonians and Assyrians applied themselves with great energy to the study of Sumerian language and literature. But they were driven by the conviction that their own culture was ha.red upon that ofthe Sumerians. In a similar manner Romans went in for learning Greek and reading Greek 11terature. Persians and other Moslems studied Arabic; Tamils, Chinese and Tibetans Sanskrit; Japanese, Koreans and Annamese Chinese; Mongols Tibetan; the Christian peoples of western Europe Latin, and so on. In every case such often very profound studies were based on the assumption that the language and 11terature in question was basic and classical to them, in a religious or in a general cultural sense. Thus the Buddhists had to retain contact, direct or indirect, with the holy texts written in Sansk:ri t or Pali. Likewise Moslems were dependent on the Arabic Koran, Christians on the languages of the Bible, Romans on the masterpieces of Greek 11terature, and so on. Also Moslems, in early Islamic times, studied Greek, not as a "sacred" language, but as one which 4

opened access for them to great treasures of phil0sophica1 literature which had to be put at the disposal of theil' eo-religionists for f ertiliZ1ng and developing their common civilization. Even Sanskrit books had been studied and translated into Arabic before the time of Albiruni-But these were works on meciioine, mathematics and astronomy, considered to be of practical usefulness. The tranSlators were by no means driven by an innate curiosity and desire for understanding a foreign Civilization and its way of thinking. Albiruni's aim and intention in taking up the arduous t9.sk of learning Sanskrit without the assistance of the grammars and dictionaries which are at our disposal - and of penetrating deeply into Indian philosophy-espeeially Sankhya and Yoga-and SCiences, was of a fundamentally different nature. This does not mean to say that he was not interested in Indian mathematics etc. ,,,, 1,. But his main aim was not the profit - material or scientific-which he could get out of his Sanscr:1.tic learning. Being a true, believing, pious Moslem, Albiruni is fully convinced of "the innate perv8l'Sity of the Hindu nature" and thinks that his investigation into Hindu beliefs are like "searching for pearls in a dunghill", But however pious, he does not utilize the numerous oocasions open to him for altogether condemning the Indians_ He rather tries to understand, He constantly distinguishes between the beliefs or "educated Hindus" in "one, eternal. almighty, allwiSe God" and

5

the corrupt and rudely anthropomorphic creeds of the vulgar masses- And he reminds his readers that even in Islam we find opinions of which we must disaPprove. According to Albiruni already Al-Iranshahri ("who did not believe in any of the existing religions, but was the sole believer in a religion invented by himself")-had given a good account of the Jewish Thora and the Christian Gospel, as well as of the Manichaean and other obsolete religions. But when he tried to speak of the Hindus and Buddhists his knowledge failed him, and "his arrow missed its mark". It was his master Abu Sahl at-Tiflisi who incited Albiruni to wrtte down what he knew about the Hindus "as a help to those who want to discuss religious problems with them".And in order to please him Albiruni did so,"never making any unfounded imputations against the Hindus, although they are our religious antagonists". But Albiruni's ambition went further, and his personal ideas about his work are most clearly expressed when he writes: "I like to confront the theories of one nation with those of another 'simply on account of their close relationship, not in order to correct them". "The mutual assistence of civilized people presupposes a certain difference among them, in consequence of which the one requires the other. According to this prineiple God has created the world as containing many differences in itself." Basing himself upon such truly tolerant principles Albiruni can truthfully state that his book is not a polemical one. It is "a simple record of facts.and I shall

6

try to show the relationship between the theories of the Hindus and those of the Greeks, etc." Albiruni 's throughout tolerant and comparative outlook does not prevent him from criticizing what he calls the "hideous fiction and superstitions of the Hindus." But he repeatedly stresses that the idol-worship among:the common people is largely due to the fact that the lower castes are not allowed to occupy themselves with the sciences, and that the Vedas are closed books to them. And on the other hand he also makes every effart to excuse the mistakes made by Hindu astronomers and other learned men. In some cases, he writes, the manuscripts of their books may have been corrupted, and he makes an attempt to reconstruct what he assumes to have been the astronomer Brahmagupta's "real thought". In one case he says that Brahmagupta must be writing against his better knowledge, just to mock the ignorants I And referring to the fantastic number of years attributed to the Kolpa1, 'world ages' of Hindu cosmology, Al biruni most obligingly suggests that "these terms must rather be considered as a philosophical means of conveying an abstract notion of time, than as exact mathematical values." Throughout his book he gives the impression of being a man of good will, examining his sources with a critical, unbiased mind, but always inclined to accept the most favourable interpretation possible, even of the more abstruse notions presented to him. 7

It is not my intention here to analyse his description of Hindu philosophy, science and customs. But he was at any rate VflrY well v8l'S8d in these subjects. And it would certainly be worth while to take up anew, and more thoroughly than it was possible for Sachau several generations ago, the question of how well he has understood and interpreted his Indian sources. It may, however, easily be my fault if I am not abreast with modern research in this field. Let me just mention one small, but rather significant point. Quite recently an American social anthropologist engaged in field - studies on the village festivals of N. W. India, writes that his best aneient source for an account of them is to be found in Albiruni's "India". I may also add that our only early source for the NW-most of all Ind0-Aryan languages, the completely unwritten Pashai, spoken in Afghanistan East and Northeast of Kabul is to be found in a few numerals quoted by Al biruni. It was no easy task which Albiruni shouldered when he tried to master the Sanskrit language, so different in itsstructure from Arabic, and to acquire an insight into the Hindu world of ideas. '1 have found it very harcf' he wrt tes "to work my way into my subject, although I have a great liking for it, in which I stand quite alone in my times." Not till the days of Akbar were somewhat similar efforts being made by Moslems to penetrate into Hindu civilization, but no work it known to me which

8

has the same wide and comparative outlook. But it was no accident that the founder of Comparative Studies was an Irenic scholar active at the zenith of Islamic learning and science. Only in these surroundings - geographical and ideological-was such an achievement possible in those days. An attitude of openmindedness and tolerance was also to be found in Islamic Spain. But Spain was too remote from India to become the birthplace of studies embracing also Hinduism. The Christian world of those days, as well as India were excluded, and in China only the Buddhists took a sufficiently deep~interest in foreign civilization, and in any case it was centred on India as being the home-land of their religion. Only in Eastern Iran was it possible for a geni1..s like Al biruni to combine a knowleoge of so many cultural traditions, and standing on a high observation tower. to survey a wide horizon in every dj rection except that of the Far East, and to lay the first:foundations of a branch of humanistic research not to be taken up again till many centuries later in the West.

9

C. E. Bosworth, Professor of Manchester University. ENG LAND. Prof- Bosworth, read his paper at 9:J0 A- M. on MondaySept-17th 1973

THE KHWARAZ.MIAN HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO BIRUNI'S LIFE

The lowlands of the Oxus and Jaxartes, a "Mesopotamia" like that of the Euphrates and Tigris in Iraq, present to us the geographical phenomenon of a flat, well-watered region surrounded by deserts, a phenomenon not uncommon in the Old World. We would expect such a naturally - favoured region to be an early centre of agriculture and civilisation, in which a comparatively advanced degree of political organisation evolved- The topography and the economic potentialities of the region should have favoured the development there of what the American sinologist Karl Wittfogel has called an "hydraulic civilisation", in which irrigation techniques are advanced and there is a considerable degree of political centralisation

11

and state direction of irrigation and agricultural operations. Our information about the region of Khwarazm is, alas, infinitely sparser than that for Ancient Egypt or Mesopotam1a, and a fair amount of what we do know from literary sources comes from BirUni himself, with his enquiring mind and his interest in the history and antiquities of his homeland. The information of BirO.ni and the classical Greek authors who mention Chorasmia takes us back towards the end of the second millenium B.C., although the evidence uncovered ·oy Soviet archaeologists clearly carries us back much further than this. The name "Khwarazm" has evoked much speculation. A folk-etymology given by the Arab geographer Yaqut in his article on Khwarazm in the Mu'iam al-buldan interprets it as relating to two of the outstanding features of the province, the food gained for the Khwarazmians from the land around the Oxus and its channels. sc. the fish. and the trees and bushes which probably covered some at least of the region in early times and supplied fuel for cooking; hence, he says, khwa,-=-"flesh" (lahm), and ,-.z.m= "firewood" (hatab). Outside the realm of fancy, an obvious meaning for the name might well be "lowlands", if the-zmi-element of the Achaemenid name for Khwarazm, Huwarazmi~. reflects New Persian and Middle Persian zamin "land'' and the first element New Persian khwa,- "low, abject." Another suggestion has connected the first element with khu,-shid "sun" and has explained it as"land of the [rising] sun", reflecting Khwarazm's position on the northeastern periphery of the Iranian heartla-

12

nds; and a further interpretation has been "fruitful land", linking the first element with New Persian khw11,dan "to eat". Tolstov has even explained. it as "the land of the people Khwarri or Kharri", connecting these with the Hurrians who founded the Mitanni kingdom in northeastern Mesopotamia and the Lake Van region in the middle of the second millenium B.C. presumably positing a migration of the proto-Hurrians westwards from Central Asia. Whether Khwarazm is to be identified with the Ai,yanem f)aego "Aryan range" of the Avesta, sc. with the homeland of the old Iranian sacred books, as has been maintained. for over a century, is unproven but not unlikely; the late W-B. Henning, whose opinions are not to be dismissed. lightly, suggested a possibtlity that the Gathas. the oldest part of the Avesta, were composed in northern Khurasan, the region of Merv and Herat, perhaps then part of the pre-Achaemenid kingdom of Khwarazm. What is certain is that Khwarazm was in Achaemenid times a flourishing land. and on the evidence of the Behistun and Persepolis inscriptions, became part of the Old Persian empire. Herodotus alludes to what he calls "the plain of the Akes River' , i-e. the Oxus, as part of the Achaemenid dominions, and mentions the presence of Chorasmian and Parthian troops in the army of Xerxes as a special division under Artabazus son of Pharnaces; he further says that these soldiers were equipped in the same fashion as Bactrians. sc. with Median caps, bows and short spears. By the time of Al1:1xander the Great, however (4th century B. c.), the Khwarazmians had somehow thrown off Achaemenid 13

control, and when Alexander was in Bactria in 328 B. he received a visit from the King of Chorasmia. Pharasmanes, and his retinue of 1,600 cavalrymen. Apparently Pharasmanes claimed sovereignty over all the steppes westwards from Chorasmia to Colchis on the Black Sea shores - by no means an impossible boast, given the long-attested political, commercial and cultural connections of Khwarazm with the Volga basin and South Russia. From this time onwards, we are virtually dependent on Biru.ni alone for literary evidence on the history of Khwarazm, though ancillary disciplines like archaeology and numismatics provide important information also. In bis al....Athar al-baqiya a11 al-q1m1n al-ilhaliya (rendered by Sachau as "The chronology of ancient nations" ), Biru.ni has a section on the ancient history of Khwarazm and its era, and he was clearly proud of the long and glorious history of his land. In various of his works, he mentions a Ta',ilth Khwarazm; since this is not included in the fihri11 or catalogue of his own works which he inserted into his

c.

1

Risa/a fi fihrist

k.u111b Mllhammad b. ZaltariJYa' ar-Razi.

composed

in 427/1036, it must date from the last 23 or so years of his life. Yaqu.t visited Khwarazm personally in 616/1219-20, travelling from Merv in the depths of the harsh steppe winter when the Oxus was frozen across, and in his article on Khwarazm again he quotes from a book on the history of Khwarazm by Biruni which he had read (i..iJIJ>) J~i i} uiJ.;::llc:,~}IY.i wi '-:-'~ i} -=..ij J

14

However, the most extensive sucvival of the material which Birilni brought together in his regrettably lost history of Khwarazm is, of course, the closing section of the extant part of the Ghaznavid official Abill-Fadl Baihaqi's M11iallada1, forming the Ta',ikh-i Mas'11di (pp. 665-91 of the edition by Ghani and Fayyad, Tehran 1324/1945, tr. Arends, Isto,ya Mar'11da (1030-1041), 2nd edn., Moscow 1969, pp. 805-36). After describing the events of Sultan Mascud's reign as he saw them, Baihaqi appends an account of Mal).mild of Ghazna's overthrow of the Ma'mO.nid Khwarazm-Shahs of Gurganj, and at the outset, he states how. long before this, he had read Birilni's history and how ha regarded him as a scholar unparalleled in his age and as a man who never wrote anything unreliable: c.5.>/JI J .:,~;y. I .>l:.,..I ~ ~-¼.> '-" l:S";I;.>

,:i c.$~.> ,fa: JI ;A$' J.> ~ ~ J 4..,,.l.:. J J..ai J ~.>I J.> .>y.

c.?'_,;.; c.$j,!': (text, p. 667, tr. p. 807). It is fortunate for our knowledge of the early Ghaznavid period that Baihaqi quotes from what was oontemporary history composed by Birilni, but unfortunate that no comparable extracts have survived on the earlier history of Khwarazm, with which BicUni presumably also dealt• For the period before the Arab invasion by Qutaiba b. Muslim's forces, the literary evidence from BirUni is semi-legendary: that civilisation began in Khwarazm 980 years before the Seleucid era (so. in 1292 B. C.) with the coming of the hero of the Iranian

15

national epic, Siyavush, and the establishment of his son Kai Khusrau on the throne 92 years later (so. in 1200 B. C.). But firm dates and historical names only begin with the end of the line of Siyavushids and the coming of the founder of the Afrighid line of Khwarazm-Shahs, Afrigh, who is said to have built a powerful fortress, possessing a triple enceinte and containing palaces (Bir Uni compares this in its splendour and strength with the fortress of the ancient South Arabian kings at Ghumdan in San'a). at al-Fir or al -Fil,sc.Kath, in the year 616 of the Seleucid era (so. in 305 A.O.). The crowned head of Afrigh is known to us from the obverse of one of his coins, the reverse showing a cavalryman and his name in the Aramaic - dert ved KhwArazmian sort pt, 'pw,1 mlll'. From the genealogies given by Biriini. 1t is poSSible to construct a line of twenty-two members of the family, though it does not necessarily mean that all of them ruled successively. Ten of these name extend from the time of Afrigh to the time of the Prophet's mission (so. up to c. 613 A.O.), the representative in the time of Mul).ammgd being Arthamiikh- The other twelve cover the period from this point till the downfall of the Afrighid dynasty in 385/996, the first Islamic name being that of Abdallah b. ~~~.who must have been converted to Islam in the early AbbaSid period. For the soeial and economic history of this period in Khwarazmian histOt'y, ·it is Soviet archaeology Which has provided us with most of the bas:lc information, which may, however, be capable at times of more than one interpretation. The excavations of S.P. Tolstov and others over the last 30 years have laid bace the traces of large agricultural estates, organised with extensive field systems and networks of irriga-

16

tion canals or a,iqs, and with a central concentration point, comprising an enceinte and fortified citadel. within which people could take refuge with their herds.We may surmise that at this period, as at all times in its known history, Khwarazm, an island of agricultural fertility and commercial prosperity within the surrounding steppes and deserts, was under pressure from the pastoralist nomads of the steppes; perhaps in pre-Christian times from such Indo-European peoples of Inner Asia as the Massagetes and Sakes, and certainly in post-Christian times from the Turks and other Altaic peoples. In the Islamic period we know from Biruni that the Khwarazm-Shahs organised annual expe.. ditions into the steppes against the_0ghuz and Qipchaq, for in his al-Atha, al-baqiya, p. 236, he speaks of the autumn festival in Khwarazm called faghbu,iyya "that of the king's expedition", 'held on the first day of the month Akhshivri before the Shah set out on his punitive raid- Certainly, in the 4th/10th century a group of Oghuz, perhaps semi - sedentarised but still inclined by nature to plunder and rapine. were established on the lower Jaxartes or Syr Darya only ten post-stages from Khwarazm, and their Yabghu or leader spent the winters at their settlement of Yengi-kent (Dih-i nau; al-Qarya al-jadida). The fortified nature of tbe Khwarazmian agricultural domains can thus be easily explained by the need for security against external marauders. It is, however. problematical and unproven that these domains were, as Tolstov suggests, designed also for defence against internal attack from Khwarazm itself, in the shape of peasant revolts

17

against the feudal landowners of the realm· Tolstov supports his arguments for the feudal character of the Khwarazmian land and social system by adducing the events surrounding the Arab invasions of Khwarazm in 93/712. There had already been attempts by the Arabs in the early Umayyad period to extend their raids through Transoxania as far as Khwarazm, for the Arabs realised that the Iranian princes of Central Asia as a whole, in Sogdia and in Khwarazm, were likely to appeal to each other and to outside powers for help and solidarity against the alien invaders. Historians like Baladhuri, Tabari and Ibn alAthir mention attempts by various Umayyad generals. In 31/651-2, during the governorship of Ba~ra and the East of Abdallah b. Amir, al-Al)naf b- Qais led a fruitless expedition from Balkh against Khwarazm and in 61/681 the governor Salm b. Ziyad led operations against a town on the borders of Khwarazm (conceivably Haza.rasp) where the local princes of Sogdia and Khwarazm had banded together to resist the Arabs. The story of Qutaiba b- Muslim's conquest in 93/712 is given in detail by Tabari on the authority of various informants, including the tribal tradition of Bahila; Qutaiba's own kinsmen (al-Bahiliyyun), and the Ma,zban of Quhistan. It seems that the Khwarazm-Shah of the time was involved in a Civil war with his younger brother Khurrazad "the sun-born one" (perhape a P_ersian rendering of Khwarazmian baghtu,), who hRd seized power shortly before this. Tolstov interprets Khurrazad's rising as a social movement of neo-Maz-

18

~~"r:~t.

.,. ·1··· .1· •',

· "'.-~...

~;,~.....

-~a-~~}t .J ,ype, analogous ~ m,a ny .soc1~1 7el1g1ous out~f:~ks which shoo~. I:~~!~I\,f0Vf,tf,,Y,S~9/r ~n the f~r~~ 1!~ Is~aqi~~ 'ch~Pif~{~e~_J~-~l!lh9r?: i?:fh }}},1_~Rroast~a~,~ 1BtJ ~,~1~!f:;JgJi}i'H-P-P:~d9,-~~~·~ I' P~M?,-; ~f 9~j:~ad the _pro~~B~,;~;ep-~i~f:~f,~i}f?,.~~et ~-~.~*: Muq~I)nac and Babak il::~pigai:n,F : T0~Sf9"; regaris"J: as a rising o_f the \l.Tban and , rural proletariat-. the Afnghid l/i i1,, '·,~Yi:11~·t...-;.. ->... ,,,. :, .· ,r.~,.~~·.-:~.against t : Khwa:nl~IJl-Shah and the la;n~gming aristocracy, ba_., ,-.'J: