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Zij al-Sindhind

Updated: Jul 21

Al-Khwarizmi's work named after Sindh


Al-Khwarizmi was a Muslim scientist who lived in Baghdad, where he worked at the Dar-al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) set up by Caliph al-Mamun.


Amongst his other works, compiled a set of astronomical tables (Zīj), based on various Hindu and Greek sources. However, since his focus was primarily on Hindu sources, the book is called "Zij al-Sindhind" - The Astronomical Book of Sindh.


Modern-day Sindh in Pakistan was the furthest point where Muslim rule spread during the time of al-Mamun. It was also the immediate neighbour of medieval Hindustan. Thus, Sind was often referred to as al-Sind, or al-Sindhind.


The book was a treatise on the sundial and included the astrolabe's workings. The work included a table of sines for a circle of radius of 150 units. Like his treatises on algebra on Indian and Arabic numerals, this astronomical work was also translated into Latin.


Al-Khwarizmi, a man of genius, has twenty astronomical works alone accredited to him. Besides this, he also penned several works on geography and arithmetic.

 

This blog has been written by Komal Salman.

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