EARLY ARAB GEOGRAPHERS.
VII.
JA′MI′U-T TAWA′RI′KH
OF
RASHI′DU-D DI′N.
THE extract which follows is taken from the Jámi’u-t Tawáríkh of Rashídu-d Dín, which was completed in A.H. 710, or A.D. 1310. This date, but for another more cogent reason, would require the insertion of the extract in a later part of the book, or the entire omission of it, as beyond the scope of the present work. But though appearing in the history of Rashídu-d Din, the passage is not his own; it is really and confessedly the work of the celebrated Abú Ríhán al Bírúní, who wrote about four centuries earlier, his life having extended from A.H. 360 to 430, or A.D. 970 to 1039. This chapter of Al Bírúní’s work has been translated and published by M. Reinaud, in his “Fragments;” and a comparison of the two will show how very little has been added by Rashídu-d Din. For all practical purposes it may be considered as presenting a picture of the Musulman knowledge of India at the end of the 10th century.
Copies of the work of Al Bírúní are exceedingly rare, for two only are known to be extant, and the portions published were translated from the single copy in the Imperial Library in Paris. The reproductions by Rashídu-d Din are therefore of high value, and the importance of the following extract for a correct appreciation of the progress of the Muhammadan knowledge of India cannot be over-rated.
