History and legend both describe the first 400 years of Abbasid
rule, roughly from 750 to 1150, as the Golden Age of Islam. Great
military victories, booming international trade and agriculture
leading to all round prosperity and luxurious living of the era
gave rise to fables like Thousand and One Nights and prompted
historian Khatib to claim that "Baghdad has become a city
with no peer throughout the world". But the real distinction
of the city which earned universal admiration was unrivalled intellectual
activity in all fields: science, mathematics, technology, veterinary
sciences, agronomy and literature including biography, history,
and linguistics.
The royal patronage and munificence shown by the caliphs attracted
academics and scientists of diverse nationalities, who pursued
their studies in an environment free from religious prejudice
and orthodoxy. It is interesting to recall that the Royal Physician
Bakhtishu, a Christian, when invited by Caliph Mansoor to embrace
Islam, retorted that he preferred the company of his fathers,
be they in heaven or hell. Thereafter Mansoor never broached the
subject with him and the Bakhtishu family provided leading physicians
and medical teachers for seven generations.
The general perception about the scientific achievements of this
period is that the Arabs undertook translation of Greek texts
that had not been accessible to academics after the Byzantine
emperor Justinian had closed down the 900 year old Academy of
Plato in 529 and unleashed persecution against the pagan (i.e.
the non-Christian) scientists. This knowledge later travelled
to Europe via Arabs, and Europe came to claim it to be its own
heritage.
While history shows that translation of Greek works was taken
up in the 9th century, the Arabs had embarked upon the translation
of Sanskrit texts from India much before that. According to Tabqatul
Umam a delegation from India came to Baghdad in 771, some 250
years after the death of Aryabhatta. This delegation consisted
of an astronomer called Kanaka, who carried with him a small library
including a book titled Surya Siddhanta and works of Aryabhata
and Brahamgupta.
According to the Arab historian al-Qifti, the caliph was amazed
by the brilliance of these Indian texts. On his order, these works
were translated into Arabic by Al-Fazari, who subsequently emerged
as the first Arab astronomer of great repute. Over a period of
time, this Arabic version gained fame under the title of Sindhind
and became popular as a text of mathematics and astronomy all
over the Muslim world including Spain from where it travelled
to Europe and was translated into Latin in 1126. This work revolutionized
the study of mathematics and sciences and replaced the cumbersome
Roman numerals. It is interesting to note that while Europe has
christened the new system as Arab numerals, the Arabs call them
Hindsa (Indian numerals) giving credit where it is due.
The other important area influenced by Indian ethos and morality
was adab, that is the embodiment of sensible counsel in the form
of fables. The literary masterpiece of Ibn Muqaffa, Kalila wa
Dimna, is based on the stories of Panchtantra and Mahabharata
and is considered a classic of early Arabic prose. But it is not
just that. We also find mention of translations of Varahmihir,
Brihat Jatak, Krishna Avtar and Vishnu Puran in Kitabul Hind by
Al Biruni, the brilliant historian who came with Mahmud of Ghazni's
armies and stayed behind to live with Brahmins, learn Sanskrit
and write his extraordinary work on India.
The long list of Sanskrit manuscripts that were translated into
Arabic and catalogued in detail by Arab historian Ibn Nadeem in
his classic Fehrist (Bibliographical index) is an of acknowledgement
of the contribution that Indian sciences made in building the
Golden Age of Islam.
