There can be no doubt that Darwin was not acquainted with Alberuni's work itself, or even aware of its existence, since there is no mention of it in the Historical Sketch devoted to his forerunners that forms the introduction to his Origin of Species, or among the data concerned with the sources of our natural science collected by him in his Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication. This could not be expected insofar as Alberuni's work was printed by Her Majesty's Indian Office in 1889, that is, five years after Darwin's death. Moreover, we know from Darwin's own Autobiography, as well as from the unanimous opinion of others, that the Essay on Population of Malthus played a directly decisive rôle in Darwin's conception of his theory, just as it influenced the analogous work of Alfred Wallace.

In Alberuni's work we do not find any indications of possible...