There is a great deal of controversy as discussed in this Congress on the question of the birth place of al-Bīrūnī. Some of the early Arabic writers claim that al-Blrianhailed from Sind (now a province of Pakistan), and Bīrūnī was a town in Sind. The two primary Arab sources among others to be cited are Ibn Abī Usaybo'ah and Shahrazūrī. They, in their books Tabqāt al-Atibbā (vol. 2) and Akhbār al-Hukamā' respectively claim that al-Bīrūnī's origin goes to Sind. The latter also describes the fauna and flora of the city and its splendid views and says that there is no wonder that such a genius as al-Bīrūnī hailed from such a beautiful city namely Bīrūn in Sind.²⁶

The theory of al-Bīrūnī's origin has, however, been questioned by other scholars who maintain...