Until 1950, it was named the Institute for the Study of Oriental Manuscripts. Subsequently, with the development of new areas and the expansion of research scale, it was renamed the Institute of Oriental Studies. In 1957, the Institute was named after the great medieval scholar and encyclopaedist Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973 – 1050). Nowadays, the depository keeps several collections. More than 12 percent of manuscripts in the Main Collection (13,319 units) are copies works on the exact and natural sciences. Their basic themes are mathematics, astronomy, astrology, geography, medicine, alchemy, mineralogy, veterinary medicine and hunting, as well as encyclopedias of natural sciences. The works chronologically date from the 9th – 20th centuries and their copies from the 13th – 20th centuries.
Earlier works (prior to t he 14th – 15th centuries) are written in Arabic. Many of them are written in Persian, and some are written in the Turkic languages. The latter mainly include later Turkic editions of famous treatises in Arabic and Persian. Medieval works on natural sciences, which mainly focused on practical concerns such as mathematical calculations and measurements, for example, were necessary for the construction of buildings and bridges, for land surveys, financial and tax calculations, and inheritance determinations.
Astronomic knowledge was necessary for compiling calendars, determining high-water seasons, ascertaining geographic coordinates of residential areas, finding the Qibla and itineraries of caravan routes through steppes and deserts as well as for casting various horoscopes and other astrological forecasts. The works on medicine and pharmacology interpreted the diagnosis and treatment methods as well as the medicinal preparations of medieval medicine. Treatises on mineralogy, alchemy, veterinary medicine and others reflect the developmental level of these disciplines at that time. Each thematic collection contains manuscripts characterized by certain features.
You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental studies, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (Volume XXIII) from the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.
The exact and natural sciences
The al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan was founded in 1943 on the basis of the Oriental Department of the State Public Library of Uzbekistan (now the Alisher Navoi National Library).