Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Contrasting Al-Biruni and Tales on Classical India
In “The Description of India,” Al-Biruni gives an account of the early Indian civilization of the tenth and eleventh century. He specifically presents the aspects of the Hindu science as he tries to describe how the large country was different from other countries and civilizations. In the book, Al-Biruni gives an observation of India with a view of painting a picture of how the country existed at the time and how it was governed. At the same time, other tales like the “the city of gold,” The man Who Impersonated God Vishnu,” and “The red Lotus of Chastity” give tales that describe the classical India. The discussion of these books will illustrate their differences and show how Al-Biruni differs from the three tales in describing the classical Indian society.
Based on participative observation, Al-Biruni gives a clear picture of the Indian caste system for the world to understand the organization in the eleventh century. Al-Biruni presents a view of India that has an organized religious society that had a strict adherence to the caste system. The book paints a picture of an organized India, with four main castes. The tales also give the aspects of India, but focus more on the values in the society rather than the organization. One of the differences between Al-Biruni and the tales is that he describes all aspects of the classical India, and not just religious values. While the tales focus on the religious values of the Indian society, Al-Biruni focuses his attention on comparing the Indian society with the other societies.
On the other hand, the two tales paint a picture of a caste system that was disorganized in terms of practice. The tales tell of people who were not committed to the organization of the caste system and deviated from the constraints of the caste system. For instance, the tale of “The Red Lotus of Chastity” describes a number of people who practice things that are not in line with their castes. In the tale, Sidddhikar, the pupil to the nun uses deception to gain interaction with the merchants, which is far way beyond his social level. The same situation is observed in the tale of “the person who impersonated god Vishnu” gives a case of human beings wanting to live far way beyond their caste.
Another aspect of viewing India and perceiving the caste system as per the pieces of literature is the religious values. The tales and the book by Al-Biruni take different perspectives in creating a picture of the religious values of the caste system. Al-Biruni presents the caste system as a strong promoter of religious values in the classical India. According to Al-Biruni, the caste system stipulates the values that each member of the society should practice the values set by his or her caste systems. According to Al-Biruni, the religious values of each person at the time were supposed to be in line with the recommended religious values of the practice of his or her caste.
On the other hand, the tales present a different view of religious values in relation to the castes. The tales focus their themes on religious values and how they are broken. Unlike Al-Biruni, the tales present the broken religious practices and beliefs of India as a country. In “The Red Lotus of Chastity” tale, Sidddhikari deviates from the religious values to engage in deception to gain undue benefits from the rich. First, the deceptions go against the caste structure and against the caste values of honesty that were observed within the castes system. The tale focuses on the aspect of disguise as the characters seek to achieve a life that is beyond their caste. Deception also shapes the character of the main character in “the person who impersonated god Vishnu.”
In terms of gender role, Al-Biruni differs with the tales in the presentation of the tasks and roles of males and females in the Indian society. This is because Al-Biruni explores in comparison with other societies, especially the Muslim societies. In “The Description of India,” Al-Biruni describes that women were not commonly linked with masculine responsibilities or do the works that men do in the society. Women were believed to play the simple house related roles in a family, and could even be married at a young age as long as they could perform these tasks (Al-Biruni 154). In addition, women were not allowed to closely associate with men to do business.
However, the tales give a different view of the gender roles, especially the roles of women. In the tales, women could do business and interact with men as equals. For instance, in “The Red Lotus of Chastity” tale, the nun was interacting with Devasmita in her desire to deceive him as a merchant. This shows that the shrewdness of women in the Indian society made them significant for men. In “The City of Gold” tale, women like Saktideva communicated with the gods, as she communicated with a Great Mother goddess (The City of Gold 92). This shows that women had a significant role in the Indian society.
In addition to gender roles, marriage is another aspect of gender that Al-Biruni and the tales explore. Al-Biruni describes the process of marriage where women were more significant as the caste bearers. Women were married early and people advocated to marry strangers than relative (Al-Biruni 155). In “The Red Lotus of Chastity” the story was a struggle of Devasmita in maintaining her chastity even in the absence of the husband. This shows that marriage was a social unit that was respected in the society.
Al-Biruni succeeds in painting the picture of India, because of the tone of his writing. Therefore, the three pieces of literature are totally different in terms of describing the main aspects of the society. In “The Description of India,” Al-Biruni takes a descriptive tone to present the social, economic and political aspects of the Indian society. In doing so, Al-Biruni also takes a comparative tone that helps him to compare Indian society of the eleventh century with that of the other societies. In most cases, Al-Biruni directly uses comparative terms like “they differ from us” among others. For instance, when describing the language of India, Al-Biruni says, “First, they differ from us in everything……and here we first mention the language, although the difference of language also exists between other nations” (Al-Biruni 17).
The perspective of Al-Biruni about India paints a picture of a country that was well organized through the caste system. All the economic, political and social aspects of the society were based on the castes. At the same the tales the city of gold,” The man Who Impersonated God Vishnu,” and “The red Lotus of Chastity” present an Indian society that had deviances from the stipulations of the caste system. The differences however merge their view to a common point in relation to the existence of values that guided the social structure of the classical India under the caste system.
Works Cited
Al-Biruni, Raihan. “Description of India,” ICON Post, 17-157
Somadeva. “The Red Lotus of Chastity.” In Three Tales of Ancient India, ICON Post, 17-157
“The City of Gold.” In Three Tales of Ancient India, ICON Post, 17-157