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{{Short description|1000 AD book by al-Biruni}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title = 
| name = The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries
| image = Investiture of Ali Edinburgh codex.jpg
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| caption = The [[Hadith of the pond of Khumm|Investiture of Ali at Ghadir Khumm]] (MS Arab 161, fol. 162r).
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| title_orig = کتاب الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية
| orig_lang_code = ar
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'''''The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries''''' ({{lang-ar| کتاب الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية }} ''{{transl|ar|Kitāb al-āthār al-bāqiyah `an al-qurūn al-khāliyah}}'', also known as '''''Chronology of Ancient Nations''''' or '''''Vestiges of the Past''''', after the translation published by [[Eduard Sachau]] in 1879) by [[Al-Biruni|Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]] is a comparative study of [[calendar]]s of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information, exploring the customs and religions of different peoples.

Completed in 1000 AD (AH 390/1), it is Al-Biruni's first major work, compiled in [[Gorgan]], at the court of [[Shams al-Mo'ali Abol-hasan Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir|Qabus]], when he was in his late twenties.<ref name="Seyyed Hossein Nasr 1993 p. 108">Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines'' (1993), {{ISBN|0-7914-1515-5}}, p. 108.</ref>

==Overview==
[[Image:Maome.jpg|thumb|249px|Muhammad prohibiting Nasīʾ ([[sura 9]]:36f.), fol. 5v. of the 17th century copy (MS Arabe 1489), corresponding to fol. 6v of the Edinburgh codex.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|2000|page=129–146}} ]]
The text survives in an early 14th-century [[Ilkhanid]] manuscript by Ibn al-Kutbi (the "Edinburgh codex", AH 707 / AD 1307–8, 179 folios, Northwestern Iran or northern Iraq,{{efn|The precise place of origin is uncertain. {{Harvcoltxt|Soucek|1975| page= 156}} suggested [[Tabriz]] or [[Maragha]]; Carboni (1988–89,17; 1992, 432f., suggested [[Mosul]] on the basis of a comparison of some of its illustrations with others in the so-called London Qazvini (cat. nos. 14–16). Hillenbrand supports the attribution to Mosul.}} kept at the [[Edinburgh University Library]], MS Arab 161). The manuscript contains 25 paintings and survives also in an exact 17th-century Ottoman copy (MS Arabe 1489, kept in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]).

{{Harvcoltxt|Hillenbrand|2000}} interprets the choice and placement of illustrations throughout the text as a cycle which emphasizes the interest of the Ilkhanids in religions other than the predominant Islam, many illustrations showing specific episodes related to [[Manichaeism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Judaism]], and [[Christianity]]. Other illustrations show a keen interest in topics of history and science. The account of the birth of [[Julius Caesar]] is illustrated with a realistic rendition of a [[cesarean section]].

The [[Shi`ite]] inclination of those responsible for the production is particularly evident from the two concluding images, the largest and most accomplished in the manuscript, which illustrate two episodes in the life of [[Muhammad]], both centrally involving [[`Ali]], [[Hasan ibn Ali|Hasan]], and [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]]: The Day of Cursing (fol. 161r) and The Investiture of `Ali at [[Ghadir Khumm]] (fol. 162r). The manuscript has a total of five images [[depictions of Muhammad|depicting Muhammad]], including the first miniature which shows the Prophet as he prohibits [[Nasīʾ]] (fol. 6v).{{sfn|Hillenbrand|2000| page= 129{{ndash}}146}} [The cycle is among the earliest depictions of Muhammad in Persian art. The earliest extant representation of Muhammad in a Persian manuscript is in the [[Marzubannama]] of 1299 (Archaeology Museum Library, Istanbul, MS 216).<ref>fig. 49 in Marianna Shreve Simpson. 'The Role of Baghdad in the Formation of Persian Painting.' In ''Art et société dans le monde iranien'', ed. Chahryar Adle, 91–116. Institut Français d'Iranologie de Téhéran, Bibliothèque iranienne, 26. Recherche sur les grandes civilisations, Synthèse, 9. Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1982.</ref>]

The style of the images is kept in a hybrid style between that of pre-Mongol period Persia and the Chinese style introduced with the Mongol invasions.

==History==
He discussed his idea of [[history]] in ''The Chronology of Ancient Nations'',<ref name=Khan>M. S. Khan (1976). "al-Biruni and the Political History of India", ''Oriens'' '''25''', pp. 86-115.</ref> also known as ''The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries''. It is a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information, exploring the customs and religions of different peoples.

In ''The Chronology of Ancient Nations'', he mentions the birth and death of the [[Caliph]]s, [[Shia Imam]]s, [[Fatimah]] (daughter of Muhammad) and [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid|Khadija]] (Muhammad's wife).<ref>''The Chronology of Ancient Nations'', transl. Edward Sachau. London, 1879, pp. 325-334.</ref>

==Mathematical geography==
Discussing the [[astrolabe]], Al-Biruni considers the [[orthographic projection|orthographic]] [[cylindrical projection]] as his own invention, expanding upon the work of [[Al-Saghani]].<ref>Boris Abramovich Rozenfelʹd, ''A History of Non-Euclidean Geometry'', trans. Abe Shenitzer, Springer (1988), {{ISBN|0-387-96458-4}}, p. 127.</ref> He also describes two novel projections he has created, which are nowadays called the [[Azimuthal equidistant projection|azimuthal equidistant]] and the [[Nicolosi globular projection|Nicolosi globular]].<ref>{{Cite journal| pages = 287–294| last = Fiorini| first = M.| title = Le proiezioni cartografiche di Albiruni| journal = Bollettino della Società geografica italiana| date = April 1891}}</ref>

==Editions==
* [[Eduard Sachau|C. Eduard Sachau]] (ed.), ''Chronologie orientalischer Völker von Alberuni'', Leipzig 1878 ([https://archive.org/details/chronologieorie00sachgoog Internet Archive link]), reprinted Leipzig 1923, Baghdad 1963.
* C. Eduard Sachau (transl.), ''The Chronology of Ancient Nations: An English Version of the Arabic Text of the Athâr-ul-Bâkiya of Albîrûnî, or 'Vestiges of the Past', Collected and Reduced ... by the Author in A. H. 390 - 1, A. D. 1000 '', London 1879 ([https://archive.org/details/chronologyofanci00biru Internet Archive link]).
** 1969 reprint: Minerva-Verlag; Unverand edition.
** 1984 reprint: Aristide D Caratzas Pub. {{ISBN|978-0-89241-178-8}}.
** 2002 reprint: Adamant Media Corporation, {{ISBN|978-1-4021-6079-0}}.
** 2004 reprint: Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7661-8908-2}}.

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|first=Robert |last= Hillenbrand | section = Images of Muhammad in al-Biruni's Chronology of Ancient Nations.' | title=Persian Painting from the Mongols to the Qajars: Studies in Honour of Basil W. Robinson | editor= Hillenbrand | series = Pembroke Persian Papers, 3. | location = London and New York | publisher= [[I. B. Tauris]] in association with the Centre of Middle Eastern Studies, [[University of Cambridge]] |date= 2000 }}
* {{cite book| first= Priscilla P. |last = Soucek | section = An Illustrated Manuscript of al-Biruni's Chronology of Ancient Nations |title= The Scholar and the Saint: Studies in Commemoration of Abul-Rayhan al-Biruni and Jalal al-Din al-Rumi | editor = Peter J. Chelkowski | location= New York | publisher = Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, [[New York University Press]] | date= 1975 }}
* {{cite book| first= Sheila S. | last= Blair | title=The Development of the Illustrated Book in Iran | publisher= Muqarnas | date= 1993}}
* {{cite book| first =G. | last=Saliba | section=Al-Biruni and the sciences of his time | title=Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period | publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] | date=2006 |isbn=0-521-02887-6 | page=316 }}
* {{cite book| first=J. F. P. | last= Hopkins | section = Geographical and navigational literature | title= Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date=2006 |isbn=0-521-02887-6 | pages=405–423 }}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries|''The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries''}}

{{Astronomy in medieval Islam}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remaining Signs Of Past Centuries, The}}
[[Category:Al-Biruni]]
[[Category:Calendars]]
[[Category:Islamic calendar]]
[[Category:Persian art]]
[[Category:Scientific illuminated manuscripts]]
[[Category:Illuminated histories]]
[[Category:Islamic illuminated manuscripts]]
[[Category:1000 books]]
[[Category:10th-century Arabic books]]

The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries - Revision history

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