Al-Biruni

Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) was one of the greatest polymaths of the Islamic Golden Age. His Kitab al-Hind remains the most systematic medieval study of India, while his astronomical, geodetic, and chronological work marked him as a scientist of the first rank.

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (361-421 AH / 971-1030 CE) was the most powerful Ghaznavid ruler, campaigning into the Indian subcontinent for nearly thirty years and making Ghazni a centre of Persian culture and Islamic learning. He was the first sovereign of Islam styled Sultan by the caliphs of Baghdad.