Biruni beats Columbus (?), not Leif
Новое Узбекское Слово (The New Uzbek Word- an interesting Russian language blog mostly on Uzbekistan) has an interesting story regarding the discovery of America (here is an English article about it).
It seems that everyone is trying to stake a claim on being the first to discover the “New World.” Obviously the strongest is that of the first Native Americans, who probably crossed the Bering Strait around 12,000 years ago.
Most researchers accept that the Viking Leif Erikson also made a landing in America in 1001 C.E. Recent authors have suggested that the Chinese made a landing in 1421, beating Christopher Columbus’s 1492 landing, but the Chinese discovery theory is highly contested.
Uzbek professor Bakhrom Abdukhamitov (Бахром Абдухамитов) is now claiming that the famous academic Al Biruni (who was born in what is now Uzbekistan) “discovered” America by postulating the existence of continents and islands past the Atlantic over a thousand years ago, even though he never traveled there himself.
Biruni recorded these ideas in 1030 and 1036, so even if one could conclusively prove that his assertions were anything more than conjecture, it looks as though he was still beat to the New World by the Vikings.
on January 22nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Great story. Interestingly, my landlord here in Britain is a Mrs Menzies, Gavin Menzies’s wife. Gavin wrote 1421: The Year China Discovered America, which led to quite a stir in the academic world. Recently, a new Chinese map appeared, which seems to bolster Menzies’s claim.
on January 23rd, 2006 at 11:50 pm
I was being told Al Biruni discovered America back when I was in Uzbekistan. Along with my inclination to smile and nod given the frequency with which I was told Uzbeks (well, residents of what is currently Uzbekistan) discovered everything important under the sun, this really stretches the meaning of the word “discover.” And as far as the Post-Pleistocene Discovery of America Sweepstakes goes, the Polynesians beat everyone.
I’m kind of skeptical that the map bolsters the Chinese claim, for whatever it’s worth.
on February 7th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Hey, it would not surprise me if they (Uzbeks) claimed that they landed on moon. It is rediculous that they are trying to re-write the CA history, in which Persian influence shown as nonexistent. The scolars that are now being claimed as Uzbeks (Avicenna being one of them) are in fact persian-speaking folks. You might want to read this blog to get an idea of the problem. http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17289009&postID=113312359319012094