Alberuni served as a historian during the reign of Mahmud of Ghaznavi, the ruler of Ghazni who invaded India multiple times in the 11th century. Alberuni travelled with Mahmud’s court and used this opportunity to explore India extensively. A brilliant scholar of mathematics, astronomy, geography and anthropology, he learned Sanskrit to study Indian scriptures firsthand. His most important contribution is Kitab-ul-Hind, a detailed scientific account of India’s culture, religion, education, sciences, geography and social life. Alberuni’s writing is objective, analytical and comparative, making him one of the earliest and most credible scholars to document medieval India from an outsider’s perspective.