Among the sources that throw light on the history, evolution and culture of southern India, the accounts of Arab navigators like Al Biruni are numbered as having prime significance. Dr. Syed Muhammed Husayn Nainar, renowned academicion and author, analyzes these accounts and brings to fore the many-faceted lives of people in southern India. The author has to his credit among notable books and monographes on Arabic, Tamil, Hindi and Urdu linguistics, the translation of Tuhfat al-Mujahidin, which Other Books brought out in 2006.