Eastern Hemisphere at the beginning of the 10th century

The 10th century is the period from 901 to 1000 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era.

The 10th century is usually regarded as a low point in European history. In China it was also a period of political upheaval. In the Muslim World, however, it was a cultural zenith, especially in Spain under the Caliphate of Córdoba. Additionally, the 10th century was the zenith for the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires.

Medievalist and historian of technology Lynn White said that "to the modern eye, it is very nearly the darkest of the Dark Ages", but concluded that ". . . if it was dark, it was the darkness of the womb."^[1] Similarly, Helen Waddell wrote that the 10th century was that which "in the textbooks disputes with the seventh the bad eminence, the nadir of the human intellect."^[2] Even in the 15th century, Lorenzo Valla described it as the Century of Lead and Iron and later Cardinal Baronius as the Leaden Century or Iron Century.

Events[link]

This statue of a yogini goddess was created in Kaveripakkam in Tamil Nadu, India, during the 10th century.

• The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period
• The Byzantine empire reaches the height of its military and economic strength

Africa[link]

• c. 909: The Fatimid Caliphate arises in eastern Algeria.
• c. 948: The Nri Kingdom in what is now Southeastern Nigeria starts.
• c. 980: Al-Azhar University is established in Cairo by the Fatimid dynasty.
• The Christian Nubian kingdom reaches its peak of prosperity and military power (Early history of Sudan)

Americas[link]

• Collapse of the central lowland Maya civilization. End of Classic Maya period, begin Post-Classic Maya.
• Rise of the Toltecs in Mexico
• Golden age of the Ancestral Puebloans (Pueblo II Era)
• The Mississippian culture begins in present day Southern United States

Eurasia[link]

• Khazar kingdom is attacked and defeated by Kievan Rus (965)

Asia[link]

Divided China, 923

• Buddhist temple construction commences at Bagan, Burma
• In 919, the first use of gunpowder in battle occurred with the Chinese Battle of Lang-shan Jiang (Wolf Mountain River), where the naval fleet of the Wen-Mu-King defeated Chien Yuan Kuan because Wen had used 'fire oil' (huo yóu, 火油) of gunpowder-fuse ignited flamethrowers to burn Chien's fleet.
• In 910, Parantaka I of the Chola Dynasty drove out the Pandyan from southern India into Lanka (now Sri Lanka), which he also eventually conquered.
• In 928, Ziyarid dynasty was established in northern Iran.
• In 930s, Persian Shia Buyid dynasty established and controlled central and western part of Iran as well as most of Iraq.
• In 936, Goryeo Dynasty unified Later Three Kingdoms of Korea.
• In 975, Ghaznavids dynasty, as the first Turk Sultanate, was established in Central Asia.
• Coastal cities on the Malay Peninsula are the seed for the first recorded Malay kingdoms
• 993: the Arab maritime captain Abu Himyarite from Yemen toured Guangzhou port, and was an avid visitor to China
• Seljuks convert to Islam.
• In 999, Samanid dynasty was defeated and conquered by Ghaznavids.

Europe[link]

The Bulgarian victory at Anchialos.

• Viking groups settle in northern France
• The Norse become Normans
• Foundation of Cluny, first federated monastic order
• In 917 the Bulgarians destroyed the Byzantine army in the Battle of Anchialus, one of the bloodiest battles in the Middle Ages
• 927: official recognition of the first independent national Church in Europe, the Bulgarian Patriarchate
• Incursions of Magyar (Hungarian) cavalry throughout Western Europe (47 expeditions in Germany, Italy and France, 899–970)
• Mieszko I, first duke of Poland, baptised a Christian in 966
• Collapse of Great Moravia
• The medieval Croatian state becomes a unified kingdom under Tomislav
• Swedish influence extends to the Black Sea
• Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus, baptised a Christian in 988
• Reindeer and Bears become extinct in Britain
• Lions become extinct in Europe by this date, with the last dying in Caucasus.
• Second half of the 10th century – Page with David the Psalmist, from the Paris Psalter, is made. It is now kept at Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris.
• Late 10th or early 11th century – Archangel Michail, icon, is made. It is now kept at Treasury of the Cathedral of Saint Mark, Venice.

Oceania[link]

• Formation of the Tu'i Tonga Empire and of the Tuʻi Tonga dynasty in Tonga

Significant people[link]

Half-section of the Night Revels of Han Xizai, by Chinese artist Gu Hongzhong, 10th century. A woman is seen entertaining guests with a pipa on the right-hand side.

Africa[link]

• Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah, founder of the Fatamid dynasty of Egypt in 909

Americas[link]

• Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, semi-legendaric Toltec ruler, (exact years of his life are unknown)

Eurasia and Eastern Roman Empire[link]

• Nicephorus II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 912–969, reigned 963–969)
• John I Tzimisces, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 925–976, reigned 969–976)
• Basil II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, (lived 958–1025, reigned 976–1025)

Asia[link]

The Indian god Ganesha, made of sandstone, and discovered in Cambodia. Birmingham Museum of Art.

• Adikavi Pampa an early Kannada language poet (born in 902)
• Ranna, an early Kannada language poet from India, (born in 949)
• Huyan Zan, Chinese general (died in 1000)
• Li Cheng, Chinese landscape painter
• Tailapa II, re-established the Western Chalukya Empire of India (reigned 973–997)
• Zhang Sixun, Chinese astronomer and mechanical engineer
• Ferdowsi, Persian poet
• Li Fang, Chinese scholar and encyclopedist (925–996)
• Emperor Taizu of Song, founder of the Chinese Song Dynasty (lived March 21, 927–November 14, 976, reigned 960–976)
• Parantaka I, ruler of the Chola Dynasty of India – Tamil King (reigned 907–950)
• Raja Raja Chola I, ruler of the Chola Dynasty of India – Tamil King
• Avicenna, one of the foremost physician and philosopher of Medieval Era(c. 980 - 1037).^[3]
• Al-Farabi, a Muslim polymath and one of the greatest scientists and philosophers (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951).^[4]
• Alhazen, a Muslim scientist and mathematician, (965 in Basra - c. 1039 in Cairo)
• Abu Rayhan Biruni, a Muslim Scientist, (born 5 September 973 in Kath, Khwarezm, died 13 December 1048 in Ghazni)
• Taejo of Goryeo, founder of the Korean Goryeo Dynasty (lived January 31, 877 – July 4, 943, reigned 918–943)

Europe[link]

• Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, united Norway in 872 and remained its ruler until 933. One of the most powerful lords of Europe at the time.
• Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus (lived 958–1015)
• Tomislav, king of Croatia, united the medieval Croatian state into the Kingdom of Croatia, crowned in 925
• Abd-ar-rahman III of Cordoba
• Simeon the Great, Emperor of Bulgaria (reigned 893–927)
• Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 912–973, reigned 936–973)
• King Edmund I of England (lived 921–946, reigned 939–946)
• Hugh Capet (lived 938–996), first Capetian King of France
• Géza of Hungary, ruler of the Magyars (lived 940–997, reigned 970–997)
• Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 955–983, reigned 973–983)
• Theophanu, wife of Otto II, mother and Regent of Otto III, (lived 956–991, reigned 983–991)
• Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (lived 958–1014, reigned 976–1014)
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 980–1002, reigned 983–1002)
• Erik the Red, Norwegian explorer, founded Greenland
• Leif Eiriksson, Norwegian explorer, son of Erik the Red, made the first European attempt to settle in America.
• Olav Tryggvason becomes the first king to try to Christianize Norway, dies at the Battle of Svolder in 1000.

Oceania[link]

• 'Aho'eitu (early 10th century), first king of the Tuʻi Tonga

Inventions, discoveries, introductions[link]

Earliest known representation of a gun (a fire lance) and a grenade (upper right), from the cave murals of Dunhuang, China, 10th century.

• List of 9th-10th centuries inventions
• 10th century-12th century - Seated Guaryin Bodhisattva, is made. Liao dynasty. It is now kept at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
• Construction begins on the Brihadeeswarar Temple of India, during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I
• The first pound lock is invented by the Chinese engineer Qiao Weiyo, improving the canal lock system.
• Fire Arrows are invented by the Chinese, along with the use of the first blackpowder impregnated fuses for igniting the blast of double-piston flamethrowers which employed Greek Fire, an imported good from Arabia in the early part of the century.
• Earliest known occurrence in Mexico of Lost-wax casting.
• Three of the Four Great Books of Song are published (the last one in 1013), which were enormous Chinese encyclopedias having millions of written Chinese characters each.
• Hops first mentioned in connection with beer brewing
• Zhang Sixun of China uses for the first time liquid mercury (element) instead of water to power the escapement mechanism rotating an armillary sphere, since liquid mercury does not freeze easily like water during winter, and does not rust metal parts

Decades and years[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Quoted in The Tenth Century: How Dark the Dark Ages?, edited by Robert Sabatino Lopez. Holt, Reinhart and Winston: 1959.
2. ^ The Wandering Scholars. Constable and Co: London, 1927.
3. ^ "Avicenna", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Version 2006". Iranica.com. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avicenna-index. Retrieved 2010-01-19. 
4. ^ Corbin, Henry; Hossein Nasr and Utman Yahya (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7103-0416-2. 

Further reading[link]

• Heinrich Fichtenau: Living in the Tenth century: Mentalities and Social Orders (transl. Patrick J. Geary; Chicago cool London: 1991).

Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon (Arabic: سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي‎ Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi, Sa'id ibn Yusuf al-Dilasi, Saadia ben Yosef aluf, Sa'id ben Yusuf ra's al-Kull;^[1] Hebrew: רבי סעדיה בן יוסף אלפיומי גאון‎ or in short: סעדיה גאון; Alternative English Names: Saadia b. Joseph,^[2] Saadia ben Joseph or Saadia ben Joseph of Faym or Saadia ben Joseph Al-Fayyumi; b. Egypt 882/892, d. Baghdad 942^[3][4]) was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.

The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature.^[5] Known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy, he was one of the more sophisticated practitioners of the philosophical school known as the "Jewish Kalam" (Stroumsa 2003). In this capacity, his philosophical work Emunoth ve-Deoth represents the first systematic attempt to integrate Jewish theology with components of Greek philosophy. Saadia was also very active in opposition to Karaism, in defense of rabbinic Judaism.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Saadia, in "Sefer ha-Galui", stresses his Jewish lineage, claiming to belong to the noble family of Shelah, son of Judah (see Chronicles 1 4:21), and counting among his ancestors Hanina ben Dosa, the famous ascetic of the first century. Expression was given to this claim by Saadia in calling his son Dosa (this son later served as Gaon of Sura from 1013–1017). Regarding Joseph, Saadia's father, a statement of Aaron ben Meir has been preserved saying that he was compelled to leave Egypt and died in Jaffa, probably during Saadia's lengthy residence in the Holy Land. The usual epithet of "Al-Fayyumi" refers to Saadia's native place, the Fayum in upper Egypt; in Hebrew it is often given as "Pitomi," derived from a contemporary identification of Fayum with the Biblical Pithom (an identification found in Saadia's own works).

At a young age he left his home to study under the Torah scholars of Tiberias. At age 20 Saadia completed his first great work, the Hebrew dictionary which he entitled Agron. At 23 he composed a polemic against the followers of Anan ben David, particularly Solomon ben Yeruham, thus beginning the activity which was to prove important in opposition to Karaism, in defense of rabbinic Judaism. In the same year he left Egypt and settled permanently in The Land of Israel.

Dispute with Ben Meir[link]

In 922 a controversy arose concerning the Hebrew calendar, that threatened the entire Jewish community. Since Hillel II (around 359 CE), the calendar had been based on a series of rules (described more fully in Maimonides' Code^[6]) rather than on observation of the moon's phases. One of these rules required the date of Rosh Hashanah to be postponed if the calculated lunar conjunction occurred at noon or later. Rabbi Aaron ben Meir, the Gaon of the leading Talmudic academy in Israel (then located in Ramle), claimed a tradition according to which the cutoff point was 642/1080 of an hour (approximately 35 minutes) after noon.^[7] In that particular year, this change would result in a two-day schism with the major Jewish communities in Babylonia: according to Ben Meir the first day of Passover would be on a Sunday, while according to the generally accepted rule it would be on Tuesday.

Saadia was in Aleppo, on his way from the East, when he learned of Ben Meir's regulation of the Jewish calendar. Saadia addressed a warning to him, and in Babylon he placed his knowledge and pen at the disposal of the exilarch David ben Zakkai and the scholars of the academy, adding his own letters to those sent by them to the communities of the Diaspora (922). In Babylonia he wrote his "Sefer ha-Mo'adim," or "Book of Festivals," in which he refuted the assertions of Ben Meir regarding the calendar, and helped to avert from the Jewish community the perils of schism.

Appointment as Gaon[link]

His dispute with Ben Meir was an important factor in the call to Sura which he received in 928. The exilarch David ben Zakkai insisted on appointing him as Gaon (head of the academy), despite the weight of precedent (no foreigner had ever served as Gaon before), and against the advice of the aged Nissim Nahrwani, a Resh Kallah at Sura, who feared a confrontation between the two strong-willed personalities, David and Saadia. (Nissim declared, however, that if David was determined to see Saadia in the position, then he would be ready to become the first of Saadia's followers.^[8])

Under his leadership, the ancient academy, founded by Rav, entered upon a new period of brilliancy.^[9] This renaissance was cut short, though, by a clash between Saadia and David, much as Nissim had predicted.

In a probate case Saadia refused to sign a verdict of the exilarch which he thought unjust, although the Gaon of Pumbedita had subscribed to it. When the son of the exilarch threatened Saadia with violence to secure his compliance, and was roughly handled by Saadia's servant, open war broke out between the exilarch and the gaon. Each excommunicated the other, declaring that he deposed his opponent from office; and David b. Zakkai appointed Joseph b. Jacob as gaon of Sura, while Saadia conferred the exilarchate on David's brother Hassan (Josiah; 930). Hassan was forced to flee, and died in exile in Khorasan; but the strife which divided Babylonian Judaism continued. Saadia was attacked by the exilarch and by his chief adherent, the young but learned Aaron ibn Sargado (later Gaon of Pumbedita, 943-960), in Hebrew pamphlets, fragments of which show a hatred on the part of the exilarch and his partisans that did not shrink from scandal. Saadia did not fail to reply.

Later years[link]

He wrote both in Hebrew and in Arabic a work, now known only from a few fragments, entitled "Sefer ha-Galui" (Arabic title, "Kitab al-Ṭarid"), in which he emphasized with great but justifiable pride the services which he had rendered, especially in his opposition to heresy.

The seven years which Saadia spent in Baghdad did not interrupt his literary activity. His principal philosophical work was completed in 933; and four years later, through Ibn Sargado's father-in-law, Bishr ben Aaron, the two enemies were reconciled. Saadia was reinstated in his office; but he held it for only five more years. David b. Zakkai died before him (c. 940), being followed a few months later by the exilarch's son Judah, while David's young grandson was nobly protected by Saadia as by a father. According to a statement made by Abraham ibn Daud and doubtless derived from Saadia's son Dosa, Saadia himself died in Babylonia at Sura in 942, at the age of sixty, of "black gall" (melancholia), repeated illnesses having undermined his health.

Works[link]

Exegesis[link]

Saadia translated the Torah and some of the other books of the Hebrew Bible into Arabic, adding an Arabic commentary.

Hebrew Linguistics[link]

1. Agron
2. Kutub al-Lughah
3. "Tafsir al-Sab'ina Lafẓah," a list of seventy (properly ninety) Hebrew (and Aramaic) words which occur in the Hebrew Bible only once or very rarely, and which may be explained from traditional literature, especially from the Neo-Hebraisms of the Mishnah. This small work has been frequently reprinted.

Halakhic Writings[link]

1. Short monographs in which problems of Jewish law are systematically presented. Of these Arabic treatises, little but the titles and extracts is known, and it is only in the "Kitab al-Mawarith" that fragments of any length have survived.
2. A commentary on the thirteen rules of Rabbi Ishmael, preserved only in a Hebrew translation. An Arabic methodology of the Talmud is also mentioned, by Azulai, as a work of Saadia under the title "Kelale ha-Talmud".
3. Responsa. With few exceptions these exist only in Hebrew, some of them having been probably written in that language.
4. The "Siddur": see Siddur of Saadia Gaon. Of this synagogal poetry the most noteworthy portions are the "Azharot" on the 613 commandments, which give the author's name as "Sa'id b. Joseph", followed by the title "Alluf," thus showing that the poems were written before he became gaon.

Philosophy of Religion[link]

1. Emunoth ve-Deoth (Kitab al-Amanat wal-I'tikadat): This work is considered to be the first systematic attempt to synthesize the Jewish tradition with philosophical teachings. Prior to Saadia, the only other Jew to attempt any such fusion was Philo (1989 Ivry).
2. "Tafsir Kitab al-Mabadi," an Arabic translation of and commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah, written while its author was still residing in Egypt (or Israel).

Polemical writings[link]

1. Refutations of Karaite authors, always designated by the name "Kitab al-Radd," or "Book of Refutation." These three works are known only from scanty references to them in other works; that the third was written after 933 is proved by one of the citations.
2. "Kitab al-Tamyiz" (in Hebrew, "Sefer ha-Hakkarah"), or "Book of Distinction," composed in 926, and Saadia's most extensive polemical work. It was still cited in the twelfth century; and a number of passages from it are given in a Biblical commentary of Japheth ha-Levi.
3. There was perhaps a special polemic of Saadia against Ben Zuta, though the data regarding this controversy between is known only from the gaon's gloss on the Torah.
4. A refutation directed against the rationalistic Biblical critic Hiwi al-Balkhi, whose views were rejected by the Karaites themselves;
5. "Kitab al-Shara'i'," or "Book of the Commandments of Religion."
6. "Kitab al-'Ibbur," or "Book of the Calendar," likewise apparently containing polemics against Karaite Jews;
7. "Sefer ha-Mo'adim," or "Book of Festivals," the Hebrew polemic against Ben Meir which has been mentioned above.
8. "Sefer ha-Galui," also in Hebrew and in the same Biblical style as the "Sefer ha-Mo'adim," being an apologetic work directed against David b. Zakkai and his followers.

Significance[link]

Saadia Gaon was a pioneer in the fields in which he toiled. The foremost object of his work was the Bible; his importance is due primarily to his establishment of a new school of Biblical exegesis characterized by a rational investigation of the contents of the Bible and a scientific knowledge of the language of the holy text.

Saadia's Arabic translation of the Torah is of importance for the history of civilization; itself a product of the Arabization of a large portion of Judaism, it served for centuries as a potent factor in the impregnation of the Jewish spirit with Arabic culture, so that, in this respect, it may take its place beside the Greek Bible-translation of antiquity and the German translation of the Pentateuch by Moses Mendelssohn. As a means of popular religious enlightenment, Saadia's translation presented the Scriptures even to the unlearned in a rational form which aimed at the greatest possible degree of clarity and consistency.

His system of hermeneutics was not limited to the exegesis of individual passages, but treated also each book of the Bible as a whole, and showed the connection of its various portions with one another.

The commentary contained, as is stated in the author's own introduction to his translation of the Pentateuch, not only an exact interpretation of the text, but also a refutation of the cavils which the heretics raised against it. Further, it set forth the bases of the commandments of reason and the characterization of the commandments of revelation; in the case of the former the author appealed to philosophical speculation; of the latter, naturally, to tradition.

The position assigned to Saadia in the oldest list of Hebrew grammarians, which is contained in the introduction to Abraham ibn Ezra's "Moznayim," has not been challenged even by the latest historical investigations. Here, too, he was the first; his grammatical work, now lost, gave an inspiration to further studies, which attained their most brilliant and lasting results in Spain, and he created in part the categories and rules along whose lines was developed the grammatical study of the Hebrew language. His dictionary, primitive and merely practical as it was, became the foundation of Hebrew lexicography; and the name "Agron" (literally, "collection"), which he chose and doubtless created, was long used as a designation for Hebrew lexicons, especially by the Karaites. The very categories of rhetoric, as they were found among the Arabs, were first applied by Saadia to the style of the Bible. He was likewise one of the founders of comparative philology, not only through his brief "Book of Seventy Words," already mentioned, but especially through his explanation of the Hebrew vocabulary by the Arabic, particularly in the case of the favorite translation of Biblical words by Arabic terms having the same sound.

Saadia's works were the inspiration and basis for later Jewish writers, such as Berachyah in his encyclopedic philosophical work Sefer Hahibbur (The Book of Compilation).

Relations to Mysticism[link]

In his commentary on the "Sefer Yetzirah", Saadia sought to render lucid and intelligible the content of this esoteric work by the light of philosophy and scientific knowledge, especially by a system of Hebrew phonology which he himself had founded. He did not permit himself in this commentary to be influenced by the theological speculations of the Kalam, which are so important in his main works. In introducing "Sefer Yetzirah"'s theory of creation he makes a distinction between the Biblical account of creation ex nihilo, in which no process of creation is described, and the process described in "Sefer Yetzirah" (matter formed by speech). The cosmogony of "Sefer Yetzirah" is even omitted from the discussion of creation in his magnum opus "Kitab al-Amanat wal-I'tiḳadat." From this it may be concluded that he regarded the "Sefer Yetzirah" as presenting one among many competing theories of creation, and not as authoritative. Concerning the supposed attribution of the book to the patriarch Abraham, he allows that the ideas it contains might be ancient, but that grammatical analysis shows that the text could not predate the Bible. Nonetheless, he clearly considered the work worthy of deep study and echoes of "Sefer Yetzirah"'s cosmogony do appear in "Kitab al-Amanat wal-I'tiḳadat" when Saadia discusses his theory of prophecy.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Emunoth ve-Deoth
• Jewish philosophy
• Judaism
• Rabbi

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906. 
• Salo W. Baron, "Saadia's communal activities", Saadia Anniversary Volume (1943) 9-74.
• M. Friedlander, "Life and works of Saadia", The Jewish Quarterly Review 5 (1893) 177-199.
• Ivry, Alfred L. (1989). "The contribution of Alexander Altmann to the study of medieval Jewish philosophy". In Arnold Paucker. Leo Baeck Institute Year Book XXXIV. London: Secker & Warburg. pp. 433–440 .
• Henry Malter, Saadia Gaon: His life and works (Morris Loeb Series, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1921, several later reprints).
• Stroumsa, Sarah (2003). "Saadya and Jewish kalam". In Frank, Daniel H.; Leaman, Oliver. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 71–90. ISBN 978-0-521-65207-0 
• Wein, Berel (November 1993). Herald of Destiny: The Story of the Jews 750-1650. Brooklyn, NY: Shaar Press. pp. 4–12. ISBN 0-89906-237-7. 

External links[link]

• SAADIA B. JOSEPH (Sa'id al-Fayyumi), jewishencyclopedia.com; Article
• Resources > Medieval Jewish History > Geonica The Jewish History Resource Center - Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

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Sachin Tendulkar

Personal information
Full name	Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born	(1973-04-24) 24 April 1973 (age 39) Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, India
Nickname	Little Master, Tendlya[1]
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg spin, off spin, medium pace
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 187)	15 November 1989 v Pakistan
Last Test	24 January 2012 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 74)	18 December 1989 v Pakistan
Last ODI	18 March 2012 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	10
Only T20I	1 December 2006 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988	Cricket Club of India
1988–present	Mumbai
1992	Yorkshire
2008–present	Mumbai Indians
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	188	462	292	550
Runs scored	15,470	18,374	24,389	21,947
Batting average	55.44	44.81	58.62	45.53
100s/50s	51/65	49/96	78/111	60/113
Top score	248*	200*	248*	200*
Balls bowled	4,174	8,032	7,539	10,220
Wickets	45	154	70	201
Bowling average	54.33	44.32	61.95	42.11
5 wickets in innings	0	2	0	2
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	3/10	5/32	3/10	5/32
Catches/stumpings	113/–	140/–	181/–	175/–
Source: Cricinfo, 17 March 2012

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar ( pronunciation (help·info); born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket.^[2][3][4] He is the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket.^[5][6] In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.^[7] Tendulkar was a part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team in the later part of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances for India.^[8] He is currently nominated for receiving the Bharat Ratna award. ^[9]

Tendulkar is the only cricketer to accomplish the feat of scoring a hundred centuries in international cricket which includes 49 ODI and 51 Test centuries.^[10] He is also the only player to score fifty centuries in Test cricket,^[11] and the first to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined. On 17 October 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000, 13,000, 14,000 and 15,000 runs in that form of the game,^[12] having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket.^[13] He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 11 Test centuries against Australia, tying with Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years previously.^[14] Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009. On 24 February 2010, Tendulkar became the first man to score a double century (200*) in an ODI against South Africa. On 8 November 2011, Tendulkar became the first batsman to score 15,000 runs in Test Cricket. He also holds the world record for playing highest number of Test and ODI matches.

Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour. Tendulkar became the first sportsperson and the first person without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He has received honorary doctorates from University of Mysore^[15] and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences^[16] He won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.^[17]

Early years and personal life[link]

Tendulkar was born into a Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin family,^[18][19][20] in Bombay (now Mumbai). His mother Rajni worked in the insurance industry,^[21] and his father Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar's elder brother Ajit encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: a brother Nitin, and sister Savita.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School),^[1] where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.^[22]

When he was young, Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-rupee coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.^[23]

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament.^[24] This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.

At 14, Tendulkar was a ball boy for the India versus Zimbabwe game at the Wankhede Stadium during the 1987 World Cup.^[25] When he was 14, former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," Tendulkar said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries.^[26] On 24 May 1995,^[27] Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali, a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta and British social worker Annabel Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997) and Arjun (born 24 September 1999). Anjali is six years his senior.^[28]

Beliefs[link]

Tendulkar is known to be a religious person,^[29] and an ardent devotee of Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi.^[30][31][32] He has visited Puttaparthi on several occasions to seek Baba's blessings.^[30][33] In 1997, Tendulkar captained the Indian National side, playing against a World Eleven team, in the Unity Cup which was held at the hill view stadium in Puttaparthi, in Baba's presence.^[34][35] After Sai Baba's death, Tendulkar broke into tears when he saw the body of Baba in Puttaparthi, and cancelled his birthday celebrations.^[36][37][38] The cricketer is also known to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at home and frequently visits temples during night when it is calm and quiet.^[29][39] The cricketer has also offered his prayers at several other Hindu temples across the country.^[40][41]

Early domestic career[link]

At the age of 13, Tendulkar made his debut in club cricket for Cricket Club of India.^[42] On 11 December 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat, making him the youngest Indian to score a century on first-class debut. He followed this by scoring a century in his first Deodhar and Duleep Trophy.^[43] He was picked by the Mumbai captain Dilip Vengsarkar after seeing him negotiate Kapil Dev in the nets,^[1] and finished the season as Bombay's highest run-scorer.^{[note 1][44]} He also made an unbeaten century in the Irani Trophy final,^[45] and was selected for the tour of Pakistan next year, after just one first class season.^[46]

His first double century was for Mumbai while playing against the visiting Australian team at the Brabourne Stadium in 1998.^[1] He is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.^[47]

In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire^{[1][note 2]} Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the county and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.^[48]