Al-Khwarazmi is a somewhat obscure figure.[2] He was born in 935 in Khwarazm, the birthplace of his father. His mother was a native of Amol in Tabaristan.[1] He periodically refers to himself as al-Khwarazmi or al-Tabari, while other sources refer to him as al-Tabarkhazmi or al-Tabarkhazi.[1] Al-Khwarizmi may have been a nephew of al-Tabari, the prominent Persian historian.[1] For a time, al-Khwarizmi worked as a clerk in the Samanid court at Bukhara in Transoxania, [3] where he acquired his nickname, “al-Katib’’ which literally means “the secretary” or “the scribe”.[4]