C ON TE N TS .

I—I N TROD U C TI ON

II —TH E S U LV A S U TRA S
Th e Py t h a g o r e an t h e or e m
S q u ares a n d r ec t a n
gle s
S qu ar in g t he cir c le
III—CI RC . A D. .
, 4 0 0 —60 0
T he Pa c ha Sidhan tika
n

A ry ab h a ga

IV —C RI C . A D
. 6 00 —
1 2 00
I n de term in ate e q u atio n s
R ation al r ig h t a g le d t ria gle s
-
n n

G eom e t ry

V—I N D I A N M A T H E M A T I C A L W ORK S

Topic s
Te rmin ol ogy
I llu st r ativ e e x a mples
VI—AR I TH ME TI C AL N OT A T I ON S E TC , .

VI I— I N D IAN MA T H E MA TI CI A N S

VIII—F ORE I G N I N F L U E N C E
Po ssibl e c on n e ction wit h C hin ese m athe m atic s
A r a b ic m a t he m atic s
G r ee k in fl u en c e

I X— AP P E N D IC E S
E x tr ac t s from te x ts
E x ampl es
C hro n olo g y
B ibli ogr aphy

X—I N D E X
 1 . orientalist s w h o exploit ed in diagns: h isto y E
TH E l

au d r

liter ature about a century ago w ere not al w ays perfect in

their methods of investigation and consequently promu l gated
many errors Gradually h ow ever sounde r methods have
.
, ,

obta ined and w e are n ow able to see the facts in more

correct perspective In particular the earl y chronology has
.

been largely revised and the revision in some instances has

import a n t bearings on the history of mathematics and al lied
'
subj ects According to orthodox H indu tradition the S z wya
.

S iddkdn ta the m ost important Indian astronomica l w ork

, ,

was composed over t w o million years ago Baill y to w ards ,

'

the end of the eighteenth centur y considered that Indian ,

astronomy had been founded on accurate observations mad e

thousands of y ears before the C hristian era LA P L AC E .
,

basing his arguments on figures given by BA I LL Y considered

t hat so m e y ears B C the Indian astronomers had
. .

recorded actual observations of the p lanets correct to on e

s ec on d ;
’
PL AY F AI R eloquently supported BA I LLY s views
S ir WI LL IA M J ON E S ar gued that correct observations must
have been made at least as early as 1 1 81 BC and so on.

but w ith the researches of C O L E BR OO K E W H I T N EY WE BE R

, , ,

TH I B AU T and others more correct vie w s w ere introdu ced

,

an d it w as proved that the records used b y Ba il l y w ere qu ite

modern and that the actual period of the com p osition of the
origin a l S fir ya S iddkiin ta was not earliar than A D 400 . . .

It may indeed b e generally stated that the tenden c y

, ,

of the earl y orienta l ists was to w ards antedating and this

tendency is exhibited in discussions connected w ith two
notab le w orks the Su lvas'
'
fi tm s and the Bakhskd li arithmetic
, ,

the da tes of w hich are not even y et definitel y fi xed .

1
 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S .

In the l 6t h century A D H indu tra dition asc r ib

2 . , . .
,

t h e inventio n of the n ine figures w ith the device of p l ac e

‘
to ma k e them suffice for all numbers to the ben efic en
C re ator o f t h e u n iv er se and this w as accepted as evidence o f
‘

the system 2 This is a pa rticular

that w as quite general for ear l y ,
'
Ih diaii to be dire c tly revealed or of divine
origin One consequ ence of this attitude is that w e find
.

ab solute ly no references to forei gn o rigins or foreig n in fl u

e nce *
W e have ho w ever a great deal of direct evidence
.
, ,

that proves conclusively that foreign influence w as very real

indeed— Greek and Roman coins coins w ith Greek and ,

Indian inscriptions Greek techn ical terms etc etc ; an d

, , .
, .

the imp l i c ation of considerable foreign influence o ccurs in

c ertain classes of literature and also in the archaeological
re ma in s of the no rth -w est of India One of the f ew references.

to f oreigners is given by Vahr aha Mihira w h o a c kno w ledged

that the Gree ks kne w somethin g of astrology but a l though
he gi ves a ccounts of the Roma ka an d the Pau lis a siddhiin tas
’
‘

he never makes an y direct a c kn owled gment of w estern

influence .

o d h
I t may b e n t e t at b eyon d t h e va g u e p se u d o p rop h et ic r e fe r
-

e n c es in t h e P u r dgza s, n o ea rly I n d ian w r ite r m en t io n s t h e in as io n o f

v

Al e xan d er t h e G re at.
 II .

3 For the p u rpose of discussion three periods in th e

.

history of H indu mathematics may be considered

S u lvas atm
’

( I ) The period w it h upper limit 0 .

A D 200 ;
. .

II
( ) The astronomical period c A D 40 0 — 60 0 . . . .

( III ) The Hindu math emat ical period prop er A , . D .

6 00 — 1 20 0 .

S uch a division into periods does not of course perfectly , ,

represent the facts but it is a useful division and serves the

,

purposes of exposition w ith sufficient a ccuracy W e mi ght .

have prefixed an e arlier or Vedic period but the literature

, ,

of the Vedic age does not exhibit an y thing of a mathem atic a l

"

nature beyond a f ew me asures and numbers used quite in f o r

mall y It is a remarkable fact that the second and third
.

o f o u r p eriods have no c onnection w hateve r w ith the first

S u lvasfltm period The later Indian mathem a ticians

’
or .

’
completely ignored the mathematical contents of the S u lva
s fitras . They not onl y never refer to them bu t do not even
utilise the results given therein W e can go eve n fur t her .

a n d state that no Indian w riter earlier t han the nineteenth

c entur y is kn o w n to have referred to the S u lvasatm s ’

as containing an ythin g of mathematical value This dis .

c onnection w ill be illustrated a s W e proceed and it w il l be

s een that the w orks of the third period ma y be considered as

“

a direct development from those of the second .

4 TH E S
. UL V
’

AS U T R A P E R IO D — The term S u lvasfitm

means the r u le s o f the cord and is the name given to t h e
supplements of the Kalp asatras w hich treat of the c on str u c
tion of sacrificial altars The period in w hich the S u lvasfl
’

”as were com posed has been variou sly fixed by various
4 I ND IA N M AT HEMA TI C S .

a uthors MA X MH LLE R gave the period as lying bet w ee n

.

5 00 and 2 0 0 B C R C D UTT gave 8 0 0 R C ; B IlH LE R

. . . . .

places the origin of the Apastamba school as probably

some w here w ithin the l ast four centuries before the C hristian
era and Bau dhayan a s ome w hat earlier MA C D O NNELL gives
,

the limits as 5 00 B C and A D 2 00 and so on As a . . .

, .

matter of fact the dates are n o t kn o w n and those suggested

b y diff erent authorities must be used w ith the greatest
circumspection It must also be borne in mind t hat t h e
.

contents of the S u lvaszitm s as kno w n to us are taken

’ ’

, ,

from quite modern manuscripts ; and that in matters of

detai l they have p robablv been extensively edited The .

editions of Ap ast amba Bau dhayan a and Katy ayan a w hich ,

have been used for the fol l o w ing notes indeed diff er from , ,

e a ch other to a very c onsiderable extent .

The S u lvasatm s are not primarily mathematical but

’

a r e r u les ancillary to religious ritual

— they have not a mathe
m at ic al but a religious aim No proofs or demon strations .

a r e given a n d indeed in the presentation there is nothing

mathematical be y ond the bare facts Those of the rules .

that contain mathematical notions re l ate to ( 1 ) the c on stru c

‘

tion of squ ares and rectangles ( 2 ) the relation of the ,

diagona l to the sides ( 3 ) equivalent rectangles and s quares, ,

( 4) equivalent circles and s quares .

In connection w ith ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) the PY T H AGO RE A N

5 .

theorem i s stated quite genera l l y It is illustrated by a .

num ber of examples which ma y be summarised thus

AP A S TA MBA . BA UD H A YA N A .

2 2
3 + 2
4 = 5 3 + 2

12 2
l 16
- - 2
z -
z

20 2 2
5 +l2 = 13 2 2

2-
15 1
2 - 2-
5 i 7 l
2 2
I5 + 36 ! 3Q
-1 5 2 2 2 2-
2
8 4 17 15 i
2 2: 2
1 2 + 35 37
 I ND IA N M AT HEM AT I C S . 5

K aty ayan a gives no such rational examples but gives ( w ith

Apastamba an d Bau dhayan a ) the hypotenuse corresponding
to sides equal t o the side and dia gonal of a square i e the , . .
,

t riangle a a 1 /2
,
and he a lone gives
,
an d
’

There is no indication that the S u lvaszctra

‘

rational examples w ere obtained from any general rule .

Incidentally is given an a rithmetical value of the diagon a l

of a square w hich may be represented by

1 1
V3 6
1 L
3

This ha s been much commented upon but given a scale o f ,

measures based U pon the change ratios 3 4 an d 3 4 ( and , ,

.

Bau d hayan a a ctually gives such a scale ) the result is only

an expression of a direct measurement and for a side of six
f eet it is accurate to about éth of an inch or it is possible
t hat the result was ob tained by the a pproximation

m
1
; by T A NNERY S R process but it is quit e
’
—
7) : a + 2 ,

c ertain that no such process w as kno w n to the authors of the

S u lvasfitras
’
The only note w orthy character of the fra c
.

t ion is the form w ith its unit numerators . N either the

value itself nor this form of fraction occurs in any later

Indian w ork .

There is one other point connected w ith the

PY T H AGO RE A N theorem to be noted via the occurrence , ,

of an indication of the formation of a square by the

s uccessive addition of gnomons The text rel ating to this .

i s as follo w s

Tw o hundred an d t w enty-fiv e of these bricks

'
constitute the sevenfo l d ow n! w ith am tm an d
”
p m desa .

To these sixty-four more are to be a dded W ith .

these bricks a square is formed The side of the .

square consists of sixteen bricks Thirty three .

-
6 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S .

bricks still remain an d these ar e pl aced on all

sides round the borders .

This subj ec t is never a gain referred to in Indian m athe

matic al w orks .

The questi o ns (a ) w he t her the Indians of this period ha d

comple t ely realised t h e generality of t he PY T H AGO RE A N
t heorem a n d , whether t hey h ad a sound notion of t h e
irra t ion a l h a ve been much discussed ; b u t the rit u alists
'
w h o composed the S u lvasfitras w ere n o t i nterested in the

PYT H AGO RE A N theorem bev on d their o w n ac t u al w ants an d it ,

is quite certai n t hat even as l ate a s t h e 1 2 t h century no India n

m athem at ici an gives evidence of a complete underst an ding
of the irrat ion al Furt her a t n o period did the Indians
.
,

develop an y real theory of geome t r y an d a comp aratively,

modern India n w ork denie s the possibility of au v proof o f

the PY T H AGO R E A N t heorem other th an experience .

The fanciful suggestion of BiiRK th at possibly PYTH A

GO R AS obtain ed his geometrical knowledge from Indi a is not
supported by an y actu al evidence The C hinese had a c qu ain
.

tance with t h e theorem over a t hous and ye a rs B C an d t h e ,

E gyptians a s e arly as 200 0 B C .

6 Problems rel ating to equivalent squ ares an d rectangle s

.

ar e involved in the prescribed a ltar constructions and c o n se

'
quently the S u lvasfitm s give const r uctions by help of t h e ,

PY T H AGO RE A N theorem of ,

(1 ) a squ a re equ al to the sum of two squ ares

(2 ) a squ a re equ a l to t h e di fference of two squares

(3 ) a rectangle equal to a given squ are

'
( 4) a square equal to a given rectangle

( )
5 the decrease of a square into a smaller square .

Again have to rem ark the signific ant fact that none
W e

of these geometrical constructions occur in any later Indian

work The first t wo are direct geometrical applic a tions o f
.
 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S . 7

the rule c
’
z a
‘
2 —
l—b’
; t he t hird gives in a ge o me t ri c al form
the sides of the rect angle V? an d 93 ? the fourth rule
as C
5 —b 2

( )
a
gi ves a geometri c a l construct i on for ab b T

an d corresponds to E UC L I D II , ,
5 ; the fif th is not
perfectly cle a r but evidently corresponds to E UC L I D II , ,
4 .

7 . TH E C I RC L E — According
to the al tar build ing ritual
of the period it wa s under certain circumstances necessary , ,

to square t h e circle an d consequently w e have recorded ,

in the S u lvasfitm s at t empts at the solution of t his problem

’

and it s connec tion wit h altar ritual reminds us of the cele

br a t ed D EL IA N problem The sol utions o ffered a r e very .

crude a lthough in one c ase there is pretence of a ccuracy .

Deno t ing by a the side of the square an d by d the diamete r

o f the circle w hose a re a is supposed to be ( 1 t h e rules g iven
2

may be expressed by
d = m+ a —
(e xwv 2 o
w a:

1 1 1 1
(7 ) a _d 1
( 3

Nei t her rules w hich ar e gi ven by both Apas

of the first t wo ,

t amb a a n d Ba u d h ayan a is of p articul a r value or interest , .

The third is given by Bau dh ayan a on ly a n d is evidently

obtained from ( ) by utilisin g the value for V 2 given in
a

paragra ph 5 above W e thus h ave .

a, 3 3

d
u
s

w hich , neglec ting the last t erm ,

is the value given in rule ( y ) .

b u lva su tm s ; for as TH I B A UT says there is nothin g in

8 I ND I A N M AT H E MAT I C S .

these ru l es w hich w ould j ustify the assumption that they

w ere e x pert in long calculations and there is no indication
in an y other Work that the Indians Were ever acquainted
with the process and in no later Works are fractions ex
pressed in this manner .

It is w orthy of note that later Indian mathematicians

record no attempts at the solution of the problem of
s quaring the circ l e and never refer to those recorded in the

S u lvasatm s
’
.
 A D 400
. . To 60 0 .

8 There appears to be no connecting link bet w een the

.

S u lvaszltm mathematics an d later Indian developments

’ ’

O f the subj ect S ubsequent to the S u lvas fitm s nothin g

’
.

further is recorded until the introduction in t o India of

western a stronomical ideas * In the sixth century A D . . .

VA RAH A MI H IRA w rote his P a iic ha S iddhd n mkd w hich

'

gives a summary account of the five most important astro

n o mic al w orks then in use Of these the S fir ya S iddhdn ta . ,

which W as probably composed in its original form not e arlier

than A D 40 0 a fter w ards became the standard Work
. .
,
.

VA RAH A MI H I RA S collection is the earliest and most authentic

’

account w e have of w hat may be termed the scientific treat

“
ment of astronomy in India Although writes TH I B A U T .
, ,

not directl y sta ting that the H indus learned from the
G reeks he at any rate mentions certain facts an d points of
,

doctrine w hich suggest the dependence of Indian astronomy

on the science of Alexandria ; and as We kno w already ,

from his astrologic a l w ritings he freely employ s terms of ,

”
undoubted Greek origin .

V A R AB A MIH I RA w rites '

There are t h e following
S iddh antas the Pau lisa the B omaka the Vasisht ha the
’
- .

, , ,

S aura and the Paitam aha The S iddh anta made by

Pau liéa is accurate near to it stands the S iddh ant a pro
,

claimed b y B omaka more accurate is the S é vit r a ( S u rya )

,

”
The two remaining ones are far from the truth .

T h is o m ew h at impor ta n t b ear in g o t h e d a te of t h e
h as a s n
'
S u l c a sfit r a s If for e x am pl e t h e d a t e of t h eir compo sit io n w e r e a cc e p t e d
.
, ,

as 5 00 R C a p er io d of n ea rly
. y ea r s a bs olu t ely bla k as f a ,
n r as

mat h emat ic al n o tio n s ar e co n c e r n ed w ould h av e t o b e accou t ed for

,
n .
10 I ND IA N M AT HE MATI C S .

9 . Th e Pa fic ha S iddhd n tikd
cont a ins materi al o f
considerable m athematical interest and from the historic al
point of V ie w of a v a lue not surpassed by th at of any later
Indian works The m athem atic a l section of the P a u lis w
.
f

S iddhcin ta is perh ap s of t he most interes t and may b e

considered t o con t ain the essence of Indian trigonometry .

It a s follows
‘

(l ) The square roo t o f the tenth p art o f t h e squar e

-

o f the circumference which comprises 3 60 ,

parts is the diame t er H avin g assumed t h e

, .

four parts of a circle th e sine of t he eight h

p art of a sign [is to be fou n d ] .

(2 ) Take the square of t he radius and c all it the

constant The fourth part of it is [t h e square
.

of ] Aries The cons ta n t square is to b e

.

lessened by the squ a re of A ries The square .

roots of the t w o qu antities ar e the sin es .

(3 ) In order to find the rest take the double of the

a rc deduct it from the quarter dimin ish
t h e radius by t he sine of the re m
, ,

a inder and

a d d to the square of h a lf of t h a t t h e square

of half the sine of double the ar c Th e .

square root of the su m is t h e desired sine

-
.

'
[ The eighth part of sign is °
a 3 45 an d by
A ries is indic ated t he first sign of
The rules given may be expressed in our notation (f or
uni t radius ) a s

(2 ) S in Sin —i
(1 )
2 S ID 90 — 27 2
S in 2 3; ( )
(3 ) 8 1 11 2 y
.

They are followed by a table of 24 sines progressin g by in ter

' ° ’
v als of 3 45 obviously taken f rom PT C LE MY s table of chords .

Inste ad however of d ividin g the radius into 60 parts as

, , ,
 I ND I A N M AT HEM ATI C S . 11

did Ptolemy Pau lis a divides it i nto 1 20 parts ; for

’

,
as

c ho r d
sin _i_
‘ a
this div ision of the radiu s enabled him to
2 2

conver t t h e table of chords into sines without numerical

change A r yabhata gives another measure for the radius
.

which enabled the sines to be expressed in a sort o f

circul ar me asure .

W e thus have three dis tinct sta ges

( )
a The chords of P TO LEMY or c h d a w ith ,
’
,

Ch d a

( b) The Pau lié a 8 111 6 01

’ fi

g “

z
s th 7 2 1 20

3
Ch

;
3
L _
( 0 ) The A r v a bhat a S i ne or 8 1 11
7

’
w ith r= 343 8

To obtain ( 0 ) t he v a lue of 7r actually used w as 4

i 35
)

Thus the e arliest kno w n record of the use of a sin e

function occurs in the India n astronomical w orks of thi s
period At one time the invention of this function w as
.

attribu t ed t o e lQ Bat t an i [A D 8 7 7 — 9 1 9 ] and although w e . .

now kno w t his to be incorrect w e must a cknowledge that

the A rabs u t ilised the invention t o a much more scientifi c
end t ha n did t h e Indians .

—
In some of the Indian works o f this period an in t er po
l ation for mul a for the construction of t h e table of sines is .

given It may be repres ented b y

.

S in n
n—
a—
a
wh ere S in S in ( l)
.

A A : n .

Sin a
n

This is given ostensibly for the for mation of the t a ble bu t ,

the t able a ctually given cannot be obt a ined from the formula .

10 . A RYA B H A TA ( born
.
— Tradition places Aryabhata
A D 4 7 6 ) a t t h e head of the Indian mathematicians and
. .

indeed he w as the fir st to write formally on the subj ect *

.

'
Al though Kry abhata s Gamta as fi rs t publ ish ed by Ker n if ’

, ,

g e e r a lly a cc e p te d as a u t h e n t ic t h e r e is a
n e l e m en t of d oub t in t h e
, n .

m tt e r
a .
 12 I ND I A N M AT HEM ATI C S .

H e w as reno w ned as an astronomer and a s such tried to int ro

d uce sounder vie w s of that science but was bitterly opposed
by the orthodox The mathematical Work attributed t o
.

him consists of thirty-thr ee couplets into which is condensed

a good de a l of matter S tarting with the orders of numer als
.

he proceeds to evolution and involution an d are a s a n d ,

volumes N ext comes a semi astronomical section in which

.

i
-

he deals w ith t h e c ir c le shadow problems etc then a set

, , .

o f propositions on progressions fo l lowed by some Simple

algebraic identities The remaining rules may be termed
.

pra ctical applications w ith the e xception of the very l a st

which relates to indeterminate equations of the first degree .

N either demonstrations nor examples ar e given the whole ,

t ext consisting of Sixty six lines of b are rules so condensed

-

t hat it is often di fficult to interpret their meaning As a .

mathematical treatise it is of interest chiefly because it is

some record of the state of knowledge at a critical period in
the intel l ectual history of the civilised w orld ; because as ,

far as We know it is the earliest H indu w ork on pure m at he

,

maties and because it forms a sort of introduction to the

school of Indian m athematicians that flourished in succeeding
c enturies .

A ry ab ha ta
wor k contains one of the e arliest records
’
s

known to us of an attempt at a gener a l solution of in d et er .

m in at es of the first degree b y the continued fraction process .

The rule as given in the text is hardly coherent but there

, ,

is no doubt a s to it s general aim It ma y be considered a s

“

forming an introduction to the somewhat marvellous devel op

ment of this branch of mathematics that w e find recorded
in the works of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara Another .

n ote w orthy rule given by Ar y abha ta is the one w hich contains

a n extremely accurate value of the ratio of the circumference

o f a circle to the diameter via 7: 3 1g ) ,

but it
,

is rather extraordinary that Ar yabh ata himse l f never utilised

t his value that it was not used by any other Indi a n m athe
,
 AD . . 600 —
1 200 .

11 . Ary ab hata appears to have given a definite bias to

I ndian mathematics for following him We have a series of

,

Works dealing w ith the same topics Of the Writers them .

selves w e kno w very little indeed beyond t h e mere names

b u t some if not all t h e Works of the follo w ing a uthors have
been preserved
Bra hmagupta born AD . . 59 8 .

Mah avira 2 9t h centur y .

'
S r idha
ra born AD . . 991 .

Bh askara born A D 1114

. . .

Bhaskara is the most renowned of this S chool prob ably ,

’
undeservedl y so for Brahmagupta s Work is possibly sounder
,

mathematically and is of much more importance historically .

G enerally these Writers treat of the same topics — w ith a

difference — and Brahma gupta s work appears to have been’

used by all the others Bh aska ra mentions another mathe

.

matic ian Padman abha but omits from his list Mah av ir a
, , .

One of the chief points of difference is in the treatment

o f geometry Brahmagupta dea l s fairl y completely w ith
.

c yclic quadri l atera l s w hile the later writers gradually d rop

this subj ect until by the time of Bhaskara it h as ceased

t o be understood .

The most interesting characteristics of the w orks of this

p eriod are the treatment of
( i) indetermin ate e quations ;
the rational right angl ed triangle ;
-

an d ( iii) the perfunctory treatment of pure geometry .

 I ND IA N M AT HEM AT I C S . 15

Of these topics it w ill be noted t hat t h e second w as de alt

w ith to some exten t in the S u lvas atras ; b u t a close e x a
’ ’

mination seems to Show that there is no re al connect ion an d

that the w rit ers of the third period w ere actually ignorant
o f the results a chieved by Bau d h ay a n a an d Ap a s t a mba .

12 INDE T ERM I NAT E

. E Q U ATIO N S The interestin g .

n ames and d a tes connected w ith the e a rly his t ory of in d et er

min at es in India a r e

Diophantus
Hypatia
Ar yabh ata
Brahmagupta
Bhaskara

That c annot fill up t he gap between D iophan t us an d

we

An y abh a ta w ith more than the mere name of Hypa t i a is

probabl y due to the fanatic ignorance and cruelty of the
earl y Al exandrian C hristians rather than the supposed
d estruction of the Alexandrian library by the Muh ammada ns .

It Would be pleasant to conceive that in the In dian w orks

we have some record of the advances made by H ypatia ,

or of the contents of the l ost books of Diophantus — but

We are not j ustified in indulging in more than the mere
fan c y The period is one of particular interest
. The .

murder of Hypatia ( A D the imprisonment an d

. .

execution of Boethius ( A D the closing of the

. .

At hen ean schools in A D 5 3 0 and the fall of Al exandri a

. .

in 6 40 are eve nts full of suggestions to the hi storian of

mathematics It w as during t hi s period also that
.

Damasc iu s S implicius ( mathematicians of some repute )

,

a n d others of the s chool s of A thens having heard tha t ,

' ’
PLAr o s ideal form of government was a ctually re a lised
under C hosr oes I in Persia emi grated thither ( c A . , D .
 16 I ND IA N M AT HEMATI C S .

They were naturally disappointed but the eff ect o f

their visit may h a ve been far greater than historica l record s
Sho w .

13 The state of knowledge regarding indeterminate

.

equations i n the west at this period is not de finitely kno w n .

S ome of the Works of Diophantus an d all those of Hypatia

are lost to us but the extant records Show that the Greeks
had explored the field of this a nalysis s o far as to achieve
rational solutions (not necessarily integral ) of equations of
the first and second degree and certain c ases of the third
degr ee The Indian w orks record distinct advances on w hat
.

is left of the Greek analysis For example they give rational .

in tegr a l solutions of

(A ) ax i by z c

B
( ) Da 2 —
l 1
- = t2

The solution of ( A ) is only roughly indicated by Arya

’
bha ta but Brahma gupta s so l ution ( for the positive S ign ) is
practic ally the same as
bt, = ¥
w: t y c
p + at
-
;

w here t
is zero or an y integer and p /q is the penultimate con
vergent of a/h .

The Indian methods for the solution of

Du 2
1 2
t

may be summarised as follows

2
If Da H g-
i z c and Da 2
=
+fi 7
2
then will
D(Ca —
'
'
2
0+ D) ”
(a ) F 76 (0 Vi a a

r 2- D
( b) D
b

w here r is an y suitable integer .

Al so
D + n2

w here is any assumed number

n .

The complete integra l solution is given by a co m bination

( a ) and ( b) of which the former onl y is given b y Brahma
 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S 17

gupta w hile both are given by Bh askara ( five centurie s

,

later ) The l at t er designates (a ) the m et h od by composi

.
‘

tion an d ( b) the cyclic me t hod These solutions ar e alone .

suffi cien t to give to the Indian Works an important pl ace in

the history of m a thematics Of the cyclic method .

the combin ation of (a ) an d ( b) HAN K EL says It is beyon d ,

a ll praise it is certainly the finest thing a chieved in t he

theory of numbers before La grange H e attributed its .

invention to the Indian mathematicians but the op i n i on s ,

of the best modern authorities T A NNERY C A N TO R , ,

H E AT H ) ar e ra ther in fa vour of the hypothesis of ultim at e

Greek origin .

The follo w ing conspectus of the indeterminate problems

de alt with by the Indians will give some idea of their Wor k
in this direction ; and although f ew of the cases actu ally
occur in Greek Works n ow kn o w n to us the conspectus sign i
fic an tly illustrates a general similarity of treatment .

an
: if: by c

(2 ) on by as

(3) a; E a, Mod . 61 a
,
M od . 6,

( 4) A x + B y + 0 xy = D

( m D m+ i = n

( 6 ) Du
e
1 = t2

( 7 ) Dn
2 ?
A: s t

( 8) D
i 2
n i s z t
s 2
(9) a s at

( 1 0 ) Du
2 2
i an t

(1 1 ) s Du 2
t
2

( 1 2 ) Du
2
s t

2
x i b z t

Of t h ese o ly u m b er s
n n 1 — 5 , 7 , 8, 12 —1 4 o cc ur b efor e the tw e lf t h
c en tury .
18 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S .

( 1 4) ax + 1 = 2
s , boo —
l—a z t 2

2 — 2 2
( 1 5) 2 ( x
2
3 ( x y )+ 3 t
'

m 2
by 2 —1 = t2
( 1 6) c - :

"
a
r:

( 1 8) w — a E
z
fi —o Mod m
Q —
( 1 9 ax l— o
) Mod m
x —y z t ,
xy z u

3 3 = 2 2
+ = t3
2
(2 1 ) x + y 3 ,
x y
3 2 2 = t 3
=
( 22 ) x -
y s ,
x + y
——
‘
3 z 2
x l y z t

2 —— 1 = t2
as l

( 26)
( 27 ) x
3 — a Mod . b
—4 u
"
,

(I)
? _y 2 ’

l l2
' 2
my
w s
:

s
.
~
-
t -
u + v —w —2 = z
2

3
W —
g
-
a y
( ) V 1 /w+ y + 2 / y w
2 2
2 9 x +y i x -

+ 18 = my f
g
wx 9
e , 18 = 2
, yz + 18 =
g ,

14 .R ATI O N A L R IG H T A N G LED T R I A N G LE S —The Indian -

.

mathematicians of this period seem to have been particularl y

a ttracted b y the problem of the rationa l right angled triangle -

and give a number of rules for obtaining integral solutions .

The following summary of the various rules re l ating to thi s

prob l em shows the position of the Indians fairly Well .
 I ND I A N MAT HEMA TI C S 19

1/A B A uthorities
" - z
.

m 2
n
il

D iopha ntus .

2
Brahma gupta
and Mah a
V ira.

Brahma gup t a ,

Mah av ira ,

and Bhas
kara .

Bh aska ra .

m (n — l )
g
2 mn Bh askara .

9 z
n +1 n +1

ix 2 l mn l (m — 2
n )
‘
l (m + n 2 2
G eneral for
)
mula .

Mahavira gives many examples in w hich he employs

formula ( V ) of w hich he terms m and n the elements .
’

From given elements he constructs triangles and fr om given

triangles he finds the elements e g W hat are the e l e
, . .
,

ments of the right angled triangle ( 48 5 5 73 )

-
An sw er , ,

3,
20 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S .

Other problems connected w ith the ration al right angled -

triangle given by Bhaskara are of some historical interest

eg
.
( 1.
) The
,
su m of the sides is 40 and the area 60 ( 2 ) Th e ,

su m of the sides is 5 6 a n d their product 7 X 60 0 ( 3 ) The are a ,

is numerically equ a l to the hypotenuse ( 4) The are a is ,

numeric ally equ al to the product of the sides .

15 . The geometry of this period is char acterised by

( 1 ) L ack of definitions etc ; , .

( 2 ) Angles ar e not de a lt with a t all ;

( 3 ) There is no mention of parallels and no theory
of proportion ;
( 4) Tradition al inaccura cies ar e not uncommon ;
( 5 ) A gradua l decline in geometrical kn o w ledge is
notice able .

On the other hand w e have the follo w ing note w orthy ,

rules relatin g to cyclic qu adrilaterals

—a S—
( i) Q =
V( 8 ) ( 8 ( « d)

( n)

where a: an d
the diagonals of the c yclic quadrilater al
y ar e

a b o d) A B
‘
( ,
This,( ) is sometimes
, .designated as rahm a
’ ’
gupta s theorem .

The a bsence of definitions and indiff erence to logic a l

16 .

order sufficiently diff erentiate the Indian geometry from

that of the early G reeks but the absence of What may be
termed a theory of geometr y hardly accounts for the complete
absence of any reference to parallels and angles W here a s ‘

on the one hand the Indians h a ve been credited with the

invention of the sine function on the other there is no ,

evidence to Sho w that the y were acquainted w ith even t h e

most elementary theorems ( as such ) rel ating to angles .

The presence of a number of incorrect rules side b y Side

w ith correct ones is signific ant The one relating to the area .

of triangles and quadril aterals via the area is e qua l to th e , ,

22 1N D I A N M AT HEM ATI C S .

w ith diagonals 6 3 and 5 6 etc H e also introduces a proo f

, .

of Ptolemy s theorem and in doing this follo w s Diophantu s

’

( iii 1,
9 ) in constructing from triangles ( a b c ) and ( /3 y ) , , a, , ,

n ew tri a ngles ( a y by C y ) a n d ( c 80 y o ) and uses the actu a l

, , , a , , ,

examples given by Diophantus namely ( 39 5 2 6 5 ) an d ( 25

, , , ,

6 0,

18 . An
exa mination of the G reek mathem atics of t h e
period immediately anterior to the Indian period with w hich
we ar e n ow de aling Shows tha t geometric a l kno w l edge W a s
in a state of dec a y A fter Pappus ( c A D 30 0 ) no geo m e t
. . . .

r ic al w ork of much valu e w a s done H is successors w ere . ,

app arently not interested in the gre at achievements of t h e

,

e arlier Greeks and it is certain that they w ere often not even
a cqu a inted With m a ny of their works The high stand ard .

of the earlier treatises had ceased to attract errors crept in , ,

the styl e of exposition deteriorated and practic al purpose s

predominated The geometrical Work of B rahmagupta is
.

almost What one might expect to find in the period of dec ay

in Alexandria It contains one or two gems but it is not a
.

scientific exposition of the subj ect and the material is .

obviously taken from Western works .

 19 W e have in the above notes given in outline the
.
, ,

historical l y important matters relating to Indian mathematics .

For points of detail the w orks mentioned in the annexed

bibliograph y should be consulted but W e here briefly in dicate
the other contents of the Indian Works and in the followin g ,

sections W e shall refer to certain topics that have a chieved

a somewhat fictitious importance t o the personalities of the
,

Indian mathematicians and to the rel ations between the

mathematics of the Chinese the Arabs and the Indians
,
.

20 Besides the subj ects already mentioned BR A HM A

.

G UP TA deals very briefly with the ordinary arithmetical

operations square and cube root rule of three etc interest
,
-
, , .
,

mixtures of metals arithmetical progressions sums of th e

, ,

squares of natural numbers geometry as already described

‘

but also including elementary notions of the circle ;

elementar y mensuration of solids shado w problems negative
, ,

and positive qualities cipher surds simple algebraic iden ti

, , ,

ties ; indeterminate equations of the first and second

degree which occup y the greater portion of the work and
, ,

simple equations of the first and second degrees which

receive comparatively but little attention .

MA H AVIR A S w ork is fuller but more elementar y on the

’

whole The ordinary operation s are treated w ith more

.

completeness and geometrical progressions are introduced ;

many problems on in d et er min at es are given but no mention
is made of the cyclic method and it contains no formal
algebra It is the only Indian Work that deals w ith ellipses
.

( inaccuratel y ) .
24 I ND IA N M AT HEMATI C S .

'
The only extant work by is like Mah avira s S RID H A RA
’

but shorter but he is q u o ted a s having de al t with quadratic

e quations etc ,
.

'
Bh askar a b a sed on S rid h ara s Work an d
Lild vati is
’ ’
s ,

besides the topics alre a dy mentioned deals with combin a ,

'
t ions w hile his Vija g a mta being a more sys t em atic expo
,
-
,

s i t iou of the a lgebr a ical topics de a lt with by Br a hma upt a

g ,

is the most complete of the Indi an a lgebra s .

A fter
the time of Bh askar a ( born A D 1 1 1 4) no Indian . .

m athematic a l w ork of historical value or interest is known .

E ven before his time deterioration had s et in an d although

“
a college W a s foun ded to perpetuate the te ac hi ng o f
Bh askar a it a pp a rently took an a strological bia s
, , .

21 The Indian method of stating exa mples— parti

.

c u lar ly those involving a lgebraic equations — are of su ffi cient

interest to be recorded here The e arly Works Were rhetorica l

.

and not symbolic al at a ll an d even in modern times the

nearest a ppro ach to a symbolic algebr a c onsists of a bbrevi a
t ions of special terms The only re a l symbol employed is the
.

negative Sign of operation w hi ch is usually a dot pl aced above

,

o r a t the Side of the quantity a ff ected In the B akhsh ali .

Ms a cross is used in place of the dot a s t h e l atter in the

,

S arada script is employe d to indicate cipher or nought .

The fir st mention of special terms to represent unkno w n

a ntities occurs in Bh askar a s Vi a g a n v
u j a which W a s Written
’

q t -

in the t w elfth century of our era Bh askara says AS .

m any a s ( yd vat td vat) an d the colours bl ack ( kdlaka ) blue ‘

,

( n ila ka ) yellow
, (p ita ka ) an d red ( lo hvta ka ) an d others besides
*
t hese h a ve been selected by a ncient te achers for na mes of
”
values of un k n own quantities .

The term yd va t td vat is understandable an d so is the use

of colours bu t the conj unction is not easy t o un derstand .

The use of t wo such diverse types as yd va t tri t an d kd laka

*
N ot I d ia
n n s.
 I ND IA N M AT H EM ATI C S . 25

'

(generally abbreviated to y and led ) in one system suggests ri

the possibility of a mixed origin It is possible that the .

’
former is connected w ith Dioph antus defin it ion of the
unknown quantity p lé tkos mon ddon ( Lor iston i e
,
an ,
. .
,

’
u ndefin ed ( or unlimited ) number of units To p a ss from .

an unlimited number to a s many a s requires little ima

g in a t ion
. D iophantus had only one symbol for the unkno w n
a n d if the u s e of d vat td va t were of D ioph a ntine origin the
y
Indians w ould have had to look elsewhere for terms for the
other unkno w ns W ith reference t o the origin of the use
.

of colours for t his purpose w e may point out t hat the very
e arly Chinese used c alculating pieces of two colours to r epr e
sent posit ive and negative numbers .

As neither t h e Greeks nor the Indians used an y sign for

a ddition they ha d to introduce some expression to dist ingu ish

the absolute term from the variable terms The Greeks used .

M an abbreviation for mon ddes or units while the Indians

°

used M? for r ap e a unit ,

.

The commoner a bbreviations used by the Indians ar e

as follo w s

yd for the first unknown

yd vat td vat, .

kd kd laka the second unknown

‘

,
.

ml mip a the absolute qu antity

, .

va varg a a squ a re , .

g ha g han a a cube , .

ka ka m y a a surd , .

It is hardly appropriate to discuss Sanskrit m athematic a l

t erminology in deta il here but it w ill not be out of pl a ce to

mention a f ew other terms To denote the fourth power .

varg a var a is used but it occurs only once w ithin our period
g .

'
In more modern times varg a g han a g kcitaj denoted the fift h '

power varg a g kan a t h e sixth a n d so on

, , .

i l dta = t h e prod u c t .
26 I ND I A N M AT H E M AT I C S .

'
C erta in Greek termsg , jd mztm ( Gk d i amet
ar e used , e . . .

ron ) , ken dm ( Gk ken tr on ) , tr ikon a ( Gk tr igCn on ) , lip ta ( Gk

. .
,

'
lepté ) , kamja ( Gk o r iz Cn ) , dramma ( Gk drachm e) ,
. dln dm .

( Gk . etc Many of these terms ho w ever ar e

d en arion ) , .
, ,

borrowed from Indian astrological w orks Which contain a

considerable number of Greek terms such as H r vdr oga ( Gk
'

( u d r oc ho os ) P d r tkon a ( Gk Parth enos ) dp oklvma ( Gk ap ok

.
, .
~

lima ) etc etc

, .
,
.

'
The curious may compare p ar sva a rib side w ith ,
’

the Greek p leu ra kotv w hich primarily means a claw or horn

but is used for the perpendicular side of a triangle w ith ,

’
kdtketos j y
d t a which me a ns legitimate genuine but , ,

is used to denote a right angled triangle with or tkog on ea

’
’

and so on .
 22 . According
to the H indus the modern place -valu e
system of arithmetic al notation is of divine origin This .

led the early orientalists to believe that at any r ate the ,

system had been in u se in India from time immemorial but

a n examination of the f a cts shows that the early not a tions

in use were not place value ones and that the modern
-

place value system w as not introduced until comparatively

-

modern times The early systems employed may be c on v e

.

n ien ly termed ( a) the Kharosh th i b the Br ahm i

t ( ) , ,

( c ) A r yabhata s alphabetic notation ( d) the Word symbo l,

-

notation .

(a ) The Kharoskl ki script is w ritten from right to left

and was in use in the north west of India an d Cen tral A sia
- '

at the beginning of the C hristian er a The no tation is shown

.

in the accompanying table It w as a pp arently derived

.
, ,

from the Aram a ic system and has littl e direct connection

with the other Indian notations The smaller elements .

ar e Written on the left .

( b) The Brd kmi

notation is the most important of t h e
old notations of India It might appropriately be termed
.

the Indi a n notation for it occurs in early inscriptions and w as

in fairly common use throughout India for many centuries ,

and even to the present day is occasionally used The .

symbols employed varied somewhat in form according to

time and place but on the w hole the consistency of form
,

exhibited is rem arka ble They are Written from left t o

.

right with the sm a ller elements on the right S everal false .

theories as to the origin of these symbols have been published ,

some of Which still continue to be recorded The earliest .

orientalists gave them place value but this error soo n

-
,
 22 . A ccording
to the H indus the modern place valu e -

system of arithmetic al notation is of div ine origin This .

led the early orientalists to believe that at any rate the ,

.

system had been in use in India from time immemori al bu t

an examination of the facts shows that the early notations

in use were not place value ones and that the modern
-

place value system w as not introduced until comparatively

-

modern times The early systems employed may be c on v e

.

n ien ly termed ( a) the Kharosh thi b the Br hm

t ( ) a i , ,

( c ) A r ya bhata s alph abetic notation (d ) the Word symbo l

,
-

notation .

(a ) The Khar oshthi script is w ritten from right t o left

and was in use in the north west of India an d C entral A si a
-

at the beginning of the Christian era The notation is sho w n

.

in the accompanying table It w as apparently derived

.
, ,

from the Arama ic system an d h as little direct connection

with the other Indian notations The smaller elemen t s.

ar e Written on the left .

( b) The Br dkml
notation is the most important of the
old notations of India It might appropriately be termed
.

the Indian notation for it occurs in early inscriptions and w as

in fairly common u se throughout India for many centuries ,

and even to the present day is occasionally used The .

symbols employed varied somewhat in form a ccording to

time and place but on the w hole the consistency of form
,

exhibited is rem arka ble They are written from left to

.

right With the sm aller elements on the right S ever al false .

theories as to the origin of these symbols have been published ,

some of which still continue to be recorded The earlies t .

orientalists gave them place value but this error soo n

-
,
28 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .

d isproved itself it was then suggested that they were initial

letters of numerical Words then it was propounded that the
symbols were a kskam s or syllables then it W a s aga in claimed
that t h e symbols were initi a l letters ( this time K harosktki) of
t h e corresponding numer als . These theories have been
severally disproved .

The not ation W a s possibly developed on different prin

c iple s a t di ff erent times
. The first three symbols are natural
an d on l y di ff er from those of m a ny other systems in consisting

of horizontal inste a d of vertical strokes . N o principle of

“ “ ”
f ormation of the symbols for four to thirty is n o w
“
evident but possibly the forty W a s formed from the
”
thirty by t h e addition of a stroke and the sixty and
‘

“ ”
seventy an d eighty and ninety a ppe a r to be
c onnected in this wa y . The hundreds a r e (to a limited
e xtent ) evidently built upon such a pl a n ,
which as BAYLEY
,

pointed out is the sa me a s tha t employed in the E gyptian

,

hier atic forms but after the three hundred the Indian
“
system forms the four hundred from t h e elements of
“ a hundred ” and “ four ” and s o on The n otation is
.
,

ex hibited in the table a nnexed .

 30 I ND IA N M AT HEM AT I C S .

( c ) Aryab hata s alphabetic notation also had no place

’

value and diff ered from the Br ahm i notation in having the
s maller elements on the left It w as of course w ritten and .
, ,

read from left to right It may be exhibited thus

.

L etters k kk g g k a o c h j jk ii
Values 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 .

L etters t th d dk n t ih d dk n

Values 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 1 8 1 9 20 .

Let t er s . .
p p k b bk m y r l v s s h s k
Values 2 1 22 2 3 2 4 2 5 30 40 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0 .

The vowels indicate multiplication by po w ers of one

h undred . The first vo w el a may b e considered a s equivalent
=
°

l
to the second vowel v 1 00 a n d so on The values of .

t h e vowels may therefore b e shown thus

Vo w els . . a 73 u r? ) l?) e at 0 an

° 4 ° 8 10 1 4 16
Values 1 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

The following examples taken from Ar y abh ata s ’

kd
Gitv
illustrate the application of the system

2
cayag v
y inu é u lc k lv= 6 + 30 +3 1 0

The notation could thus be used for expressing large

numbers in a sort of mnemonic form The table of sin e s .

referred to in paragraph 9 above was expressed by A rya

bha ta in this notation w hich b y the Wa y he uses only for , ,

a stronomical purposes It did not come into ordin ary use

.

in India but some centuries later it appears occasionally in

,

a form modified by the place value ide a w ith the f o llo wm -

g
v alues

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
k kk g gk n e ch j jk n
t th d dk n t tk d dk n

p pk b bh m
y r l v é sk s k l
32 I ND IA N M AT HEM AT I C S

later w hile there ar e hundreds intervening w ith examples

,

of the old non place value system The re ferences in me

- .

d iaev al Works to Indi a do not necessarily indicate India proper

but often simply refer to the E ast an d the u se of the term
w ith rega rd to numbers has been further confused by the
misreading by W oep c k e an d others of the Ara bic term
hin das z ( geometric a l having to do with numeration etc )
’

, ,
.

which h a s nothing to do w ith India Again it h as been .

,

assumed that the u s e of the a bacus has been universal in

India from time imme moria l but this assumption is not ,

b a sed upon fact there being a ctually no evidence of its

,

use in India until quite modern times Further there is .

,

evidence that indicates that the not ation W a s introduced

into Indi a a s it was into E urope from a right to left script
, , .

23 . In p aragra ph 7 a bove certain attempts at squa ring

the circle ar e briefly described and it has been pointed out
( in 1 0 ) t hat A ry abh a ta gives an extremely accurate value
'

of W The topic is p er ha p s o f su flic ien t interest to deserve

some special ment ion The Indian values given and used
.

ar e not altogether consistent and the subj ect is wrapped in

some mystery Briefly put the Indians record an extremely

.
-

a ccurate v a lue at a very e a rly date but seldom or never

a ctually use it The follo w ing table roughly exhibits h o w

.

the matter sta nds

Authority . Value of 7:

A h m es the E gyptian
A rchimedes
'
The n u lv asfi tras

230 A pollonius

1 20 Heron
 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .
33

Authority . Value of 7.

Ptolemy 2 3 1 41 6 6 .

L iu H iu —
3 14 .

Puli sa
’
Tsu Ch ung chi -

A ya bha ta 3 —
r 3 '

—
3 1 41 66 .

628 Brahm a g u pt a

—
3 1 42 8 6 .

80 0 M ibn Musa
. x/ 10 2 ?

Maha v ira 3 3 °

1 020 Sr idh ara

1 1 50 Bh askara

l
l

Approximatel y correct
value
 34 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .

24 . The mistak es m a de by the early orientalists ha ve

naturally misled the historians of mathematics an d the ,

o pinions of C H AS LE S W aiP C K E HA N K EL and others founded

, ,

upon such mistakes ar e n ow no longer authoritative In .

spite ho w ever of the progress made in historic a l rese arch

, ,

there are still many errors current of which besides those

, ,

a lready touche d upon the follo w ing m ay be cited as examples

,

( C ) The proof by casting out nines is not of Indian origin

a n d occurs in no Indian Work before the 1 2th century ;
( b) The scheme of multiplication of Which the follo w ing is
,

a n Indi a n example of the 1 6 th century ,

w a s kno w n much e a rlier to the Ar a bs

a n d there is no evidence that it is of

Indian origin ; ( 0 ) The Reg u la du o r mn
f a lsor u m occurs in no Indian w ork ; (d)
The India ns Were not the first to give
double solutions of quadratic equations
Bhaskar a w as not the discoverer of the principle of the
diff erential calculus etc etc
, .
, .
 VII .

25 Of t h e person a lities of the Indian mathematicians

.

w e kno w very little indeed but Alber u n i ha s handed do w n

Brahmagupta s opinion of Ar yabhat a an d Puli sa * an d his

’
-

o w n opinions are w orth repeating W e ha ve also Bh askar a s ’

.

inscription Th e follo w ing notes con t ain perha ps all that

.
, ,

is w orth recording .

Alber u
writes ni
No w it is evident tha t that
w hich Brahm a gupta relates on his o w n a u t hori t y an d with ,

which he himself agrees is entirely unfounded ; bu t he is ,

blind to t his from Shee r ha tred of Ar y abha ta w hom he abuses ,

e xcessively An d in t his respect Ar yabha ta an d Pul i s a are

’

the same t o him I take for w itness the passa ge of Brahma .

gupta where he says that Ar yabha ta ha s subtra cte d some

.

t hing from the cycles of C ap u t Draco n is a n d of the 0 498 21? of

t h e moon an d thereby confused the computation of the

e clipse H e is rude enough to compare Aryabhata t o a worm

.

w hich e ating the wood by ch a nce describes certain charac

, ,

ters in it w ithout intending to draw them

,
He however .
, ,

w h o kno w s these things thoroughly stands opposite to

Ar yabhata S r ish en a and Vishn u c han dr a like the lion against
,

ga zelles They are not c a pable of letting him see their

.

”
faces In such offensive terms he atta cks Ar yabha ta and
.

maltre ats him .

A ga in Ar yabhata
differs from the doctrine of
t h e boo k S mr itv j ust mentioned an d he wh o differs from us is
’

, ,

”
a n opponent On the other h and Brahmagupta praises
.
,

Puli s a for w hat he does since he does not diff er from the
’

book A ga in speaking of Var ah am ihir a S r ish ena , , ,

Ac c ord i g n t o A lber u ni Pul is a w as a I

’
n n d ia n an d P a u lis
’
a a G ree k .
 36 I ND IA N M AT HEMATI C S .

Ar yabh ata an d V ishn u c h an d r a Br ahm a gupta says : If ,

a m an decl ares these t hings illusory he stands outside the

generally a ckno w ledged dogm a an d that is not allo w ed , .

’

Of Var ah amihir a Alber u n i Writ es : In former times

,

the Hindus used to a cknowledge tha t t h e progress of scienc e

due to the Greeks is much more imp ort an t than that w hich
is due to t hemselves But from this p a ssage of Var ahamihir a
.

alone (see p ara gra ph 2 ab ove ) you see wh at a self lauding -

man he is w hilst he gives himself airs as doing j ustice t o

others ; but in another place ( ii 1 1 0 ) Alber u n i sa ys : On ,

the whole his foot st ands firmly on the basis of truth an d he

clearly spe aks out the trut h W ould to Go d all distin
.

g u ish ed men follo w ed his example .

Of Brahma gupta Alber u n i w rites ( ii 1 1 0 )

, But look , ,

for in stance at Bra hmagu pta wh o is certainl y the most

, ,

distinguished of their a stronomers h e sh irks the tr u th an d .

lends his support to imposture under the compulsion of

some mental derangement like a man w hom de a th is a bout
,

to rob of his consciousness If Brahm a gupta is on e . .

of those of whom God says They have denied our Signs

, ,

although their hearts knew them clearly from wickednes s ,

”
and h aughtiness w e Sh a ll not argue with him but o nl y
, ,

— “
whisper into his ear I f people must under circumstances
give up opposin g the religious codes ( as seems to be your
case ) W h y then do you order people to be pious if you
,

”
forget to be so yourself I for my part am in clin ed to
, ,

the belief th at that w hich made Br a hm agupta Speak the

a b ove mentioned w ords ( which involve a sin again st con

science ) W a s something o f a calamitous fate like that of ,

S ocrates which h ad bef a llen h im

,
notw ithstanding the ,

abundance of his kno w ledge an d the sharpness of his

intellec t an d notwithstanding his extreme youth at the time
,
.

For he w ro t e the Brahmaszddhcin ta w hen he was only thirty

’

years of age If this indeed is his excuse W e accept it and

.

’
d rop the matter .
 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S . 37

An inscrip t ion found in a ruined temple at Pat n a a ,

d eserted village of Khandesh in the Bomb ay Presidency refers ,

t o Bh askara in t h e follo w ing terms : Triumphant is t h e

illustrious Bh askar ac harya whose feet ar e revered by the
w ise emin ently le arned
, w h o l a id do w n the law in metrics
.
,

w as deeply versed in the Vais es hika system W a s in poetics ,

a poe t like unto the three eyed in the three br anches the
,
-
,

mul t ifarious arit h metic and t h e rest Bhask_ ar a t h e learned . .

, ,

e ndo w ed w it h good f a me a n d religious merit t h e roo t of t h e ,

creeper— t rue kno w ledge of t h e Veda an omniscient seat ,

o f le arning w hose fee t w ere revered by crowds of poe t s etc , .

’
The inscription goes on to tell us of Bh askar a s gr andson
chief a st rologer of Kin g S inighan a W h o to
C h angad e v a , , ,

spre a d the doctrines promulgated by the illustrious Bhas

'
kar ac h arya founds a college t hat in his college t h e S iddhcin ta
, ,

s zr oma u z and other w orks composed by

’

Bh askara as w ell
’ ’

a s o t her Works by members of his fa mily sh a ll be necessa rily ,

’
e xpounded .

Bh askar a most popul ar w ork is ent itled the Lild vati

’
s

w hich me ans charm ing H e uses the phr a se

.
’
Dea r
”
int elligent Lild vati et c an d t hus ha ve arisen certai n legends
, .
,

a s t o a daughter h e is supposed t o be a ddressing The .

legends ha ve no hist oric al b a sis .

Bhaskara at t h e end of hi s Vija g a nita refers t o the tre a

'
t ises on a lgebra of Br a hm agu p t a S r id h ar a an d Pa dman abh a
,

as t o o di ff usive an d st at es tha t he h as compressed t h e

substance of them in a w ell re a soned compendium for t he ,

”
g r at ific at ion of le arners .
 26 . MAT HEM ATI C S — There a ppe ars t o be abun
C H I NE S E .

dan t evidence of a n intim ate connection bet w een Indian an d

C hinese m at hem at ics A number of India n emb a ssies t o
.

C hina and C hinese visits t o Indi a ar e recorded in t h e f ourth

an d succeeding centuries The records of these visits ar e
.

not generall y found in Indian w orks an d our kno w ledge of

them in most cases comes from Chinese authorities an d t here ,

is no record in Indian w orks t h at w ould le a d us to suppose

t h at the H indus w ere in a n y w a y indebted to C hina for m athe

m at ic al knowledge But as poin t ed out before this silence

.
, ,

on the par t of th e H indus is charac t erist ic an d must on n o ,

a ccoun t be t a ken as an indica t ion of lack of influence We .

have now before us a fairly complete account of Chinese

*
mat hem atics which a ppe ars t o prove a very close connection
betw een the t w o countries This connec t ion is briefly .

illustrated in t he following no t es .

The e arliest C hinese work t h a t de a ls w it h mathem at ic al

questions is s aid to be of the 1 2 th cen t ury B C an d it record s .

an a cqu aint ance w it h the Pytha gore an theorem Perh aps .

the most celebrated Chinese m athemat ic a l w ork is the C hin

Chan
g S a ti n shit or
-
A rithmetic in Nine S ec t ions which
w as composed a t le a s t as e arly a s the second cen t ury B C .

while Chang T san g s commen t ary on it is kno w n to have

’ ’

been w ritten in A D 2 63 The . N ine S ections

. is f ar
.

more complete t han any Indian Work pri or t o Bra hma gupt a
(A D 62 8 ) an d In some respect s is in advance of t h at w riter
. . .

It treats of fractions percenta ge p artnership extraction of

, , ,

square and cube roots mensuration of pl ane figures an d

-
,

solids problems involving equ a tions of t he first an d second

,

By Y o sh io Mik a m i .
40 I ND IA N M AT HEM AT I C S .

of t h e distance of an isl and from the shore an d the solu ,

tion given occurs in Ar yabh a ta s Ga n ita some two centu ’

ries later The W a t sao w ritten before the 6t h century

.
-
’

a ppears t o indicate some deterior a tion It contains the .

e rroneous rule for a reas given by Brahmagupta and Mahavira .

The arithmetic of C han g Ch iu c hien written in the 6 th

-
’
-

century contains a great de al of ma tter th at m ay ha ve been

the b a sis of the later Indian Works Indeed the l ater Indian .

w orks seem to be a r a much closer resemblance to C hang

’

a rithmetic th an they do to an y earlier India n Work .

The problem of the hundred hens is of considera ble

interest Ch ang gives t h e following example
. A cock
c osts 5 jp iec es of money a hen 3 pieces an d 3 chickens 1 piece
, .

If then We buy with 1 00 pieces 1 00 of them what w ill be their

”
respective numbers 7

No
mention of this prob lem is ma de by Bra hm a gupta ,

but it occurs in Mahav ira an d Bhask ar a in the following I

form Five doves ar e to be h a d for 3 drammas 7 cranes ,

for 5 9 geese for 7 an d 3 pe acocks for 9 Bring 1 0 0 o f these

, .

”
bird s for 1 0 0 dr ammas for the prince s gratific ation It is ’
.

note w orthy that this problem W as a lso very fully treated by

A b ii K amil ( S hog a) in the 9 t h century an d in E urope in the
'

middle a ges it a cquired considera ble celebrity

‘

E noug h has been sa id to Sho w that there exist ed a ver y

considera ble intimacy between the ma thematics of the
In dians an d Chine se ; an d a ssuming tha t the chronolog y i s
1 oughly correc t t h e dis t inct priority of the C hin e
,
se mathe
ma ties is established On t h e other hand Bra hm a gupta
.

gives more a dva nced developments of indetermin ate equa

tions th an occurs in the Chine se Works of his period an d it ,

is not un t il a fter Bh aska ra that Ch in Ch u sheo recorded ( in

’
-

’
A D 1 2 47 ) the celebr a ted t a i yen c h in yi shu or process of
’
- - -
. .

indeterminate a n alysis w hich is ho w ever a ttributed to

, , ,

I hsing nearly six centuries ea rlier

’
- The Chinese ha d .

mainta ined intellectual intercour se with India s ince t h e

 i N D IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .
41

first century and had translated many Indian ( Buddhistic )

w orks . They (unlike their Indian friends ) generally give
.

t h e source of their inform ation and ackno w ledge t heir indebt

e d n e ss w ith becoming courtesy From the 7 t h century .

Indi an scholars w ere occ a sion ally employed on the Chinese

A s t ronomic a l Bo a rd Mr Yoshio Mikami states that there
. .

is no evi o f India n influence on C hinese m a thema ti cs

.

Ah
.

On the o t her hand he says f the discoveries made in ; China ,

‘

ma ha ve touched _ the eyes o f H indoo schol a rs

_‘ f 0 -
0
.

27 . MAT HEM ATI C S — It ha s often been a ssumed

AR A B I C ,

w i t h very lit t le j ust ific a t ion t hat t he Ar a bs o w ed the i r ,

kno w ledge of math ema tics to t h e Hindus .

Muha mma d b Mfi sa c l Ch o w ar e z mi (A D 7 8 2 ) is the

.
- . .

e arliest Ara b i c w riter on ma t hemat ics of note an d his best

kn own w ork is the A lgebr a The e arly orien t alists a ppe a r .

t o ha ve been so m ew hat prej udiced against Arabic schol arship

for a pparently w ithout exa min at ion they a scribed an Indian
, ,

o rigin to M b Mu sa s Work The argument used was a s

’
. .

”
follows There is nothing in history w rote C OS S A LI , ,

and C O LE B R OOK E repe ated it respecting Muhamma d ben ,

Mfi sa individuall y which favours t h e opi n i o n t hat he took

,

from t h e Greeks t h e algebra w hich he taught to t h e Mu ha m

,

in a d a n s H istory presents him in no o t her light than a

.

mat hematician of a country most distant from Greece an d

contiguous t o India No t ha ving t aken algebr a from the
. . .

Greeks he mus t ei t her ha ve inven t ed it himself or t aken it

,

from t he Indi ans ’

A S a ma tt er of f ac t his algebr a shows
.
,

a s poin t ed out by Rode t no Sign of Indi a n influence a n d is ,

prac t ically w holly b ased upon Greek knowledge ; an d it is

now well kno wn t ha t the developmen t of mat hemat ics a mong
t h e A ra bs w as largely if n o t wholly independen t of Indian
, ,

influence an d that on the o t h er ha n d Indian w riters on

,
‘

ma t hem atics l at er t ha n Brahma gupt a w ere p o ssibly in flu

e n c ed consider a bly by t h e Ar a bs A lber u n i e arly in t h e .

1 1 t h cen t ury w rote Yo u mostly find t h at even t h e

42 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .

c lled scientific theorems o f the H indus are in a st ate o f

so - a

utter confusion devoid of an y logic a l order , since they . . .

c anno t raise themselves t o t h e methods of strictly scientifi c

deduction I began t o Show them the elemen t s on which
. .
.

this science rest s t o poin t o u t t o t hem some rules of logic al

,

’
deduction an d the scientific method of all mathem at ics etc ,
.

The fact is t hat in the t ime of el Mam u n ( A D 7 7 2 ) a -

. .

certain Indi an astronomic a l w ork ( or certa in works ) w as

transl ated int o Ar abic On this b a sis it w as a ssu med that .

the Ara bic a stronom y an d m athem at ics was Wholly of Indi an .

origin w hile t h e f ac t th at Indian w orks Were t ransl ated is

,

re ally only evidence of t h e intellectual spirit t hen prevailing .

in B a ghd ad N 0 one c an deny that Ar yabha ta an d Bra hma

.

gup preceded
t a M b Mfi sa bu t t h e fac t rem ains th at there
*
. .

is n o t t h e slightest resembl ance between the previous India n

w orks and t hose of M b Mfi s a The poin t was some w h at . . .

obscured by t h e public ation in E urope of an arit hmetic al

t re a tise by M b Mfi sa under the title A lg or itmi de N u mer o
. .
'

I n dor u m A S is Well kno w n the term India did not in

.

mediaeval times necessarily d eno t e the India of to d ay and -

despite the t it le there is no t hing re ally In dian in t he Work .

Indeed its content s prove conclusively t hat it is not of

Indian origin The same rem ark s a pply to sever al other
.

medi aeval w orks .

28 .From the t ime of M b Mfi sa on w ards t h e Mu ham . .

r

m adan mathem atician s ma de rem arkable progr ess To .

illustrate t his fac t we need only m en t io n a f ew of their dis

t in gu ish ed w ri t ers an d their w orks on mathem atics T abit .

b Q o r r a b Mer w an ( 8 2 6 9 0 1 ) wrote on E uclid the Almagest

. .
-
, ,

t h e arithmetic of Nic o mac hu s the right angle tri angle t h e ,

-

p arabol a m a gic squ ares a micable numbers et c Q os ta b

, , ,
. .

L u ka el Ba a lbeki ( died 0 A D 9 1 2 ) t ransl at ed Diophantus

-
’
. . .

It hould n o t b e forg o t t e ho w e ve r t h at N ic o m c h s ( A D
s n , ,
a u . . 1 00 )
w as a n A r a b ia w h il e J m b l ic h s
n Da as c i s
,
d E u toc i s a u , in u ,
an u we re
na t ives of S yr i a.
 I ND I A N M AT HE MATI C S . 43

an d rote 0 11 the sphere an d cylinder the rule of t w o errors

w , ,

etc E l B att an i ( M b Gabir b Sin zi n A D 8 7 7 9 1 9 ) w ro t e

'
-
‘
-
. . .
. . .
,

a commentary on P t olemy an d m ade nota ble a dvances

in trigonome t ry Ab ii K amil S hoga b A sl am ( c 8 5 0 9 30 )
'
-
. . .

w ro t e on algebra an d geometry t h e pen t a g o n an d dec a gon , ,

'
the rule of two errors etc Ab ii l W ef a el B fi z gan i bo rn , .
’
- -
,

in A D 9 40 wrote commentaries on E uclid Diophantus

. .
, , ,

H ipp archus an d M b Mfi sa w orks on arit hmetic on the

, . .
, ,

circle an d sphere et c etc A bii S a id el siéz i ( Ah med

' ’
-
,
. .
, ,

b M b A bd elgalil A D 9 5 1 1 0 2 4) Wro t e on t h e trisec t ion

. . .
, . .
,
-

of an angle the sphere t h e in t ersec tion of t h e para bol a an d

, ,

hyperbol a the L emm at a of Archimedes conic sec t ions t h e

, , ,

hyperbol a an d its a symp t otes etc etc Abs Bekr el K archi ,

.
,
.
,
-

( M b el Ha s an 1 0 1 6 A D ) wrote on arit hme t ic an d in

. .
-
, . .

de t ermin ate equ ations a fter Diophantu s A lber u n i ( M b . . .

A hmed A b fi l Rih an el Bir im i) was born in A D 9 7 3 an d

’ ’

- - . .
,

besides Works on history geogr aphy chronology an d astro , ,

n om
y Wro t e 0 11 m at hem at ics gener ally and in p articul ar on ,

t angen t s the chords of t h e circle et c Omar b Ibrahim c l

, , . .

Chaijam i t h e celebrated poe t W as born a bout A D 1 0 4 6

, ,
. .

an d died in A D 1 1 2 3 a few ye a rs a f t er Bh ask ar a was born

. .

H e Wro t e an algebr a in which he deals with cubic equ ations ,

a commen t a ry on t h e difficulties in t h e pos t ul at es of E uclid

on mixtures of me t als and on arithme t ic al difficul t ies .

This very brief an d incomple t e resumé of A ra bic ma t he

m at ic a l Works Written during the period in t ervening be t w een
t h e time of Br a hmagupt a an d Bh ask ar a indicates a t leas t

considerable intellectua l a ctivity an d a gre a t a dvance on the

Indian Works of the period in all branches of m athema tics
except perhaps indetermin ate equ ations
, , .
 29 . That the most important p ar ts of t h e w orks of the
Indian m at hem aticians from Ar ya bha ta to Bh askara ar e
e ssen t i a lly based upon w estern kno w ledge is 11 0 W est a blished .

A some w ha t intim a te connection between e arly Chinese and

India n ma t hematics is also establishedJ — but t h e connection
in this direction is not very intim a te wi t h respect to t hose
Sections that may be t ermed Greek e g qua dratic in d et er
,
. .
,

m in at es cyclic qu a dril aterals etc

,
That the Ara bic develop
, .

ment of m at hema tics w a s pra ctic a lly independent of Indian

influence is also proved , .

The A ra b m at hem aticians b a sed t heir Work almost

wholly upon Greek knowledge but the e arliest of them known
t o us M b Mfi s a flourished aft er Brahm agupt a so th a t the
,
. .
,

Ara bs could not h a ve been the I ntermedi aries be t ween the

-

G reeks an d India ns Inde ed t heir chronologic a l posit ion

.

has misled cert a in w riters t o t h e erroneous conclusion that

t hey obt ained their elements of m athematics from the
Indians .

Other po ssible pa ths of communic at ion between the

I ndia ns and G reeks a r e by way of C hin a an d by w ay of
Persia The former is not so improbable as it at first seems
. .

Fur t her inform ation about the e arly silk trade with China
might possibly thro w light on the subj ect The intellectua l .

c ommunic a tion between Indi a an d C hin a a t the critical

period is w ell kno w n— there being numerous references to

such communic ation in Chinese literature If sound trans .

lat ion s of the early C hinese m a them a tic a l w orks Were

a v a ilable w e might be a ble t o dra w more definite conclusions ,

bu t a s t he evidence n o w stand s t here is nothing th at would

w a rrant more th an t h e b a re suggestion of a C hinese source .
 I ND IA N M AT HEMATI C S . 45

W h a ve a lre ad y mentioned the visi t of certain Greek

e

mathematicians to the Court of Ch o sro es I an d there ar e ,

certain other fa cts which at le a st j ustify the consideration

of the Persian route The Sassanid period A D 22 9 65 2
.
, . .
-
,

sho w s a somewhat remarkable p ar allelism with the a ge

of enlightenm ent in India that roughly corresponds w ith t h e
Gupt a period The re a l missionaries of culture in the
.

Persian empire at this time w ere the S yrians who were con ,
i
n ec t ed with the W est by their religion an d w ho in their ,

translations diff used Greek literature t hroughout the

,

”
orient . Mr Vincent S mith d iscusses the prob a bility of
.

S assé n ian in fluence on India but states t ha t there is no

direct evidence .

Al though it may be possible to offer only conj ec t ures as

to the a ctua l rout e by which any p articular cla ss of Greek
knowledge reached India the fa ct rema ins that during t h e
,

period under consideration the intellectua l influence o f

Greek on India w a s considerable It is evident not only .

in the mathematic a l work of the Indians but a lso in

sculpture architecture coinage astronomy astrology 85 0
, , , , , .

Mr Vincent S mith refers

. to the cumulative proof that
the rem arkable intellectual and artistic output of the Gupta
period w a s produce d in l arge me asure by re a son of the C onta ct
'

between the civilization of India and th at of the Roma n

E mpire an d research is a lmost daily adding to such proof .

The flourishing state of the Gupta empire the gr eatest ,

in India Since the d ays of A sok a a n d the w ise influence of

,

its princip al rulers gave a great impetus to scholarship of

all kinds The numerous emb assies to a n d from foreign
.

countries— which were me ans of intellectual as Well a s politic a l

communic ation — no doubt contributed t o the same end ;
an d the kno w ledge of G reek w orks displayed by Ar y a bha ta ,

Va r ah a Mih ira a n d Br a hm a
,
gupta wa s one of the natura l
results of this ren aissance of learning .
 A PP E ND I X I .

E X T R A C TS F R O M TE X TS .

The Sa lvasiitras .

In t h e follo w ing we sha ll tre a t of the diff erent

*
1 .

manners of building the ag n i 2 W e Shall ex p lain h o w to . .

'

measure out the circuit of the area required for them .

a: a:

45 The Cord stretched

. a cross a square produces an

a re a of twice the size .

46 T a ke the measure for the breadth t he diagona l of

.
.

its s qu ar e f o r t h e len gt h the diagonal of that oblong is the

side of a squa re the area of which is three times the a rea of
t h e squ a re .

s
a: a: a: s

48 The diagon a l of a n oblong produces by i t self both

.

t he a re a s w hich the t w o sides of the oblong produce sepa

r at el
y .

This is seen in those oblongs w hose sides are three

49 .

a n d four twelve an d fiv e fifteen an d eight seven an d

, , ,

t w enty four t w elve an d thirty fiv e fifteen and thirty S ix

-
,
-
,
-
.

If you Wish to deduct one square from another

51 .

squ are cut o ff a piece from the l a rger squa re by making a

mark on the ground w ith the Side of the smaller square
w hich you w ish to deduct Draw one of the side s across the .
v

oblong s o t hat it touches the other Side W here it touches .

there cut o ff By this line w hich ha s been cut off the sma ll
.
-

square is deducted from the large one .

a: s: a: a:

T h ese n umb er s r efer t o Ba u d hfiy a n a

’
s ed it i n a s o t ran sl a ted by Dr
T h ibau t .
 48 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S .

17 The number of t erms less one multiplied by t h e

.

common diff erence and a dded to the first t erm is the amount
of the l a st Half the sum of the last an d first terms is t h e
.

me an a mount an d this multiplied by the number of terms

,

is the sum of t h e Whole .

s a
:

The product of half the sides an d opposite S ides is

21 .

the rough area of a triangle or quadrilateral Ha lf the sum .

of the sides s et do w n four times an d each lessened by t h e ~

sides bein g multiplied together— the squ a re root of t h e -

product is the exact are a .

a: an
: s a: >k

The di ameter an d the square of the r adius r es pec

40 .

t iv ely mu ltiplied by three ar e the pra ctical circumferenc e

and are a The squ are roots extracted from ten times t h e
.
-

square of the s ame are the exact values .

n
a: s: a

The i nteger multiplied by the sexagesimal p arts of

62 .

its fraction an d divided by thirty is the squ a re of the minutes

and is to be added to the squa re of the whole degree s .

a: n
a: n
a:

These questions ar e st ated merely for g r at ific a

1 01 .

tion The proficient m ay devise a t h ou san d others or m ay

.

solve by the rules t aught problems set by others .

1 02 . As
the su n obscures the st a rs s o does the expert
eclipse the glory of other a stronomers in an a ssembly of
people b y reciting a lgebraic problems an d still more by their ,

solution .

M -S S a ng raha— AD
’
a havir a s Ga n ite ara -
( Circ a . . .

i 1 3—1 4 The number the diameter an d the circum

. .
,

ference of islands oce ans an d mountains the extensive

,

dimensions of the ro w s of habitations an d h alls belonging t o

the inhabitan t s of the w orld of the in t ersp a ce of the w orld , ,

of light of the World of the gods an d to the dwellers in hell

, ,

an d miscellaneous me a suremen t s of all sorts— all these ar e

made out b y means of computation .

 I ND I A N M AT HEMAT I C S . 49

vi 1 47 Divide by their rate prices Diminish b y the

. . .

le a st among them and then multiply b y the least the mixed

price of all the things and subtract from the given number
of things Now split up (this ) into a s many (as there are left )
.

an d then divide These separated from the total price give

.

the price of the de arest article of purchase [ This is a .

solution of example 3 6 below ] .

a
:

vi 1 6 9 It h a s to be kn own that the products of gold

. .

as multiplied by their colours w hen divided by the mixed

gold gives rise to the resulting colour ( var n a ) [ S ee example s .

2 4 an d 2 5 below ] .

a
: a
: a
:

vii 2 Are a has been taken to be of tw o kind s by J in a

. .

—
in accordance ith the result namely that which is f o r
w ,

practical purposes an d tha t which is minutely accurate .

s
a s
a =
l<

vii 23 3 . . Thus en ds the section of devilishly d iflic u lt

problems .

T r ié atika— ( C irca A D
’
S r idhara
’
s . .

1 .Of a series of numbers beg innin g with unity and

increasing by one the su m is equal to half the product of t h e
,

number of terms and the number of terms together with un ity .

n
a:

32 In exchange of commo dities the prices being trans

.

posed a pply the previous rule (of three ) W ith reference t o .

the sale of living beings the price is inversely proportiona l

t o their a ge .

t
a

65 If the gnomon be di vided by twice the sum of th e

.

gnomon and the shadow the fra ction of the day elapsed o r
which remains will be obtained .

Bhas kar a— ( Born A D

'
. .

L 1 I propoun d t hi s eas y process of calculation

. .
,

delightful by its elegance perspicuous w ith concise terms , ,

soft and correct and pleasing to the l earned .

a s n
a: s
50 IN D I A N M AT HEMAT I C S

- LI L . 1 39 . Fro mt hat multiplied by twice

A is fp p t .

'
s bme assu med n u inb ei a n d d iv id ed i by one less than the
"

s quare of the assu m e d numb er a perpendicular is obt ained . .

i m l i l
p ied b y the arbitrary number
'

his being a ide t

’

T s e t s s u

an d the side as put is subtr acted —

. th e remainder w ill be the
.

hy potenuse S uch a qt r ian gle is t ermed genuin e!

. .
.

>l< >l< t
a: a;

L 1 8 9 Thus w ith th e same sides may be m any

. . , ,

diagonals in the qu ald iilateral Yet t hough indeterminate

,
.
, ,
'

d iago al QH b e fi 's ou gh t a s det ermin at e by Brahm a

‘

n S a v e
‘
e
'
gp a n e h er
"

u t a . t
s

L 2 1 3 The circumference less the ar e being multi

. .

’
plied by the ar c the product is termed first From the
’

'

quarter of the s quare of the circumference mu lt iplied by five

'

subtract that first product By th e r emain d er divide th e .

first product multiplied by four time s the diameter The .

quotient will be the chord .

as a: s

V 1 70 . In the like suppositions w hen the operation

.
, ,

owing to restriction disappoints the ans w er must by the ,

.

i n tel ligent be d isco ver ed b y the

A cbp rd iii gly it iS Shrd t —a clea r intellect
’ ’ ‘

a Su m p t io n of unkno w n qu anIit ies a an d the rule

S equ tion , ,

of thr ee — are means o f o p er at on iii an afyS I S

ik

h
ale

The rule of three terms is ar it metic s potless

'
V 22 4 . .

understanding is algebra W hat is there unkn own to the .

intellig ent Therefore for the dull alone it is set forth ,

, .

V 225 To augment w isdom and str engthen c on fidence

. .
,

read read mathematician this abridgement e legant in style

, , , ,

easily understood b y yout h comprising the W hole essence of ,

calcu l ation and containing the demonstratio n of its principles

—full of excel l ence and free
 A PP E NDI X II .

E X A M P LE S .

One half one sixth and one tw elfth parts of a pole

1 .
-
,
-
,
-

are immersed respectively under water cl ay and sand , ,

.

Tw o hastas ar e visible Find the height of the pole .

A n s wer — 8 h ast as . S . 23 .

2 The qu arter of a sixteenth of the fifth of three quar

.
-

t ers of two thirds of half a dramma w as give n to a b e ggar by

-

a person from whom he a sked alms T el l how many C o w ries .

t h e miser ga ve if thou be convers ant in arithmetic w ith the

r eduction termed sub division of fr a ctions 2 -

A n s wer— l ,
cowrie . L . 32 .

c o wr ieS = 1 dramma ) .

3Out of a swarm of bees one fif t h settled on a blossom

.
-

o f kadamba one third on a flower of s ilin d h r i three t imes the

,
-
,

diff erence of those nu mbers flew to a bloom of ku t aja One .

bee which remained hovered an d flew about in the air

, , ,

a llured a t the same moment by the pleasing fragr a nce of a

j asmine an d pan dan u s fi Tell me charming w oman the , ,

number of b ees ?
A n s wer - 1 5 . L 5 4, V 1 0 8
. . .

4
The third part of a neckl a ce of pearls broken in a n
.
‘

amorous struggle fell on the Its fifth part w as seen

resting on the couch the sixth part w a s saved by the lady
,

and the te nth part w as taken up by her lover Six pe arls .

l
L = t h e Li ava ti, V= Vi ja G a n it a , bo t h by B h fiS k m a, 31
‘
: Mah av ir a .

S = S r id h ara, C = C h at u r v ed a .
52 I ND I A N M AT HEM ATI C S .

remained 0 11 the string . S ay , of how many pearls the neck

la ce w as composed ?
A n s wer — 3 0 . S 26 . .

5 . A
po w erful unvanquished excellent black snak e
, ,

w hich is 3 2 hastas in length enters into a hole 7 a ng u la s

in of a day and in the cours e of a qu arter of a d ay

,

its tail grows by 2 3; a ng u las O orn a ment of arithmeticians .

,

tell me by what time this sa me enters fully into the hole 9

A n swer — 76 4
days . M . v, 31 .

(24 a f i gu las = 1 hasta ) .

6 . A
certain person travels at the rate of 9 yojan as a d a y
and 1 00 yojan as have already been tra versed N ow a m es .

senger sent after goes at the rate of 1 3 yojan as a d ay In .

h ow man y d a ys will he overtake the first person

A s
n wer — 25 . M . vi, 327 .

7 . A w h it e
advances 8 yavas less one fif t h in a day
~
an t -

an d returns the twentieth part of an a fiya la in 3 days In .

what sp ace of time w ill one w hose progress is governed by ,

these rates of advancing and receding proceed 1 00 yojan as

A n s wer— 9 8 0 42 5 5 3 days 0 2 83 . . .

(8 ya va s = 1 a ngula , 7 6 80 00 a fi gu las = 1 y oj ana ) .

T w enty men have to carry a palanquin t w o yojan as

8 .

an d 7 20 din aras for their wages Two men stop after .

going t w o kro s‘as after t wo more kro sas three others give up
’

, ,

and after going half the remaining distance five men le ave .

W hat w a ges do they e arn

A n s wer s — 1 8, 57 , 1 55 , 49 0 . M . vi, 23 1 .

k sa s = 1 yoj ana )
(
’

4 ro .

It is well kn o w n that the horses belonging to the

9 .

sun s chariot are seven Four horses drag it along being

’
.

I =t h o Lila at i
v , V= Vi ja G anit a, bo t h by Bh as k a ra , III : Mah av ira ,

S a S r id h ar a, C = C h at u r v ed a
 I ND IA N M AT HEM ATI C S . 53

harnessed to the yoke They have t o do a journey of 7 0

.

yojan as H ow many times are they unyoked and h ow m any

.

t imes yoked in four 2

A n swer— E very 10 yoj an a s ,

an d e a ch horse t ra vels
40 yoj anas . M VI 1 5 8 .
,
.

If a fem ale Sl a ve Sixteen ye ars of

10 . a
ge brings t hirty
two w hat w ill one t w enty cost
,

A n s wer— 2 5 3 L . 76 .

11 .Three hundred gold coins form t h e price of 9 damsels

of 10 ye ars W ha t is the price of 3 6 d amsels of 1 6 years 2
.

A n s wer — 7 5 0 . 114 . V , 40 .

12The price of a hundred bricks of w hich the length

.
, ,

t hic kness and bre a dth respectively are 1 6 8 an d 1 0 is settled , ,

at six d in d ra s w e have received

,
of other bricks a
qu arter less in every dimension S ay w hat we ought to .
,

2
p y
a

A n s wer— 253 1 4 . C . 2 85 .

13 Two el ephants which are ten in length nine in

.
, ,

breadth thirty S ix in girth and seven in height consume one

,
-
,

d r o n a of gra in H ow much w ill be the rations of te n other

.

e lepha nts which are a quar t er more in height and o t her

dimensions
A n s wer— 1 2 3 p r ast has, I S ku
dro nas , dav as . C . 2 85 .

( 6 4 k u da v as = 16 r a st h a s = 1 dro n a)
p .

One bestows alms on holy men in the third p art of

14 .

a day a nother gives the s a me in h alf a d ay and a t hird dis

,

tributes three in five days In what time keeping t o t hese .

,

r ates w ill they have given a hundred 2

,

A n s wer— 1 7 C . 2 82 .

L = bb e Lilav at i, V= V i ja G an it a , bot h by Bh ask a ra

:

, ilI = Mah av ira

S = S r id h ar a , 0 = C h a t u r v e d a.
54 I ND I A N MA T H E MAT I C S .

15 . Say ,
mathematician what ar e the apportioned ,

S hares of three traders whose original c apitals w ere r esp ec

tively 5 1 68 and 8 5 which have been raised by commerc e
, ,

c onducted by them in j oint stoc k to the a ggregate amount

of 3 00 ?
A n s wer — 7 5 1 00 1 2 5 , , L 93 .
. .

16 One purchases seven for two an d sells

.
Six for three .

E ighteen is the profit W hat is the c a pital .

A n s wer — 1 8 4 4
5
77 Bakhshd li Ms . 54 .

17 If a p ala of best camphor may b e had for t wo

n ishka s an d a la of sandal wood for t h e eighth part of a
, p a

dr amma and half a p a la of aloe wood also for the eighth of a

dr amma good merch ant give me the va lue of one n ishka in
, ,

the proportions of 1 1 6 and 8 ; for I w ish to prepare a

,

perfume
A n swer— Prices— Drammas 1 4 w L 98 o

s+ a i
s h
. .

( 1 6 d r am m a s = 1 nishka ) .

18 .If three and a half man as of rice may be had for

one dr amma and eight of beans for the same price t ake thes e ,

thirteen kd kin is merch ant and give me quickly two part s

, ,

of rice and one of beans for we must m a ke a ha sty meal

and dep art Since my companion will proceed onwards
,

A n s wer T a n d 7
5 2 a
,
L 9 7 V 1 1.5 .
, . .

( 6 4 k akin is = 1 dramma ) .

19 If the interest on 20 0 for a month be

. 6 dr amma s , in
wh at t im e will the same su m lent be tripled
'

A n swer months . 0 . 2 87 .

20 If the principal su m with interest at the rate of

.

five on the hundred by the month amount in a year to one

thousand tell the principal and interest respectively
,

A n s wer— 6 2 5 3 7 5 ,
L 89
. . .

L = t h e Lilava ti, V= Vi ja G anita , b t o h by Bh ask a ra ,

M= Mah av ira ,

S = S ridh ar a , C = C h at u r v e d a .
 56 I ND I A N MAT HEMATI C S .

Of two arithmetical progressions w ith equal sums

26 .

a n d the same number of terms the first terms a r e 2 and 3 ,

the increments 3 an d 2 respectively and the su m 1 5 Find .

the number of terms

A n swer— 3 . Bakhshd li Ms . 18 .

27 A
merchant pays octroi on certain goods at three
d ifferent places At the fir st he gives
. of the goods at the ,

s econd 4 and at the third A

,
The total duty paid is 2 4 !
. .

W hat was the original amount of the goods

A n swer — 40 . Bakhshali Ms . 25 .

28One says
. Give me a hundred an d I Shall be t w ice
a s rich as you friend The other replies
,
If you deliver
ten to me I Shall be S ix times a s rich as you Tell me w hat .

w a s the amount of their respective capitals ?

A n swer — 40 and 1 70 . V . 1 0 6, 1 56 .

29 . gives a certain amount B gives tw ice as much

A ,

as A, 0 gives 3 time sa s much a s B D gives 4 t im es as much ,

as C a n d the total is 1 3 2 .

A n swer— A gives 4, etc . Bakhshali Ms . 54 .

30 Four j ewellers posses sing respectively 8 rubies

.
,

1 0 sapphir es 1 00 pearls and 5 diamonds prese nted e a ch

, ,

from his Own stock one a piece to the rest in token of regard
and gratificat i on at meeting ; and thus the y became owners
of stock of precisely the same value Tell me friend w h a t .
, ,

were the prices of their gems respectively

An swer— 2 4 , 1 6, 1 , 96 [ These are relative values only ] .

L 1 00 . .

31 . quantity of rubies without flaw sapphires an d

Th e , ,

pearls belongin g to one person is five eight a n d seven , ,

L = t h e Lilava t i, V= V i ja G a nit a, bo t h by B h as k a ra , 1Y = Mah av ir a ,

S = S r idh ar a , C = C h at u r v ed a .
 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S . 57

respectively The number of like gems belonging to another

.

is sev en n in e and six One h a s ninety the other sixty t w o

, .
,
-

rupees They are equally rich Tell me quickly then

. . , ,

intelligent friend who art conversan t with algebra the prices

, ,

of each sort of gem

A n s wer— 1 4, 1 , 1 , etc . V . 1 05 1 56 .

[ Bh askara a ssume s relative value s ]

32The horses belonging to these four persons r esp ec

.

t iv ely are five three six and eight ; the camels belonging
, ,

to them are t w o seven four and one their mules ar e eight

, , ,

t w o one and three

, an d the oxen C wned by them ar e seven ,

one tw o and one All are equally rich Tell me severally

, . .
,

friend the rates of the prices o f horses and the rest

,

A n swer— 8 5 , 7 6 , 3 1 , 4 , etc . V . 157

33 quickly friend in w hat p ortion of a d ay _

. S ay w ill
, ,

fou r fountain s be ing let loose together fill a cistern which

, , ,

if opened one by one w ould fill it in one day half a day the
, , ,

third and the sixth parts respectively

A n swer— T 3 . L . 95 .

The son of Pr it ha angered in combat shot a quiver

34 .
, ,

of arrows to sl ay K ar n a W it h half his arro w s he parried .

o

those of his antagonist ; w ith four times the square root of -

the quiverful he killed his horse ; with Six arro w s he sle w

Salya with three he demolished the umbrell a sta ndard a n d ,

b ow and with one he cut o ff the h ea d o f the foe H ow many .

were the a rro w s w hich Arj un a let fly

A n s wer— 1 0 0 . L . 67 , V 1 3 3. .

35 . For 3 p a p ers 5 p a las o f ginger are ob t ained for ,

4 p a rl as 1 1 p a la s of long pepper an d for 8 p a n as 1 p a la of

L = t h e Lilav at i, V= Vija G a nit a , bo t h by Bh ask a ra ,
JI = Mah av ir a ,

=
S S r id h ara , C’
C h at u r v ed a .
58 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S .

pepper By means of the purchase money of 60 p a n as

.

quickly obt a in 68 p a la s ? M vi 1 5 0 .
, .

A n s wer — Ginger 2 0 , long pepper 44 pepper ,

4 .

36
Five doves ar e to be had for three dr ammas seven
.

cranes for five nine geese for seven an d three peacocks for
nine Bring a hundred of these birds for a hundred drammas
.

for the prince s grati fication ’

V 1 58— 9 ; M vi 1 5 2 . .
, .

A n s wer— Prices 3 40 2 1 3 6 , , , .

Birds 5, 5 6, 27, 1 2 .

( This cl a ss of problem w as treated fully by AbiI K amil

’

e l Misri ( e 9 00
-
S ee H S uter
. Das Bach der S elten .

heit etc, Bibliotheca Mathematica 1 1 ( 1 9 1 0

. 1
pp 00 1 2 0 .
-
.

>l< =
l<

37
In a certain lake swarming w ith red geese the tip
.

of a bud of a lotus was seen h alf a hasta above the surface of

the w ater Forced by the wind it gra dually advanced and
.

was submerged at a distance of t wo hastas Calculate quickly .

,

0 mathem atician the depth of the w ater ,

A n swer — 1 5
1 . L . 1 53 ; V 1 25
. .

If a bamboo measurin g thirty two hastas and stand

38 .
-

ing upon level ground be broken in one pl ace by the force

of the wind and the tip of it m eet the ground at sixteen
hastas s ay m athematician at how many haste s from t h e
, , ,

root it is broken
A n s w er— 1 2 .

L = t h e Lilav a t i , Vi ja G anita, bo th by Bh as k ara ,

M = Mah av ir a ,

S S r id h ar a , C ’
C h at u r v ed a .
 I ND IA N MAT HEM ATI C S . 59

39 snake s hole is at the foot of a pillar 9 hastas

. A
’

high and a peacoc k is perched on the summit S eeing a .

sn ake at a distance of thrice the pillar gliding towards his

, ,

hole he pounces obliquely on him Say quickl y at how

,
.

’
many hastas from the snake s hole do the y meet both pro ,

c eedin
g an equal distance ?
A n swer— 1 2 .
L 1 50 . .

From a tree a hundred hastas high a monkey

40 . ,

descended and went to a pond t wo hundred hastas distant ,

while another monkey j umping a certain height off the tree , ,

proceeded quickly diagonally to the same spot If the sp ace .

tra velled by them be equal tell me quickly learned man the , , ,

height of t heleap if thou hast diligently studied calcula

,

t ion

A n swer — 5 0 . L . 1 55 V . 1 26 .

The man who travels to the east moves at the rate

41 .

of 2 yojan as an d the other man w h o trave l s northward moves

,

at the rate of 3 The l a tter having j ourneyed for

yj
o a n as .

5 d ays turns to move along the hypotenuse In h ow many .

d ays w ill he meet the other man ?

A n s wer— 1 3 . M . vii, 211 .

42The Shado w of a gnomon 1 2 a ng u las high is in one

.

place 1 5 a fig a las The gnomon being moved 22 a ng u las

.

further its Sha do w is 1 8 The diff erence betw een the tips .

of the Shado w s is 2 5 and the difference between the length s

of the Shadows is 3 Find the height of the light .

A n s wer— 1 00 C 3 1 8 ; A r 1 6 ; L 2 45
. . . . .

43The shado w of a gnomon 1 2 a fig u las high bein g

.

lessened by a third part of the hypotenuse became 1 4 a fig u las .

Tell quickly mathematician that shadow

, , ,

A n s wer— 22 4 . V 1 41 . .

L = t h e Lilavat i. V= V1 ja G an ita , bo t h by Bh as kara , M = Mah av ir a ,

S = S r idh ar a , 0 = Ch a t u r v ed a .
60 I ND IA N MAT HEM AT I C S .

44 Tell the perpendicul ar dra w n from the intersection

.

of strings mutually stretched from the roots to summits of

two bambo o s fifteen and ten bastas high standing upo n
ground of un kno w n extent
A n swer— 6 . L 1 60 . .

45 Of a quadrilateral figure whose base is the square

.

of four and the face two hastas an d altitude tw elve t h e flanks ,

thirteen an d fifteen w ha t is the are a ,

A n s wer— 1 0 8 . S . 77 .

46 In the figure of the form of a young moon the middle

.

length is Sixteen and the middle breadth is three hastas By .

Splitting it up into t w o triangles tell me quickly its area , ,

A n s wer — 24 . S . 83 .

47 The Sides of a quadril ateral with unequal Sides

.

are 1 3 x 1 5 1 3 x 2 0 and the top side is the cube of 5 and the

,

bottom side is 3 00 W hat are all the values here beginning

.

with that of the diagon als

A n swer s— 3 1 5 2 8 0 48 2 5 2 1 3 2 1 6 8 22 4, 1 89 441 0 0
, , , , , , ,
.

M . vii, 59 .

If A 2 B2 0 2, h en t h e q u adr il a ter a l A c B c
an d a 2 b2 02 t , ,

a0 ,60 is cycl ic d t h e d ia go al s ar e A b
an C B an d A d Eh n ,

t h e a r e a is 4 ( A B 2 o bC i ) & c I th e pr es e t c as e A = I5
C
’
, . n n ,

B 20 0 25
, a 5 b 12 c 13 T h e d ia go a l s a e
, ,
. n r

3 15 2 8 0 t h e a r e a 44 1 0 0
, F o r full d e t ail s se e t h e L il ava t i
. .
,

1 93 .

48 . friend who kno w est the secret of c alculation

0 , ,

construct a derived figure with the aid of 3 and 5 as ele ~

ments and then think out an d mention quickly the numbers

,

measuring the perpendicul a r side the other Side and the ,

hypotenuse ?
A n swer— 1 6 3 0 3 4 , ,M vii 9 4 . .
,
.

T h at is co st ru c t t r ia gl e of t h e form 2 m
n 2— 2a”7 4— n n, 711 71 ,
1 11
9:

w here m 5 3 ,
n .

'
L = t h e Lilav a t i, V= Vi ja G anita, bo t h by Bh ask a ra ,
M Ma h avira ,

S = S r id h ara , 0 = C h a t u r v ed a .
 I ND IA N MAT HEMATI C S . 61

49In the case of a longish quadrilateral figure the

.

perpendicul ar side is 5 5 the base is 48 and then the diagonal

,

is 7 3 W h at ar e the elements here

.

A n s wer — 3 , 8 . M . vii, 1 21 .

50 Intelligent friend if thou kno w est w ell the spotless

. ,

Lilav at i say wh at is the a rea of a circle the diameter of which

,

is measured by seven and the surface of a globe or are a like

,

a net upon a b a ll the diamet er being seven and the solid

, ,

content w ithin the s ame Sphere ?

A sw — Area 3 8 ga surface 1 53 volume 1 7 9 {436
n er g
33 ; n-

L . 204 .

51 . In a circle whose diameter is ten what is the cir ,

cu mf er en c e ? If thou knowest calculate and tell me also

, ,

the area
A n s wer — J MG2 5 O . S . 85 .

52 The me a sure of Rahu is

. 52, that of the moon 25,
t he p art devoured 7 .

A n swer— The arrow of Rahu is 2, that of the moon 5 .

’
C . 31 1 .

T h is is a c l ipse probl e m d m ea s t h at c ir c l es of d ia m et e rs 5 2
n e an n

a d 2 5 i t er se c t s o t h a t t h e por t io n of t h e l in e o in i
n n
j g th e n

t w o c e t r es com m o t o t h e t w o c ircl e s is 7
n n Th e commo . n

chord cu t s th is i t o seg m en ts of 5 an d 2
n .

The combined su m of the measure of the circumfer

53 .

ence t he diameter an d the are a is 1 1 1 6 Tell me w hat t h e

, .

circumference is w hat the calcul ated area and what the

, ,

diameter
A n swer— 1 0 8 , 9 7 2 , 3 6 . M . vii, 32 .

6 4) 1 / 6 4 whi ch assumes that rr = 3 .

L = t h e Lilava t i, V= Vi ja C anit a , bo t h by Bh ask ara ,

M= Mah av ir a ,

S = S r id h ar a , 0 = C h a t u r v ed a .
62 I ND I A N M AT HEM AT I C S

54
The circumferential arro w s are
.
18 in number .

H ow man y are the arrows in the quiver ?

A n swer— 37 .
M . 2 89 .

12
3 + +3
The rule gi ven IS n ,
w here c I S the number
of arro w s in the outside l ayer .

55 Tell me if thou kno w est the content of a spherical

.
, ,

piece of stone whose diameter is a hasta and a half

A — 1 3g S
n s w er .
. 93 .

l
v= d —
( 2+ 7! iS )
3
The rule given is ’

56 A s acrifici al altar is built of bricks 6 a ng u las high

.
,

half a hasta broad and one hasta long It is 6 hastas long 3 .

,

ha stas broad and half a hasta hi gh Tell me rightly w ise .

,

man w hat it s volume is an d h ow many bricks it contains

, .

A ns wer— 9 , 72 .
S . 96 .

24 a fi gu la s = 1 hasta .

If thou
57 . kno w est ,
tell me quickl y the measure of a

mound of grain w hose circumference is 3 6 and heigh t 4

hastas
A n s wer— 1 44 . S . 1 02 .

The rul e u sed a ss um es t h at -2

71 3 .

58 In the case of a figure having the outline of a b ow

.
,

the string measure is 1 2 and the arro w measure is 6 The

, .

measure of the bow is not known Find it 0 friend .

,
.

A n s wer M3 GO . M vii 7 5 .
, .

59 In the case of a figure havin g the outline of a bow

.

the string is 2 4 in measure and its arro w is taken to be 4 in ,

measure W hat is the minutely accurate value of the area

.

A n s wer— V5 7 60 M vii 7 2
.
.
, .

Th e rul e u sed is S

>x
c

t
a

L = th e Li lav a ti, V= Vija G an it a, bot h by Bh ask ara , M = Mah av ir a ,

S = S rid h ara , C Ch at u r v ed a .
 64 I ND IA N MAT HE MATI C S .

66 W hat number is that w hich multiplied by nought

.

a n d added to half itself an d multiplied by three and divided

by nought amounts to the given number Sixty three -

A n s wer — 1 4 This a ssumes that .

L 46 . .

67 W hat four numbers are such that their product is

.

equal to t w enty times their su m say learned mathematician , ,

w h o a r t convers ant w ith the topic of the product of un kn o w n

quantities
A n s wer— 5 ,
4 ,
2 ,
11 .
V 21 0 , .

B as h k ar a pu t s a rb it r a ry v alu es for t hr ee of t h e q u an t it ie s an d g et s
1 1 for t h e four t h .

68 If you are convers ant with operations of algebra

.

tell the number of w hich the fourth power less double the
sum of the square and of t w o hundred times the simple
number is ten thousand less one ?
A n sw er— 11 .
V 1 38 . .

T hi m y b e xpr es ed by 4 — 2 ( 962 4 2 0 0 x ) = 9999 I t i t h e o ly

s a e s :l ~
-
. s n

c se i w h ic h t h e fo r t h po w er occur s
a n u .

69The square of the su m of t w o numb ers added to

.

the cube of their su m is equal to t w ice the su m of their

cubes
A s
n we r — 1 20 5 7 6 etc V 1 78 , , .
, . .

70 Tell me if you kno w two numbers such that the

.
, ,

s u m of them multiplied respectively by four and t hr ee may

when a dded to two b e e qual to the product of the same

numbers
A n s wer— 5 1 0 and 1 1 6 , V 209 2 1 2 , . .
, .

71 . S ay
quickly mathematician w hat is the multiplier , ,

by w hich t w o hundred and twenty one being multiplied and -

sixty fiv e added to the product the su m divided by a hundred

-
,

an d ninety fi v e becomes c l eared ?

-

A n s wer— 5 2 0 3 5 & c , L 2 53 ; V 6 5, . . . .

L az th e Lil av at i, V= V ija G anit a, bo t h by Bh as kar a , M = Mah av ir a ,

S = S r id h ara , 0 = C h a t u r v ed a .
 I ND I A N MA T HE MAT I C S . 65

W hat number divided by six has a remainder of

72 .

five divided b y five has a remainder of four by four a remain

, ,

der of three and by three one of two

A n swer— 5 9 . Br wviii, 7 . V 1 60
. .

W hat square multiplied by eight and having one

73 .

a dded to the product will be a square

V 82 . .

Here 8u 2 —1 = t2 and u = 6, 3 5, etc . t= 1 7 , 9 9 , etc .

Ma kin g the square of the residue of signs and

74 .

minutes on Wednesday multiplied by nin ety two and eighty -

three respectively w ith one added to the product an e xact

square w ho does this in a year is a mathematician .

Br . xviii, 67 .

92 ? —1 = 2
( 2 ) 83
2 =
(1 )
2
u t u +1 t .

= 1 2 0 , t= 1 1 51 = 9 , t= 8 2
A n swer u .
(2 ) u .

75W hat is the square which multiplied by sixty

.

seven and one bein g added to the product will yield a s quare
roo t and what is that w hich mu l tiplied b y si xty one with “
-

one added to the product will do so like wi se ? Declare it ,

friend if the metho d of the rule of the square be thoroughl y

,

spread like a creeper over thy mind ?

, ,

V 87 . .

2 =
+1 t
2
( ) 1
2 6 =
+1 t
2
( 1 ) 67 u . u .

A n swer s u = 59 6 7 , t= 48 8 42 .
(2 )
t= 1 , 7

Tell me quickly math e matician two numbers such

76 . , ,

that the cube root of half the su m of their product and the
-

smaller number and the square root of the su m of their

,
-

L= b b e Lilavati ,
V= VI Ja G e nit a , bo th by Bh ask ara , M = Mah § vir a ,

S r id h ar a , C = Ch atu rv ed a .
66 I N D I A N MAT HEMATI C S

squares and those ex tracted from the su m and diff erence

,

increased b y two and that e x tracted from the difference of

,

their squares added to eight being all five added together

,

ma y yield a square root— e xcepting how ever S ix and eight ?

-
, ,

V . 1 90 .

— + 2 + Vm — 2 + s = zz -
y y

A n swer s— xz 8 ; 1 6 7 7 /4 ; 1 5 1 2 8 , etc . 4 1 ; 2 46 ,
etc .

L = t h e Lilav ati, V= V1 Ja G a nita , bo t h by Bh ask ara ,

111 : Mah av ir a ,

S = S rid h ar a , 0 = C ha tu r v ed a
.
 C H RO N O L OG Y .

C ir o .

Pythagora s BC . 5 30

E uclid 290
Archimedes 2 50
S ULVA S UT RA S
’
TH E

The Nine S ections 1 50

Hipparchus 1 80

Nic o mac hu s A D 1 00
. .

P tol emy 1 50
S assan ian p er iod begin s 2 29
The S ea Island Ar ithmetic 2 50
Gu p ta p er iod begin s 320
Diophantus 3 60
Hypatia 41 0
Boethius 47 0 b .

ARY A B H A TA 47 6 b .

Damasc iu s 48 0 b .

Athenian schools clo sed 5 30

C hang ch iu chien 550
’
-

VA RAH A MI H I RA . 5 87d .

BR A HM AG U P TA 598 b .

Fall of Alexandria 6 40
Gu p ta p er iod en ds 6 50
S assan ian p er iod en ds 65 2
Muhammad b Mu s a . 820 d .

MA H A v iE A 850 7
’
Tabit b Q orra . 82 6 2

el Battan i
-
877 b .

el-Bir un i 973 b .

Ibn S ina 9 80 b
'
S RID H A RA 99 1 b .

el-Karchi 1 01 6
‘
Omar b Ibr ah im .
jami
el-Chai b
1 0 46 .

BH A S KH A RA 1114 b .
 BIB L IOG RAP H Y .

( For a more complete bibliograph y that given in the

s ee

J ou rn a l o
f the A s iatic S oc iety f
o Beng al , VII 1 0 , ,

F I R ST PER I OD .

'
TH I B A U T , G —On
the S u lv as u tr as
.
, XL I V ,

1 8 7 5 — The Bau dh ayan a S ulvas u tra The P an dit

’
.
,

( Benares ) 1 8 7 5 6 — The Katyayan a -

. S
’
u lv asfi tr a ,

I h , 1 88 2
. .

— '
Bq ,
A . Das Ap ast amba-S ulba -S fi tr a , 55 ,
1 9 0 1 ; 5 6, 1 90 2 .

S E C O ND PER IO D .

BUR G E SS E A ND W H I T NEY G — The S u rya S iddh anta

, .
, .
,

J o ar A m Or S oc VI, 1 85 5
. . .
,
.

B A P U D E VA SAST RI AND W I LKI N S O N L The S fir ya ,

.
-

S iddhan ta an d the S iddhan ta S iroman i C alcutta

‘ ’

, ,

1 8 61 .

TH I B A U T G A ND
, . S UD H A RK A R DVI VE D I — T he P a nc ho .

s iddhd n tikd o f Var aha Mihira Benares , ,

1 88 9 .

RO D E T , L —L e§on s de C a lc a l d A ryabhata Paris 1 8 7 9

.
’
, , .

K AY E G R — Ar abhata ,
, . . IV 1 7 1 90 8
y , , .

TH I RD PER IO D .

C O LE B R OO K E , H T — A lg ebr a w ith Ar ithmetic an d Men

. .
‘

m r it of Br ahmag u p ta an d
s ar ation f r o the S an sc

Bhascar a , L ondon ,
1 81 7 .

-S an r aha M
RAN GA C A RYA ,
M The Ga it
— v
. a-
S d r a g f
o ahd

vir acd r ya, Ma dr a s , 1 908 .

 I ND I A N MAT HEM AT I C S

R A MA N U JA C H ARI A , N A ND K A YE G R —The .
, . . Tr isatika
of S r idhar ac harya Bib Math XIII 3
’
, . .
, , ,
1 91 3 .

N OTATIO N S .

BUHLER ,
G —I n dische P a laeog rap hie, S trassburg , 1 89 6
. .

B AYLEY E C , . .
-
0n the Gen ealogy o f Mo dern N u mer als ,

L ondon , 1 8 82 .

W OE P C KE ,
F — . Mé moire su r la propaga tion des C hi ffres
in di ens ,
J ou r . A s iatiqu e, 1 86 3 .

K AYE ,
G R — Indian Ar ithmetical Notations J A
. .
, . .

S B
. III 7 1 9 0 7 The Use of the Abacus in
.
, , ,
.

Ancient Indi a J A S R IV 3 2 1 9 0 8 Old , . . .

, , ,
.

Indian Numerical S ystems I n dian A n tiqu ar y , ,

1911 .

FLEE T ,
J . F . Ar y ab ha ta s ’
system o f expressing
Numbers , J . R A . . S .
,
191 1 The Use of the .

A b a cus in -
India , J R A S . . . .
, 1 91 1 .

S M IT H , D E A ND K A RP I N SKI L C
. .
, . .
-
The H in du A rabic
N u mer a ls Boston 1 9 1 1 , , .

O T HER WO R KS .

S A C H A U E O — A lber u n i s I n dia
’
, . .
, L ondon , 1 91 0 .

TH I B A U T , G — A stronomie , A strologie
. und Mathematik ,

Gru n dr iss der I n d o-A r ischen P hilolog ie III , ,

9 , 1 899 .

H OE RN LE , R . The Bakhsh al i Manuscript

-
,
I ndian A n ti

gu ar y, X VIII 1 8 8 8 , .

K AYE , G R —N otes
. on Hindu Mathematical Methods
.
,

Blb Ma th X I 4 1 9 1 1 — H indu Mathematical

. .
, , , .

Methods I n dian E du ca tion — 1 9 1 0 -1 9 1 3 The

, .

S ource of Hi ndu Mathematics J R A S 1 9 1 0 , . . . .

, .

The Bakhsh al i Manuscript J A S B VII 9 , . . . .

, , ,

1912 .
70 I ND I A N M AT HEM ATI C S .

H E AT H T , . L —Diop han tu
. s o
f Alex an dr ia , Cambridge ,
1 910 .

ROS EN ,
F — The
. A lg ebra f
o Mohammed ben M u sa ,

L ondon ,
1 83 1 .

S U T ER , H .
-
Die Mathematiker and A stron omen der
Araber u nd I hre W er ke, L eipzig , 1 9 00 .

YOS H I O MIKA M I — The develop men t .

f Mathematics
o in
C hin a an d
L eipzig 1 9 1 2 J ap an , , .

The general works on the history of mathematics by

C A N TO R GUN T HER ! EU T HEN T A NNERY and v BRA U N MUH L
, , , .

and the article s by W OE P C K E RO DE T V OGT S UT ER and , , ,

W I EDEM A NN S hou l d also be consulted .

XI —8 2
 72 INDE x .

r e k te rm s F a u c ha S iddhd n tikct, t h e , 9 -1 1 , 6 8
‘

G e , 9, 26 .
.

G u n t h er S , .
, 70 .
Pappu s 2 2 ,
.

Par allel s 2 0 , .

H an k c l, H 1 7, 34 .
P au lisa S iddh an ta , t h e , 2 , 1 0 .

H eat h ,
S ir T . L .
, 1 7, 7 0 .
Pe ll ian e q u ation 1 6 1 7 , , , 65 .

H o er n le , R .
,
69 .
Pl ac e v alue n ot atio s 2
- n , , 2 9 , 3 1 -3 2 .

H yp a tia , 1 5 , 16 . Pl at o 1 5 1 9 , ,
.

Proble m s ,

In a cc ur c ies a 40 ,
. Progressio n s 2 3 4 8 4 9 , , , ,
56 .

I n de t rm i ate e qu a tio n s
e n ,
-
1 2 , 1 5 -1 8 , Pt ole my 1 0 1 1 3 3 , , ,
.

40 , 6 5 6 6 . Pul isa 3 5 , .

In sc rip tio 3 1 3 7 n s, ,
.
Pyr a mid volume of 2 1 , , .
l

In t rpol atio form u l a

e n ,
11 .
Py t h ag or ean t he or em 4 ,
6, 3 8
-
.

In te re s t 4 7 5 6 , , .

Q o s ta u qa 4 2 4 3 b L .
,
-
.

J am blieh u s, 42 . Q u adr atic e qu at io s n ,

1 6 -1 8 , 2 4 ,
J o n es , S ir W .
, l .
6 3 -66 .

Q u adr il at er al s ,
2 0 -2 2 , 6 0 6 1 -
.

K alp a S u t r as 3 ,
.

cl K r c h i 4 3
- a , .
Raman u g ac h ar ia, M , 6 9 . .

K rpi sk i L
a n , . C . 69 .
Ran g ac h ar ia, M 6 8 .
,
.
,

K aty ay an a ,
4, 5 , 6 8 .
R atio n al t rian gles , 4, 1 8 -1 9 , 5 0 , 6 0 .

K er n 1 1 , .
Regu la du or u m fa ls or u rn , 3 4 .

K h aro sh th i n um er al s 2 7 2 9 , , .
Rig ht -an gl e d trian gl es ,
4 -5 , 1 8 -2 0 ,
La pl ac e 1 ,
.
60 .

Le t t e r um e r a l s n , 3 0 -3 1 .
Rodet L 4 1 6 8 7 0 , , ,
,
.

Lilava ti, the, 2 4 , 3 7 4 9 -5 0 , 5 1 -6 4 , .

B om a ka S iddh an ta 2 9 , ,
.

Macdon n e ll 4 , .
Rosen 7 0 ,
.

Maco u di 3 1 , .
Rule of t hr ee 2 3 2 6 ( ) 5 0 , , a , , 53 .

Mah avir a 1 4 ‘

, , 19 . 21 2 3 , 3 9 ; 40 ,
,
Rul e of t w o error s 3 4 , .

4 8 -4 9 , 5 2 -6 3 , 6 8 .

S ea I s la n d A r ithmetic , t h e , 3 9 -4 0
‘
Mi ka m i Yo sh io 3 8 4 1 7 0
’
.
, , , , .

Muh a mm ad b Mu sa 4 1 42 .
,
-
70 .
S idd h an ta S iroman i, t h e , 3 7 , 6 8 .
,

Muh amm a d b A hm e d Ab u .
,
’
l Si mplic ius 1 5 ,
.

Rih au e l -B ir l mi 3 5 3 6
'

,
-
4 1 -4 2 , S in fu c t io n 9
e n , .

43 , 6 9 .
S i es t a bl e o i
n , 10 1 1 ,
.

Mull e r Max , , 4 .
S m it h D ,69 . .

Mu sa ( s ee M . b . Mas a
i) ,
S mit h Vi c e t 4 5,
n n ,
.

S pher e volume Oi , 1 3 39 , , 6 1, 62 .

N au , F 31 . S q u ar e roo t 5 6 3 -
, , .

Nic o ma c h u s, 42 .
S q u ar es c o s tru c tio n o i
,
n 7 , 46 .

‘
N in e S ec tion s A r ithmetic , t h e ,
’
S q u arin g t h e c ir c l e 7 8 4 7 , , .

3 8 -3 9 . S r idh ar a , 1 4 , 2 1 , 2 4 , 3 7 , 4 9 , 5 1 , 5 2 ,
o o s 2 27
N t ati n , ,
-
3 2, 6 9 . 6 0 -6 2 , 69 .

N um ric al w ord
e s, 31 . S r ish en a , 3 5 .

S u lv a sfi t r as , t h e, 1 , 3 -8 , 4 6 -47 , 6 8 .

Om a r b . I brahim e l C haijami -
, 43 . Su n -
Ts u S u an -c hin g , the, 3 9 .

S u r ya S iddh cmta , the,

'
l ,
9, 68 .

P ad m a abh a n , 1 4, 3 7 . S ymbol s ,
24 .
 I ND E X .
73

b
T a it b .
Q or r a 42 , .
Volu mes, 1 3 , 2 1 , 6 1 , 6 2 .

T able of sin es 1 0 , .

Tai ye n proc ess 4 0

- .
W hitn e y, l , 6 8 .

Tan n e ry T 5 1 7 7 0 .
W eb e r , 1 .

, .
, , ,

Te rm in olog y 2 4 -2 6 .
W iedd e man , E 70 .

Thi b au t G l 7 9 6 8 69 .
W o ep c k e , 3 2 , 3 4, 6 9 , 7 0 .

, .
, , , , ,

Trian gle ar ea of 20 2 1 4 7
, , ,
.
W ord n u mer al s 3 1 , .

T r ian gles rig ht an gle d 4 1 8 1 9 W u -t sao, the, 40

’
- - .
, , , ,

5 0 60
, .

'
Ycwat tcw at 2 4 -2 5 , 2 6 ( a)
’

Trigo n om et ry ,
9 10- .
,
.

'
T r is atika, 2 4 , 2 7 , 6 9 .
Yo shi o Mikam i, 3 8 , 4 1 7 0 ,
.

Var ah a Mihir a , 2 , 9 , 3 5 , 3 6 , 6 8 .
! e ro 6 4, .

! e u t he n H 70
Ga m ta , t h e, 2 4 , 3 7 , 50 , 5 1 -6 6
’

Vija . , .

Vis h n u c h an dr a , 3 5 3 6 , .