INDIAN CIVILIZATION MATHEMATICS

Despite developing quite independently of Chinese and probably also of Babylonian

mathematics, some are very advanced mathematical discoveries were made at a very early

time in India.

Mantras from the early Vedic period (before 1000 BCE) invoke powers of ten from a

hundred all the way up to a trillion and provide evidence of the use of arithmetic operations

such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, squares, cubes and roots. A 4th

Century CE Sanskrit text reports Buddha enumerating numbers up to 1053 , as well as

describing six more numbering systems over and above these, leading to a numbers

equivalent to 10421. Given that there are an estimated 1080 atoms in the whole universe, this

is as close to infinity as any in the ancient world came. It also describes a series of iterations

in decreasing size, in order to demonstrate the size of atom, which comes remarkably close to

the actual size of a carbon atom ( about 70 trillionths of a metre) .

As early as the 8th century BCE, long before Pythagoras, a test known as the “Sulba

Sutras” or “Sulva Sutras” listed several simple Pythagorean triples, as well as a statement of

the simplified Pythagorean theorem for the sides of a square and for a rectangle (indeed, it

seems quite likely that Pythagoras learned his basic geometry from the “Sulba Sutras”). The

Sutras also contain geometric solutions of linear and quadratic equations in a single unknown

and give a remarkably accurate figure for the square root of 2, obtained by adding 1 + 1⁄3 + 1⁄(3

x 4) - 1⁄(3 x 4 x 34), which yields a value of 1.4142156 correct to 5 decimal places.

Like Chinese, the Indians early discovered the benefits of a decimal place value

number system and were certainly using it before the 3rd Century CE. They refined and

perfected the system, particularly the written representation of the numerals, creating the
ancestors ofthe nine numerals that we use across the world today and sometimes considered

one of the greatest intellectual innovations of all time

The Indians were also responsible for another hugely important development in

mathematics. The earliest recorded usage of a circle character for the number zero is usually

attributed to a 9th Century engraving in a temple in Gwalior in central India. But the brilliant

conceptual leap to include zero as a number in its own right ( rather than merely as a

placeholder, a blank or empty space within a number as it had been treated until that time) is

usually credited to the 7th Century Indian mathematician Brahmagupta or possibly another

Indian Bhaskara even though it may well have been in practical use for centuries before that.

The use of zero as a number which could be used in calculations and mathematical

investigations would revolutionize mathematics.

Brahmagupta established the basic mathematical rules for dealing with 1 + 0 = 1; 1 -

0 = 1; and 1 x 0 = 0 . Brahmagupta also established rules for dealing with negative numbers

and pointed out that quadratic equations could in theory have two possible solutions one of

which could be negative. He even attempted to write down these rather abstract concepts

using the initials of the names of colours to represent unknowns in his equation one of the

earliest intimations of what we now known as algebra.

The so- called Golden Age of Indian mathematician can be said to extend from the 5th

to 12th Centuries and many of its mathematical discoveries predated similar discoveries in the

West by several centuries, which has led to some claims of plagiarism by later European

mathematician at least some of whom were probably aware of the earlier Indian work.

Certainly, it seems that Indian contributions to mathematics have not been given due

acknowledgement until very recently in modern history.

trigonometry, a method of linking geometry and numbers first developed by the Greeks. They

used ideas like sine, cosine and tangent functions (which relate the angles of a triangle to the

relative lengths of its sides) to survey the land around them, navigate the seas and even chart

the heavens. For instance, Indian astronomers used trigonometry to calculated the relative

distances between the Earth and the Moon and the Earth and the Sun. They realized that,

when the Moon is half full and directly opposite the Sun, then the Sun, Moon and Earth form

a right angled triangle, and were able to accurately measure the angle as 1⁄7°. Their sine tables

gave a ratio for the sides of such a triangle as 400:1, indicating that the Sun is 400 times

further away from the Earth than the Moon.

Indian astronomers used trigonometry tables to estimate the relative distance of the Earth to

the Sun and Moon

Although the Greeks had been able to calculate the sine function of some angles, the

Indian astronomers wanted to able to calculate the sine function of any given. A text called

the “ Surya Siddhana” by unknown authors and dating from around 400 CE, contains the
roots of modern trigonometry, including the first real use of sines, cosines, inverse sines ,

tangent and secants.

As early as the 6th Century CE, the great Indian mathematician and astronomer

Aryabhata produced categorical definitions of sine, cosine, versine and inverse sine, and

specified complete sine and versine tables, in 3.75° intervals from 0° to 90°, to an accuracy of

4 decimal places. Aryabhata also demonstrated solutions to simultaneous quadratic equations,

and produced an approximation for the value of π equivalent to 3.1416, correct to four

decimal places. He used this to estimate the circumference of the Earth, arriving at a figure of

24,835 miles, only 70 miles off its true value. But, perhaps even more astonishing, he seems

to have been aware that π is an irrational number, and that any calculation can only ever be an

approximation, something not proved in Europe until 1761.

Bhaskara II, who lived in the 12th Century, was one of the most accomplished of all

India’s great mathematicians. He is credited with explaining the previously misunderstood

operation of division by zero. He noticed that dividing one into two pieces yields a half, so 1

÷ 1⁄2 = 2. Similarly, 1 ÷ 1⁄3 = 3. So, dividing 1 by smaller and smaller factions yields a larger

and larger number of pieces. Ultimately, therefore, dividing one into pieces of zero size

would yield infinitely many pieces, indicating that 1 ÷ 0 = ∞ (the symbol for infinity).
 Illustration of infinity as the reciprocal of zero

However, Bhaskara II also made important contributions to many different areas of

mathematics from solutions of quadratic, cubic and quartic equations (including negative and

irrational solutions) to solutions of Diophantine equations of the second order to preliminary

concepts of infinitesimal calculus and mathematical analysis to spherical trigonometry and

other aspects of trigonometry. Some of his findings predate similar discoveries in Europe by

several centuries, and he made important contributions in terms of the systemization of (then)

current knowledge and improved methods for known solutions.

The Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics was founded in the late 14th

Century by Madhava of Sangamagrama, sometimes called the greatest mathematician-

astronomer of medieval India. He developed infinite series approximations for a range of

trigonometric functions, including π, sine, etc. Some of his contributions to geometry and

algebra and his early forms of differentiation and integration for simple functions may have

been transmitted to Europe via Jesuit missionaries, and it is possible that the later European
development of calculus was influenced by his work to some extent.

INDIAN MATHEMATICS – BRAHMAGUPTA

Brahmagupta (598–668 CE)

The great 7th Century Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta wrote

some important works on both mathematics and astronomy. He was from the state of

Rajasthan of northwest India (he is often referred to as Bhillamalacarya, the teacher from

Bhillamala), and later became the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain in central

India. Most of his works are composed in elliptic verse, a common practice in Indian

mathematics at the time, and consequently have something of a poetic ring to them.

It seems likely that Brahmagupta's works, especially his most famous text, the

“Brahmasphutasiddhanta”, were brought by the 8th Century Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur to his

newly founded centre of learning at Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris, providing an

important link between Indian mathematics and astronomy and the nascent upsurge in science

and mathematics in the Islamic world.

integer and gave rules facilitating the computation of squares and square roots. He also gave

rules for dealing with five types of combinations of fractions. He gave the sum of the squares

of the first nnatural numbers as n(n + 1)(2n + 1)⁄ 6 and the sum of the cubes of the first n natural

numbers as (n(n + 1)⁄2)².

Barhmagupta’s genius though came in his treatment of the concept of the number

zero. Although often also attributed to the 7th Cenntury Indian Mathematician Bhaskara I his

“ Brahmasphutasiddhanta” is probably the earliest known text to treat zero as a numbers in its

own right, rather than as simply a placeholder digit as was done by the Babylonianss or as a

symbol for a lack of quantity as was done by the Greeks and Romans.

Brahmagupta established the basic mathematical rules for dealing with zero (1 + 0 =

1; 1 - 0 = 1; and 1 x 0 = 0), although his understanding of division by zero was incomplete (

he thought that 1÷0=0). Almost 500 years later, in the 12th Century, another Indian

mathematician, Bhaskara II showed that the answer should be infinity not zero( on the

grounds that 1 can be divided into and infinite number of pieces of size zero), an answer that

was considered correct for centuries. However this logic does not explain why 2÷0, 8÷0 , etc

should also be n zero and the modern view is that a number divided by zero is actually

“undefined”.

Brahmagupta’s view of numbers as abstract entities, rather than just for counting and

measuring, allowed him to make yet another huge conceptual leap which would have

profound consequence for future mathematics. Previously, the sum 3+ 4 for example, was

considered to be either meaningless or a best just zero. Brahmagupta, however realized that

there could be such a thing as a negative number, which he referred to as “debt” as a opposed
to “property”. He expounded on the rules for dealing with negative numbers(eg. a negative

times a negative is a positive, a negative times positive is a negative, etc).

Furthermore, he pointed out, quadratic equations (of the type x2 + 2 = 11) could in

theory have two possible solutions, oone of which could be negative, because 32 = 9 and -

32 = 9. In addition to his work on solutions linear equations and quadratic equations,

Brahmagupta went yet further by considering systems of simultaneous equations ( set of

equatins containing multiple variables) and solving quadratic equations with two unknowns,

something which was not even considered in the West until a thousand years later, when

Fermat was considering similar problems in 1657.

Brahmagupta even attempted to write down these rather abstract concepts, using the

initials of the names of colours to represent unknowns in his equations, one of the earliest

intimations of what we now know as algebra.

established √10 (3.162277) as good practical approximation for π (3.141593) and gave a

formula, now known as Brahmagupta’s Formula, for the area of cyclic quadrilateral as well

as a celebrated theorem on the diagonals of cyclic quadrilateral, usually referred to as

Brahmagupta’s Theorem.

Brahmagupta’s Theorem on cyclic quadrilaterals

INDIAN MATHEMATICS – MADHAVA

came from the town of Sangamagrama in Kerala, near to southern trip of India and founded

the Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics in the late 14th Centtury.\

Although almost all of Madhava’s original work is lost, he is referred to in the work of later

Kerala Mathematicians as the source for several infinite series expansions (including the sine,

cosine, tangent and arctangent functions and the value of π), representing the first steps from

the traditional finite processes of algebra to considerations of the infinite, with its

implications for the future development of calculus and mathematical analysis.

Unlike most previous cultures, which had been rather nervous about the concept of

infinity, Madhava was more than happy to play around with infinity, particularly infinite

series. He showed how, although one can be approximated by adding a half plus a quart plus

an eighth plus a sixteenth, etc. ( as even the ancient Egyptians and Greeks had known), the

exact total one can only be achieved by adding infinitely many fractions.

Madhava’s method for approximating π by an infinite series of fractions

trigonometry. He realized that, by successively adding and subtracting different odd number

fractions to infinity, he could home in on an exact formula for π ( this was two centuries

before Leibniz was to come to the same conclusion in Europe). Through his application of

this series, Madhava obtained a value for π correct to an astonishing 13 decimal places.

He went on to use the same mathematics to obtain infinite series expressions for the

sine formula, which could then ne used to calculate the sine of any angle to any degree of

accuracy, as well as for other trigonometric functions like cosine, tangent and arctangent.

Perhaps even more remarkable though is that he also gave estimates of the error term or

correction term implying that he quite understood the limit nature of the infinite series.

Madhava’s use of infinite series to approximate a range of trigonometric functions,

which were further developed by his successors at the Kerala School, effectively laid the

foundations for the later development of calculus and analysis and either he or his disciples

developed an early form of integration for simple functions. Some historians have suggested

that Madhava’s work through the writings of Kerala School, may have been transmitted to

Europe via Jesuit missionaries and traders who were active around the ancient port of

Cochin(Kochi) at the time, any may have had an influence on later European developments in

Calculus.

Among his other contributions, Madhava discovered the solutions of some

transcendental equations by a process of iteration and found approximations for some

transcendental numbers by continued fractions. In astronomy, he discovered a procedure to

determine the positions of the Moon every 36 minutes and methods to estimate the motions

of the planets.