Classics of Indian Mathematics

Algebra, with Arithmetic and Mensuration, from the Sanskrit of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara was one of the earliest fruits of the European encounter with the scientific heritage of India. While many of the other books of this period became dated and are now merely historical curiosities, Colebrooke’s work remains as useful today as when it appeared first in 1817. this work contains English translations of two classics of Indian mathematics, namely Bhaskara’s Lilavati and Bijaganita. These are supplemented by the twelfth and eighteenth chapters of Brahma gupta’s Brahmasphutasiddhanta. These translations are enriched by copious extracts from various commentaries by Gangadhara, Suryadasa, Ganesa and Ramakrsna on the Lilavati; by Krsna Daivajna and Ramakrsna on the Bijaganita. He also made use of the Persian translations of these mathematical treatises, viz. Abual-Faid Faidi’s translation of the Lilavati (1587) and ‘Ata’ Allah Rushdi’s translation of the Bijaganita (1634). The preface seeks to situate Indian Algebra in the context of development in other parts of the world.