Br
ahmagupt
a
Brahmagupt a(c.
598CE— c.
668CE)wasanI ndianmat hemat i
cianandastr
onomer.
Hei stheauthoroft woearlyworksonmat hematicsandast ronomy :t
heBrāhmasphu
ṭasi
ddhānt a(BSS,"corr
ectl
yestabl
isheddoctr
ineofBr ahma" ,dated628),
a
theoreti
caltr
eati
se, andtheKhaṇḍakhādyaka("edibl
ebite",dated665),amore
practi
caltext
.
Brahmaguptawast hefi
rsttogi
verulestocomputewithzer
o.Thetextscomposed
byBrahmaguptawer einell
i
pti
cverse[cl
ari
fi
cat
ionneeded]i
nSanskri
t,aswas
commonpr act
iceinIndianmathemat i
cs.Asnoproof
saregiven,
iti
snotknownhow
Brahmagupta'
sresult
swer eder
ived.
Li
feandcar
eer
Brahmagupt awasbor nin598CEaccor dingtohisownstatement .Helivedin
Bhil
lamāla, Gurjar
adesa( modernBhinmal i
nRajast
han,I
ndia)dur i
ngther ei
gnofthe
Chav dady nastyrul
er,Vyagrahamukha.Hewast hesonofJi shnuguptaandwasa
Hindubyr eligi
on,inparti
cular,
aShaivi
te.Heli
vedandwor kedt hereforagoodpar t
ofhislif
e.Pr it
hudakaSv amin,alat
ercomment ator
,cal
l
edhi m Bhill
amalacharya,
the
teacherfrom Bhi l
l
amal a.
Bhil
lamalawast hecapitaloftheGur j
aradesa,thesecond- largestkingdom of
West ernI
ndia,compr i
singsout her
nRaj asthanandnor thernGuj aratinmoder n-day
Indi
a.Itwasal soacent reoflearni
ngf ormat hemat i
csandast ronomy .Brahmagupt a
becameanast ronomeroft heBr ahmapakshaschool ,oneoft hefourmajorschool s
ofIndianastronomydur ingthisperiod.Hest udiedthefivet r
aditi
onal Si
ddharthaon
I
ndianastronomyaswel lasthewor kofot herastronomer sincludingAryabhataI ,
Latadeva,Pr
ady umna, Varahami hi
ra,Simha, Sri
sena,Vij
ay anandinand
Vishnuchandra.
Inthey ear628, attheageof30, hecomposedt he'Brāhmasphuṭ asiddhānt '(the
i
mpr ovedtreatiseofBr ahma)whi chisbel i
evedt obear ev i
sedv er
sionoft he
receivedSiddhant aoftheBr ahmapakshaschool .Scholar sstatethathei ncor porated
agr eatdeal ofor i
ginali
tytohi srev i
sion,addingaconsi der abl
eamountofnew
mat eri
al.Thebookconsi st
sof24chapt erswith1008v ersesi ntheāryamet re.A
gooddeal ofitisast r
onomy ,buti tal
socont ainskeychapt ersonmat hemat ics,
i
ncl udi
ngal gebr a,geomet r
y,trigonomet ryandal gori
thmi cs,whichar ebeliev edto
cont ai
nnewi nsightsduet oBr ahmagupt ahimsel f
.Later
, Brahmagupt amov edt o
Ujjaini
,Avanti,whi chwasal soamaj orcent r
ef orastronomyi ncentralIndia.Att he
ageof67, hecomposedhi snextwel l knownwor kKhanda- khādyaka,apr act i
cal
manual ofIndianast ronomyi nt hekar anacat egorymeantt obeusedbyst udent s.
Br
ahmagupt
adi
edi
n668CE,
andhei
spr
esumedt
ohav
edi
edi
nUj
j
ain.
Cont
rov
ersy
Brahmagupt adirectedagr eatdealofcri
ti
cism t
owar dst hewor kofrivalastronomers,
andhi sBrahmasphut asiddhantadispl
aysoneoft heear li
estschi smsamongI ndian
mat hematici
ans.Thedi v i
sionwaspr i
maril
yaboutt heapplicationofmat hemat i
csto
thephy si
calworld,ratherthanaboutthemat hemat i
csi t
self.I
nBr ahmagupt a'scase,
thedisagreement sstemmedl argel
yfrom t
hechoiceofast ronomi calparamet ersand
theori
es.Cr i
ti
quesofr ivaltheor
iesappearthr
oughoutt hef i
rsttenast ronomi cal
chaptersandt heelevent hchapteri
sentir
elydevotedt ocri
ticism oftheset heories,
alt
houghnocr i
ti
cismsappeari nthetwelf
thandeight eenthchapt ers.
Recept
ion
Thehi stori
anofsci enceGeor geSartoncal ledhi
m" oneofthegreat estscienti
stsof
hisraceandt hegr eatestofhistime."Br ahmagupt a'smathematical advanceswer e
carri
edonf urtherbyBhāskar aII,ali
neal descendanti nUjj
ain,whodescr i
bed
Brahmagupt aast heganaka- chakra-chudamani (thegem oft hecircleof
mat hemat i
cians).Pr i
thudakaSv aminwr ot ecomment ar
iesonbot hofhi swor ks,
renderingdiffi
cultv ersesint
osimpl erlanguageandaddi ngill
ustr
ations.Lallaand
Bhat t
otpalaint he8t hand9t hcenturieswr otecomment ar
iesont he
Khanda- khady aka.
Fur thercomment ar i
escont i
nuedt obewr it
tenintot he12th
century.
Af ewdecadesaf tert hedeat hofBr ahmagupt a,Sindhcameundert heAr abCal iphate
i
n712CE.Expedi tionswer esentintoGur jaradesa( "Al-Bay l
amani nJur z "
,asperAr ab
historians) .Theki ngdom ofBhi l
lamal aseemst ohav ebeenanni hi
latedbutUj jain
repulsedt heat tacks.Thecour tofCal i
phAl -Mansur( 754—775)r eceivedanembassy
from Si ndh, i
ncludi nganast rol
ogercal l
edKanaka, whobr ought( possi blymemor ised)
astronomi caltex ts, includi ngthoseofBr ahmagupt a.Br ahmagupt a'
st ex t
swer e
translat edi ntoAr abi cbyMuhammadal -Faz ari,
anast ronomeri nAl-Mansur '
scour t
undert henamesSi ndhi ndandAr akhand.Ani mmedi ateout comewast hespreadof
thedeci mal numbersy stem usedi nt het exts.Themat hemat icianAl -Khwar i
zmi (800
—850CE)wr oteat ex tcal l
edal -
Jam wal -tafr
iqbi hisal-al-Hind( Additi
onand
Subt r
act i
oni nIndi anAr i
thmet i
c),whi chwast r
anslatedi ntoLat i
nint he13t hcent ury
asAl gor i
thmi denumer oindorum.Thr ought heset exts, thedeci mal numbersy stem
andBr ahmagupt a'sal gor i
thmsf orarithmet ichav espr eadt hroughoutt hewor l
d.
Al-Khwar izmi alsowr otehi sownv ersionofSi ndhind, drawi ngonAl -Faz ari
'sversion
andi ncor por atingPt olemai cel
ement s.Indianast ronomi cmat eri
alcirculatedwi dely
forcent uries,ev enpassi ngintomedi eval Latin Mat hemat ics
Al
gebr
a
Br
ahmaguptagavethesolut
ionofthegener
all
inearequat
ioni
nchapterei
ght
eenof
Br
ahmasphutasi
ddhānt
a,Thedif
fer
encebetweenrupas,wheni
nver
tedanddivi
dedby
thedif
fer
enceoft
he[coeff
ici
ents]oft
heunknowns,i
stheunknownint
heequat
ion.
Therupasare[
subtr
act
edont heside]bel
owthatf
rom whi
chthesquar
eandthe
unknownaretobesubtr
acted.
whi
chi
sasol
uti
onf
ort
heequat
ionbx+c=dx+eequi
val
ent
,wher
erupesref
erstotheconstant
scande.Hef
urt
hergav
etwoequi
val
ent
sol
uti
onstothegener
alquadrat
icequat
ion
Dimini
shbyt
hemi ddle[number ]thesquare-r
ootoftherupasmult
ipli
edbyfourt
imes
thesquar
eandincreasedbyt hesquareoft hemi ddl
e[number
];di
videther
emainder
bytwicet
hesquare.[Theresultis]t
hemi ddle[number]
.
What
everist
hesquare-
rootoft
herupasmulti
pli
edbythesquar
e[and]incr
easedby
t
hesquareofhal
ftheunknown,di
mini
shthatbyhal
ftheunknown[and]div
ide[t
he
r
emainder
]byit
ssquare
whi
char
e,r
espect
ivel
y,sol
uti
onsf
ort
heequat
ionax2+bx=cequi
val
ent
Ar
it
hmet
ic
Thef ourfundament al oper ati
ons( addi t
ion,subt raction, mul t
ipli
cation,anddi visi
on)
wereknownt omanycul turesbef oreBr ahmagupt a.Thi scur r
entsy stem isbasedon
theHi nduAr abicnumbersy stem andf i
rstappear edi nBr ahmasphut asi
ddhant a.
Brahmagupt adescr ibest hemul t
iplicati
onast hus" Themul ti
plicandi srepeatedl i
kea
stri
ngf orcattle,asof tenast herear eintegrantpor ti
onsi nt hemul t
ipli
erandi s
repeatedlymul t
ipli
edbyt hem andt hepr oduct sar eaddedt ogether.Itis
multipli
cati
on.Ort hemul ti
plicandisr epeat edasmanyt i
mesast herearecomponent
partsinthemul tipl
ier" .[pageneeded]I ndianar ithmet icwasknowni nMedi eval
Europeas" ModusI ndor um"meani ngmet hodoft heI ndians.In
Brahmasphut asiddhant a, mul t
ipl
icationwasnamedGomut ri
ka.Inthebegi nni
ngof
chaptertwel veofhi sBr ahmasphut asiddhānt a,ent i
tl
edCal culation,Brahmagupt a
detail
soper ationsonf ract ions.Ther eaderi sexpect edt oknowt hebasi car i
thmet i
c
operationsasf arast aki ngt hesquar eroot ,al
thoughheex plainshowt ofindt hecube
andcube- rootofani nt egerandl atergi vesr ul
esf acilitati
ngt hecomput ationof
squaresandsquar er oot s.Het hengi vesr ul
esf ordeal ingwi thfivetypesof
combi nati
onsoff r
act ions:
