In 629 he annotated the Aryabhatiya, written in verses, about mathematical astronomy. Presumably, Bhaskara did not invent it, but he was the first having no compunctions to use the Brahmi numerals in a scientific contribution in Sanskrit.įurther contributions Mathematics īhaskara wrote three astronomical contributions. Therefore, at least since 629, the decimal system is definitely known to the Indian scientists.
Contrary to his word system, however, the figures are written in descending values from left to right, exactly as we do it today. Quite remarkably, he often explains a number given in this system, using the formula ankair api ("in figures this reads"), by repeating it written with the first nine Brahmi numerals, using a small circle for the zero. His system is truly positional since the same words representing, can also be used to represent the values 40 or 400. Similar to our current decimal system, these words were aligned such that each number assigns the factor of the power of ten correspondings to its position, only in reverse order: the higher powers were right from the lower ones. For instance, the number 1 was given as moon, since it exists only once the number 2 was represented by wings, twins, or eyes since they always occur in pairs the number 5 was given by the (5) senses. However, these numbers, prior to Bhaskara, were written not in figures but in words or allegories and were organized in verses. The first positional representations had been known to Indian astronomers approximately 500 years prior to this work. He and Brahmagupta are two of the most renowned Indian mathematicians who made considerable contributions to the study of fractions.īhaskara's probably most important mathematical contribution concerns the representation of numbers in a positional system. Bhaskara is considered the most important scholar of Aryabhata's astronomical school. His astronomical education was given by his father. A reasonable guess would be that Bhaskara was born in Saurastra and later moved to Asmaka. Harsa was the pre-eminent ruler in north India through the first half of Bhaskara I's life. Also mentioned are Bharuch (or Broach) in southern Gujarat and Thanesar in the eastern Punjab which was ruled by Harsa for 41 years from 606. For example, he mentions Valabhi (today Vala), the capital of the Maitraka dynasty in the 7th century, and Sivarajapura, which were both in Saurastra which today is the Gujarat state of India on the west coast of the continent. He was born in India in the 7th century.There are references to places in India in Bhaskara's writings.
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