Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Civilization Birth

Āryabhaṭīya — Aryabhata

499 AD · Transmission: Silenced
MathematicsTreatiseIndian

Aryabhata writes the Āryabhaṭīya at age 23, a treatise in 121 Sanskrit verses that systematizes arithmetic, algebra, plane and spherical trigonometry, and astronomy. He introduces sine tables (jyā), the value of π ≈ 3.1416 as an explicit approximation, and the second-order difference method for interpolating planetary positions. He proposes that the apparent rotation of the stars is due to Earth's rotation on its axis. Translated into Arabic c. 820 at Baghdad's House of Wisdom under the title Zīj al-Arjabhar, it directly influenced Al-Khwarizmi and the transmission of Indian mathematics to the Islamic and European worlds.

InstitutionSchool of Kusumapura (identified with Pataliputra, present-day Patna)
Historical regionGupta Empire, Magadha (present-day Bihar, India)
Primary sourceĀryabhaṭīya, 499 AD — critical edition: Shukla & Sarma, Indian National Science Academy, 1976
Secondary sourceMacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews — mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Aryabhata_I/
Original languageClassical Sanskrit (ārya and gīti meter)
View this entry in the interactive atlas → View in graph →