26 2. MATHEMATICAL CULTURES IThe Vija Ganita consists of nine chapters, in the last of which Bhaskara tells
something about himself and his motivation for writing the book:On earth was one named Maheswara, who followed the eminent
path of a holy teacher among the learned. His son Bhaskara, hav-
ing from him derived the bud of knowledge, has composed this
brief treatise of elemental computation. As the treatises of alge-
bra [vija ganita] by Brahmagupta, Shidhara and Padmanabha are
too diffusive, he has compressed the substance of them in a well-
reasoned compendium for the gratification of learners... to aug-
ment wisdom and strengthen confidence. Read, do read, mathe-
matician, this abridgement, elegant in style, easily understood by
youth, comprising the whole essence of computation, and contain-
ing the demonstration of its principles, replete with excellence and
void of defect. [Colebrooke, 1817, pp. 275-276]2.8. Muslim India. Indian mathematical culture reflects the religious division
between the Muslim and Hindu communities to some extent. The Muslim con-
quest brought Arabic and Persian books on mathematics to India. Some of these
works were translated from ancient Greek, and among them was Euclid's Elements.
These translations of later editions of Euclid contained certain obscurities and be-
came the subject of commentaries by Indian scholars. Akbar the Lion decreed a
school curriculum for Muslims that included three-fourths of what was known in
the West as the quadrivium. Akbar's curriculum included arithmetic, geometry,
and astronomy, leaving out only music.^5 Details of this Indian Euclidean tradition
are given in the paper by de Young (1995).2.9. Indian mathematics in the colonial period and after. One of the first
effects of British rule in India was to acquaint European scholars with the treasures
of Hindu mathematics described above. It took a century before the British colonial
rulers began to establish universities along European lines in India. According
to Varadarajan (1983), these universities were aimed at producing government
officials, not scholars. As a result, one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of all
time. Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), was not appreciated and had to appeal
to mathematicians in Britain to gain a position that would allow him to develop
his talent. The necessary conditions for producing great mathematics were present
in abundance, however, and the establishment of the Tata Institute in Bombay
(now Mumbai) and the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta were important
steps in this direction. After Indian independence was achieved, the first prime
minister, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 1964), made it a goal to achieve prominence in
science. This effort has been successful in many areas, including mathematics. The
names of Komaravolu Chandrasekharan (b. 1920), Harish-Chandra (1923-1983),
and others have become celebrated the world over for their contributions to widely
diverse areas of mathematics.
(^5) The quadrivium is said to have been proposed by Archytas (ca. 428-350 BCE), who lived in
southern Italy and apparently communicated it to Plato when the latter was there to consult with
the ruler of Syracuse; Plato incorporated it in his writings on education, as discussed in Sect. 1.