History of Hindu Mathematics

It is usually not known that India had a thriving tradition of mathematics. Today it is a common belief that mathematics arose in ancient Greece and Europe. Many key results of mathematics credited after Europeans, such as the “Pythagoras Theorem”, Taylor series, etc. were in fact developed in the Hindu civilization much earlier than they were known in the West. These ideas were transmitted to the West and later attributed to Western sources.

The history of Hindu mathematics is also the history of how and why it was erased from mainstream historical accounts. In particular, why are so many Hindu innovations named after Western scholars? Why are the names of prominent mathematicians such as Brahmagupta, Bhaskara etc, all but absent in mainstream accounts? Why is Hindu mathematics reduced to an unimportant footnote in historical accounts? This aspect forms another important part of the course. The attitudes of Western scholars towards Hindu mathematics such as Cantor, Rousse-Ball, Heath etc., and the attendant misrepresentations and distortions will be addressed.

This course will give an account of Hindu mathematics and seek to show how so many of the foundational branches of mathematics such as arithmetic, algebra, combinatorics, trigonometry, linguistics, prosody, calculus, and other fields were developed in the Hindu civilization. Ideas from Hindu mathematics, especially from linguistics and prosody, have also influenced the development of computer science in modern times. The main works and results of prominent Hindu mathematicians will be discussed. The transmission of Hindu mathematical ideas, especially to the Arab world and the West will also form an important part of the course.

Another important aspect the course addresses is the close connection of mathematical knowledge with the deeper philosophical, metaphysical and epistemological framework of the Hindu civilization. It will address issues such as how this knowledge spontaneously arose in the Indian civilization, and how the deeper framework and philosophical foundation made it possible for this knowledge to arise.