Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c10.44

c10.44

Attempt has been made to translate and write commentaries on these texts. Similar attempts have been tried to make translations of *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*, *Līlāvatī* and *Bījagaṇita* in the period, but very few attempts have been made to make a comparison with the available knowledge in Sanskrit sources. These were written mainly for readers of Persian who knew no other language and had no access in standard Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian treatises in mathematics. Only a partial attempt has been made by Muniśvara and Kamalākara, Jagannātha Paṇḍita and Rājā Jayasiṃha to make a synthesis of the available Indian knowledge, and that of Ptolemy and Euclid. The account gives an idea of both Hindu and Islamic traditions in India as well as their activities in the form of writing commentaries on older Indian and some Persian texts, which helps us to some extent to assess the trend of literature. The activities of the Indian scholars in mathematics also attracted the attention of European scholars viz. Giovanni Dominique Cassini (1691-1699), Le Gentil (1772), Robert Barker (1777), Joseph Tieffenttaler (1785-1789), Bailey (1787), William Jones (1790), Samuel Devis (1790-1892) and John Bentley (1799), who tried to make assessment of Indian activities by writing translation of the text, writing articles in French, Latin and German languages. Sen¹ has made a resumé of these activities. But the assessment of the actual contribution in the period deserves more intensive research. This is very important because this will help us to assess correctly the proportion of cultural interdependence in the field of mathematical knowledge.