Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c4.s3.t12.1

c4.s3.t12.1

Śrīpati was a Jaina astronomer cum mathematician. He wrote *Gaṇitatilaka*¹, *Siddhāntaśekhara*² ( in 1039 A D. ) and *Bījagaṇita* besides five other works on astronomy and astrology³. The *Gaṇitatilaka* is devoted exclusively to arithmetic. The *Siddhāntaśekhara*, a work mainly on astronomy in twenty chapters, deals with algebra in two chapters namely *vyaktagaṇitādhyāya* ( ch. 13 ) and *avyaktagaṇitādhyāya* ( ch. 14 ). But his *Bījagaṇita* is now lost. Though he is the author of so many works, very little is known about his life. Probably he was the son of Nāgadeva and was a native of Rohinikhaṇḍa⁴. Like his predecessors, he discussed in his *Gaṇitatilaka* the eight fundamental operations and dealt with permutation, combination, proportion, notational places and many other things of relative interst.