A Concise History of Science in India c7.1

c7.1

THE history of the development of mathematics in India is as old as the civilization of its people itself. It begins with the rudiments of metrology and computations in prehistoric times, of which some fragmentary evidence has survived to this day. The sacred literature of the Vedic Hindus—the *Saṃhitās*, the *Kalpasūtras* and the *Vedāṅgas*—contain enough materials, albeit scattered, to help form a good idea of the mathematical ability during the time of development of this class of literature. The *Śulba-sūtras* which form part of the *Kalpasūtras* are a veritable storehouse of information concerning enumeration, arithmetical operations, fractions, properties of rectilinear figures, the so-called Pythagorean Theorem, surds, irrational numbers, quadratic and indeterminate equations and related matters. The *Brāhmaṇas* and some *sūtras* contain interesting materials concerning progressive series, permutations and combinations.