History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v2.c17.s5.13

v2.c17.s5.13

The above method of solution of a linear equation was known in the middle ages, amongst Arab and European algebraists, by the name of the Rule of False Position. It is noteworthy that the terms *yaddṛcchâ*, *vâñcchâ*, and *kâmika* of the Bakhshâlî treatise are equivalent to the term *yâvat-tâvat*. So the origin of this latter term seems to be connected with the Rule of False Position. It is interesting to find that the rule was once given so much importance in Hindu algebra that the section dealing with it was named after it.