Jyotihshastra: Astral and Mathematical Literature c4.s5.2

c4.s5.2

The Dravidian speaking areas of the Indian peninsula—Āndhrapradeśa, Karṇāṭaka, Tamilnadu, and Kerala—developed traditions of astronomy (and mathematics) based on the Ārya and Saura pakṣas, but largely independent of the traditions in the rest of India; this insularity was particularly true of Kerala, where some of the most brilliant work ever to be done in India in mathematics was produced in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries without having any effect whatsoever on the north. In the south in particular developed three interrelated systems: the Parahita and Vākya following the Āryapakṣa, and the Dṛggaṇita following the Saurapakṣa. Further, a genre of literature called tantra or karaṇa evolved in which the author could deal with selected topics in astronomy rather than giving a complete system as a siddhānta or northern karaṇa would. Alongside these texts, which are collections of problems, there were written short essays dealing with single facets of astronomy. To some extent, as we shall see, such essays were also composed in the north, but never in the numbers in which they were written in Kerala.