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Concept
Brahmagupta
Summary
Brahmagupta (598 – 668 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (BSS, "correctly established doctrine of Brahma", dated 628), a theoretical treatise, and the Khaṇḍakhādyaka ("edible bite", dated 665), a more practical text.
In 628 CE, Brahmagupta first described gravity as an attractive force, and used the term "gurutvākarṣaṇam (गुरुत्वाकर्षणम्)" in Sanskrit to describe it.
Brahmagupta, according to his own statement, was born in 598 CE. Born in Bhillamāla in Gurjaradesa (modern Bhinmal in Rajasthan, India) during the reign of the Chavda dynasty ruler Vyagrahamukha, his ancestors were probably from Sindh. He was the son of Jishnugupta and was a Hindu by religion, in particular, a Shaivite. He lived and worked there for a good part of his life. Prithudaka Svamin, a later commentator, called him Bhillamalacharya, the teacher from Bhillamala.
Bhillamala was the capital of the Gurjaradesa, the second-largest kingdom of Western India, comprising southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat in modern-day India. It was also a centre of learning for mathematics and astronomy. He became an astronomer of the Brahmapaksha school, one of the four major schools of Indian astronomy during this period. He studied the five traditional Siddhantas on Indian astronomy as well as the work of other astronomers including Aryabhata I, Latadeva, Pradyumna, Varahamihira, Simha, Srisena, Vijayanandin and Vishnuchandra.
In the year 628, at the age of 30, he composed the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta ("improved treatise of Brahma") which is believed to be a revised version of the received Siddhanta of the Brahmapaksha school of astronomy. Scholars state that he incorporated a great deal of originality into his revision, adding a considerable amount of new material. The book consists of 24 chapters with 1008 verses in the ārya metre. A good deal of it is astronomy, but it also contains key chapters on mathematics, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry and algorithmics, which are believed to contain new insights due to Brahmagupta himself.
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