The importance of mathematics cannot be ignored. Math is in everything we do in our lives today. It can be considered one of the greatest things humans know. It is hard to get a definition on the term mathematics, but it comes from a Greek word meaning “inclined to learn.” Math and numbers are the most useful tools in life. Everyday we use it to do simple things like tell the time, counting change, and counting the pages for homework. We use math for complex things like driving, cooking, doing taxes, and things like credit card bills.
Even in sports there is a great need for mathematics. In baseball, a hit isn’t a homerun until it goes 325 feet past a fence. In football you have to gain 10 yards to get a first down and then you get 6 points for making a touchdown. In basketball, you get two points for a normal shot and 3 points for a long shot. Math and numbers are everywhere. One part of math that isn’t clear to everyone is the history of it. One part of math’s history comes from ancient India.
The roots of math in India are in Vedic literature that is nearly 4000 years old. The concept of zero, and the techniques of algebra, algorithm, square root and cube root were written by Indian mathematicians between 1000BC and 1000AD.
The fact that the technique of algebra and the concept of zero originated in India has been excepted by most, but many do not know about the other mathematic discoveries made in India. The fundamentals of geometry were also found there. They were used to display geometric patterns in temple motifs. Even algorithm, a technique of calculation that is used in software design today, also came from India.
Mathematics was called Ganitam in India. Then came Bijaganitam, or “the other mathematics.” This term was the name for algebra. The Indians were the first to use letters from the alphabet to indicate unknowns. They developed the rules of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. They also used the signs: +, -, and x for those operations. This algebra originated here and was current up until about 1,500 years back. Starting around the 13th century, India was invaded by Arabs and other Islamic groups like the Turks and Afghans. During these invasions, the Indian system of mathematics could not have been ignored by them. These invading people observed the Indian mathematics and adapted it. They gave it the name “Al-Jabr” meaning “the reunion of broken parts.” ‘Al’ means ‘the’ and ‘Jabr’ means ‘reunion.’ This name shows that this system was taken from an outside source and then assimilated with their mathematical concepts.
The Christian kingdoms made many attempts to regain the birthplace of Jesus from the Arab rulers between the 10th and 13th centuries. Their crusades didn’t succeed but there were a lot of exchanges in ideas during this time. The idea of algebra could have been passed on to the West during this time period.
During the Renaissance, the knowledge and ideas coming from the East were further developed. All the characteristics of algebra’s origination and connection with the East was lost except the name Al-Jabr (Algebra). This is the name which was given to Bijaganitam by the Arabs. Parenthetically, the term Bijaganit is still used today in India for algebra.
Trigonometry was also mentioned in ancient Indian books. They had problems about Zya(Sine), Otkram Zya(Versesine), and Koti Zya(Cosine). Zya was later changed to Jaib by the Arabs. Then in Latin, Jaib was translated to Sinus. That is how we got Sine. The word Trigonometry is derived from the word Trikonmiti, an Indian word. Indians used “trikonmiti” to decide the positions, motions, and more of the spatial planets.
Even in Geometry, Indian mathematicians had their part. There is evidence of instruments used for geometrical drawings dating backs as far as 2500 BC in the Indus Valley. There are parts of mathematical applications called ‘Rekha Ganita’ or line compution and ‘Sulva Sutras’ or rule of the chord. These were used in geometrical methods of constructing alters and temples. The temple layouts were called Madalas and even the Buddhist Pagodas borrowed their plan of construction from the geometric grid of the Mandala. The Pythagorean Theorem was also found in India before the 8th century BC. It’s exact wording in the ancient book it was found was: “The diagonal chord of the rectangle makes both the squares that the horizontal and vertical sides make separately. This proves that this notable theorem was found and spread in India centuries before Pythagoras.
Arab scholar Mohammed Ibn Jubair al Battani studied Indian use of ratios from Rekha Ganita and introduced them to other Arab scholars like Al Khwarazmi. They inaugurated the new mathematical ideas of algebra and others into their own ideas. Al Khwarazmi was the greatest influence who progressed a technique of calculation from Indian sources. Westerns named this technique after him calling it “Algorismi” which gives us the modern term Algorithm. Algorithm is widely used in computer software and is a process of calculation based on decimal notation numbers. This method was by Khwarazmi from the Indian techniques of geometric and algebraic numeration that he had studied. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word algorithm which we use in the English language is a corruption of the name Khwarazmi which literally means ‘(a person) from Khwarizm’, which was the name of the town where Al Khawarazmi lived. Unfortunately, the origianal Indian texts that Al Khwarazmi studied are lost to us, only the translations remain.
The zero concept is very important to the field of mathematics. The zero brings a whole new dimension to us, negative numbers. Zero is a cut off point and a way to extend into infinity. This valuable discovery was also made in India. Mathematicians in India made the decimal system, which contained the place values such as tens, hundreds, and thousands. Another important thing about the concept of zero is that it made numbers much easier to read and allowed complex equations to be solved. The Egyptians could easily show large numbers, but they had no place value. Because of this, they had to use 23 symbols just to show the number 986. The great Romans weren’t that great with numbers either. The Roman numeral system also needed long and hard to read characters. In their system, the number fourteen would be written as XIV. In the decimal system it would be 14. The simple problem 36 – 14 = 22 would be XXXVI – XIV = XXII. It is very clear how the decimal system and the concept of zero make it a lot simpler to do complex equations.
All of this Indian math was borrowed and translated by the Arabs. The Arab mathematicians took the decimal system and developed it and then passed it on to the rest of the world. The world started calling these the “Arabic notations,” but the Arabs themselves called them “Al-Arqan-Al-Hindu” (“Indian Figures”). Mathematics itself was called “hindisat” or “the Indian art.” So you see where our numerals and math originates from but also why we call the “Indian numerals” the “Arab numerals” today.
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