Sadratnamala
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Sadratnamala'' is an astronomical-mathematical treatise in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
written by
Sankara Varman Sankara Varman (1774–1839) was an astronomer-mathematician belonging to the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. He is best known as the author of Sadratnamala, a treatise on astronomy and mathematics, composed in 1819. Sankara Varman ...
, an astronomer-mathematician of the Kerala school of mathematics, in 1819. Even though the book has been written at a time when western mathematics and astronomy had been introduced in India, it is composed purely in the traditional style followed by the mathematicians of the Kerala school. Sankara Varman has also written a detailed commentary on the book in
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
. Sadratnamala is one of the books cited in
C. M. Whish Charles Matthew Whish (1794–1833) was an English civil servant in the Madras Establishment of the East India Company. Whish was the first to bring to the notice of the western mathematical scholarship the achievements of the Kerala school o ...
's paper on the achievements of the Kerala school of mathematics. This paper published in the ''Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'' in 1834, was the first ever attempt to bring the accomplishments of Keralese mathematicians to the attention of Western mathematical scholarship. Whish wrote in his paper thus: "The author of Sadratnamalah is SANCARA VARMA, the younger brother of the present Raja of Cadattanada near Tellicherry, a very intelligent man and acute mathematician. This work, which is a complete system of Hindu astronomy, is comprehended in two hundred and eleven verses of different measures, and abounds with fluxional forms and series, to be found in no work of foreign or other Indian countries."


Synopsis of the book

The book contains 212 verses divided into six chapters, called ''prakarana''-s. *''Chapter 1'': Gives the names of numerals; defines the eight operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squaring, extracting square root, cubing, and extracting cube root. *''Chapter 2'': Lists the different measures, namely, the measures of time, angles, lunar days, planets and stars, almanacs, length, grain weight, money and the directions. *''Chapter 3'': Defines the rule of three and syllabic enumeration; explains methods for the computation of the elements of the almanac, namely, mean and true sun, moon and planets, lunar day, ''yoga'' and ''karana''; gives methods for determining the time elapsed after sunrise and after sunset. *''Chapter 4'': Deals with arcs and sines and its application in astronomical measurements and computations. *''Chapter 5'': Deals with computations relating to the shadow, eclipse, ''vyatipata'', retrograde motion of the planets and apses of the moon. *''Chapter 6'': Explains the necessity of periodic revision of astronomical constants; gives a full description of ''parahita-karana''.


Sankara Varman (1774–1839)

Sankara Varman, author of Sadratnamala, was born as a younger prince in the principality of Katathanad in the North Malabar in Kerala. To the local people he was known as Appu Thampuran. The date of birth of Sankara Varman is still uncertain. There are some strong arguments in favour of the year 1774 CE. Sankara Varman died in 1839 CE.


References

{{Scientific Research in Kerala , state=collapsed Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics Hindu astronomy Astronomy books Indian mathematics Indian astronomy texts