BRAMAG

UPTA
 ABOUT BHRAMAGUPTA
• Brahmagupta was an • Brahmagupta was the
Indian mathematician
and astronomer. He is
the author of two early
works on mathematics
and astronomy: the
Brāhmasphuṭasiddhān
ta
, a theoretical treatise,
and the
Khaṇḍakhādyaka , a
more practical text.
first to give rules to
compute with zero. The
texts composed by
Brahmagupta were
composed in
elliptical verse in Sanskrit
, as was common practice
in Indian mathematics.
As no proofs are given, it
is not known how
Brahmagupta's results
were derived.
LIFE AND CAREER
• Brahmagupta was born in 598 CE according to his own statement. He lived in Bhillamala
(modern Bhinmal) during the reign of the Chapa dynasty ruler, Vyagrahamukha. He was the
son of Jishnugupta and was a Shaivite by religion. Even though most scholars assume that
Brahmagupta was born in Bhillamala, there is no conclusive evidence for it. However, he lived
and worked there for a good part of his life. Prithudaka Svamin, a later commentator, called
him Bhillamalacharya, the teacher from Bhillamala. Sociologist G. S. Ghurye believed that he
might have been from the Multan or Abu region.
• Bhillamala, called pi-lo-mo-lo by Xuanzang, was the apparent 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.
Brahmagupta became an astronomer of the Brahmapaksha school, one of the four major
schools of Indian astronomy during this period. He studied the five traditional siddhanthas 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 an age of 30, he composed the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (the improved
treatise of Brahma) which is believed to be a revised version of the received siddhanta of the
Brahmapaksha school. Scholars state that he incorporated a great deal of originality to 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.
• Later, Brahmagupta moved to Ujjain, which was also a major centre for astronomy. At the age
of 67, he composed his next well known work Khanda-khādyaka, a practical manual of Indian
astronomy in the karana category meant to be used by students.
• Brahmagupta lived beyond 665 CE. He is believed to have died in Ujjain
MATHEMATICS
 ALGEBRA
• Brahmagupta gave the solution of the general linear equation in chapter eighteen of Brahmasphutasiddhanta,
• The difference between rupas, when inverted and divided by the difference of the unknowns, is the unknown in
the equation. The rupas are [subtracted on the side] below that from which the square and the unknown are to
be subtracted.
• which is a solution for the equation bx + c = dx + e equivalent to x = e − c/b − d, where rupas refers to the
constants c and e. He further gave two equivalent solutions to the general quadratic equation
• 18.44. Diminish by the middle [number] the square-root of the rupas multiplied by four times the square and
increased by the square of the middle [number]; divide the remainder by twice the square. [The result is] the
middle [number].
18.45. Whatever is the square-root of the rupas multiplied by the square [and] increased by the square of half
the unknown, diminish that by half the unknown [and] divide [the remainder] by its square. [The result is] the
unknown.[
• which are, respectively, solutions for the equation ax2 + bx = c equivalent to,
• x = 4 a c + b 2 − b 2 a {\displaystyle x={\frac {{\sqrt {4ac+b^{2}}}-b}{2a}}} and
• x = a c + b 2 4 − b 2 a . {\displaystyle x={\frac {{\sqrt {ac+{\tfrac {b^{2}}{4}}}}-{\tfrac {b}{2}}}{a}}.} He went on to
solve systems of simultaneous indeterminate equations stating that the desired variable must first be isolated,
and then the equation must be divided by the desired variable's coefficient. In particular, he recommended
using "the pulverizer" to solve equations with multiple unknowns.
• 18.51. Subtract the colors different from the first color. [The remainder] divided by the first [color's coefficient] is
the measure of the first. [Terms] two by two [are] considered [when reduced to] similar divisors, [and so on]
repeatedly. If there are many [colors], the pulverizer [is to be used]. ]
• Like the algebra of Diophantus, the algebra of Brahmagupta was syncopated. Addition was indicated by placing
the numbers side by side, subtraction by placing a dot over the subtrahend, and division by placing the divisor
below the dividend, similar to our notation but without the bar. Multiplication, evolution, and unknown
quantities were represented by abbreviations of appropriate terms. [ The extent of Greek influence on this
syncopation, if any, is not known and it is possible that both Greek and Indian syncopation may be derived
from a common Babylonian source.[
 ARITHMETIC
• The four fundamental operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division) were known to many cultures before Brahmagupta. This current
system is based on the Hindu Arabic number system and first appeared in
Brahmasphutasiddhanta. Brahmagupta describes the multiplication as thus
“The multiplicand is repeated like a string for cattle, as often as there are
integrant portions in the multiplier and is repeatedly multiplied by them and
the products are added together. It is multiplication. Or the multiplicand is
repeated as many times as there are component parts in the multiplier”.
Indian arithmetic was known in Medieval Europe as "Modus Indoram"
meaning method of the Indians. In Brahmasphutasiddhanta, multiplication
was named Gomutrika. In the beginning of chapter twelve of his
Brahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled Calculation, Brahmagupta details
operations on fractions. The reader is expected to know the basic arithmetic
operations as far as taking the square root, although he explains how to find
the cube and cube-root of an integer and later gives rules facilitating the
computation of squares and square roots. He then gives rules for dealing
with five types of combinations of fractions:
a/c + b/c; a/c × b/d; a/1 + b/d; a/c + b/d × a/c = a(d + b)/cd; and a/c −
b/d × a/c = a(d − b)/cd
 SERIES
• Brahmagupta then goes on to give the sum of the squares
and cubes of the first n integers.
• 12.20. The sum of the squares is that [sum] multiplied by
twice the [number of] step[s] increased by one [and] divided
by three. The sum of the cubes is the square of that [sum]
Piles of these with identical balls [can also be computed].
• Here Brahmagupta found the result in terms of the sum of
the first n integers, rather than in terms of n as is the modern
practice.
• He gives the sum of the squares of the first n natural
numbers as n(n + 1)(2n + 1)/6 and the sum of the cubes of
the first n natural numbers as (n(n + 1)/2)2
 ZERO
• Brahmagupta's Brahmasphuṭasiddhanta is the first book that provides rules for arithmetic manipulations that
apply to zero and to negative numbers.[20] The Brahmasphutasiddhanta is the earliest known text to treat zero as
a number in its own right, rather than as simply a placeholder digit in representing another number as was
done by the Babylonians or as a symbol for a lack of quantity as was done by Ptolemy and the Romans. In
chapter eighteen of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta describes operations on negative numbers. He
first describes addition and subtraction,
• 18.30. [The sum] of two positives is positives, of two negatives negative; of a positive and a negative [the sum] is
their difference; if they are equal it is zero. The sum of a negative and zero is negative, [that] of a positive and
zero positive, [and that] of two zeros zero.

• 18.32. A negative minus zero is negative, a positive [minus zero] positive; zero [minus zero] is zero. When a
positive is to be subtacted from a negative or a negative from a positive, then it is to be added.] He goes on to
describe multiplication,
• 18.33. The product of a negative and a positive is negative, of two negatives positive, and of positives positive;
the product of zero and a negative, of zero and a positive, or of two zeros is zero.
• But his description of division by zero differs from our modern understanding:
• 18.34. A positive divided by a positive or a negative divided by a negative is positive; a zero divided by a zero is
zero; a positive divided by a negative is negative; a negative divided by a positive is [also] negative.
18.35. A negative or a positive divided by zero has that [zero] as its divisor, or zero divided by a negative or a
positive [has that negative or positive as its divisor]. The square of a negative or of a positive is positive; [the
square] of zero is zero. That of which [the square] is the square is [its] square-root.
• Here Brahmagupta states that 0/0 = 0 and as for the question of a/0 where a ≠ 0 he did not commit himself.
His rules for arithmetic on negative numbers and zero are quite close to the modern understanding, except that
in modern mathematics division by zero is left undefined
DIOPHANTINE
ANALYSIS
 PYTHAGOREA TRIPLES
• In chapter twelve of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta provides a
formula useful for generating Pythagorean triples:
• 12.39. The height of a mountain multiplied by a given multiplier is the distance
to a city; it is not erased. When it is divided by the multiplier increased by two
it is the leap of one of the two who make the same journey.
• Or, in other words, if d = mx/x + 2, then a traveller who "leaps" vertically
upwards a distance d from the top of a mountain of height m, and then travels
in a straight line to a city at a horizontal distance mx from the base of the
mountain, travels the same distance as one who descends vertically down the
mountain and then travels along the horizontal to the city. Stated
geometrically, this says that if a right-angled triangle has a base of length a =
mx and altitude of length b = m + d, then the length, c, of its hypotenuse is
given by c = m(1 + x) − d. And, indeed, elementary algebraic manipulation
shows that a2 + b2 = c2 whenever d has the value stated. Also, if m and x are
rational, so are d, a, b and c. A Pythagorean triple can therefore be obtained
from a, b and c by multiplying each of them by the least common multiple of
their denominators
PELL’S EQUATION
• Brahmagupta went on to give a recurrence relation for generating solutions to certain instances of
Diophantine equations of the second degree such as Nx2 + 1 = y2 (called Pell's equation) by using
the Euclidean algorithm. The Euclidean algorithm was known to him as the "pulverizer" since it
breaks numbers down into ever smaller pieces.
• The nature of squares:
18.64. [Put down] twice the square-root of a given square by a multiplier and increased or
diminished by an arbitrary [number]. The product of the first [pair], multiplied by the multiplier,
with the product of the last [pair], is the last computed.
18.65. The sum of the thunderbolt products is the first. The additive is equal to the product of the
additives. The two square-roots, divided by the additive or the subtractive, are the additive rupas.
• The key to his solution was the identity,
• (x12−Ny12)(x22−Ny22)=(x1x2+Ny1y2)2−N(x1y2+x2y1)2
{\displaystyle (x_{1}^{2}-Ny_{1}^{2})(x_{2}^{2}-Ny_{2}^{2})=(x_{1}x_{2}+Ny_{1}y_{2})^{2}-
N(x_{1}y_{2}+x_{2}y_{1})^{2}} which is a generalisation of an identity that was discovered by
Diophantus,
• ( x 1 2 − y 1 2 ) ( x 2 2 − y 2 2 ) = ( x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 ) 2 − ( x 1 y 2 + x 2 y 1 ) 2 . {\displaystyle
(x_{1}^{2}-y_{1}^{2})(x_{2}^{2}-y_{2}^{2})=(x_{1}x_{2}+y_{1}y_{2})^{2}-(x_{1}y_{2}+x_{2}y_{1})^{2}.}
Using his identity and the fact that if (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) are solutions to the equations x2 − Ny2 =
k1 and x2 − Ny2 = k2, respectively, then (x1x2 + Ny1y2, x1y2 + x2y1) is a solution to x2 − Ny2 = k1k2, he
was able to find integral solutions to Pell's equation through a series of equations of the form x2 −
Ny2 = ki. Brahmagupta was not able to apply his solution uniformly for all possible values of N,
rather he was only able to show that if x2 − Ny2 = k has an integer solution for k = ±1, ±2, or ±4,
then x2 − Ny2 = 1 has a solution. The solution of the general Pell's equation would have to wait for
Bhaskara II in c. 1150 CE.
GEOMETRY
 BRAHMAGUPTA
•
FORMULA
Brahmagupta's most famous result in geometry is his formula for
cyclic quadrilaterals. Given the lengths of the sides of any cyclic
quadrilateral, Brahmagupta gave an approximate and an exact
formula for the figure's area,
• 12.21. The approximate area is the product of the halves of the sums
of the sides and opposite sides of a triangle and a quadrilateral. The
accurate [area] is the square root from the product of the halves of the
sums of the sides diminished by [each] side of the quadrilateral.
• So given the lengths p, q, r and s of a cyclic quadrilateral, the
approximate area is p + r/2 · q + s/2 while, letting t = p + q + r + s/2,
the exact area is
• √(t − p)(t − q)(t − r)(t − s). Although Brahmagupta does not explicitly
state that these quadrilaterals are cyclic, it is apparent from his rules
that this is the case. Heron's formula is a special case of this formula
and it can be derived by setting one of the sides equal to zero
 TRIANGLES
• Brahmagupta dedicated a substantial portion of his work to geometry.
One theorem gives the lengths of the two segments a triangle's base is
divided into by its altitude:
• 12.22. The base decreased and increased by the difference between
the squares of the sides divided by the base; when divided by two they
are the true segments. The perpendicular [altitude] is the square-root
from the square of a side diminished by the square of its segment. [18]
• Thus the lengths of the two segments are 1/2(b ± c2 − a2/b).
• He further gives a theorem on rational triangles. A triangle with
rational sides a, b, c and rational area is of the form:
• a=12(u2v+v),  b=12(u2w+w),  c=12(u2v−v+u
2 w − w ) {\displaystyle a={\frac {1}{2}}\left({\frac {u^{2}}{v}}+v\right),\ \
b={\frac {1}{2}}\left({\frac {u^{2}}{w}}+w\right),\ \ c={\frac {1}
{2}}\left({\frac {u^{2}}{v}}-v+{\frac {u^{2}}{w}}-w\right)} for some rational
numbers u, v, and w.[
 BRAHMAGUPTA’S THEOREM
• Brahmagupta continues,
12.23. The square-root of the sum of the two products of the sides and opposite sides of
a non-unequal quadrilateral is the diagonal. The square of the diagonal is diminished
by the square of half the sum of the base and the top; the square-root is the
perpendicular [altitudes].
• So, in a "non-unequal" cyclic quadrilateral (that is, an isosceles trapezoid), the length
of each diagonal is √pr + qs.
• He continues to give formulas for the lengths and areas of geometric figures, such as
the circumradius of an isosceles trapezoid and a scalene quadrilateral, and the lengths
of diagonals in a scalene cyclic quadrilateral. This leads up to Brahmagupta's
famous theorem,
• 12.30-31. Imaging two triangles within [a cyclic quadrilateral] with unequal sides, the
two diagonals are the two bases. Their two segments are separately the upper and
lower segments [formed] at the intersection of the diagonals. The two [lower segments]
of the two diagonals are two sides in a triangle; the base [of the quadrilateral is the
base of the triangle]. Its perpendicular is the lower portion of the [central]
perpendicular; the upper portion of the [central] perpendicular is half of the sum of the
[sides] perpendiculars diminished by the lower [portion of the central perpendicular].
 PI π
• In verse 40, he gives values of π,
• 12.40. The diameter and the square of the
radius [each] multiplied by 3 are
[respectively] the practical circumference and
the area [of a circle]. The accurate [values]
are the square-roots from the squares of
those two multiplied by ten.
• So Brahmagupta uses 3 as a "practical"
value of π, and 10 ≈ 3.1622 … {\displaystyle
{\sqrt {10}}\approx 3.1622\ldots } as an
"accurate" value of π. The error in this
"accurate" value is less than 1%.
 MEASURMENTS &
CONSTRUCTIONS
• In some of the verses before verse 40, Brahmagupta gives
constructions of various figures with arbitrary sides. He
essentially manipulated right triangles to produce isosceles
triangles, scalene triangles, rectangles, isosceles trapezoids,
isosceles trapezoids with three equal sides, and a scalene
cyclic quadrilateral.
• After giving the value of pi, he deals with the geometry of
plane figures and solids, such as finding volumes and surface
areas (or empty spaces dug out of solids). He finds the volume
of rectangular prisms, pyramids, and the frustum of a square
pyramid. He further finds the average depth of a series of pits.
For the volume of a frustum of a pyramid, he gives the
"pragmatic" value as the depth times the square of the mean of
the edges of the top and bottom faces, and he gives the
"superficial" volume as the depth times their mean area
TRIGONO
METRY
 SINE TABLE
• In Chapter 2 of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled
Planetary True Longitudes, Brahmagupta presents a sine
table:
2.2-5. The sines: The Progenitors, twins; Ursa Major, twins,
the Vedas; the gods, fires, six; flavors, dice, the gods; the
moon, five, the sky, the moon; the moon, arrows, suns
• Here Brahmagupta uses names of objects to represent the
digits of place-value numerals, as was common with
numerical data in Sanskrit treatises. Progenitors represents
the 14 Progenitors ("Manu") in Indian cosmology or 14,
"twins" means 2, "Ursa Major" represents the seven stars of
Ursa Major or 7, "Vedas" refers to the 4 Vedas or 4, dice
represents the number of sides of the tradition die or 6, and
so on. This information can be translated into the list of
sines, 214, 427, 638, 846, 1051, 1251, 1446, 1635, 1817,
1991, 2156, 2312, 1459, 2594, 2719, 2832, 2933, 3021,
3096, 3159, 3207, 3242, 3263, and 3270, with the radius
being 3270.
INTERPOLATION
FORMULA
• In 665 Brahmagupta devised and used a special case of
the Newton–Stirling interpolation formula of the second-
order to interpolate new values of the sine function from
other values already tabulated.The formula gives an
estimate for the value of a function f at a value a + xh of
its argument (with h > 0 and −1 ≤ x ≤ 1) when its value is
already known at a − h, a and a + h.
• The formula for the estimate is:
f(a+xh)≈f(a)+x(Δf(a)+Δf(a−h)2)+x2Δ2f
( a − h ) 2 ! . {\displaystyle f(a+xh)\approx f(a)+x\left({\frac
{\Delta f(a)+\Delta f(a-h)}{2}}\right)+{\frac {x^{2}\Delta
^{2}f(a-h)}{2!}}.} where Δ is the first-order forward-
difference operator, i.e.
Δ f ( a )   = d e f   f ( a + h ) − f ( a ) . {\displaystyle \Delta
f(a)\ {\stackrel {\mathrm {def} }{=}}\ f(a+h)-f(a).}
ASTRON
OMY
 This section needs expansion with: Astronomical details reflecting his substantial
astronomical work. You can help by adding to it.
Some of the important contributions made by Brahmagupta in astronomy are his methods
for calculating the position of heavenly bodies over time (ephemerides), their rising and
setting, conjunctions, and the calculation of solar and lunar eclipses.
In chapter seven of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled Lunar Crescent, Brahmagupta
rebuts the idea that the Moon is farther from the Earth than the Sun, an idea which had
been suggested by Vedic scripture. [clarification needed] He does this by explaining the illumination
of the Moon by the Sun.
7.1. If the moon were above the sun, how would the power of waxing and waning, etc., be
produced from calculation of the [longitude of the] moon? the near half [would be] always
bright.

7.2. In the same way that the half seen by the sun of a pot standing in sunlight is bright,
and the unseen half dark, so is [the illumination] of the moon [if it is] beneath the sun.

7.3. The brightness is increased in the direction of the sun. At the end of a bright [i.e.
waxing] half-month, the near half is bright and the far half dark. Hence, the elevation of the
horns [of the crescent can be derived] from calculation. He explains that since the Moon is
closer to the Earth than the Sun, the degree of the illuminated part of the Moon depends on
the relative positions of the Sun and the Moon, and this can be computed from the size of
the angle between the two bodies.
Further work exploring the longitudes of the planets, diurnal rotation, lunar and solar
eclipses, risings and settings, the moon's crescent and conjunctions of the planets, are
discussed in his treatise Khandakhadyaka.