Born: 

476, probably in Ashmaka

Died: 550 (at age 74), location unknown
Nationality: Indian
Famous For: Early mathematician who calculated the
value of pi

Aryabhata (476-550) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is generally

considered to have begun the line of great Indian astronomer-mathematicians that flourished
during the country’s classical period. Several of his calculations showed remarkable accuracy for
the era, with some remaining the best available for many centuries. He is sometimes referred
to as Aryabhata I, since several later scientists of the same name also produced notable works.

Aryabhata’s Early Life

Aryabhata came from southern India, but his precise place of birth is not known. Some
authorities suggest that Kerala is the most likely location, while others believe that Dhaka or
Maharashtra are more probable. It is, however, generally accepted that he studied at an
advanced level in Kusumapura in modern-day Patna, where he remained for some years.

A contemporary poem places Aryabhata as the manager of a scientific institution; the

precise nature of the body is not given, but there are grounds for suspecting that it may have
been linked to the astronomical observatory that was maintained there by the University of
Nalanda.

The Aryabhatiya

While studying at the university, Aryabhata produced the Aryabhatiya, his major work.
Written at the age of just 23, it ranges widely across mathematics and astronomy, but is
particularly notable for its calculations regarding planetary periods. The value given for the
length of the Earth’s astronomical day differs from the true value by only a matter of minutes.

Aryabhata also worked out a value for pi that equates to 3.1416, very close to the
approximations still used today. Using this value, he was able to calculate that the Earth had a
circumference of 24,835 miles. This is correct to within 0.2%, and remained the best figure
available well into medieval times.

While working on the calculation of pi, it is possible that Aryabhata may also have
discovered that number’s irrationality. The relevant text is inconclusive on this point, but if he
did establish the irrational nature of pi, he beat the first European mathematicians to do this by
many hundreds of years.
 The Aryabhatiya also contains solid work regarding the solar system. It states correctly
that the light cast by planets and the moon is caused by sunlight reflecting off their surfaces,
and that all planets follow elliptical orbits. Aryabhata was also able to describe accurately the
processes that lead to both solar and lunar eclipses.

Aryabhata’s Legacy

For several hundred years after its author’s death, the Aryabhatiya was unknown in the
West, although its Arabic translation in the 9th century was of great use to the scientists of the
Islamic Golden Age. The book was eventually translated into Latin shortly after 1200. The
mathematical ideas contained within it were quickly adopted by Europeans, especially those
dealing with areas and volumes, and with finding cube and square roots.

However, Aryabhata’s astronomical findings had less impact, and it was left to later men
such as Copernicus and Galileo to bring about the Western astronomical revolution. The first
Indian artificial was named Aryabhata in his honor, as was a new university in the state of Bihar.

Who was Aryabhata?

Aryabhata was an acclaimed mathematician-astronomer. He was born in Kusumapura

(present day Patna) in Bihar, India. His contribution to mathematics, science and astronomy is
immense, and yet he has not been accorded the recognition in the world history of science. At
the age of 24, he wrote his famed “Aryabhatiya”. He was aware of the concept of zero, as well
as the use of large numbers up to 1018. He was the first to calculate the value for ‘pi’ accurately
to the fourth decimal point. He devised the formula for calculating areas of triangles and circles.
He calculated the circumference of the earth as 62,832 miles, which is an excellent
approximation, and suggested that the apparent rotation of the heavens was due to the axial
rotation of the earth on its axis. He was the first known astronomer to devise a continuous
counting of solar days, designating each day with a number. He asserted that the planets shine
due to the reflection of sunlight, and that the eclipses occur due to the shadows of moon and
earth. His observations discount the “flat earth” concept, and lay the foundation for the belief
that earth and other planets orbit the sun.

Childhood & Early Life

Aryabhata’s birthplace is uncertain, but it may have been in the area known in ancient
texts as Ashmaka, which may have been Maharashtra or Dhaka or in Kusumapura in present
day Patna.
 Some archaeological evidence suggests that he came from the present day Kodungallur,
the historical capital city of Thiruvanchikkulam of ancient Kerala - this theory is strengthened by
the several commentaries on him having come from Kerala.

He went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time. Both Hindu
and Buddhist traditions, as well as Bhāskara I, the 7th Century mathematician, identify
Kusumapura as modern Patna.

Career & Later Life

A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura.
Since, the University of Nalanda was in Pataliputra, and had an astronomical observatory; it is
probable that he was its head too.

Direct details of his work are known only from the Aryabhatiya. His disciple Bhaskara I
calls it Ashmakatantra (or the treatise from the Ashmaka).

The Aryabhatiya is also occasionally referred to as Arya-shatas-aShTa (literally,

Aryabhata’s 108), because there are 108 verses in the text. It also has 13 introductory verses,
and is divided into four pādas or chapters.

Aryabhatiya’s first chapter, Gitikapada, with its large units of time — kalpa, manvantra,
and Yuga — introduces a different cosmology. The duration of the planetary revolutions during
a mahayuga is given as 4.32 million years.

Ganitapada, the second chapter of Aryabhatiya has 33 verses covering mensuration

(kṣetra vyāvahāra), arithmetic and geometric progressions, gnomon or shadows (shanku-
chhAyA), simple, quadratic, simultaneous, and indeterminate equations.

Aryabhatiya’s third chapter Kalakriyapada explains different units of time, a method for
determining the positions of planets for a given day, and a seven-day week with names for the
days of week.

The last chapter of the Aryabhatiya, Golapada describes Geometric/trigonometric

aspects of the celestial sphere, features of the ecliptic, celestial equator, shape of the earth,
cause of day and night, and zodiacal signs on horizon.

He did not use a symbol for zero; its knowledge was implicit in his place-value system as
a place holder for the powers of ten with null coefficients.

He did not use the Brahmi numerals, and continued the Sanskritic tradition from Vedic
times of using letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities in a mnemonic
form.
 He worked on the approximation for pi thus — add four to 100, multiply by eight, and
then add 62,000, the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.

It is speculated that Aryabhata used the word āsanna (approaching), to mean that not
only is this an approximation, but that the value is incommensurable or irrational.

In Ganitapada, he gives the area of a triangle as: “for a triangle, the result of a
perpendicular with the half-side is the area”. He discussed ‘sine’ by the name of ardha-jya or
half-chord.

Like other ancient Indian mathematicians, he too was interested in finding integer
solutions to Diophantine equations with the form ax + by = c; he called it the kuṭṭaka (meaning
breaking into pieces) method.

His contribution to the study of Algebra is immense. In Aryabhatiya, Aryabhata provided

elegant results for the summation of series of squares and cubes through well tried formulae.

His system of astronomy was called the audayaka system, in which days are reckoned
from uday, dawn at lanka or “equator”. His later writings, which apparently proposed the
ardha-rAtrikA, or midnight model, are lost.

He correctly believed that the earth rotates about its axis daily, and that the apparent
movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth, challenging the
prevailing view.

In Aryabhatiya, he writes that ‘setting and rising of planets’ is a perception similar to that
of someone in a boat going forward sees an unmoving (object) going backward.

He correctly asserted that the planets shine due to the reflection of sunlight, and that the
eclipses occur due to the shadows of moon and earth, and not caused by a demon called
“Rahu”!

He correctly deduced that the orbits of the planets are ellipses; this is another great
discovery not credited to him but to Johannes Kepler (a German astronomer, born AD 1571).

Major Works

Aryabhata’s major work, Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy,

was extensively referred to in the Indian mathematical literature, and has survived to modern
times. The Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry.

Personal Life & Legacy

 Aryabhata’s work was of great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition and
influenced several neighboring cultures through translations. Some of his works are cited by Al-
Khwarizmi, and in the 10th century by Al-Biruni.

The Aryabhata Knowledge University (AKU), Patna, has been established by the
Government of Bihar in his honor for the development and management of educational
infrastructure related to technical, medical, management and allied professional education.

India’s first satellite Aryabhata is named in his honor.

At the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIOS) near Nainital,

India, research in astronomy, astrophysics and atmospheric sciences is conducted.

Trivia

Named after the great Indian astronomer of the same name, India’s first satellite’s image
used to appear on the reverse of Indian 2 rupee banknotes.

Named after the great Indian astronomer is the remnant of a lunar impact crater located
in the eastern Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. Submerged by lava-flow, now only an arc-shaped
ridge remains.

Top 10 Facts You Did Not Know About Aryabhata

Aryabhata is credited to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.

Some sources suggest that Kerala was Aryabhata's main place of life and activity but
others refute this statement.

He served as the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura and might have also been
the head of the Nalanda university.

Some scholars claim that the Arabic text ‘Al ntf’ or ‘Al-nanf’ is a translation of one of his
works.

His most famous text, ‘Aryabhatiya’, consists of 108 verses and 13 introductory verses.

Aryabhata did not use the Brahmi numerals; he used letters of the alphabet to denote
numbers.

It is probable that he might have come to the conclusion that 'pi' is irrational.

He discussed the concept of ‘sine’ in his work by the name of “ardha-jya”, which literally
means "half-chord".
 Calendric calculations devised by Aryabhata are used for fixing the ‘Panchangam’ (the
Hindu Calendar).

He correctly stated that the earth rotates about its axis daily.

ARYABHATTA | 10 MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Aryabhatta (or Aryabhata) (476 – 550 CE) was an Indian mathematician and

astronomer who is regarded as a towering figure in both these fields. Some of his works have
been lost through the ages but his influence may be seen in the works of succeeding Indian
mathematicians who frequently refer to his works. Among other things, Aryabhata calculated
the closest approximate value of pi till that time; was the first known person to solve
Diophantine equations; was first to explain that moon and planets shine due to reflected
sunlight; and made major contributions to the fields of Trigonometry and Algebra. Aryabhatta
was one of the greatest mathematicians in history and a pioneer in the classical age of Indian
mathematics and astronomy. Know more about his contributions through his 10 major
achievements.

#1 HE WROTE THE HUGELY INFLUENTIAL ARYABHATIYA

Although Aryabhatta wrote several treatises, Aryabhatiya is his only known surviving

work and it is widely regarded as his magnum opus. It is primarily an astronomical
treatise written in 121 verses. Its mathematical section contains 33 verses giving 66
mathematical rules. Aryabhatiya is divided into four chapters: Gitikapada (13 verses),
Ganitapada (33 verses), Kalakriyapada (25 verses) and Golapada (50 verses). Among other
things, Aryabhatiya contains a systematic treatment of the position of the planets in space; the
nature of the Solar System; and the causes of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. The
mathematical part of the Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry and
spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums of
power series and a table of sines. Aryabhatiya was a hugely influential text and it presents
many ideas that are foundational to modern astronomy and mathematics.

#2 ARYABHATTA WAS THE FIRST KNOWN PERSON TO SOLVE DIOPHANTINE

EQUATIONS

A Diophantine equation is an equation that has more than one unknown integer. A

simple Diophantine equation would be ax + by = c. In this equation a, b and c are given integers;
and x and y unknown integers. Aryabhatiya is the earliest known work which examines integer
solutions to Diophantine equations of the form by = ax + c and by = ax – c. For this purpose,
Aryabhata promptly introduced a new and popular method, known as the Kuttaka method. The
word kuttaka means “to pulverise” and Aryabhata’s method was based around a recursive
algorithm which involved writing the original factors in smaller numbers. Diophantine equations
were considered very difficult to solve at the time and the Kuttaka method quickly became very
popular. It is still the standard method of solving such equations.

#3 HE MADE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO TRIGONOMETRY AND ALGEBRA

Aryabhatiya provides simple solutions to complex mathematical problems of the time

like summing the first n integers, the squares of these integers and also their cubes.
Furthermore, Aryabhatta correctly calculated the areas of a triangle and of a circle. For example
in Ganitapadam his writings can be translated as “for a triangle, the result of a perpendicular
with the half-side is the area.” In trigonometry, Aryabhatta gave a table of sines calculating the
approximate values at intervals of 90°/24 = 3° 45′. In order to do this he used a formula
for sin(n + 1)x – sin nx in terms of sin nx and sin (n – 1)x. He was also the one to introduce
the versine (versin = 1 – cosine) into trigonometry.

Aryabhata’s formula to calculate the sum of first n integers, their squares and their cubes

#4 HE MOST PROBABLY UNDERSTOOD THE CONCEPT OF ZERO AND THE PLACE

VALUE SYSTEM

In Aryabhatiya, Aryabhatta introduced a system of numerals in which he used letters of

the Indian alphabet to denote numbers. His numeral system allowed numbers up to 1018 to be
represented with an alphabetical notation. It is considered that Aryabhatta was familiar with
the concept of zero and the place value system. Although nowhere in his works did he use the
symbol of zero, French mathematician Georges Ifrah argues that the existence and knowledge
of zero were implicit in Aryabhata’s place-value system as a place holder for the powers of 10
with null coefficients. Ifrah based his supposition on the following two facts: “first, the
invention of his alphabetical counting system would have been impossible without zero or the
place-value system; secondly, he carries out calculations on square and cubic roots which are
impossible if the numbers in question are not written according to the place-value system and
zero.” This is an incredible achievement for the time and one of the earliest proper
understanding of the concept of zero, which is fundamental to mathematics.

#5 HE CALCULATED THE CLOSEST APPROXIMATE VALUE OF PI TILL THAT TIME

 One of the most important achievements of Aryabhatta is giving an approximate value of
Pi (π). An account of this is found in the second part of Aryabhatiyam where he explains “Add
four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule, the circumference of a circle
with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.” This calculation gives the vale of pi to
be 62832/20000 = 3.1416, reflecting an accuracy of 5 significant digits. In fact π =
3.14159265 correct to 8 places. Aryabhatta’s value of π is a very close approximation to the
modern value and the most accurate among those of the ancients. Furthermore, it is also
considered that Aryabhata knew that the value of Pi was irrational. This was an amazing
discovery since the value of Pi was proved to be irrational only in the year 1761 by Swiss
mathematician Johann Heinrich Lambert.

#6 HE MADE INCREDIBLY ACCURATE CALCULATIONS OF THE LENGTH OF THE DAY

AND THE YEAR

Aryabhata calculated the circumference of the Earth as 39,968 kilometers while the

actual circumference is 40,075 kilometers. Thus Aryabhatta’s value of the size of the earth is
only 0.2% smaller than the actual size. Aryabhata also put forth impressive calculations
regarding the sidereal rotation (rotation calculated by referencing the position of the fixed
stars) of the Earth. He calculated it as 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds; this is unbelievably
close to the modern-day calculated value of 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds,
representing an error of merely 0.09 seconds! Similarly, Aryabhata calculated the value of
the sidereal year to be 365.25858 days, an error of just 3 minutes and 20 seconds as compared
to the actual length of a year calculated today, which comes out to be 365.25636 days. These
calculations by Aryabhatta were one of the most accurate calculations in the world till that
time.

#7 HE WAS FIRST TO EXPLAIN THAT MOON AND PLANETS SHINE DUE TO

REFLECTED SUNLIGHT

Even with the lack of any accurate astronomical instruments at the time, Aryabhata was
able to successfully deduce that the Earth is round and revolves around its axis. Furthermore,
he connected this with the existence of the day and night. Aryabhata used a geocentric
model for the solar system, in which the Sun and Moon are each carried by epicycles which in
turn revolve around the Earth. However, despite using a geocentric model, Aryabhata correctly
explained how the moons and planets have no light of their own but shine due to the reflection
of sunlight. Furthermore he corrected the flawed belief that eclipses are caused because of the
shadows cast by the Earth and Moon and instead explained the correct causes of eclipses. The
computational model of Aryabhata was so accurate that in the 18th Century,
scientist Guillaume Le Gentil found his calculations regarding the duration of the lunar eclipse
of 30th August 1765 to be short by only 41 seconds!
#8 HE EXPLAINED HOW MOVEMENT OF CELESTIAL BODIES WAS DUE TO
ROTATION OF THE EARTH

Aryabhata explained how the Earth moves around its axis and he also explained how the
apparent movements of stars in the night sky is, in fact, a relative motion that is caused by the
rotation of the Earth. This bashed the popularly accepted view of the time that this was caused
by the rotation of the sky. All this and more is mentioned in the very first chapter of
Aryabhatiya where Aryabhata calculates the number of rotations of the Earth in a Yuga (one of
the four eras defined in Hinduism). He writes “In the same way that someone in a boat going
forward sees an unmoving [object] going backwards, so [someone] on the equator sees the
unmoving stars going uniformly westward. The cause of rising and setting [is that] the sphere of
the stars together with the planets [apparently?] turns due west at the equator, constantly
pushed by the cosmic wind.”

#9 HE AUTHORED ANOTHER INFLUENTIAL TEXT TITLED ARYA-SIDDHANTA

Aryabhata also penned another major work on astronomical computations, known as

the Arya-Siddhanta. However this has been lost through the ages. The Arya-Siddhanta came
into light primarily through the works of astronomer Viharamitra, who was Aryabhata’s
contemporary. Later, it was also picked up by famous mathematicians such
as Brahmagupta and Bhaskara I. Arya-Siddhanta makes use of the midnight-day reckoning and
is based on the older Surya-Siddhanta. The work covers some of the major astronomical
instruments of the time including the shadow instrument; angle measuring devices;
semicircular and circular devices; umbrella-shaped device; a cylindrical stick Yasti-
yantra; and water clocks that include bow-shaped and cylindrical designs. Additionally,
Aryabhata has also been credited with setting up an observatory at the Sun
Temple in Taregana.

#10 ARYABHATTA IS A TOWERING FIGURE IN WORLD MATHEMATICS AND

ASTRONOMY

Aryabhatta was the first of the great astronomers of the classical age of India. He had a
huge influence on Indian mathematics and astronomy with his works providing the basis for the
achievements of future figures in these fields. Furthermore, Aryabhata’s work was well known
throughout the Islamic world and played a part in the Islamic Golden Age. Particularly his
astronomical calculation methods, along with the trigonometric tables, were widely used in the
Islamic world and used to compute many Arabic astronomical tables (zijes). The work of
Aryabhatta was not known to the west for centuries after his death. However, when his work
was translated to Latin in the 1200s, it became very influential and many of his ideas were
utilized by European mathematicians and astronomers.
Aryabhata the Elder
Quick Info
Born
476
Kusumapura (now Patna), India
Died
550
India

Summary

Aryabhata I was an Indian mathematician who wrote the Aryabhatiya which summarises

Hindu mathematics up to that 6th Century.

Biography

Aryabhata is also known as Aryabhata I to distinguish him from the later mathematician
of the same name who lived about 400 years later. Al-Biruni has not helped in understanding
Aryabhata's life, for he seemed to believe that there were two different mathematicians called
Aryabhata living at the same time. He therefore created a confusion of two different
Aryabhatas which was not clarified until 1926 when B Datta showed that al-Biruni's two
Aryabhatas were one and the same person.

We know the year of Aryabhata's birth since he tells us that he was twenty-three years of
age when he wrote Aryabhatiya Ⓣ which he finished in 499. We have given Kusumapura,
thought to be close to Pataliputra (which was refounded as Patna in Bihar in 1541), as the place
of Aryabhata's birth but this is far from certain, as is even the location of Kusumapura itself. As
Parameswaran writes in [26]:-

... no final verdict can be given regarding the locations of Asmakajanapada and
Kusumapura.

We do know that Aryabhata wrote Aryabhatiya Ⓣ in Kusumapura at the time when

Pataliputra was the capital of the Gupta empire and a major centre of learning, but there have
been numerous other places proposed by historians as his birthplace. Some conjecture that he
was born in south India, perhaps Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, while others
conjecture that he was born in the north-east of India, perhaps in Bengal. In [8] it is claimed
that Aryabhata was born in the Asmaka region of the Vakataka dynasty in South India although
the author accepted that he lived most of his life in Kusumapura in the Gupta empire of the
north. However, giving Asmaka as Aryabhata's birthplace rests on a comment made
by Nilakantha Somayaji in the late 15th century. It is now thought by most historians
that Nilakantha confused Aryabhata with Bhaskara I who was a later commentator on
the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ.

We should note that Kusumapura became one of the two major mathematical centres of
India, the other being Ujjain. Both are in the north but Kusumapura (assuming it to be close to
Pataliputra) is on the Ganges and is the more northerly. Pataliputra, being the capital of the
Gupta empire at the time of Aryabhata, was the centre of a communications network which
allowed learning from other parts of the world to reach it easily, and also allowed the
mathematical and astronomical advances made by Aryabhata and his school to reach across
India and also eventually into the Islamic world.

As to the texts written by Aryabhata only one has survived. However Jha claims
in [21] that:-

... Aryabhata was an author of at least three astronomical texts and wrote some free
stanzas as well.

The surviving text is Aryabhata's masterpiece the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ which is a small

astronomical treatise written in 118 verses giving a summary of Hindu mathematics up to that
time. Its mathematical section contains 33 verses giving 66 mathematical rules without proof.
The Aryabhatiya Ⓣ contains an introduction of 10 verses, followed by a section on mathematics
with, as we just mentioned, 33 verses, then a section of 25 verses on the reckoning of time and
planetary models, with the final section of 50 verses being on the sphere and eclipses.

There is a difficulty with this layout which is discussed in detail by van der
Waerden in [35]. Van der Waerden suggests that in fact the 10 verse Introduction was written
later than the other three sections. One reason for believing that the two parts were not
intended as a whole is that the first section has a different meter to the remaining three
sections. However, the problems do not stop there. We said that the first section had ten
verses and indeed Aryabhata titles the section Set of ten giti stanzas. But it in fact contains
eleven giti stanzas and two arya stanzas. Van der Waerden suggests that three verses have
been added and he identifies a small number of verses in the remaining sections which he
argues have also been added by a member of Aryabhata's school at Kusumapura.

The mathematical part of the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ covers arithmetic, algebra, plane

trigonometry and spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic
equations, sums of power series and a table of sines. Let us examine some of these in a little
more detail.

First we look at the system for representing numbers which Aryabhata invented and used
in the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ. It consists of giving numerical values to the 33 consonants of the Indian
alphabet to represent 1, 2, 3, ... , 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. The higher numbers are
denoted by these consonants followed by a vowel to obtain 100, 10000, .... In fact the system
allows numbers up to 10^{18}1018 to be represented with an alphabetical notation. Ifrah
in [3] argues that Aryabhata was also familiar with numeral symbols and the place-value
system. He writes in [3]:

... it is extremely likely that Aryabhata knew the sign for zero and the numerals of the
place value system. This supposition is based on the following two facts: first, the invention of
his alphabetical counting system would have been impossible without zero or the place-value
system; secondly, he carries out calculations on square and cubic roots which are impossible if
the numbers in question are not written according to the place-value system and zero.

Next we look briefly at some algebra contained in the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ. This work is the first
we are aware of which examines integer solutions to equations of the form by = ax +
cby=ax+c and by = ax - cby=ax−c, where a, b, ca,b,c are integers. The problem arose from
studying the problem in astronomy of determining the periods of the planets. Aryabhata uses
the kuttaka method to solve problems of this type. The word kuttaka means "to pulverise" and
the method consisted of breaking the problem down into new problems where the coefficients
became smaller and smaller with each step. The method here is essentially the use of the
Euclidean algorithm to find the highest common factor of aa and bb but is also related to
continued fractions.

Aryabhata gave an accurate approximation for π. He wrote in the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ the

following:-

Add four to one hundred, multiply by eight and then add sixty-two thousand. the result is
approximately the circumference of a circle of diameter twenty thousand. By this rule the
relation of the circumference to diameter is given.

This gives \pi = \large\frac{62832}{20000}\normalsize = 3.1416π=2000062832

=3.1416 which is a surprisingly accurate value. In fact π = 3.14159265 correct to 8 places. If
obtaining a value this accurate is surprising, it is perhaps even more surprising that Aryabhata
does not use his accurate value for π but prefers to use √10 = 3.1622 in practice. Aryabhata
does not explain how he found this accurate value but, for example, Ahmad [5] considers this
value as an approximation to half the perimeter of a regular polygon of 256 sides inscribed in
the unit circle. However, in [9] Bruins shows that this result cannot be obtained from the
doubling of the number of sides. Another interesting paper discussing this accurate value of π
by Aryabhata is [22] where Jha writes:-

Aryabhata I's value of π is a very close approximation to the modern value and the most
accurate among those of the ancients. There are reasons to believe that Aryabhata devised a
particular method for finding this value. It is shown with sufficient grounds that Aryabhata
himself used it, and several later Indian mathematicians and even the Arabs adopted it. The
conjecture that Aryabhata's value of π is of Greek origin is critically examined and is found to be
without foundation. Aryabhata discovered this value independently and also realised that π is
an irrational number. He had the Indian background, no doubt, but excelled all his predecessors
in evaluating π. Thus the credit of discovering this exact value of π may be ascribed to the
celebrated mathematician, Aryabhata I.

We now look at the trigonometry contained in Aryabhata's treatise. He gave a table of

sines calculating the approximate values at intervals of \large\frac{90°}
{24}\normalsize2490° = 3° 45'. In order to do this he used a formula for \sin(n + 1)x - \sin
nxsin(n+1)x−sinnx in terms of \sin nxsinnx and \sin (n - 1)xsin(n−1)x. He also introduced the
versine (versin = 1 - cosine) into trigonometry.

Other rules given by Aryabhata include that for summing the first nn integers, the
squares of these integers and also their cubes. Aryabhata gives formulae for the areas of a
triangle and of a circle which are correct, but the formulae for the volumes of a sphere and of a
pyramid are claimed to be wrong by most historians. For example Ganitanand in [15] describes
as "mathematical lapses" the fact that Aryabhata gives the incorrect formula V =
Ah/2V=Ah/2 for the volume of a pyramid with height h and triangular base of area AA. He also
appears to give an incorrect expression for the volume of a sphere. However, as is often the
case, nothing is as straightforward as it appears and Elfering (see for example [13]) argues that
this is not an error but rather the result of an incorrect translation.

This relates to verses 6, 7, and 10 of the second section of the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ and

in [13] Elfering produces a translation which yields the correct answer for both the volume of a
pyramid and for a sphere. However, in his translation Elfering translates two technical terms in
a different way to the meaning which they usually have. Without some supporting evidence
that these technical terms have been used with these different meanings in other places it
would still appear that Aryabhata did indeed give the incorrect formulae for these volumes.

We have looked at the mathematics contained in the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ but this is an

astronomy text so we should say a little regarding the astronomy which it contains. Aryabhata
gives a systematic treatment of the position of the planets in space. He gave the circumference
of the earth as 4 967 yojanas and its diameter as 1 581\large\frac{1}
{24}\normalsize1581241 yojanas. Since 1 yojana = 5 miles this gives the circumference
as 24 835 miles, which is an excellent approximation to the currently accepted value
of 24 902 miles. He believed that the apparent rotation of the heavens was due to the axial
rotation of the Earth. This is a quite remarkable view of the nature of the solar system which
later commentators could not bring themselves to follow and most changed the text to save
Aryabhata from what they thought were stupid errors!

Aryabhata gives the radius of the planetary orbits in terms of the radius of the Earth/Sun
orbit as essentially their periods of rotation around the Sun. He believes that the Moon and
planets shine by reflected sunlight, incredibly he believes that the orbits of the planets
are ellipses. He correctly explains the causes of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. The Indian
belief up to that time was that eclipses were caused by a demon called Rahu. His value for the
length of the year at 365 days 6 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds is an overestimate since the true
value is less than 365 days 6 hours.

Bhaskara I who wrote a commentary on the Aryabhatiya Ⓣ about 100 years later wrote of

Aryabhata:-

Aryabhata is the master who, after reaching the furthest shores and plumbing the inmost
depths of the sea of ultimate knowledge of mathematics, kinematics and spherics, handed over
the three sciences to the learned world.