History and Art and Culture
In News: The position paper, part of Karnataka’s submissions to the NCERT for a National Curriculum Framework, has revived discussion on what we call the Pythagoras theorem was already known to Indians from the Vedic times.
Dispute
- The Pythagoras theorem is disputed in many international forums. Not the content, but Pythagoras claiming it as his own.
- Madan Gopal, a retired IAS officer who heads Karnataka’s NEP task force, has referred to a text called the Baudhayana Sulbasutra, in which a specific shloka refers to the theorem.
How do we know that Indian mathematicians from the Vedic period knew this?
- There are references in the sulbasutras, which are texts pertaining to fire rituals (yajanas) performed by Vedic Indians. The oldest of these is the Baudhayana Sulbasutra.
- The period of Baudhayana Sulbasutra is uncertain, there being no direct internal evidence useful in this respect. I
- t is estimated based on linguistic and other secondary historical considerations and have varied substantially depending on the author.
- By and large, in recent literature, Baudhayana Sulbasutra is taken to be from around 800 BCE.
In what context is this equation discussed in the sulbasutras?
- The yajna rituals involved construction of altars (vedi) and fireplaces (agni) in a variety of shapes such as isosceles triangles, symmetric trapezia, and rectangles.
- The sulbasutras describe steps towards construction of these figures with prescribed sizes.
- The Pythagorean equation comes into play in these procedures, which involve drawing perpendiculars.
- But because there is no evidence that the Indians had a proof, its origin is still hotly debated topic.
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Question
Q.1) With reference to the history of ancient India, Bhavabhuti, Hastimalla and Kshemeshvara were famous (2021)
- Jain monks
- playwrights
- temple architects
- Philosophers
