Research Into Indic Mathematicians

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Critical evidence to fix the native place of Āryabhata-I
K. Chandra Hari

An attempt has been made to know the native place of the great Indian astronomer Āryabhata. Opinion is divided between Kusumapura and Kerala, and with the identity of Aśmaka in dispute, the scope of the inquiry is limited to the pursuance of legends in Kerala and some efforts to understand the place of the astronomer from his work Āryabhatīyam. Here the study is focused on Āryabhatīyam and relying on Āryabhata’s two distinctive signatures that we see, viz. (1) Latitude of Ujjayinī being given as at 1/16 of the Earth’s circumference north of Laňka. (2) Earth’s diameter being 1050 yojanas or circumference 3299 yojanas using his accurate value of π = 3.1416. It is demonstrated here that the place Āryabhata had been at 10°51′N, 75°45′E. It is further explained that the latitude derived based on the equatorial circumference given by Āryabhata marks the spot where the coastline of Kerala cuts the Hindu prime meridian, i.e. Ponnāni, a major Arab trade centre since ancient times.

http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct252007/1177.pdf

K. Chandra Hari is in the Institute of Reservoir Studies, Oil and Natural Gas
Commission, Ahmedabad 380 005, India.

chandra_hari18 at yahoo dot com