Golden Age of Incredible India

TAXILA:  centre for learning , for specialised training. The learned grammarian Panini taught in Taxila around the 4^th century BC. Atreya taught medicine around the 6^th century B.C.  Arithmetic  was well developed. Numbers in multiples of 10 going up to as high powers of 10, as one million million were known and used.  Sulvasutras contain several instances of addition, substraction, multiplication,division and squaring of fractions. Quadratic equations, indeterminate equations, permutations and combinations also appear in Sulvasutras.

By the 5^th BC., the Indian metal workers had attained a high degree of perfection in the techniques of producing iron and steel.

By 6^th century B.C. , Ayurvedic  system of medicines was taught in Taxila.  The origin of Caraka-Samhita, and the surgical text Susruta-Samhita, is generally estimated to bearound 600 B.C.

Jaina mathematicians made great contributions overalong period between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D.

Gupta period emerged out as a powerful school of Arithmetic, algebra and numerals. The formulations became the basis for astronomical calculations to the extent that the great astronomers of the period such as Brahmagupta, Varahamihira and Aryabhatta were known as mathematicians.

Works, such as Sthananga-Sutra (1^st century B.C.), Suryaprajnapti, Bhadrabahavi Samhita (300 B.C.), Ksetrasamasa by Umasvati (150 A.D.) and others deal at great length with mensuration, surds, fractions, permutations and combinations, geometry, law of indices, classification of numbers etc.

As a distinct branch of mathematics, algebra appeared from about the time of Brahmaputra ( 598 A.D.) Indian algebraists,possibly for thefirsttime in history,used abbreviations of names of colours orgems, as symbols of unknown quantities and operation like powers, roots etc. They distinguised nEgative quantities by a dot.

The KHAROSTI numerals are found in Asokan, Saka, Parthian and Kushana inscriptions of the period from the 4^th century B.C. to the 2^nd century A.D.

Present day numbers	22	74	122	274
Can be witten  as:	2+20	4+70	2+ 20+ 100	4+ 70+ 200
Kharosthi  Symbol	I I 3	X 7 3 3 3	I I 3            I	X 7 3 3 3 ২    l l

The decimal or zero system was first found in a Gujratgrant-plate inscription of 595 A.D. and later in other stone inscriptions from Gwalior, Mahipala, Bauka