Bhaskara II

c. 1114 – c. 1185

Bhaskara II (c. 1114 - c. 1185), also known as Bhaskaracharya, was an Indian mathematician and astronomer regarded as the greatest of medieval India. Head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, he wrote the Siddhanta Shiromani in 1150, whose sections Lilavati and Bijaganita became standard mathematics texts, and he anticipated ideas of calculus centuries before their development in Europe.

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Life events

Born in Vijjadavida in the Western Ghats region of the Deccan
c. 1114

Bhaskara II was born around 1114 into a scholarly Brahmin family; his birthplace Vijjadavida is usually identified with a site near Patnadevi in modern Maharashtra.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Educated in mathematics and astronomy by his father Maheshvara
c. 1125

Bhaskara learned mathematics from his father Maheshvara, himself an astrologer and scholar in the tradition of Brahmagupta.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Became head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain
c. 1150

Bhaskara led the observatory at Ujjain, the historic center of Indian mathematical astronomy, continuing the lineage of Varahamihira and Brahmagupta.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Completed the Siddhanta Shiromani, his masterwork on mathematics and astronomy
1150

Written in 1150 when Bhaskara was 36, the four-part treatise covers arithmetic, algebra, planetary mathematics, and spheres, and contains early ideas of differential calculus.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Wrote the Lilavati, his celebrated treatise on arithmetic
1150

The Lilavati, the first section of the Siddhanta Shiromani and traditionally said to be named for his daughter, remained a standard Sanskrit mathematics textbook for centuries.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Wrote the Bijaganita, a landmark treatise on algebra
1150

In the Bijaganita Bhaskara treated negative numbers, surds, and indeterminate equations, including a general method for Pell's equation via the chakravala technique.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Wrote the Karana Kautuhala, a practical manual of astronomical calculation
1183

Composed in 1183, this second astronomical work provided simplified methods for calculating planetary positions and eclipses.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died, probably at Ujjain
c. 1185

Bhaskara II died around 1185; a later inscription records that his grandson headed a school founded to study his writings.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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