ब्राह्मस्फुटसिद्धान्त (ब्रह्मगुप्त - शून्य, कुट्टक, बीजगणित एवं सम्पूर्ण २१ अध्याय सान्वय सटीक)

6 ASTRONOMY IN ANCIENT NATIONS the sky referred to gave an approximate date for the formation of the constellations appears to have beeen first put forward in 1807 by Carl Schwartz, for some time Swedish Consul at Baku.¹ Indo-Greek Contacts It is highly improbable that before Alexander, there had been absolutly no contacts between India and the distant nations. Even in pre-Alexandrian era, there had been such migration is clearly evinced by the philological and mythological studies. But we do not possess historic record of it. The conquests of Alexander the Great made the Greeks acquainted with the Eastern world, which had up to that time been visited probably by very few Europeans, and it likewise spread Greek culture to all the countries which the victorious Macedonian had been able to reach. The Indian province of his Empire became independent soon after Alxander's death, and though the spread of Buddhism in the third century B. C. checked the progress of Hellenism in Northern India, the rise of the Greek kingdom of Bactria and its gradual extension south and east continued for a long time to keep alive the connection between India and the West. Not only (as has beeen asserted) the Greek and Indian drama and architecture have been strongly influenced by Hellenistic and Indian contacts, it is beyond a doubt that the entire astronomy of the two great nations is the offspring of these mutual contacts. In earliest times astronomy had only been cultivated in India and in no other country. Some idea had been acquired during those days of the periods of the Sun and Moon and the planet Venus and Bṛhaspati (Jupiter), which were used for chrono- logical purposes, the lunar motions being specially connected with the proper times for sacrificial acts. The Vedic era was discovered during this period by Viśvāmitra, and Gārgya enumerated the Nakṣatras. Lagadha composed his Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa, which is the first book on astronomy written in human literature. India dev- eloped her geometry in connection with the construction of sacri- ficial altars, and its account is found in the Śulba Sūtras of Baudhāyana, Āśvalāyana and Kātyāyana. Āryabhaṭa laid the foundations of algebra. One might still say that there is no sign of

1. See, Peter Doig : A concise History of Astronomy, London, 1950.