New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a candid confession at the Conference on South Asia’s Manuscript Heritage and Mathematical Contributions that made the audience giggle. He is just not into mathematics.
“I wish I had been taught mathematics, particularly because it would absolutely make me a better student,” he said.
The conference held at IIC focused on showing how breakthroughs in Indic mathematics advanced transcontinental trade and the exchange of ideas. It was attended by Manjul Bhargava, Fields medalist winning Mathematician, and Princeton University professor, and K Ramasubramanian, renowned scholar in the History of Indian Sciences, Mathematics, and Astronomy, and IIT Bombay Professor.
Jaishankar wasn’t alone. Even former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said math wasn’t his strong suit. Both men chose nation-building.
Padma Bhushan awardee and Mathematician Manjul shared his thoughts on the importance of incorporating the history of mathematics into pedagogy to improve student learning outcomes.
“When facts are taught, they should also be given history. One learns the trajectory of thinking, how a concept is developed. We need to bring back the creative process,” he said.
At the centre of the exhibit was a timeline, with gold font against a white backdrop, detailing contributions of South Asia to mathematics. Starting from Rigveda’s decimal system, the Śulbasūtras’ Pythagoras Theorem in 800 BCE, Bhāskara’s geometry, and Raja Sawai Jai Singh’s five Jantar Mantars. On display was also an image from Gaṇitasārasaṅgraha, the first Indian textbook of mathematics by Mahavīra, a Jaina scholar from the 9th century CE.
The first section of the exhibition, ‘Inceptions’, captured the idea of zero. The next was ‘Breakthroughs’, explaining the investigations in trigonometry and calculus. The last two sections were ‘Renewals’, which showed how Sanskrit works were rendered to Arabic and Persian, and ‘Applications’, which discussed practices of accounting, measurement, and record keeping.
The exhibit had palm leaf manuscripts, as well as images from the original manuscripts taken from archives from all over the world, some as far as Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
“India’s contributions to the world of math go much beyond zero. Much of this is not taught as part of our curriculum. This is how ancient mathematics developed”, said Sushmita Sinha, an architect who worked on the exhibition, to ThePrint.
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Math in diplomacy
For Jaishankar, it’s not just about scholarly interest in the history of mathematics. It is closely tied to how Indians see themselves.
“For centuries, for two thousand years, our society has in some ways been assaulted from beyond the borders. And the intellectual cost, leave alone human one, has actually been enormous, and perhaps, there is no more graphic example than the burning of the Nalanda University, and the scars of this are still visible in a range of domains,” he said.
Emphasising the need to undo the historical attempts to erase our heritage and tradition, Jaishankar urged the audience to learn traditions and appreciate the historical accomplishments of our subcontinent.
“Beyond the obvious, what is at stake are the dignity and self-image of a people, the freedom to exercise choices, and the ability to withstand pressure,” he added.
Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran highlighted the significance of the event. “Part of the reason why we think this is important is because there is a history, a sustained history of exchanges between India and the rest of the world,” he said.
He closed his remarks by presenting the audience with an ancient math puzzle.
“Oh, intelligent girl, a fifth part of a swarm of bees came to rest on the flower of Kadamba, a third on the flower of Silinda. Three times the difference between these two numbers flew over a flower of Krutaja, and one bee alone remained in the air, attracted by the perfume of a jasmine in bloom. Tell me, beautiful girl, how many bees were in the swarm?”
The audience broke into laughter. No one had the answer. Saran happily admitted to not knowing the answer himself when he first read.
“I must say my mathematics is very poor. So I could not, for the world of me, figure out what the answer was, but the answer was 15,” said Saran.
He made a strong case for using our country’s history and contributions to several fields for diplomacy.
“This is very much a part of diplomacy. The cultural part of diplomacy is usually not as exciting as the political part. Let me tell you from my own personal experience, and I’m sure this has been the minister’s experience too, that culture is one of the most powerful instruments of diplomacy,” he said.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)