Varahamihira

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Varahamihira (वराहमिहिर) (505 - 587), also called Varaha, or Mihira was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer born in Ujjain. Varahamihira's picture may be found in the Indian Parliament alongside Aryabhata's, of whom he was a follower. He is considered to be one of the nine jewels (Navaratnas) of the court of legendary king Vikramaditya (thought to be the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II Vikramaditya).

Our knowledge of Varahamihira is very limited indeed. According to one of his works, he was educated in Kapitthaka. However, far from settling the question this only gives rise to discussions of possible interpretations of where this place was. Dhavale ^[1] discusses this problem. We do not know whether he was born in Kapitthaka, wherever that may be, although we have given this as the most likely guess. We do know, however, that he worked at Ujjain which had been an important centre for mathematics since around 400 AD. The school of mathematics at Ujjain was increased in importance due to Varahamihira working there and it continued for a long period to be one of the two leading mathematical centres in India, in particular having Brahmagupta as its next major figure. ^[2]

Works

Pancha-Siddhantika

Varahamihira's main work is the book Pañcasiddhāntikā (or Pancha-Siddhantika, "[Treatise] on the Five [Astronomical] Canons) dated ca. 575 CE gives us information about older Indian texts which are now lost. The work is a treatise on mathematical astronomy and it summarises five earlier astronomical treatises, namely the Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta and Paitamaha Siddhantas. It is a compendium of Vedanga Jyotisha (native Indian) as well as Hellenistic astronomy (including Greek, Egyptian and Roman elements).^[3]

The 11th century Arabian scholar Alberuni also described the details of "The Five Astronomical Canons":

"They [the Indians] have 5 Siddhāntas:

• Sūrya-Siddhānta, ie. the Siddhānta of the Sun, composed by Lāṭa,
• Vasishtha-siddhānta, so called from one of the stars of the Great Bear, composed by Vishnucandra,
• Pulisa-siddhānta, so called from Paulisa, the Greek, from the city of Saintra, which I suppose to be Alexandria, composed by Pulisa.
• Romaka-siddhānta, so called from the Rūm, ie. the subjects of the Roman Empire, composed by Śrīsheṇa.
• Brahma-siddhānta, so called from Brahman, composed by Brahmagupta, the son of Jishṇu, from the town of Bhillamāla between Multān and Anhilwāra, 16 yojanas from the latter place."^[4]

Brihat-Samhita

Varahamihira's other most important contribution is the encyclopedic Brihat-Samhita.

Varahamihira also made important contributions to mathematics. He was also an astrologer. He wrote on all the three main branches of Jyotisha astrology: