Aryabhata I, His Life and His Contributions

Abstract

After Recalling a few historical facts concerning Aryabhata`s life and time we list his three known works out of which the only one extant presently is Aryabhatiya. The content of the various chapters of this treatise on mathematics and astronomy are described briefly. We present in particular the salient features of Aryabhata`s astronomy and mention also the astronomical ideas of other cultures which bear some similarity to those of Aryabhata. Following this, we deal with the specific yuga system of Aryabhata, its roots in Indian tradition and its possible connection with Baby-lonian and pre-Islamic Iranian astrological ideas. We then discuss briefly the impact of Aryabhata`s astronomy on the development of astronomy and mathematics in India and West Asia.