Pythagorean theorem in India

[Toke Lindegaard Knudsen]

On 17 Jun 99, at 16:32, Shrinivas Tilak wrote:

Dear Dr. Tilak,

>     While going through my notes this afternoon I found a clipping of a
> report that appeared in The Tribune (Ambala) of June 26, 1993. Professors
> Sema'an-I-Salem and Alok Kumar of California State University, Long Beach,
> according to this report, have translated a text called Kitab Tabaqut
> al-Umam (Book of Categories of Nations) written by Sa'id-al-Andalusi in
> 1068.
>     Among eight contributions to science made by ancient Indian scholars,
> the book mentions that one Bhadrabahu solved in Kalpasutra, in 290 BCE,
> "the so-called Pythagorean theorem."
>     The title of the translation is "Science in Medieval World."

I realize that I am responding to a rather old posting.  Anyway, I got
the above-mentioned book on the library.  There seems to be no
mention of the Pythagorean theorem nor mention of any
"Bhadrabahu."  In fact, in the introduction the translators state that
Sa'id al-Andalusi "is able to cite the name of only one Indian
scholar, 'Kanka al-Hindi.'"  This Kanka al-Hindi does not appear to
have any relation with Kalpasutras or the Pythagorean theorem.
Do you still have a copy of that clipping?  If Arabian scholars really
made comments about the theorems discovery in India I would be
very interested to learn more.

I hope this meets you well.

Sincerely,
Toke Lindegaard Knudsen