[INDOLOGY] Date and place of a manuscript

[Jean Michel DELIRE]

Thanks to Martin and Priya for their precise answers about the location and
scribe of the manuscript.
I had no idea that it could have been written in Tukoji Rao's camp or
residence, and didn't imagine that rāmāṃkabhūpāla could be a bhūtasaṃkhyā.
Actually, Monier-Williams *Dictionary *gives 3 for rāma and there are 9 āṃka
(without the 0), but I don't find in MW the value 16 for bhūpāla.
The fact that the scribe uses a śloka, as in the traditional Sanskrit
mathematical texts, and that the author recommends to use the letters ka,
kha, ga, etc. to name the geometrical points, instead of the abjad notation
used in the Jaipur's *rekhāgaṇita* and its Arabic model,  also points to a
more traditional and Hindu context.

Thanks again,

Jean Michel Delire, Brussels

Le mer. 2 sept. 2026 à 19:09, Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :

> Apologies to the list for my many posts today, but naturally the solution
> is to eliminate the superfluous *ṃ *at the end of *daśamyāṃ*. This will
> give *daśamyām alikhad bālakṛṣṇo*. Mystery solved, verb restored, and the
> verse does seem to refer to the scribe after all (since the author has
> already been identified in the colophon).
>
> Martin
>
>
> Den 2026-09-02 kl. 19:01, skrev Martin Gansten:
>
> I'll have to correct that: as was just pointed out to me off-list, what I
> read in haste as an 'e' stroke in fact belongs to a ha from the line above,
> and the semi-legible letter after kṛ is more probably ṣṇo, giving
> malikhadvālakṛṣṇo. A personal rather than place name? No verb, though, if
> this reading is correct.
>
> Martin
>
>
> Den 2026-09-02 kl. 17:21, skrev Martin Gansten:
>
> Dear Priya and all,
>
> I agree that this is intriguing, and it did occur to me that *tu* might
> properly be a part of what followed rather than a separate particle, but I
> didn't have the background knowledge to identify Tukoji Rao. I imagine,
> though, that this short prose phrase (*dillīnagare tukorāvakaṭake*)
> refers to the copying of the manuscript, whereas the verse dating speaks of
> the book itself being completed (*kṛto gaṇitapustakam* [sic]), so the
> date and the Tukoji reference don't necessarily go together. In fact,
> *malikhadvāle* in the verse looks like a possible place name and could
> refer to where the work itself was written, although I have no idea of what
> or where that is.
>
> Best wishes,
> Martin
>
>
> Den 2026-09-02 kl. 16:12, skrev Priyamvada Nambrath via INDOLOGY:
>
>
> It appears to me that the location sentence parses as 'dillīnagare
> tukorāva-kaṭake' - translating to 'in the military camp/ residence of Tuko
> Rao in the city of Delhi.'
>
> Śaka 1693 translates, as you note, to 1771-72 CE, which aligns very nicely
> with Tukoji Rao Holkar I. In this exact period, Tukoji Rao was involved
> in a successful Maratha campaign against the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, in
> Delhi, and won some significant concessions. He is known more for his
> military accomplishments; so if it is the same person that is referred to
> here, the fact that a geometry textbook was being written inside his
> garrison while he was engaged in a battle with Delhi is fascinating.
>
> All best,
> Priya
>
>
>
>
>
>
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