Bījagaṇita
The Bījagaṇita is a landmark Sanskrit treatise on algebra, composed by the mathematician-astronomer Bhāskara II around 1150 CE. It forms the second section of his principal work, the Siddhānta-śiromaṇi, following the arithmetic of the Līlāvatī. The title literally means "mathematics using seeds," bīja referring to the algebraic symbol or unknown quantity — distinguishing this tradition of symbolic reasoning from the algorithmic arithmetic of pāṭīgaṇita.
The text is organized into 12 chapters and covers topics including positive and negative numbers, surds, operations with unknowns, simple and quadratic equations, equations with multiple unknowns, indeterminate equations of the first and second order, and the kuṭṭaka method for solving Diophantine problems. Notably, it contains the first written acknowledgment that positive numbers possess two square roots. Its systematic treatment of algebra shaped subsequent mathematical thought in India and drew comparisons with developments in European mathematics several centuries later.
Chapters
More information about the project and links to external resources can be found here.