Lot 219 LILAVATI, A PERSIAN TRANSLATION OF BHASKARA II’S MATHEMATICAL TREATISE, PERSIA 18TH/19TH CENTURY

A Persian manuscript on paper, written in 12 lines per page in elegant black Nastaliq script, with titles, catchwords and the table of contents in red ink. The text is ruled within finely executed gilt and polychrome borders. The opening bifolium is richly illuminated in gilt and polychrome with elaborate floral ornament. Marginal annotations and occasional corrections attest to the manuscript’s subsequent use and study. Housed in deep brown leather binding. 14 by 22 cm

Persian translation of Lilavati, the celebrated mathematical treatise of the Indian scholar Bhaskara II, covering arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mensuration and practical mathematics. The work presents mathematical rules and applied problems, often expressed through elegant literary formulations, and represents the transmission of Indian mathematical knowledge into the Persian scholarly tradition. A fine Persian rendering of one of the most important mathematical works of medieval India, illustrating the transmission of Sanskrit scientific knowledge into the Persian intellectual culture of the Mughal world.