Sripati

Sripati (1019-1066) was born in Rohinikhanda, Maharashtra, India. Sripati was a follower of the teaching of Lalla writing on astrology, astronomy and mathematics. His mathematical work was undertaken with applications to astronomy in mind, for example a study of spheres. His work on astronomy was undertaken to provide a basis for his astrology. Sripati was the most prominent Indian mathematicians of the 11th Century.

Sripati's works are: Dhikotidakarana written in 1039, a work of twenty verses on solar and lunar eclipses; Dhruvamanasa written in 1056, a work of 105 verses on calculating planetary longitudes, eclipses and planetary transits; Siddhantasekhara a major work on astronomy in 19 chapters; and Ganitatilaka an incomplete arithmetical treatise in 125 verses based on a work by Sridhara.

Other mathematics included in Sripati's work includes, in particular, rules for the solution of simultaneous indeterminate equations of the first degree that are similar to those given by Brahmagupta.

He wrote the Jyotisaratnamala which was an astrology text in twenty chapters based on the Jyotisaratnakosa of Lalla. Sripati wrote a commentary on this work in Marathi and it is one of the oldest works to have survived that is written in that language. Another work on astrology written by Sripati is the Jatakapaddhati or Sripatipaddhati which is in eight chapters.

Genethlialogy was the science of casting nativities and it was the earliest branch of astrology which claimed to be able to predict the course of a person's life based on the positions of the planets and of the signs of the zodiac at the moment the person was born or conceived.

There is one other work on astrology the Daivajnavallabha which some historians claim was written by Sripati while other claim that it is the work of Varahamihira. As yet nobody has come up with a definite case to show which of these two is the author, or even whether the author is another astrologer.

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