Subhankari : An Indigenous Tradition of Elementary Mathematical Instruction

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Note on Orthographic style. 1. Introduction - the approach. 2. The varying attitudes of Subhankari. 3. The nature and sources of Subhankari. 4. Subhankar and Subhankari. 5. The mathematics of a carpenter-- a digression. 6. Arjyas of daily life--the basic elements of agricultural computation. 7. Money--the tangled tale of currency in Bengal. 8. Arjyas of daily life--more on agricultural computation. 9. Arjyas of daily life--commercial computation. 10. Teaching the basics. 11. Arithmetic Arjyas. 12. Some features of Subhankari. 13. The Pathsala and rural Bengal with special reference to the Adam Report. 14. Orality, riddles and mathematical fun. 15. Conclusion. Bibliography. Name index. Subject index.

"This book, as its title suggests, is about Subhankari--an almost forgotten tradition of computation prevailing in precolonial Bengal. It deals with quite a number of things : the science and art of Subhankari computation, the nature of the prevailing units of measure and currency, the teaching of computation in schools, the non-utilitarian aspects of Subhankari, the social and cultural context of Subhankari and how the latter incorporated earlier Indian mathematical concepts and mores. Although the work is declaredly suggestive rather than exhaustive, the author goes into substantial detail in explaining the units of measure and currency and Subhankari computational procedures. The work should command the interest of historians and anthropologists concerned with popular computational traditions." (jacket)