A mathematical poetry book from Nepal

Abstract

The Rana regime (1846–1951) in Nepal is widely known for its lack of support for public education and its notorious opposition to women's rights. Near the end of that regime, a mathematical textbook composed in the form of poetic verses was published in the Nepali language, purportedly written by a female author. This article explores the provenance, presentation style, authorship mystery, and unique mathematical content of this book. Furthermore, we explore how mathematical problems may reveal socio-cultural aspects of a country, and how original historical sources such as the one examined in this paper can be useful in the teaching and learning of mathematics today.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Janet Barnett for her invaluable help and suggestions to improve this manuscript. Thanks also goes to my PhD advisors Patricia Baggett and David Pengelley as well as Kathleen Clark and Helena Pycior for their help. Additionally, I am thankful for the suggestions provided by anonymous referees.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 In Section 2.8, I explain why Shishubodha Tarangini can be considered as an ‘ethnomathematical’ work.

2 I thank Helena M Pycior for telling me to read this wonderful book Creative Couples in the Sciences (Pycior et al. 1996).