A MATHEMATICAL STUDY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EARLY CHRONOGRAMS FROM CAMBODIA, VIETNAM AND INDONESIA

Abstract

With four objectives, this paper conducts a mathematical study on the early chronograms from Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia in a historical perspective. First, the history and terminology of word-symbols from India to Southeast Asia is explored. This paper finds that the terms used for word-symbol in India are component-oriented while the term sengkala coined in Indonesia is application-oriented. Second, the reasons why the early chronogram-words have acquired the numerical-values they represent have been explored. Third, an insight is provided that the move, whether sinistral or dextral, used for writing word-symbol notation in India and chronogram in Southeast Asia had nothing to do with the maxim aṅkānāṃ vāmato gatiḥ. Fourth, two points from the paper written by Apsari, Sariyasa, Junaidi, Tyaningsih and Gunawan are commented on. This paper suggests that the mathematical ideas employed in writing the chronograms be recognized as a history of mathematics. It acknowledges that the use of chronograms can make the teaching of mathematics culturally relevant.