Old Tamil poem equivalent to Pythagorean Theorem

There is an old Tamil Poem which actually tells something similar to Pythagoras Theorem.

This peom may be written earlier than the Pythagoras period. No facts about that.

            Odiya Neelamthannai
            Orettu Koorathaakki
            Koorilae Onru thalli
            Kunrathil paathi serthal
            Varuvathu karnam thaanae.

The meaning here in this poem is:

"Odiya Neelamthannai Orettu Koorathakki" - Divide greater length by 8.

"Koorilae Onru thalli" - Multiply by one less than 8, which is 7.

"Kunrathil paathi serthal" - Kunram means smaller length. Add half of the smaller length.

"Varuvathu karnam thaanae." - What we get is the hypotenuse , here represented as karnam.

Example 1:

According to Pythagoras theorem,

6² + 8² = 10²

Explanation from this poem...

greater length is 8, smaller is 6.

[7 * (8/8) ]+ (6/2) = 10

Example 2:

Pythagoras theorem,

4² + 3² = 5²

greater length is 4, smaller is 3.

[7 * (4/8) ] + (3/2) = 7 * (1/2) + 1.5 = 3.5 + 1.5 = 5

Somehow this unknown Tamil poet, got an Idea of what Pythagoras had also thought.

As it happens in most of the Indian literature, the thoughts of the poets and their great Ideas will only live in the form of poem or song, but no proof of a particular ideas (In this case Derivation for theorem) exists.

From the above poem, I would like to derive an equation to get the hypotenuse value of a right angled triangle.

Let the longer side be X.

Shorter side be Y.

Hypotenuse be Z.

our equation goes like this...

[7 * (X/8) ] + Y/2 = Z

7X/8 + Y/2 = Z

Also we can write as,

Z = (7X + 4Y) / 8

Hmmm, Works well with most of the numbers.

Thanks to the unknown Tamil poet!

The Obelisks of Pullalur

Pullalur, Often called as Pollilur in Indian History lies 10 miles North of Kanchipuram.

In the past, This place had been very often a scene of a bloody battle. Be it the Pallava-Chalukya war, or the wars of the Chola Kings up to the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the sands of Pullalur had seen bloodshed throughout History.

In 1780, While Hyder Ali was laying seige on Arcot, the British has ordered for reinforcements to Colonel William Baillie's Brigade of 5000 troops from Guntur and to Colonel Hector Munro's Army in Madras.

Hyder Ali sent a part of his army under the leadership of Tipu Sultan, to intercept William Baillie, who was on his way to join forces of Sir Hector Munro.

On 10th September 1780, Baillie's British Brigade of 5000 troops encounter Tipu Sultan's Forces. The location of the encounter was Indeed, Pullalur. It was here, Tipu unleashed his ultimate weapon, The War Rockets.

Typical Indian rockets at that time was made of Bamboo. But, Tipu's rockets were made of Iron, which gave longer range (upto 2 km) and higher thrust.

Also, typical rockets will have guidance sticks to keep them stable in flight. But, the guidance sticks on Tipu's Rockets, served another dangerous purpose. There were sword blades, which made the rocket unstable, hence will rotate in flight and tumble, bringing more casualties on the Enemies.


It is estimated that Tipu had around 6000 of these rockets at that time. He would attack in volleys of these rockets on his Enemies.

During Battle, Tipu's rockets set fire to a British Ammunition Cart, which resulted in the defeat and surrender of the British Brigade. On hearing the defeat, Sir Hector Munro retreated back to Madras, after dumping his baggage and Cannons in a Water Tank in Kanchipuram.

This Battle is considered one of the worst defeats for the British Forces.

Tipu's rockets were the inspiration for the British Congreve rockets, which were later effectively put in use by the British in the Napoleonic Wars.

After the battle, Instead of capturing the British forces on Madras, Hyder Ali continued the seige of Arcot and captured Arcot on 3rd November 1780. This short time span was well utilized by the British, that they had dispatched reinforcements under the Command of Sir Eyre Coote to Madras.

After a decisive victory over Hyder's Forces in the Battle of Porto Novo (Parangipettai) on 1st July 1781, Sir Eyre Coote encountered the forces of Hyder Ali again.

In 27th August 1781, Pullalur had seen another bloodbath. Sir Eyre Coote emerged victorious by driving hyder's forces back.

Eventually, after the Seige of Srirangapatnam (Tipu's Capital) in 1799, the British gained indirect control of Mysore.

Two Obelisks were constructed by the British in Pullalur in memory of two British Officers who died in the Battle on 1781.

One for Captain JAMES HISLOP and another for Lieutenant Colonel George Brown.

The Obelisks are called as Ghori by the locals.


The texts on the First Obelisk is as follows:

Sacred to the Memory
Of
Captain JAMES HISLOP,
who was killed by a Cannon Ball
from the Enemy near this Spot,
The field of Battle,
27th August 1781
while serving as Aid de camp to
Lieu, General SIR EYRE COOTE, KB
Commander in Chief
------------
His professional Abilities
And private Virtues,
Were felt and acknowledged by all his
Contemporaries.

The texts on second Obelisk is not as clear as the first one. It reads:

Sacred to the Memory
of
Lieutenant Colonel George Brown
When Lieutenant of Grenadiers
in Drapers Regiment
he lost his Right Arm,
On the storm of Conjeevaram Pagoda occupied by the French
on the 18th of Apri 1759
and fell
in a general Action fought on this Field between the English
Forces and the Troops of Hyder Ali Cain Bahadur
on the 27th of August 1781.

esteemed by every Rank
a gallant Soldier,
an able Officer,
and _____ an Honest
Man ___

View Larger Map

Today, Pullalur has no signs of war or blood, except for the two Obelisks standing high amidst the vast paddy fields.

Is History Interesting?

Hello All.

History had been a subject of nightmare in my school days, and I know that most of the people in this world hate history as a subject in the school , only because we are forced to memorize a lot of names , dates (years), places and incidents.

In my childhood, My father would take me to Historical places like Forts, Temples etc., Which planted the obsession on History in me. And with my father's huge collection of books, I slowly educated myself on History, Which our school books did not teach us.

My real thirst for History started when I explored and educated myself a lot through internet. Especially, with those fantastic documentary movies available on Youtube.

With those videos, I can understand History in a completely different perspective and I would like to Share Whatever Knowledge and resources I have. (It may be my opinion on something, Facts, Interesting titbits, articles collected from books and newspapers etc.,)

Thank you for visiting my Blog. Keep reading and Exploring the world and our Past.