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JAIN JOURNAL
Haribhadra, Naracandra, Padmaprabha, Jauna, Varahamihira, Lalla, Parasara and Garga. The first three are Jainas. The Jainas held jyotişa (i.e. astronomy, astrology and mathematics) in high esteem and wrote a large number of works on this subject. The influence of these Jaina writers on Pheru is considerable. Haribhadra (9th century) wrote an astrological work called Lagnakundalika.' Pheru apparently followed him in naming the chapters of his work dvāras (doorways). Padmaprabha Suri's Bhuvanadipikā or Grahabhāvaprakāša, written in 1164, was an immensely popular text. There are several commentaries on it, and about three hundred manuscripts of this work are extant today.10 Naracandra Suri (d. ca. 24 August 1230) was a teacher of the famous Vastupala and the author of the Jyotisasära, also known as Nāracandra or Naracandrapaddhati. This was also a very popular work, for there are some two hundred and old manuscripts available today.11 Pheru's aim seems to be to present the teachings of these Sanskrit works in simple Prakrit.
2.3 The Ratnapariksā on gemmology was also written in 1315. At the beginning of this work, Pheru states that (i) he has studied the earlier Sanskrit texts on gemmology, (ii) seen the ocean-like vast collection of gems in Alauddin's treasury and (iii) observed the gem-testing by other experts. To put it differently, Pheru (i) acquired theoretical knowledge from the existing literature, (ii) had the practical experience of handling gems in the royal treasury, and (iii) underwent a period of apprenticeship under experts. One would call this a truly modern scientific approach. Pheru was indeed well placed to fulfil all the three conditions. His wide learning and good command of Sanskrit enabled him to read Sanskrit manuals on gemmology by Buddhabhatta, Agastya, Brhaspati and others. Secondly, Alauddin amassed enormous quantities of gems and precious metals during his campaigns, and his treasury must indeed have resembled an ocean full of gems. There can be no doubt that many of the gems were of a rare quality. An exquisite diamond said to have been acquired by Alauddin reached the hands of the Mughal emperor Babur in 1526. Babur states that "it is so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at half the daily expense of the whole world.”:12 Thirdly, Alauddin's court boasted
. Cf. Ambalal P. Shah, Jaina Sahitya ka Brhad Itihas, Vol. V, Varanasi 1969, p. 168. 10 Cf. David Pingree, Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit, Series A, Vol. 4, Phila
delphia 1981, pp. 173-179. 11 Ibid., Vol. 3, Philadelphia 1976, pp. 132-36. 12 Memoirs of Zehir-ed-Din Muhammad Babur, tr. John Leyden and William Erskine,
London 1921, Vol. II, pp. 191-92. Many historians and gemmologists thought this diamond to be identical with the famous Koh-i-Nur, but this view is no more favoured.
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