Researchers at the National Library of the Czech Republic, in collaboration with Sanskritists from the University of Vienna, have successfully deciphered a hidden layer of text on a 9th-century vellum palimpsest. The underlying Sanskrit text, written in a rare regional variant of the Siddham script, contains a series of mathematical theorems related to spherical harmonics and the calculation of planetary surface areas.
This discovery suggests that early medieval Indian mathematicians had developed rigorous iterative methods for approximating the geometry of celestial bodies that were previously unknown to modern historians. The manuscript appears to have traveled from Central Asia to Europe via Silk Road trade routes, eventually being repurposed by Byzantine scribes for liturgical use, highlighting the deep trans-continental exchange of scientific knowledge.