Varahamihira

Indian philosopher and scientist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: Mihira, Varaha
Quick Facts
Also called:
Varaha or Mihira
Born:
505, Ujjain, India
Died:
587, Ujjain (aged 82)
Also Known As:
Mihira
Varaha

Varahamihira (born 505, Ujjain, India—died 587, Ujjain) was an Indian philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, author of the Pancha-siddhantika (“Five Treatises”), a compendium of Greek, Egyptian, Roman, and Indian astronomy.

Varahamihira’s knowledge of Western astronomy was thorough. In five sections, his monumental work progresses through native Indian astronomy and culminates in two treatises on Western astronomy, showing calculations based on Greek and Alexandrian reckoning and even giving complete Ptolemaic mathematical charts and tables. But his greatest interest lay in astrology. He repeatedly emphasized its importance and wrote many treatises on shakuna (“augury”) as well as the Brihaj-jataka (“Great Birth”) and the Laghu-jataka (“Short Birth”), two works on the casting of horoscopes.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.