Antonio Rubino SJ in Chandragiri , Andhra, India

Giovanni Antonio Rubino (1578-1643) was a student of Christoph Clavious (1537-1612) and he was sent to India just like Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) to China. Of course, both worked together in Cochin. As he was establishing the Collegio Romano as a centre of mathematical and astronomical skill and authority, he was at full-swing in getting all mathematical and astronomical books from India. As a faithful student, he wrote from Chandrapur, the seat of the Rajah of Vijayanagar, to Clavius in 1609 as follows:

�I am in the great Kingdom of Bisnag�, attempting to procure the conversion of these souls, but for the moment clausa est ianua, we are waiting for the Lord to open it, so that many souls will be saved from going miserably to hell. The Brahmans, who are the literati of this kingdom, are very given to the cognition of the movements and conjunctions of the planets and stars, and in particular of 27 of them by which they govern and rule themselves. Your Reverence will be amazed at how they predict the hour and minute of eclipses of the sun and the moon, without knowing the way in which eclipses occur. I have attempted many times to make them state the way in which they derive the conjunctions of the planets, but I was never able to get them to declare it, and they don't wish to teach the things they know to others, except in secret to their relatives�.

I have already read the sites you have referred to.

As I have been concentrating in the transmission of medicinal manuscripts from India to Europe, right now, I do not want to go into this, i.e, transmission of mathematical manuscripts, particularly, calculus from India to Europe, more specifically, from Jesuits in India to or through manuscript procurers and sellers like Marin Merssene etc. (just for example), to Newton. At present, I do not think Leibniz (1646-1716) was also interested in Indian manuscripts like Newton.

So the study of transmission of Indian manuscripts to European doctors, physicians, etc., I came across references of the transmission of mathematical and astronomical manuscripts from India. I just give one example of medicine:

�Hendrick Adrian van Rheede (f.1636-1691): when landed in Kerala, was surprised to witness a great a Botanical garden there. In India, such gardens have been part of temples (Nanda vanam) and Hospitals (Muligaip Pannai). Interestingly, in his case, the modus operandi found is that he got written statements from the Indian doctors to that effect that as per the directions of him, they provided the medical data, information, books, samples and formulations. Three statements are reproduced below¹²:

�On the tenth of the black fortnight of Chaitra month and Rakshasa year of Salivahana saka 1597, on a camp at Cochin, we Rangabhatta, Vinayak Pandit and Appu Bhatta (eye physician) write the following testimony of truth so that no one should treat this as false: On a message from Adrikin Fondre, Commander of Cochin, we collected herbs, flowers, fruits which are used for medicine from this Malabar Desha through a person who was paid for it and who was specialized in discriminating medicinal plants. This material was collected in the various seasons when they are grown. Then on, all the herbs, fruits, flowers etc., were painted. Later on we testified and tallied this material with the descriptions in the Materia Medica which we had brought along with us. We then described these herbs, their effects etc., of which we had experimental knowledge. For the last two years both in mornings and evenings we are doing this. Whatever is written over here should not be treated as false hence we are attesting our signatures below.

Ranga Bhatta                  Vinayak Pandit                                        Apu Dev�

Written and signed in Marathi.

�By the order of Commander Hendrik Van Rheede, I, a Malabar Physician of the Ezhava caste, born in Kollad ouse at Kadakkarapally in Karapuram village came to the Cochin Fort and dictated as already agreed, the details of the trees, shrubs, creepers and grasses in Kerala providing with diagrams, and the medicinal treatment with them, from the practical experiences as well as the erudition from our precious old books, to Manuel Carner, the official translator of the Company, so as to record them in books, after clearing the doubts, in such manner that no learned men of this field in Kerala could find fault with it and for this it is written in Cochin Forst on 20^th April, 1675.

Kollattuvaidyan�

Written and signed in Kolaluthu script of Malayalam.

�BY the order of the Commamner Henrika Van Rheede, I Manuel Carner, born, married and put up in Cochin, working as the official translator of the Company at Cochin Fort, wrote down in books both in Malayalam and Portuguese languages separately, the details, virtues and uses of (medidicinal) trees, shrubs, creepers and grasses in Kerala and their flowers, fruits, seeds, roots and essences etc, being dictated by a Malabar Physician, Kolladan, belonging to Ezhava caste, born in Karapuram village, according to my previous agreement thus the work is completed after clearing all doubts and mistakes and for this agreement my signatrure in this writings in Cochin Fort on the day, the 19^th April, 1675.

Manuel Carner�

Written and signed in Grantha lipi of Malayalam.

Thus, the statements (which are amply self-explanatory in all aspects) have been direct evidence as to how the European doctors acquired Hindu medicine directly, rather extracted. The same modus operandi must have been followed by all other Doctors, Engineers, Chemists, etc., of all categories either Jesuits or Protestants. At least, their letter correspondence exposes such transaction taken place, shown in the context below�. [from my paper, The Transmission of Medical Knowledge from Tamizhagam to Europe (15^th to 20^th centuries), sent for the seminar held at Los Angeles from November 17^th to 19^th 2006. p.3].

So here only comes, our problem of getting the source materials. What about the similar statements recorded in the case of procurement of mathematical and astronomical palm-leaf books, instruments, gadgets etc., from Indians? The Europeans must be having and this is only I am pointing out that Indians are not able to access it.

Of course, I am studying the other way, i.e, what was the response of Indians in dealing with Jesuits and Europeans based on the literature of Siddhas. It gives evidences pointing to that �Parangiyar�, �Pothimattukkarar�, �Angiliyar� (i.e, Christian priests and whites of all sorts) had taken such books from them. Just read TLF Folly�s article in the web, which pints out the fact. So you have to provide such evidences, as you have access to them. After all, search for truth helps all.

Therefore, not that I want to write without evidences and all. The only problem is space (in AE) and time (for us). That is why I used to request several times be specific.

Incidentally, I have already informed the moderator about not posting of my papers, when I tried and I am yet to get any reply. If they allow, I shall post all the papers referred to so that they could be discussed and criticized for development.