New Delhi, Dec. 30 -- For generations, Indian students have learnt it simply as the Pythagoras Theorem. In a quiet but significant shift, the Class 8 NCERT mathematics textbook has now introduced it as the Baudhayana-Pythagoras Theorem, tracing its origins in ancient Indian mathematical texts.

The textbook titled 'Ganita Prakash' notes that ancient Indian mathematician Baudhayana, believed to have lived around the 8th-7th century BCE, was the first person in history to state this theorem, predating the Greek philosopher Pythagoras by nearly two centuries. Pythagoras.

This is the first time NCERT has formally introduced the Pythagoras theorem as the Baudhayana-Pythagoras Theorem.

Instead of presenting the theorem as an abstract formula,...