Thakkura Pheru and the Popularisation of Science in India in the Fourteenth Century
Summary
This article explores the life and works of **Thakkura Pheru**, a Jain polymath who flourished under the Delhi Sultanate in the early fourteenth century. Pheru came from the Śrīmalā Jain caste and served as mint superintendent and treasurer to rulers such as Alauddin Khalji. At a time when most scientific treatises were written in Sanskrit and accessible only to learned elites, Pheru composed practical manuals in Prakrit and Apabhraṃśa for artisans, merchants and administrators. The author reconstructs his career from chronicles and inscriptions, noting that Pheru wrote for his son Hemapāla as well as for guilds of masons and jewellers. The essay surveys his major works: **Vastuprajñā** (1310), a treatise on selecting house sites and constructing temples; **Ratnaparīkṣā** (1315), which classifies gems, explains their mythological origins, describes extraction techniques and provides tables of precious‑stone weights and prices; **Ganitaprakāśa**, dealing with arithmetic and solid geometry; **Dravyaparīkṣā** (1318), a unique manual on assaying metals and determining the purity and denominations of gold and silver coins; and **Jyotiṣaratnamālā**, a compendium of astronomy and astrology. Pheru distilled material from earlier Sanskrit sources but added original observations—for example, his lists of regional coins from Gujarat, Malwa, Delhi and Bengal remain primary evidence for the monetary history of north India. His gem‑trade manual incorporates knowledge of Islamic gemology, while his numismatic work records the mints, weights and fineness of over two hundred types of coins. The author argues that Pheru’s use of vernacular language, systematic arrangement of topics and inclusion of diagrams made scientific knowledge accessible to laymen. Although his example did not immediately inspire a popular science movement, it stands as an exceptional attempt to popularise science in medieval India and merits further study.
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Conclusion
Thakkura Pheru’s treatises demonstrate that scientific inquiry thrived outside Sanskritic circles. By writing in Prakrit, organising material into clear sections and providing tables, he translated complex ideas on architecture, gemology, arithmetic and numismatics into practical handbooks. His works preserve unique data on medieval coins and gems and show an openness to Islamic knowledge. Although few later authors followed his model, Pheru’s oeuvre remains a landmark in the popularisation of science.