Āryabhaṭa (476–550 CE) showed that pairs of simultaneous congruences n ≡ a 1 mod m 1 {\displaystyle n\equiv a_{1}{\bmod {m}}_{1}} , n ≡ a 2 mod m 2 {\displaystyle n\equiv a_{2}{\bmod {m}}_{2}} could be solved by a method he called kuṭṭaka, or pulveriser; this is a procedure close to (a generalisation of) the Euclidean algorithm, which was probably discovered independently in India.
En particular, non hai evidencias de que os Elementos de Euclides chegaran á India antes do século XVIII Âryabhata (476–550) amosou que pares de congruencias simultáneas n ≡ a 1 ( mod m ) 1 {\displaystyle \scriptstyle n\equiv a_{1}{\pmod {m}}_{1}} , n ≡ a 2 ( mod m ) 2 {\displaystyle \scriptstyle n\equiv a_{2}{\pmod {m}}_{2}} podían resolverse por un método que chamou kuṭṭaka, ou pulverizador; este é un procedemento próximo a unha xeneralización do Algoritmo de Euclides, que probabelmente se descubriu independentemente na India.