The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c10.58

c10.58

42. History. The observatory at Delhi was the first one built by Jai Singh, and it is here that the principal observations were made, which were to form the basis of his new tables, the Zij Muhammad Shāhī. There is some uncertainty about the date of construction. Paṇḍit Gokal Chand gives A.D. 1710, and Syed Aḥmad Khān gives 1724. The latter states that the observatory was built “in accordance with the orders of the Emperor Muhammad Shāh, in the seventh year of his reign,⁴ corresponding to the year 1137 of the Hijira” (=A.D. 1724-5).⁵