The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c10.63

c10.63

Jai Singh tells us that, at first, he constructed at Delhi brass instruments of the astrolabe type in accordance with the Muslim books.⁷ These he found to be unsatisfactory, and, therefore, he constructed “instruments of his own invention, such as Jai Prakāś and Rām Yantra and Samrāṭ Yantra . . . of stone and lime of perfect stability, etc.” In Jai Singh’s time, therefore, the observatory probably consisted of the Samrāṭ Yantra, the Jai Prakāś, the Rām Yantra, a mural quadrant, and some metal instruments. Of the present buildings, possibly, the Miśra Yantra was added by Madhu Singh, “who inherited no small portion of his father’s love of science.”¹