The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c2: Preface

The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c2

Language: English

Preface

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THROUGH the kindness of Sir John Marshall, C.I.E., Litt.D., etc., Director General of Archæology, and the Hon'ble Mr. H. Sharp, C.S.I., C.I.E., etc., Educational Commissioner with the Government of India, I was able, in December and January 1915-16, to visit the old observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain and Benares, and this volume is a direct result of my tour.

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In the following chapters an attempt has been made to exhibit the known facts relating to Jai Singh's astronomical work and to describe his instruments in some detail. The subject matter conveniently arranges itself into the following divisions: (i) Jai Singh's preparation for his astronomical researches; (ii) his own publications; (iii) the instruments of his predecessors that he employed; (iv) the instruments he devised; (v) the observatories he built; and (vi) an estimate of his work, etc. The sixth section presented some difficulty, chiefly because of the somewhat erroneous idea that prevails, that an account of Jai Singh is necessarily intimately connected with the history of Hindu Astronomy. To form a proper estimate of the value of Jai Singh's work, and to place it in correct relationship with that of his predecessors, it is, of course, necessary to have knowledge of the history of the development of astronomy before his time; and, while there is abundance of literature on European and Muslim astronomy, there is at present no systematic account of Hindu astronomy generally available; so a second part of this work containing a fairly full account of Hindu astronomy was under contemplation. But this would have altered the character of the book and Jai Singh would have ceased to be its principal feature: also, an account of Hindu astronomy will appear at the same time as this volume in the ‘Open Court Classics of Science and Philosophy.’ I have, therefore, here given only a summary of Hindu astronomy in so far as it is related to Jai Singh's labours, and for further details would refer the reader to my other book.

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This volume is primarily a tour report for the Archæological Department and therefore principally descriptive. That it leaves much to be accomplished is to be regretted, but it is inevitable; and, indeed, to attempt to make such a record perfectly complete would mean the indefinite postponement of its publication. I must, therefore, plead for some lenience of judgment, and I trust that the intrinsic interest of the facts recorded will, in some measure, compensate for the inadequacy of the presentation.

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It is now my pleasant duty to record my grateful thanks for help and encouragement. To the Durbars of Jaipur and Gwalior I am greatly indebted for their kind hospitality and for the valuable assistance given by their officers; and my thanks are specially due to Lala Chuni Lal, the Darogha Imarat, and Professor V. V. Tamhankar and Pandit Kedar Nāth of Jaipur; to Rai Bahadur Munshi Bal Mukand, the Sar Suba, and Pandit Sham Sundar Sharma, Tehsildar, Ujjain; to Pandit Gokal Chand of Jaipur for his assistance at Benares and Pandit Mahadeva Śāstri Ghatri who, with the kind permission of Her Highness the Maharani of Darbhanga, placed himself at my disposal at Benares; and to Mr. Sohan Lal of the Archæological Department who accompanied me on my tour. To Mr. Fazl Elahi, B.A., and Professor Abd-ur-Rahman of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, my thanks are due for assistance in translating some Persian works on the Astrolabe and in the interpretation of obscure Arabic terms. To the Superintendents of the Museums at Calcutta and Lahore I am indebted for the loan of certain instruments. The Public Works Staff of the Imperial City, Delhi, and particularly Mr. Glen, Executive Engineer, rendered most valuable assistance; and to the care and skill of the Superintendent of Government Printing and the Surveyor General and their staffs I am obviously greatly indebted. It is impossible to repay in words my debt to Sir John Marshall and Mr. W. E. Jardine, C.I.E., the Resident of Gwalior, for advice, encouragement and help.

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G. R. KAYE.

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January 30th, 1918.

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| | *Page* |
| Preface . . . . . | i |
| Table of Contents . . . . . | iii |
| List of illustrations . . . . . | vii |

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Chapter I.—Jai Singh's Preparation for Astronomical Work.

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| 1. Jai Singh's career . . . . . | 1 |
| 2. Astronomical works consulted by Jai Singh . . . . . . . . . . | 2 |
| (i) The *Almagest* . . . . . | 2 |
| (ii) Treatises on the astrolabe . . . . . | 3 |
| (iv) La Hire's *Tabulae Astronomicae* . . . . . | 4 |
| (v) Flamsteed's *Historia Coelestis Britannica* . . . . . . . . . . | 4 |
| (vi) Works by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsi and Jamshīd Kāśī . . . . . . . . . | 4 |
| (vii) Other works . . . . . | 5 |
| 3. Personal assistance rendered to Jai Singh . . . . . . . . . . . | 5 |

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Chapter II.—Jai Singh's Tables.

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| 4. The *Zīj Muḥammad Shāhī* . . . . . | 8 |
| 5. The Jaipur manuscript . . . . . | 8 |
| 6. The British Museum manuscript . . . . . | 10 |
| 7. The preface to the Zīj Muḥammad Shāhī . . . . . . . . . . . | 10 |
| (i) Introduction . . . . . | 10 |
| (ii) Jai Singh's reasons for preparing new tables . . . . . . . . . . | 11 |
| (iii) He approaches the Emperor in the matter . . . . . . . . . . | 11 |
| (iv) Follows Ulugh Beg and copies the Samarqand instruments . . . . . . . . | 12 |
| (v) Brass instruments are a failure and he constructed stone instruments at Delhi . . . . | 13 |
| (vi) Observatories at Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathurā and Benares . . . . . . . . | 13 |
| (vii) Prepares a new table after seven years of observation . . . . . . . . | 14 |
| (viii) For this purpose he sent skilful persons to Europe . . . . . . . . | 14 |
| (ix) Errors in European tables . . . . . | 14 |
| (x) Perfection of his own observations and tables . . . . . . . . . | 15 |
| (xi) Conclusion . . . . . | 15 |

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Chapter III.—The Metal Instruments

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| 8. List of instruments examined . . . . . | 16 |
| 9. The astrolabe . . . . . | 17 |
| 10. Astrolabium planisphaerum . . . . . | 17 |
| 11. Astrolabe tablets . . . . . | 18 |
| (i) Almucantarats . . . . . | 19 |
| (ii) Azimuths . . . . . | 19 |
| (iii) Temporal hour lines . . . . . | 19 |
| (iv) Equal hour lines . . . . . | 19 |
| (v) 'Houses' . . . . . | 19 |
| (vi) Latitudes and longest days . . . . . | 20 |
| (vii) Tablet of horizons . . . . . | 20 |
| (viii) Tablet of celestial latitudes and longitudes . . . . . . . . . . | 20 |
| (ix) Other tablets . . . . . | 20 |
| 12. The '*ankabūt*' or *aranea* . . . . . | 21 |

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| | *Page* |
| 13. Zahr al-Aṣṭurlāb . . . . . | . 21 |
| (i) General description . . . . . . . . . . . | . 21 |
| (ii) Quadrant of sines . . . . . . . . . . . | . 22 |
| (iii) Declination graphs . . . . . . . . . . . | . 22 |
| (iv) Shadow scales . . . . . | . 23 |
| (v) Tables of signs, mansions, planets, etc. . . . . . . . . . | . 23 |
| (vi) Special tables . . . . . | . 23 |
| 14. The Wajh or Venter with list of cities . . . . . . . . . . | . 25 |
| 15. The Alhidade or sighter . . . . . | . 26 |

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CHAPTER IV.—Metal Instruments—*continued*.

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The Zarqālī astrolabe.

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| 16. Its invention . . . . . | . 27 |
| 17. The star map . . . . . | . 28 |
| 18. Astrological tables . . . . . | . 29 |
| 19. The calendar . . . . . | . 29 |
| 20. The sine table . . . . . | . 30 |

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CHAPTER V.—Hindu Metal Instruments.

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| 21. Hindu Astrolabe . . . . . | . 31 |
| 22. Jai Singh's large iron and brass astrolabes . . . . . . . . . | . 32 |
| 23. The Unnatāṃśa Yantra, Chakra Yantra, Krānti Vritti Yantra . . . . . | . 32 |
| 24. A modern Hindu Astrolabe . . . . . . . . . . . | . 33 |
| 25. Dhruva Bhrama Yantra . . . . . | . 33 |
| 26. Other instruments . . . . . | . 34 |

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CHAPTER VI.—Masonry Instruments.

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| 27. List of instruments . . . . . | . 35 |
| 28. Samrāṭ Yantra or Equinoctial Dial . . . . . . . . . . | . 36 |
| 29. Jai Prakāś . . . . . | . 37 |
| 30. Rām Yantra . . . . . | . 37 |
| 31. Digaṃśa Yantra or Azimuth instrument . . . . . . . . . | . 38 |
| 32. Nari Valaya Yantra or Circular Dial . . . . . . . . . | . 39 |
| 33. Dakshiṇo-vṛitti Yantra or Mural Quadrant . . . . . . . . | . 39 |
| 33(a). Shashtāṃśa Yantra . . . . . | . 39 |
| 34. Miśra Yantra and Rāśi-valaya . . . . . . . . . . . | . 39 |
| 35. Evolution of these instruments . . . . . . . . . . | . 40 |

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CHAPTER VII.—Delhi Observatory.

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| 36. General description . . . . . | . 41 |
| 37. Samrāṭ Yantra . . . . . | . 41 |
| 38. Jai Prakāś . . . . . | . 43 |
| 39. Rām Yantra . . . . . | . 43 |
| 40. Miśra Yantra . . . . . | . 45 |
| 41. Remains of other instruments . . . . . . . . . . . | . 46 |
| 42. History of the observatory . . . . . . . . . . . | . 46 |
| 43. Previous accounts . . . . . | . 47 |
| 44. Restorations . . . . . | . 48 |
| 45. Recommendations for future restorations . . . . . . . . . | . 49 |

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CHAPTER VIII.—Jaipur Observatory.

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| 46. General description . . . . . | . 50 |
| 47. The instruments . . . . . | . 51 |
| 48. History and previous accounts . . . . . . . . . . . | . 53 |
| 49. Restorations . . . . . | . 54 |

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CHAPTER IX.—Ujjain Observatory.

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50. Position . . . . . 56
51. The instruments . . . . . 56
52. Early accounts . . . . . 57
53. Restoration . . . . . 58
54. Ujjain the Greenwich of India . . . . . . . . . . 58
55. The proposed new observatory . . . . . . . . . . 60

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CHAPTER X.—Benares Observatory.

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56. General description . . . . . 61
57. The instruments . . . . . 61
58. History . . . . . 64
59. Early descriptions . . . . . 64
60. Restoration . . . . . 65

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CHAPTER XI.—Mathura Observatory.

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61. Tieffenthaler's description . . . . . . . . . . . 67
62. Hunter's description . . . . . . . . . . . 68

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CHAPTER XII.—Historical Perspective.

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63. Introduction . . . . . 69
64. Hindu astronomy generally . . . . . . . . . . 70
65. Vedic astronomy . . . . . 71
66. Vedāṅga astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . 72
67. Greek astronomy in India—the Pañcha siddhāntikā . . . . . . 73
68. The Sūrya Siddhānta . . . . . . . . . . . 73
69. General Topics . . . . . 74
70. Examples of Hindu calculations . . . . . . . . . 75
71. Modern Hindu astronomy . . . . . . . . . . 76
72. Star lists . . . . . 77
73. Instruments . . . . . 77
(i) the Clepsydra . . . . . . . . . . . 77
(ii) Gnomon . . . . . 78
(iii) Armillary sphere . . . . . . . . . . 79
(iv) Other instruments . . . . . . . . . . 80
74. Muslim astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . 80
75. Instruments used by the Muslim astronomers . . . . . . . 81
76. European astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . 83
77. European instruments . . . . . . . . . . . 83
78. The three schools differentiated . . . . . . . . . 84

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CHAPTER XIII.—The evolution of Jai Singh's instruments.

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79. General Principles . . . . . 86
80. Details . . . . . 87

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CHAPTER XIV.—Conclusion.

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81. Recapitulation . . . . . 88
82. Points of contact with other schools of astronomy . . . . . . 88
83. Influence of the Muslim astronomers. . . . . . . . . 89
84. Conclusion . . . . . 90

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APPENDICES.

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| | | Page. |
| A. STAR CATALOGUES. | | |
| | (1) Jai Singh's version of Ulugh Beg's catalogue | 95 |
| | (2) Mahendra's list | 116 |
| | (3) *Sūrya Siddhānta* list | 117 |
| | (4) Star places on the Zarqālī instrument | 118 |
| B. ASTROLOGICAL TABLES | | 120 |
| C. GEOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS. | | |
| | (1) Astrolabe Gazetteer | 128 |
| | (2) Some determinations of the positions of Ujjain, Delhi, Jaipur and Benares | 129 |
| | (3) Observatory elements | 130 |
| | (4) Climates and longest days | 131 |
| D. TECHNICAL TERMS AND SYMBOLS, AND TABLES. | | |
| | (*a*) Numerical notations | 134 |
| | (*b*) Signs of the Zodiac | 135 |
| | (*c*) The planets | 135 |
| | (*d*) Nakshatras and Manzils | 136 |
| | (*e*) Obliquity of the ecliptic | 136 |
| | (*f*) Length of the year | 137 |
| | (*g*) Precession of the equinoxes | 137 |
| | (*h*) Hindu measures of time and length | 137 |
| E. CHRONOLOGY | | 140 |
| F. BIBLIOGRAPHY | | 142 |
| INDEX | | 147 |