The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c4.s1.10

Language: English

c4.s1.10

Jai Singh, Jagannāth says, was clever in exhibiting the new methods with globes and other instruments; and that, with the help of certain learned mathematicians and astronomers, he had made observations of the stars. The instruments proper to an observatory are said to be (1) Nāḍī Yantra (sun-dial), (2) Gola Yantra (Sphere), (3) Digaṁśa Yantra (Azimuth instrument), (4) Dakhshiṇo Digbhitt (Mural quadrant), (5) Vṛitta Shashtāṁśaka (An arc of sixty degrees placed in the meridian) which, he says, "the yavanas call *shadsafkari*," (6) Samrāṭ Yantra (Supreme instrument—an equinoctial dial), 'the best among the instruments,' and (7) Jaya Prakāś 'the crest jewel of all instruments.'

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