The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh c4.s1.3

c4.s1.3

(i) The book that held sway in Europe for a thousand years after its publication and among the Arabs for a thousand years after its translation was Ptolemy's *Almagest*. No other text-book that has ever been written had such a reputation. Jai Singh himself speaks of Ptolemy as one of the greatest astronomers, and one of his most important acts was to order a translation from the Arabic of Ptolemy's great work. This translation, apart from its intrinsic value, has a somewhat special interest: its title *Samrāṭ Siddhānta* 'the supreme text-book' has practically the same meaning as the Arabic title *Al-Majiṣṭī* 'the greatest' and as the Greek title *μεγάλη σύνταξις* 'the great compilation.'²