Indian astronomy

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Statue of Aryabhataon the grounds of Inter-University_Centre_for_Astronomy_and_Astrophysics, Pune. As there is no known information regarding his appearance, any image of Aryabhata originates from an artist's conception.

Indian astronomy-the earliest textual mention of which is given in the religious literature of India (2nd millennium BCE)-became an established tradition by the 1st millennium BCE, when Jyotishaand other ancillary branches of learning called Vedangabegan to take shape.Answers.comDuring the following centuries a number of Category:Indian_astronomersstudied various aspects of astronomical sciences and Indian_astronomyfollowed.Answers.com

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Early History

Early astronomy in India-like in other cultures- was intertwined with religion.Answers.comThe first textual mention of astronomical concepts comes from the Veda-religiousliterature of India.Answers.comAccording to Sarma (2008): "One finds in the Rigvedaintelligent speculations about the genesis of the universe from nonexistence, the configuration of the universe, the Spherical_Earth, and the year of 360 days divided into 12 equal parts of 30 days each with a periodical intercalary month."Answers.comMore on Indian astronomy with relation to religion is given in the Indian_astronomy.

The Cardinal_directionsare found in the Shulba_Sutras(1st millennium BCE), a treatise containing mathematical applications used for altar construction.Answers.comMathematics and astronomical instruments were employed to calculate time after sunlight, daylight periods, computation of sunrise, computation of sunset, and general measurement of time. Ōhashi (1993) states that Jyotiá¹£aastronomy gained a foothold between the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE.The common era saw the presence of numerous Siddhāntas, out of which the Surya_Siddhantawas particularly notable.Answers.comBoth the Yavanajatakaand Romaka_Siddhantaconfirm that Indian and western astronomical sciences had been a part of a global scientific discourse (given in the Indian_astronomy).

The Pancha-Siddhantika(Varahimira, 505 CE) approximates the method for determination of the meridian direction from any three positions of the shadow using Gnomon.Answers.comBy the time of Aryabhatathe motion of planets was treated to be elliptical rather than circular.Answers.comOther topics included definitions of different units of time, eccentric models of planetary motion, epicyclic models of planetary motion, and planetary longitude corrections for various terrestrial locations.Answers.com

Relation with religion

In India astronomy and religion were interwoven during early times, beginning from the Vedic_Period(2nd millennium BCE-1st millennium BCE) when the Vedas were composed.Answers.comSarma (2008) notes that the Vedas are compositions of religion, and not science.Answers.comHowever, they do hold a certain amount of astronomical information.Answers.comThe religious texts of India often contained astronomical observation for carrying out ritual associated with religion at a certain time.Answers.comSarma (2008) comments on one such text:

In the Aitareya_Brahmana, we read of the moon's monthly elongation and the cause of day and night. Seasonal and yearly sacrificial sessions helped the priests to ascertain the days of the equinoxes and solstices. The shifting of the equinoxes made the Vedic priests correspondingly shift the year backward, in tune with the accumulated precession, though the rate thereof was not envisaged. The wish to commence sacrifices at the beginning of specific constellations necessitated the identification of the constellations as fitted on the zodiacal frame. They also noticed eclipses, and identified their causes empirically.Answers.com

Hindukept a Panchangafor calculations of Tithi(lunar day), vāra (weekday), Nakshatra(asterism), and karan (half lunar day) for social and religious events.Answers.comKlostermaier (2003) states that: "Indian astronomers calculated the duration of one Kalpa_(aeon)(a cycle of the universe during which all the heavenly bodies return to their original positions) to be 4,320,000,000 years."Answers.com

CalendarsFurther information: Hindu_calendar

The divisions of the year were on the basis of religious rites and seasons (Rtu).Answers.comThe duration from mid March-Mid May was taken to be spring (vasanta), mid May-mid July: summer ("grishma"), mid July-mid September: rains (varsha), mid September-mid November: autumn, mid November-mid January: winter, mid January-mid March: dew (Shishir).Answers.com

In the Vedānga Jyotiṣa, the year begins with the winter solstice.Answers.comHindu calendars have several Calendar_era:

The Hindu_calendar, counting from the start of the Kali_Yuga, has its epoch on 18 February 4th_millennium_BCJulian (23 January 4th_millennium_BCGregorian).
The Vikrama_Samvatcalendar, introduced about the 12th century, counts from 56-57 BCE.
The "Saka", used in some Hindu_calendarand in the Indian_national_calendar, has its epoch near the vernal equinox of year 78.
The Saptarshicalendar traditionally has its epoch at 3076 BCE.Answers.com

J.A.B. van Buitenen (2008) reports on the Calendarin India:The oldest system, in many respects the basis of the classical one, is known from texts of about 1000 BC. It divides an approximate solar year of 360 days into 12 lunar months of 27 (according to the early Vedic text Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.4.10.1-3) or 28 (according to the Atharvaveda, the fourth of the Vedas, 19.7.1.) days. The resulting discrepancy was resolved by the intercalation of a leap month every 60 months. Time was reckoned by the position marked off in constellations on the ecliptic in which the Moon rises daily in the course of one lunation (the period from New_Moonto New Moon) and the Sun rises monthly in the course of one year. These Constellations(nakṣatra) each measure an arc of 13° 20′ of the ecliptic circle. The positions of the Moon were directly observable, and those of the Sun inferred from the Moon's position at Full Moon, when the Sun is on the opposite side of the Moon. The position of the Sun at midnight was calculated from the nakṣatra that culminated on the meridian at that time, the Sun then being in opposition to that nakṣatra.Answers.com

AstronomersNameYearContributionsVedanga_Jyotisha2nd-1st millennium BCEThe earliest astronomical text-named Vedanga_Jyotisha-dates back to around 1200 BC, and details several astronomical attributes generally applied for timing social and religious events.Answers.comThe Vedānga Jyotiṣa also details astronomical calculations, calendrical studies, and establishes rules for empirical observation.Answers.comSince the texts written by 1200 BCE were largely religious compositions the Vedānga Jyotiṣa has connections with Indian_astrologyand details several important aspects of the time and seasons, including lunar months, solar months, and their adjustment by a lunar leap month of Adhimāsa.Answers.comRitusand Yugaare also described.Answers.comTripathi (2008) holds that ' Twenty-seven constellations, eclipses, seven planets, and twelve signs of the zodiac were also known at that time.'Answers.com Aryabhata476-550 CEAryabhata was the author of the Aryabhatiyaand the Aryabhatasiddhanta, which, according to Hayashi (2008): 'circulated mainly in the northwest of India and, through the Sassanian_dynasty(224-651) of Iran, had a profound influence on the development of Islamic_astronomy. Its contents are preserved to some extent in the works of Varahamihira (flourished c. 550), Bhaskara I (flourished c. 629), Brahmagupta (598-c. 665), and others. It is one of the earliest astronomical works to assign the start of each day to midnight.'Answers.comAryabhata explicitly mentioned that the earth rotates about its axis, thereby causing what appears to be an apparent westward motion of the stars.Answers.comAryabhata also mentioned that reflected sunlight is the cause behind the shining of the moon.Answers.comAyrabhata's followers were particularly strong in South_India, where his principles of the diurnal rotation of the earth, among others, were followed and a number of secondary works were based on them.Answers.com Brahmagupta598-668 CEBrahmasphutasiddhanta(Correctly Established Doctrine of Brahma, 628 CE) dealt with both Indian_mathematicsand astronomy. Hayashi (2008) writes: 'It was translated into Arabic in Baghdad about 771 and had a major impact on Islamic_mathematicsand astronomy.'Answers.comIn Khandakhadyaka (A Piece Eatable, 665 CE) Brahmagupta reinforced Aryabhata's idea of another day beginning at midnight.Answers.comBahmagupta also calculated the instantaneous motion of a planet, gave correct equations for Parallax, and some information related to the computation of eclipses.Answers.comHis works introduced Indian concept of mathematics based astronomy into the Arab_world.Answers.com Varahamihira505 CEVarāhamihira was an astronomer and mathematician who studied and Indian astronomy as well as the many principles of Greek, Egyptian, and Roman astronomical sciences.Answers.comHis Pañcasiddhāntikā is a treatise and compendium drawing from several knowledge systems.Answers.com Bhaskara_I629 CEAuthored the astronomical works Mahabhaskariya (Great Book of Bhaskara), Laghubhaskariya (Small Book of Bhaskara), and the Aryabhatiyabhashya (629 CE)-a commentary on the Āryabhatīya written by Aryabhata.Answers.comHayashi (2008) writes 'Planetary longitudes, heliacal rising and setting of the planets, conjunctions among the planets and stars, solar and lunar eclipses, and the phases of the Moon are among the topics Bhaskara discusses in his astronomical treatises.'Answers.comBaskara I's works were followed by Vateśvara (880 CE), who in his eight chapter Vateśvarasiddhānta devised methods for determining the parallax in longitude directly, the motion of the equinoxes and the solstices, and the quadrant of the sun at any given time.Answers.com Lalla8th century CEAuthor of the Śisyadhīvrddhida (Treatise Which Expands the Intellect of Students), which corrects several assumptions of Āryabhata.Answers.comThe Śisyadhīvrddhida of Lalla itself is divided into two parts:Grahādhyāya and Golādhyāya.Answers.comGrahādhyāya (Chapter I-XIII) deals with planetary calculations, determination of the mean and true planets, three problems pertaining to diurnal motion of Earth, eclipses, rising and setting of the planets, the various cusps of the moon, planetary and astral conjunctions, and complementary situations of the sun and the moon.Answers.comThe second part-titled Golādhyāya (chapter XIV-XXII)-deals with graphical representation of planetary motion, astronomical instruments, spherics, and emphasizes on corrections and rejection of flawed principles.Answers.comLalla shows influence of Āryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhāskara I.Answers.comHis works were followed by later astronomers Śrīpati, Vateśvara, and Bhāskara II.Answers.comLalla also authored the Siddhāntatilaka.Answers.com BhÄskara_II1114 CEAuthored Siddhāntaśiromaṇi (Head Jewel of Accuracy) and Karaṇakutūhala (Calculation of Astronomical Wonders) and reported on his observations of planetary positions, conjunctions, eclipses, cosmography, geography, mathematics, and astronomical equipment used in his research at the observatory in Ujjain, which he headed.Answers.com Shripati1045 CEŚrīpati was a astronomer and mathematician who followed the Brhmagupta school and authored the Siddhāntaśekhara (The Crest of Established Doctrines) in 20 chapters, thereby introducing several new concepts, including moon's second ineuqlity.Answers.com Answers.com Mahendra_Suri14th century CEMahendra Suri authored the Yantra-rāja (The King of Instruments, written in 1370 CE)-a Sanskrit work on the astrolabe, itself introduced in India during the reign of the 14th century Tughlaq_dynastyruler Firuz_Shah_Tughluq(1351-1388 CE).Answers.comSuri seems to have been a Jainastronomer in the service of Firuz Shah Tughluq.Answers.comThe 182 verse Yantra-rāja mentions the astrolabe from the first chapter onwards, and also presents a fundamental formula along with a numerical table for drawing an astrolabe although the proof itself has not been detailed.Answers.comLongitudes of 32 stars as well as their latitudes have also been mentioned.Answers.comMahendra Suri also explained the Gnomon, equatorial co-ordinates, and elliptical co-ordinates.Answers.comThe works of Mahendra Suri may have influenced later astronomers like Padmanābha (1423 CE)-author of the Yantra-rāja-adhikāra, the first chapter of his Yantra-kirnāvali.Answers.com Nilakantha_Somayaji1444-1544 CEIn 1500, Nilakanthan Somayaji of the Kerala_school_of_astronomy_and_mathematics, in his Tantrasangraha, revised Aryabhata's model for the planets Mercury_(planet) and Venus. His equation of the Center_of_massfor these planets remained the most accurate until the time of Johannes_Keplerin the 17th century.Answers.comNilakanthan Somayaji, in his Aryabhatiyabhasya, a commentary on Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya, developed his own computational system for a partially Heliocentrismplanetary model, in which Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiterand Saturnorbit the Sun, which in turn orbits the Earth, similar to the Tychonic_systemlater proposed by Tycho_Brahein the late 16th century. Nilakantha's system, however, was mathematically more effient than the Tychonic system, due to correctly taking into account the equation of the centre and Latitudemotion of Mercury and Venus. Most astronomers of the Kerala_school_of_astronomy_and_mathematicswho followed him accepted his planetary model.Answers.com Answers.com Achyuta_Pisharati1550-1621 CESphutanirnaya (Determination of True Planets) details an elliptical correction to existing notions.Answers.comSphutanirnaya was later expanded to Rāśigolasphutānīti (True Longitude Computation of the Sphere of the Zodiac).Answers.comAnother work, Karanottama deals with eclipses, complementary relationship between the sun and the moon, and 'the derivation of the mean and true planets'.Answers.comIn Uparāgakriyākrama (Method of Computing Eclipses), Acyuta Pisārati suggests improvements in methods of calculation of eclipses.Answers.comInstruments usedFile:Jantar_Mantar_at_Jaipur.jpg File:Jantar_Mantar_at_Jaipur.jpg

Jai_Singh_II(1688-1743 CE) initiated the construction of several observatories. Shown here is the Jantar_Mantar_(Jaipur) observatory.

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Yantra_Mandir(completed by 1743 CE), Delhi.

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Astronomical instrument with graduated scale and notation in Hindu-Arabic_numerals.

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Detail of an instrument in the Jaipurobservatory.

Among the devices used for astronomy was Gnomon, known as Sanku, in which the shadow of a vertical rod is applied on a horizontal plane in order to ascertain the cardinal directions, the latitude of the point of observation, and the time of observation.Answers.comThis device finds mention in the works of Varāhamihira, Āryabhata, Bhāskara, Brahmagupta, among others.Answers.comThe Cross-staff, known as Yasti-yantra, was used by the time of Bhaskara II (1114-1185 CE).Answers.comThis device could vary from a simple stick to V-shaped staffs designed specifically for determining angles with the help of a calibrated scale.Answers.comThe Clepsydra(Ghatī -yantra) was used in India for astronomical purposes until recent times.Answers.comŌhashi (2008) notes that: "Several astronomers also described water-driven instruments such as the model of fighting sheep."Answers.com

The Armillary_spherewas used for observation in India since early times, and finds mention in the works of Āryabhata (476 CE).Answers.comThe Goladīpikā-a detailed treatise dealing with globes and the armillary sphere was composed between 1380-1460 CE by Parameśvara.Answers.comOn the subject of the usage of the armillary sphere in India, Ōhashi (2008) writes: "The Indian armillary sphere (gola-yantra) was based on equatorial coordinates, unlike the Greek armillary sphere, which was based on ecliptical coordinates, although the Indian armillary sphere also had an ecliptical hoop. Probably, the celestial coordinates of the junction stars of the lunar mansions were determined by the armillary sphere since the seventh century or so. There was also a celestial globe rotated by flowing water."Answers.com

An instrument invented by the mathematician and astronomer Bhaskara II (1114-1185 CE) consisted of a rectangular board with a pin and an index arm.Answers.comThis device-called the Phalaka-yantra-was used to determine time from the sun's altitude.Answers.comThe Kapālayantra was a Equatorial_sundialinstrument used to determine the sun's Azimuth.Answers.comKartarī-yantra combined two semicircular board instruments to give rise to a 'scissors instrument'.Answers.comIntroduced from the Islamic world and first finding mention in the works of Mahendra_Suri-thecourt astronomer of Firuz_Shah_Tughluq(1309 - 1388 CE)-the Astrolabewas further mentioned by Padmanābha (1423 CE) and Rāmacandra (1428 CE) as its use grew in India.Answers.com

Invented by Padmanābha, a nocturnal polar rotation instrument consisted of a rectangular board with a slit and a set of pointers with concentric graduated circles.Answers.comTime and other astronomical quantities could be calculated by adjusting the slit to the directions of α and β Ursa_Minor.Answers.comŌhashi (2008) further explains that: "Its backside was made as a quadrant with a plumb and an index arm. Thirty parallel lines were drawn inside the quadrant, and trigonometrical calculations were done graphically. After determining the sun's altitude with the help of the plumb, time was calculated graphically with the help of the index arm."Answers.com

Ōhashi (2008) reports on the observatories constructed by Jai_Singh_II_of_Amber:The Mahārāja of Jaipur, Jai_Singh_II(AD 1688-1743), constructed five astronomical observatories at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The observatory in Mathura,_Uttar_Pradeshis not extant, but those in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, and Banarasare. There are several huge instruments based on Hindu and Islamic astronomy. For example, the samrāt.-yantra (emperor instrument) is a huge sundial which consists of a triangular gnomon wall and a pair of quadrants toward the east and west of the gnomon wall. Time has been graduated on the quadrants.Answers.com

The Seamlessness Celestial_globeinvented in Mughal_India, specifically Lahoreand Kashmir, is considered to be one of the most impressive astronomical instruments and remarkable feats in Metallurgyand Engineering. All Globebefore and after this were seamed, and in the 20th century, it was believed by metallurgists to be technically impossible to create a metal globe without any seams, even with modern technology. It was in the 1980s, however, that Emilie Savage-Smith discovered several celestial globes without any seams in Lahore and Kashmir. The earliest was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH (1589-90 CE) during Akbar_the_Great'sreign; another was produced in 1070 AH (1659-60 CE) by Muhammad Salih Tahtawi with Arabic and Sanskrit inscriptions; and the last was produced in Lahore by a Hindu metallurgist Lala Balhumal Lahuri in 1842 during Jagatjit_Singh_Bahadur'sreign. 21 such globes were produced, and these remain the only examples of seamless metal globes. These Mughal metallurgists developed the method of Lost-wax_castingin order to produce these globes.Answers.com

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Greek equatorial Sun_dial, Ai-Khanoum, Afghanistan3rd-2nd century BCE.

Hellenistic_civilizationastronomy is known to have been practiced near India in the Greco-Bactrian_Kingdomcity of Ai-Khanoumfrom the 3rd_century_BCE. Various sun-dials, including an equatorial sundial adjusted to the latitude of Ujjainhave been found in archaeological excavations there.Answers.comNumerous interactions with the Mauryan_Empire, and the later expansion of the Indo-Greek_Kingdominto India suggest that some transmission may have happened during that period.Answers.com

Several Greco-Roman astrological treatises are also known to have been imported into India during the first few centuries of our era. The Yavanajataka("Sayings of the Greeks") was translated from Greek to Sanskrit by Yavanesvaraduring the 2nd century CE, under the patronage of the Western_Satrap Sakaking Rudradaman_I.[Wikipedia:Citation_needed] Rudradaman's capital at Ujjain "became the Greenwich of Indian astronomers and the Arin of the Arabic and Latin astronomical treatises; for it was he and his successors who encouraged the introduction of Greek horoscopy and astronomy into India."Answers.com

Later in the 6th century, the Romaka_Siddhanta("Doctrine of the Romans"), and the Paulisa_Siddhanta("Doctrine of Paulus_Alexandrinus") were considered as two of the five main astrological treatises, which were compiled by Varahamihirain his Pañca-siddhāntikā ("Five Treatises").Answers.comVarahamihira wrote in the Brihat-Samhita: "The Greeks, though impure, must be honored since they were trained in sciences and therein, excelled others....."Answers.comThe Garga_Samhitaalso says: "The Yonaare Barbarian, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be reverenced like gods."

Indian astronomy reached China with the expansion of Buddhism during the Later_Han_Dynasty_(Five_Dynasties) (25-220 CE).Answers.comFurther translation of Indian works on astronomy was completed in China by the Three_Kingdoms(220-265 CE).Answers.comHowever, the most detailed incorporation of Indian astronomy occurred only during the Tang_Dynasty(618-907) when a number of Chinese scholars-such as Yi_Xing-were versed both in Indian and Chinese_astronomy.Answers.comA system of Indian astronomy was recorded in China as Jiuzhi-li (718 CE), the author of which was an Indian by the name of Gautama_Siddha-atranslation of Devanagari Gotama Siddha-the director of the Tang dynasty's national astronomical observatory.Answers.com

Fragments of texts during this period indicate that Arabadopted the Trigonometric_function(inherited from Indian mathematics) instead of the Chord_(geometry) of Arc_(geometry) used in Greek_mathematics.Answers.comAnother Indian influence was an approximate formula used for timekeeping by Astronomy_in_medieval_Islam.Answers.comThrough Islamic astronomy, Indian astronomy had an influence on European astronomy via Arabic_languagetranslations. During the Latin_translations_of_the_12th_century, Muhammad_al-Fazari'sGreat Sindhind, which was based on the Surya_Siddhantaand the works of Brahmagupta, was translated into Latinin 1126 and was influential at the time.Answers.com

In the 17th century, the Mughal_Empiresaw a synthesis between Islamic and Hindu astronomy, where Islamic observational instruments were combined with Hindu computational techniques. While there appears to have been little concern for planetary theory, Muslimand Hindu astronomers in India continued to make advances in observational astronomy and produced nearly a hundred Zijtreatises. Humayunbuilt a personal observatory near Delhi, while Jahangirand Shah_Jahanwere also intending to build observatories but were unable to do so. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, it was a Hindu king, Jai_Singh_II_of_Amber, who attempted to revive both the Islamic and Hindu traditions of astronomy which were stagnating in his time. In the early 18th century, he built several large observatories called Yantra_Mandirin order to rival Ulugh_Beg's Samarkandobservatory and in order to improve on the earlier Hindu computations in the Siddhantas and Islamic observations in Zij-i-Sultani. The instruments he used were influenced by Islamic astronomy, while the computational techniques were derived from Hindu astronomy.Answers.com Answers.com

Some scholars have suggested that knowledge of the results of the Kerala_school_of_astronomy_and_mathematicsmay have been transmitted to Europe through the trade route from Keralaby traders and Jesuitmissionaries.Answers.comKerala was in continuous contact with China and Arabia, and Europe. The existence of circumstantial evidenceAnswers.comsuch as communication routes and a suitable chronology certainly make such a transmission a possibility. However, there is no direct evidence by way of relevant manuscripts that such a transmission took place.Answers.com

In the early 18th century, Jai_Singh_II_of_Amberinvited European Jesuitastronomers to one of his Yantra_Mandirobservatories, who had bought back the astronomical tables compiled by Philippe_de_La_Hirein 1702. After examining La Hire's work, Jai Singh concluded that the observational techniques and instruments used in European astronomy were inferior to those used in India at the time. It is uncertain whether he was aware of the Copernican_Revolutionvia the Jesuits.Answers.comHe did, however, employ the use of Telescope. In his Zij-i Muhammad Shahi, he states: "telescopes were constructed in my kingdom and using them a number of observations were carried out."Answers.com

Following the arrival of the British East_India_Companyin the 18th century, the Hindu and Islamic traditions were slowly displaced by European astronomy, though there were attempts at harmonizing these traditions. The Indian scholar Mir Muhammad Hussain had travelled to England in 1774 to study Western science and, on his return to India in 1777, he wrote a Persian treatise on astronomy. He wrote about the heliocentric model, and argued that there exists an infinite number of Universe(awalim), each with their own planets and stars, and that this demonstrates the Omnipotenceof God, who is not confined to a single universe. Hussain's idea of a universe resembles the modern concept of a Galaxy, thus his view corresponds to the modern view that the universe consists of billions of galaxies, each one consisting of billions of stars.Answers.comThe last known Zij treatise was the Zij-i Bahadurkhani, written in 1838 by the Indian astronomer Ghulam Hussain Jaunpuri (1760-1862) and printed in 1855, dedicated to Bahadur_Khan. The treatise incorporated the heliocentric system into the Zij tradition.Answers.com

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