IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON

ORIENTAL ASTRONOMY

November 14 to 18, 2016

IISER, Pune, India

Abstracts

Icoa2016.tifr.res.in

TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, INDIA

Contents
Contents .............................................................................. 3
ORAL PRESENTATION .............................................................. 7
Session 1: General Astronomy ................................................ 7
Session review: Introducing Father Antoine Thomas:
Thailands First Scientific Astronomer ................................ 7
Jesuit astronomical observations in India during XVIIth and
XVIIIth centuries ................................................................... 7
Astronomy in Pre-modern Georgia: Written Sources from
Four Manuscript Collections ............................................... 8
The first astronomical use of the telescope from India ...... 9
Session 2: Calendrical Astronomy ......................................... 10
Session Review: K Ramasubramanian............................... 10
Sunrise and sunset tables in Yuan and Ming China (A.D.
1271-1644) ........................................................................ 10
On the length of year after Varahamihira's
PanchaSiddhantika ............................................................ 11
Ragoonatha Charry and his 'scientific' pacga ............. 11
Session 3: Astronomical Calculations.................................... 12
Session Review: Derivation of the inclination of Mars' orbit
in the Almagest ................................................................. 12
Lunar Occultation of stars - Periodicity and circumstancesin historical perspective .................................................... 13
Yogydivkyas: A simplest and interesting way to obtain
the longitude of Sun.......................................................... 14
3

The Solar Theory in Nikolaus Smogulecki and Xue

Fengzuos Tianbu zhenyuan () ........................... 14
Session 4: Instrumentation and Architecture ....................... 15
Session Review: Srikumar Menon ..................................... 15
Sukuh Temple in Karanganyar Regency ............................ 15
Internal Spatial Composition of Heumgyeonggaknu ........ 16
Archeoastronomical Study on the Outer Citys East Gate of
Shimao City ....................................................................... 17
Session 5: Instrumentation ................................................... 18
Session Review: Towards the restoration of the Jantar
Mantar observatory instruments at Delhi: I. Calibration and
observations with the Jaiprakas and the Ram Yantra....... 18
Instruments based on descriptions in Indian astronomy
texts .................................................................................. 19
The Structural change of the Sun-and-Stars TimeDetermining Instrument ................................................... 20
Astronomical Instruments of Muslim Period in India:
Celestial Globes and Astrolabes ........................................ 21
Session 6: Observation of Stars............................................. 24
Session Review: M N Vahia ............................................... 24
Tribal astronomy of India .................................................. 24
Observational Records of stars in Indian texts ................. 24
Effect of Modern Sky Charts Software on the Names of
Stars .................................................................................. 25
Session 7: Cross Cultural Astronomy .................................... 26
4

Session Review: Rajesh Kochhar ....................................... 26

Analysis of Asu() and Gaoyue() recorded in the
Indian calendar, Jiuzhi-li () .................................... 26
The Influence of Indian Astronomy on Medieval Islamic
Astronomy......................................................................... 26
Session 8: Eclipses ................................................................. 27
Session Review: Transits and Occultation in Indian
Astronomy......................................................................... 27
The Developments of Eclipse theory in the Jing chu li:
What makes it the Peak of Early calendrical Systems in
China ................................................................................. 28
Lunar and Solar Eclipse procedures in Indian Astronomy 29
Calculation of Solar Eclipse Times in the Zhongxiu-Daming
Calendar ............................................................................ 30
Session 9: Interdisciplinary Archaeoastronomy.................... 31
Session Review: Reliability of the records of observed solar
eclipses in India and comparison with contemporaneous
eclipse data of other countries ......................................... 31
Astronomical symbols on Indian Punchmarked Coins? .... 32
The Meteorites of Japan: an Historical Perspective ........ 32
Session 10: Medieval Period ................................................. 33
Session Review: K. D. Naegamvala, the Founder of the First
Astrophysical Observatory in India ................................... 33
Astronomical studies in Mughal court culture ................. 35
Mathematical methods of 16th Century Iran .................... 36
5

Accuracy of measuring the Northern Celestial Pole in the

Joseon dynasty period ...................................................... 36
POSTERS ................................................................................ 38
Mapping Time Rather Than Mapping Space: Dar al-Funun
and the introduction of modern astronomy and
photography in Qajar Iran................................................. 38
Study of Vyapta from Epigraphical records found in
regions, in and around Karnataka ..................................... 39
Our history in our traditions: a reminder ......................... 41
Ancient Astronomy in Kashmir Context ............................ 42
Comets in ancient India .................................................... 42
Any Astronomical Alignment in Muaro Jambi Temple
Complex, Sumatra, Indonesia? ......................................... 43

ORAL PRESENTATION
Session 1: General Astronomy
Session review: Introducing Father Antoine Thomas: Thailands
First Scientific Astronomer
Wayne Orchiston, Darunee Lingling Orchiston, Martin George,
Lars Gisln, Boonrucksar Soonthornthum
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Chiang Mai,
Thailand.
According to our research on early Thai history, the first astronomer
to carry our scientific observations in Siam was the Belgian-born
Jesuit missionary, Father Antoine Thomas in 1681. In that year Fr
Thomas determined the latitude and longitude of Ayutthaya and the
following year he observed an eclipse of the Moon.
In this paper we draw on archival material located in Paris
in May 2016 to provide a biographical profile of Fr. Thomas, and we
then detail the various astronomical observations that he made
while based in Siam (present-day Thailand) before he relocated to
China in mid-1682.

Jesuit astronomical observations in India during XVIIth and XVIIIth

centuries
Jean Michel Delire
University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Throughout XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, our knowledge of Indian
geography and astronomy increased a lot, due to several scientific
embassies between European and Asiatic courts. Jesuit scholars
often played a major role, thanks to their excellent scientific
education and their desire to travel all over the world, in order to
convert it to the Christian faith actually. One of the first Jesuit
astronomers who made observations in India before reaching China,
his final destination, was Antoine Thomas (1644-1709), Belgian born
in Namur, who settled the longitude of Goa through a Lunar eclipse

in 1680. He was followed by many others who looked, not only at

the sky in order to know their coordinates, but also around them,
interested as they were by science, history or simply local languages,
that every Jesuit missionary was supposed to study. By so doing, they
collected data, about Indian and Chinese astronomy, that they
transmitted, with their astral observations, to the professional
astronomers in Paris and other European places. This was the
beginning of the astronomers taking account of Oriental astronomy
in the history of science. In our paper, we will focus on Jesuits who
worked in India, on their contribution to the geographical and
astronomical knowledge of their time and especially on their
methods. Actually, they didnt work in optimal conditions, and often
had to be very ingenious to be able to collect data sufficiently
accurate as to be accepted by the very demanding European
professional astronomers. It happened that the Jesuits challenged
conclusions expressed by the last ones in their books or tables, and
we will read some very interesting dialogues between these two
kinds of observers from distant parts of the world in the Comptes
Rendus de lAcadmie Royale des Sciences, by instance.

Astronomy in Pre-modern Georgia: Written Sources from Four

Manuscript Collections
Jefferson Sauter1, Wayne Orchiston2, F. Richard Stephenson3, Brad
Carter4
1 University of Southern Queensland
2 National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand,
3University of Durham,
4 University of Southern Queensland
We present our findings of a detailed study, initiated in 2009, of premodern written sources relating to astronomical phenomena and
cultural astronomy from the Republic of Georgia. Our study has
focused on manuscripts now housed at the National Centre of
Manuscripts in Tbilisi, Georgia (Collections A, H, Q, and S). Out of the

approximately 11,500 manuscripts preserved in Georgian in these

four collections, we have identified over 200 of interest and
importance for the study of historical and cultural astronomy. Few
of these 200 manuscripts have hitherto been studied in detail, but
they allow us to examine, albeit imperfectly, how astronomy was
adapted for, and practiced by, a society on the edges of the
Byzantine, Slavic, and Islamic worlds. Although we have found few
astronomical works of a technical nature surviving to the present,
the numerous less sophisticated ones that do still tell us much about
the transmission and circulation of astronomical ideas and beliefs
as well as how Georgians applied such notions in everyday lives. For
example, a legendary total solar eclipse of the early fourth century
AD appears to take on a life of its own in a much later seventeenth
century work on celestial prognostication. From these manuscripts
emerges a relatively standard repertoire of texts that permitted a
range of astronomical and meteorological phenomena to be
interpreted as they occurred. Moreover, through both a broad
survey of manuscripts and in-depth case studies, we demonstrate
how such written sources illustrate the extent to which astronomical
ideas and beliefs, despite being of a relatively nontechnical nature,
were adapted to a Georgian audience.

The first astronomical use of the telescope from India

R. C. Kapoor
31, 4th B Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru 560034, India
The year 1618 in astronomy was a unique one in that it presented
three bright cometary apparitions in quick succession. The comets
created enough sensation and belong to the era when Galileos
telescopic observations had created a paradigm shift in our
perception of the heavens and Johannes Kepler was introducing a
fundamental change in mathematical astronomy by redefining the
orbits around the Sun. This paper is an account of the observations
of two of the three great comets of 1618 made from India. This
turned into a unique occasion indeed when the same targets of
opportunity were followed, independently, by astronomers of two

different streams and observations recorded quantitatively.

Jahngr, the fourth Mughal Emperor of India, recorded in the Tzki
Jahngr (Memoirs of Jahngr), appearance of two comets during
the royal course from the town of Dohad in Gujarat to Agra, the
capital city of the Empire, via Ujjain in the thirteenth year of his
accession, i.e., 1027 A.H. From the recorded dates, Jahngr turns
out to be an independent discoverer of two great comets appearing
one after the other in November 1618. The Jesuit Venceslaus
Kirwitzer, joined by brother Jesuits, observed these comets from
Goa. Their first observations also correspond to the discovery dates
of the comets. The same comets were followed by Father Antonius
Rubinus from Cochin. Fr. Kirwitzer collated and published these
observations in 1620 in a short treatise where he states that he
viewed the comets with a tubo optico also. That makes it to be the
first use of an optical device, a telescope, in an astronomical
observation from India.

Session 2: Calendrical Astronomy

Session Review: K Ramasubramanian
Sunrise and sunset tables in Yuan and Ming China (A.D. 1271-1644)
Liang LI
Institute for the History of Sciences
This presentation will introduce two types of time tables in the
Chinese calendrical systems during the Yuan and Ming period. The
first type was used for calendrical calculation by experts, while the
other one mainly for laymen. With the help of computer-aided
analysis and case studies, two methods which were used to calculate
these tables are explained. The analysis shows that the first method
named arc and sagitta method is accurate and more coincident with
the theory, but too complicated and could bring heavy calculation
burdens. The second method named nine domains method is simple
and easy, but not accurate enough. The official astronomers in the
Yuan and Ming dynasty all followed the first method to calculate the
sunrise and sunset tables used for their capital Beijing and Nanjing

10

respectively. Moreover, how these tables were transmitted to Korea

and how they were modified and used in Korea capital by Korean
astronomers will also be discussed.
On the length of year after Varahamihira's PanchaSiddhantika
D Narasimha
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
By the Siddhantika period (Varahamihira, after AryaBhatta, possibly
around 550 AD) the position of the aphelion, nodes (intersection of
the orbit with ecliptic) and orbital periods of planets were fairly well
determined. Varahamihira also documents the correct ayanamsha
of about 0.0141 days per year. Considering this, it is strange that the
length of the year given was 365.2584 days as against our present
accepted mean value of 365.256 days for the sidereal year. This
could be due to one of the following reasons. (a) The earth's spinning
around it's axis has slowed down, thereby decreasing the orbital
period by 0.0023 days over about 1500 years. Then, any
astronomical calculations based on data for more than 4000 years,
which might have used earth's spinning period as a unit, have to be
re-examined. or (b) The year might have been determined based on
time taken by earth to move from aphelion to aphelion (aphelion,
mandochcham, is important in astrology). If this was the convention
for orbital periods, it is a surprise that this information is not
recorded nor discussion about the origin of the co-ordinate system,
though we certainly shifted the start of year from a direction near
Antares to the current position in Aries.
Ragoonatha Charry and his 'scientific' pacga
T V Venkateswaran
Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi
Early of nineteenth century witnessed widespread circulation of
printed pacga (traditional Hindu almanacs) in the Madras
presidency. Computed using the Vkya algorithms, these pacga
were besieged with errors, such as eclipse circumstances.
Chinthamani Ragoonatha Charry, hailed as first Indian to make

11

modern astronomical discovery and employee of the Madras

astronomical observatory advocated reform of the traditional Indian
almanacs (pacga). Displeased with the errors in the traditional
pacga, he took upon himself to publish 'scientific' pacga,
around 1870s, in Tamil and Telugu, two principle languages of the
presidency, drawing upon the computations of modern astronomy.
These almanacs confirmed to the ritual demands of the traditional
pacga even while drawing upon elements of the 'almanacs'
published by the British settlers in Madras Presidency. Charry's
'scientific' pacga not only provided the computation of
traditional elements such as tithi, nkatra, yoga and karaa, but also
elaborated on stellar phenomena, particularly those which are
visible to naked eye, and gave much accurate predictions for Solar
and lunar eclipses, occultations and so on. Convinced by the
arguments advocated by Ragoonatha Charry and the accuracy of his
predictions, two major religious sects, Smrta sect of Kanchi
Kamokoti Mutt and the Aiyangar sub-sect owing allegiance to Jeears
of Ahobila matt, supported the 'scientific' pacga.
Hitherto the science in colony scholarship has understood
the engagement between Europeans and Indians either as a process
of philosophical rationalisation reconciling old and new forms of
knowledge or as cross cultural negotiation within Indian response to
western science. Positing that the engagement during the colonial
period has been both 'philosophical and practical', this paper, a
contribution to debates on Indian modernity, presents the context
and an overview of the pacga reform endeavoured by
Ragoonatha Charry.

Session 3: Astronomical Calculations

Session Review: Derivation of the inclination of Mars' orbit in the
Almagest
Misturu Sma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

12

Ptolemy obtained the inclination of Mars' orbit as 1 degree in the

Almagest, which is too small. It is shown that a more precise value
can be obtained from the same observations that Ptolemy used. It
will be also discussed what mistakes Ptolemy made in deriving the
inclination.

Lunar Occultation of stars - Periodicity and circumstances- in

historical perspective
Rupa K
Global Academy of Technology, Bangalore, India
In Indian astronomical texts, generally the lunar occultation of some
particular visible stars like Makh (Regulus) and Citr (Spica) are
considered important. In this paper a study of the phenomenon of
lunar occultation and the periodicity of this phenomenon are
discussed. Actual circumstances of some occultation of stars cited by
earlier authors as also of modern time are worked out.
The procedure for occultation is similar to that of solar
eclipse. The participating bodies in the case of lunar occultation
Moon and the star.
An occultation occurs when one object passes in front of
another as seen by the observer. In the course of the sidereal period
of 27.32 days the Moon has conjunction with every star when their
longitudes are equal. A lunar conjunction with every star turns out
to be an occultation only when their latitudes are sufficiently close.
Since a lunar orbit has a mean inclination of about 58' with the
ecliptic, the stars whose latitude is less than 5 8' are eligible for
occultation. However since the moons orbital plane oscillates, its
inclination with the ecliptic rises to a maximum of about 6.5. It is
estimated that (i) a star whose latitude is less than 356' has two
series of lunar occultation during the sidereal period of the Moons
node; (ii) for a star whose latitude lies between 356' to 621' has
only one series of lunar occultation; (iii) star whose latitude is greater
than about 621' is never occulted by the Moon.

13

Thus the visible stars which are eligible for lunar occultation are
Makh (Regulus), Citr (Spica), Rohii (Aldebaran) and Jyesth
(Anteres).
In the famous text of Ptolemys Almagest and Copernicus
De-Revolutionibus we get some interesting references to the
occultation of some bright stars observed by the two great
astronomers or their predecessors we provide some of these
references and also others.

Yogydivkyas: A simplest and interesting way to obtain the

longitude of Sun
Venketeswara Pai R
School of EEE; SASTRA University; Thanjavur 613401.
In the vkya system of astronomy prevalent in south India, the true
longitudes of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and associated
quantities can be directly found using vkyas or mnemonics. The
set of vkyas for a specific physical variable presented at regular
intervals is essentially a numerical table. The text Karaapaddhati of
the Kerala astronomer Putumana Somayji (approx. 1732 CE)
describes methods to obtain the set of vkyas, based on the general
principles of Indian astronomy. In particular, it presents the
rationale for obtaining the various vkyas pertaining to the
Sun,
namely
msavkyas,
sakrntivkyas,
nakatrasakramaavkyas, and yogydivkyas. In this article, we
explain the procedures outlined in Karaapaddhati to obtain
the sets of vkyas pertaining to the Sun.

The Solar Theory in Nikolaus Smogulecki and Xue Fengzuos Tianbu

zhenyuan ()
Chu Longfei
The solar theory in Nikolaus Smogulecki and Xue Fengzuos (
) Tianbu zhenyuan () was adapted from Belgian

14

astronomer Philippe van Lansberges Tabulae Motvvm Colestium

Perpetuae, in which a heliocentric system was constructed.
Comparing with Nicolaus Copernicus theory, Lansberges model for
the motions of the sun is almost the same to Copernicus, but he
adjusted most parameters in his model, such as the eccentricity of
the suns orbit. He especially revised the calculating method of the
equation of precession, an incorrect assumption in Copernicus
theory. However, his revision could only keep the accuracy of his
solar theory at a good level during the first half of the 17 th century.
In the solar part of the Tianbu zhenyuan, Nikolaus Smogulecki and
Xue Fengzuo didnt change Lansberges solar theory, but they made
many mistakes, like textual errors of the numerical values and
illustrations. Moreover, they didnt exactly explain the mothed how
to calculate the time difference between a given time and the epoch,
which is a critical defect in the whole book. As a result, all these
mistakes and defects make the solar theory of the Tianbu zhenyuan
very obscure and abstruse and hard to understand.
Session 4: Instrumentation and Architecture
Session Review: Srikumar Menon
Sukuh Temple in Karanganyar Regency
Al Khansa Rodhiyah
Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia
Sukuh Temple is a Hindu temple located at Karanganyar Regency in
Indonesian province of Central Java. This temple was built in the era
of Majapahit with the aim of pengruwatan, to ward off bad powers.
This temple is supposedly constructed after the decline of Majapahit
Empire, when the value of Hinduism started to weaken and the
Islamic Kingdom of Demak started to rise. The construction of Sukuh
deviates from the construction guidelines stated in the Hindu book
of Wastu Widya. The construction of Sukuh Temple has more
resemblance to pre-Hindu buildings, characterized by the
appearance of terraced punden feature and the positioning of the
sacred buildings which is located rearmost in the highest place. This
west-facing temple has three gates. The first gate there is lingga and

15

yoni (phallus and vagina) as a means of fertility, and there is a relief

that reads gapura butha aban wong (gate giants feed on humans)
that have meaning in 1359 Saka or 1437 AD. The second gate has a
relief that reads gajah wiku anahut buntut that has meaning in 1378
Saka or 1456 AD. The third gate there is a story ballad Sundamala,
anecdotal pengruwatan performed by Goddess Durga for allegedly
cheating. After the third gate of the main building there is a
truncated pyramid shaped. The main building is similar to a Mayan
temple in Mexico and the Incas of Machu Pichu in Peru. Besides relief
on Sukuh have little resemblance to the Khajuraho Temples in India,
because the relief is a bit vulgar. Sukuh Temple interpreted as a
temple belonging to the ascetics (priest), with the figure Bhima and
Shiva. Possible collinear between buildings on Sukuh with the Sun.
Calculation of declination of celestial bodies that are above Sukuh.
Taking the declination value corresponding to the declination of the
Sun, then the collinear between the Sun and the building at Sukuh
knowable. Therefore, allegedly around October, the Sun rises exactly
in the east and in line with the hand of the first gate (lingga and yoni).

Internal Spatial Composition of Heumgyeonggaknu

Seon Young Ham1,2, Sang Hyuk Kim2,3, Yong-gi Kim1, Yong Sam
Lee1
1

Chungbuk National University, 2Korea Astronomy and Space Science

Institute, 3Korea University of Science and Technology
Heumgyeonggaknu is water-hammering type astronomical clock
made by Jang Yeong-Sil in 1438, the early period of Joseon Dynasty.
Inside of the clock, clepsydra, water wheel, Cheonhyeong (celestial
balancing lever), Jujeon (time signal counting apparatus), and
various gears etc. were systematically operated, and it made solar
movement apparatus and 37 time signal puppets, installed at
outside of Heumgyeonggaknu, move. We studied the internal spatial
composition of Heumgyeonggaknu to realize its operation
mechanism as its function. Especially, we studied operation
mechanism and scale of clepsydra and water wheel, the power
system. Also, we studied Jujeon, the apparatus to generate the signal

16

toward time signal puppets on the time signal platform. Based on

these studies, we decided the position of clepsydra, water wheel,
and Jujeon in Heumgyeonggaknu. Also, we analyzed the operation
mechanism of Jujeon and concretized its shape through 3D
modelling.

Archeoastronomical Study on the Outer Citys East Gate of

Shimao City
Lyu Yufei1, Sun Zhouyong2, Shao Jing3
1 Researcher Institute of Historical and Cultural Resources Studies,
Peking University
2 Researcher Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Institute
3 Associate Researcher Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Institute
Founded 4200 years ago, the ancient city in Shimao is a milestone in
the research for the origin of Chinese civilization. The Outer Citys
East Gate is the earliest systematically excavated archaeological site
in this early city. The structure and alignment of the building, the
sacrificial pit arrangements and human sacrifice rites used in the
cornerstone laying ceremony, are all very special and mysterious.
This paper shall, from the disciplinary perspectives of archaeology,
archaeoastronomy, paleography, philology etc., preliminarily verify
the profound cultural connotations contained in the Outer Citys
East Gate through random measurements, statistical analysis,
scientifically computed data and empirical measurements, and
secondly, try to explore and recreate the astronomy, cosmology and
beliefs system of the Shimao people.

17

Session 5: Instrumentation
Session Review: Towards the restoration of the Jantar Mantar
observatory instruments at Delhi: I. Calibration and observations
with the Jaiprakas and the Ram Yantra
N. Rathnasree, Pulkit Agarwal, Pritpal Sandhu, Lavanya Nemani,
Sonia Munjal and Megha Rajoria
A database of Positional Astronomy observations using the Jaiprakas
and the Ram Yantra of the Jantar Mantar observatory, Delhi, is
presented here. The purpose of this database collection is to give an
overall idea of the state of the instrument at present, prior to the
planned restoration of the instrument surface markings by the
Archeological Survey of India. The observations and the related
documentation of procedures involved is also aimed at providing
templates for the planned restoration of the instrument surface
markings. The restoration process can utilise the methods outlined
here, for the drawing/etching of the markings for the measurement
of Altitude and Azimuth on the one hand, and Right Ascension and
Declination (for the Jaiprakas) on the other, using these methods.
The time markings along the Equator can also be undertaken with
the procedures discussed.
The markings related to the rising and/or culmination of the
Zodiac signs, which may have been present originally on the
Jaiprakas, have not been undertaken. The required markings for the
same would have shifted with precession of the axis of rotation of
Earth, and drawing them according to current positions would be
different from the original markings. Conservation practice requires
a restoration to the original design, but in this particular case, such
a restoration would not make any Astronomical sense.
In all the existing literature about the Jaiprakas and Ram
Yantra instruments built by Jai Singh, and the one at Delhi in
particular, the current work is the only effort towards giving detailed
observations using the instruments, and arriving at an

18

understanding of the actual condition and functioning of the

instrument based on these observations.

Instruments based on descriptions in Indian astronomy texts

S. Venkatesh1 and M.S. Sriram2
1 Department of Sciences, Amrita University, Coimbatore 641 112,
India
2 Dept. of Theoretical Physics, University of Madras, Guindy
Campus, Chennai 600025, India.
Various astronomical instruments have been described in the
siddhnta (mathematical astronomy) texts in India, right from the 6th
century CE. They find mention in the works of ryabhata ( 5 th /6th
cent.), Bhskara-I (7th cent.), Brahmagupta (7th cent.), Lalla (8th /9th
cent.),
Sripati (11th /12th cent.), Bhskara-II (12th cent.), and in the popular
modern Sryasiddhnta (around 10th cent.). Often, there would be
a chapter on yantrdhyya (chapter on instruments) in the
siddhnta texts. The instruments described include : saku
(gnomon), for fixing the east-west direction, and measuring the
zenith distance, latitude of a place, Suns declination, and time ,
cakra (circle) for the altitude of the Sun and time from that, yai
(staff) , and nalaka (tube) for locating a celestial object, ndivalaya
(equatorial sundial) for time, various kinds of clepsydra and water
instruments for time, gola (celestial globe or armillary sphere) for
demonstrations, and so on. Bhskara-II devised an instrument called
phalakayantra (board-instrument) to measure the hour angle of the
Sun.
In our presentation, we would focus on the actual
construction of some instruments, and making measurements using
them, to assess their feasibility, and accuracy. In particular, we take
up the gnomon, the phalakayantra, and hopefully, the celestial
globe.

19

The Structural change of the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining

Instrument
Kim Sang Hyuk1,2, Mihn Byeong-Hee1,2, Ahn Young-Sook1, Lee
Yong Sam3
1

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 2Korea University of

Science & Technology, 3Chungbuk National University
We will show the structure and usage of the Sun-and-Stars TimeDetermining Instrument (STI, ) which was first made the
pontification of King Sejong (15th Century) of Joseon Dynasty. It can
measure the solar time in daytime and the sidereal time in
nighttime. At the same time, a Small Sun-and-Stars TimeDetermining Instrument (Small STI, ) stemmed from
the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instrument simplifying the
graduated scale to du, not fen in the celestial-circumference
degree (that is 365.24 du). It also got rid of the pole-fixing ring
() by which its instrument can be aligned to meridian line.
Lastly Small Hundred-Interval Ring Instrument (Small HRI, )
manufactured at the time of King Sejong is remained nowadays in
Korea. It was dropped out the function of sidereal time measuring
by removing the celestial-circumference ring and star-dial hundredinterval ring of the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instrument. We
suggest that the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instrument
evolved into the Small Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instrument,
and then the Small Hundred-Interval Ring Instrument. This family of
the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instrument was used one for
the timekeeping tools of a military office and a ritual ceremony.

1,2, 1,2, 1, 3
, 2, 3

20

 (Sun-and-Stars TimeDetermining Instrument; STI), (Small Sun-and-Stars

Time-Determining Instrument: Small STI), (Small HundredInterval Ring Instrument: Small HRI)

(sidereal

time)

(solar

time)

.
.
.
,
.
Astronomical Instruments of Muslim Period in India: Celestial
Globes and Astrolabes
Seemin Rubab and Syed Ishtiaq
Department of Physics, NIT Srinagar, Hazratbal, Jammu and
Kashmir
During the Muslim rule of India considerable work was done in
mathematics, medicine,
astronomy and Astrology. A small
collection of unique medieval scientific instruments are preserved in
Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library at Patna. Another collection of
instruments are preserved at Rampur Raza Library and yet another
collection is at Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. All these instruments
have been catalogued by great Sanskrit scholar R S Sarma. In this
paper a brief description of two fascinating medieval astronomical
instruments viz., celestial globe and astrolabe is outlined. The
concept of astrolabe was introduced in India by noted polymath
Alberuni through his writings. The medieval rulers Firoz Shah
Tughlaq and Humayun patronized astronomy. During Mughal period

21

some finest astrolabes were manufactured in Lahore. They are

pieces of beauty and craftmanship for beholders.
A celestial globe shows the night sky with stars and their
constellations. In a celestial globe the positions of the stars are
recorded with the use of coordinates in relation to each other. These
were used primarily for solving problems in celestial astronomy. The
altitude of the Sun and the right ascension and declination of the
stars could be calculated with these by inputting the location of the
observer on the meridian ring of the globe. These globes were used
previously in analogue computer devices to record the positions of
the stars and study their movements. The invention of the celestial
globe is generally attributed to the Chinese. About 4th century BC,
the Chinese were using these devices to make astronomical
calculations. Later on, this invention of the Chinese was further
developed by the Koreans. The modern world recognizes the
celestial globe invented by the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes as
the first authenticated version of the instrument. Many Islamic
astronomers and medieval Europeans have also contributed to the
development of the celestial globe. In the 12th century, Jabir ibn
Aflah (Geber) was the first to design a portable celestial sphere to
measure and explain the movements of celestial objects. The credit
for the invention of the seamless celestial globe goes to the Indians.
Considered one of the most remarkable feats in metallurgy, it was
invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH and
twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir
during the Mughal Empire. Ali Kashmiri created many masterpieces
in Kashmir in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and during
Akbars rule the craft found its way into the city of Lahore. The
largest globe was made during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan by Muhammad Salih Tahtawi. It was being inscribed in both
Arabic and Persian. The last was produced in Lahore by astronomer
and metallurgist Lala Balhumal Lahuri during Sikh ruler Jagatjit Singh
Bahadurs reign. Seamlessly cast globes continued to be made in
Lahore up to the mid 19th century until the arrival of the British
Empire. Hollow objects are typically cast in two halves and then
joined. These Mughal metallurgists pioneered the method of lostwax casting while producing these seamless globes.

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The astrolabe is an ancient astronomical instrument/

analogue computer. Astrolabe is a very versatile instrument. It was
first designed by Greeks to measure the altitude of a heavenly body.
It was used to ascertain position of celestial bodies like Sun, Moon,
planets and stars in the sky. It was also used for measuring height
and distances in land surveys. It can also be used to simulate the
motion of heavenly bodies at any locality and time. In fact it can also
be used to measure time. The design, manufacture and applications
of astrolabes were improved by Arabs in middle ages. It was used to
locate the Qibla and to find the times for Salah.
Several types of astrolabes have been made since antiquity.
The most popular type is the planispheric astrolabe, on which the
celestial sphere is projected onto the plane of the equator. A typical
astrolabe was made of brass and was about 6-10 inches in diameter,
although much larger and smaller ones were made. An astrolabe
consists of a disk, called the mater (mother), which is deep enough
to hold one or more flat plates called tympans, or climates. A tympan
is made for a specific latitude and is engraved with a stereographic
projection of circles denoting azimuth and altitude and representing
the portion of the celestial sphere above the local horizon. The rim
of the mater is typically graduated into hours of time, degrees of arc.
Above the mater and tympan, the rete or ankabut, a framework
bearing a projection of the ecliptic plane and several pointers
indicating the positions of the brightest stars, is free to rotate. The
rete, representing the sky, functions as a star chart. When it is
rotated, the stars and the ecliptic move over the projection of the
coordinates on the tympan. One complete rotation corresponds to
the passage of a day. On the back of the mater there is often
engraved a number of scales that are useful in the astrolabe's
various applications; these vary from designer to designer, but might
include curves for time conversions, a calendar for converting the
day of the month to the sun's position on the ecliptic, trigonometric
scales, and a graduation of 360 degrees around the back edge. The
alidade is attached to the back face. When the astrolabe is held
vertically, the alidade can be rotated and the sun or a star sighted
along its length, so that its altitude in degrees can be read from the
graduated edge of the astrolabe.

23

Astrolabe used for astronomical observations was

developed and improved upon in India. Humayun patronized
astrolabe manufacturing. One of the astrolabe maker at his court
was Allahdad Asturlabi Lahori whose sons and grandsons also made
astrolabes. Lahore seemed to have been a major centre for the
manufacture of astronomical instruments. The inscription on one
astrolabe at Adler Astronomy Museum in Chicago goes as 'Amal
Ziauddin Muhammad ibn Mulla Humayun asturlabi Lahori 1057 AH.
(i.e. 1647 AD)

Session 6: Observation of Stars

Session Review: M N Vahia
Tribal astronomy of India
Ganesh Halkare and Mayank Vahia
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
Tribal astronomy is of importance for several reasons. It stores and
maintains within it the memory of astronomical observations of
early period along with its myths. It reveals the depth of
observations and the centrality of astronomy in these cultures. We
present data from five different isolated tribes of India and show
that apart from their independent nature, their astronomical
knowledge is also related to the period of settlement.

Observational Records of stars in Indian texts

Shylaja B S
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru, India
We have compiled all the bright stars listed in various texts by
Aryabhata onwards up to Chandrashekhara Samantha totalling to
about 100. The 27 nakshatra system was used in India for the
purpose of fixing the positions of the sun, moon and the planets have
been identified in the sky though there is some ambiguity on the

24

fainter ones. Our study reveals that a scale similar to the magnitude
scale of brightness also was in vogue. The coordinates listed along
with the stars help in fixing the epoch. The names used by fishermen,
not listed in the Sanskrit texts are also included in the compilation.

Effect of Modern Sky Charts Software on the Names of Stars

Hani Dalee
Arab Union for Astronomy & Space Science (AUASS) Jordanian
Astronomical Society (JAS)
Monitoring the sky charts in the few former years, allows one to see
how much changes occurred in the names of the stars which are
supposed to be holy and untouched even those miswritten ones.
In his book A Dictionary of Modern Star Names ,
professor Paul Kunitzsch, a German researcher, has counted the
stars holding names in the sky charts and traced the origins of these
name, the total official number of the stars having names is (250)
stars. On the contrary, Mr. Richard Allen in his book Star Names
Their Lore and Meaning has collected names from different
civilizations, and, therefore, the total number of the stars is triple of
that of Prof. Kaunitzchs.
Before the appearance of modern computer and
touchscreen cell phones Astronomical software, Star naming was,
somehow, controlled. Any interested person can easily notice that
new names are appearing continuously, and these names are
coming from different languages. We, therefore, ask: How could
many new names appear without the permission and the
recognition of IAU, do these new names have any effects on the Sky
chart, and, what is the source of these names? We believe that
Allens book has the greatest effect on these changes because it is
the sole extended book of stars written in English.
In this paper, we will try to collect all new names been
entered recently (after year 2005) to the Sky chart using a statistical
method, where around 10 astronomical software are targeted. Then

25

we will put a list showing star numbers, their original language and
their source software.
Session 7: Cross Cultural Astronomy
Session Review: Rajesh Kochhar
Analysis of Asu() and Gaoyue() recorded in the Indian
calendar, Jiuzhi-li ()
Eun Hee Lee
Yonsei University Observatory, Seoul, Korea
Indian Navagraha calendar was translated into Chinese by Gutama
Siddhartha () who was an official astronomer and
astrologer of Tang dynasty. In China, it was called as Jiuzhi-li()
which means the calendar of "Nine Luminaries", namely the Sun,
Moon, five planets and two imaginary stars, Rahu() and
Ketu(). However, the term Rahu is mentioned as Asu() and
Ketu is not found in the Jiuzhi-li text. Instead, we can see the term
Gaoyue() which means the apogee of the Moon. In this paper,
therefore, we will examine and discuss on the astronomical meaning
and calculations of Asu and Gaoyue recorded in the Jiuzhi-li.

The Influence of Indian Astronomy on Medieval Islamic Astronomy

S. Mohammad Muzaffari
Research Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of Maragha
(RIAAM), Maragha, I.R. IRAN
Indian astronomy played an important role in the ancient world of
western and southern Asia. Its fundamental elements, basic
parameters, and various astronomical systems found their way to
Iran in the period of Ssnid dynasty. With the rise of astronomy in
the Middle East in the early Islamic period in the eight and early ninth
centuries, Persian astronomers were converted to Islam and were

26

brought the fragments of Indian astronomy into Islamic astronomy

via media of pre-Islamic Persian astronomy. Furthermore, more
contacts were established between the Middle East and the western
India in the same period, which constitutes a direct link of
transmission and diffusion of Indian astronomy to Islamic territory.
In the ninth century, the astronomical system of the Middle Eastern
branch of Islamic astronomy turn into replacing the oriental
traditions with Ptolemaic astronomy, so that as the time passed,
most of the underlying components of Indian astronomy steadily lost
its dominance and prevalence in Islamic astronomy, more
significantly in the case of the planetary models. Nevertheless, some
specific topics, mathematical tools, and hypothetical considerations
kept their presence in Islamic astronomy and were amazingly
adopted within Ptolemaic tradition. Some prominent examples can
be: The colours of lunar eclipses, the projection of eclipses, optical
limitation of eclipses, the Indian methods of calculation of lunar
parallax, the hypotheses about the angular diameters of the Sun and
Moon, and the visibility of the planets. Nearly for each of them, some
peculiar factors explaining their permanent survival in Islamic
astronomy can be discussed; the two general reasons behind it are
that these topics are often exclusive to Indian astronomy, not
discussed in the Almagest; and, more importantly, some of them
provided a firm theoretical ground and/or mathematical basis for
justifying some observed astronomical phenomena which neither
are defined, nor can be justified in the framework of Ptolemaic
astronomy.

Session 8: Eclipses
Session Review: Transits and Occultation in Indian Astronomy
S Balachandra Rao
Gandhi Centre of Science and Human Values, Bangalore, India
The procedure for transits and occultation are similar to that of solar
eclipse. The participating bodies in the case of transits will be Sun
and the planets (Mercury or Venus) and for occultation Moon and

27

the planet or the star will be under consideration. The transits of

Mercury and Venus occur when either of them is in conjunction with
Sun as observed from the earth, subject to the prescribed limits.
The transit of Venus is a less frequent phenomenon as
compared to that of Mercury. For example, after the transit of Venus
in June 2004 the next occurrence was on June 6, 2012. After that,
the subsequent Venus transit will be about 105.5 years later i.e. in
December 2117.While detailed working of planetary conjunctions is
discussed in all traditional Indian astronomical texts under the
chapter Grahayuti, it has to be noted that the transits of Mercury
and Venus are not explicitly mentioned. This is mainly because when
either of these inferior planets is close to Sun it is said to be
combust (asta) and hence not visible to the naked eye. Transit (of
Mercury or Venus) is called sankramaa (of the concerned planet)
or
. In a transit of Mercury or Venus the concerned tiny
planet passes across the bright and wide disc of Sun as a small black
dot.
In the present paper we explain in detail the procedures for
computations of (i) transits, (ii) the superior conjunctions of Venus
and Mercury and (iii) lunar occultation of planets and stars. We have
made a comparison of the procedures given in classical texts as also
by Venkatesh Ketkar with our own Improved Siddhntic Procedures
(ISP). The results of ISP, with its simpler procedure sans Besselian
elements, compare well with the modern results.

The Developments of Eclipse theory in the Jing chu li: What makes
it the Peak of Early calendrical Systems in China
Yuzhen Guan
Institute of History and Natural Sciences, Beijing
This study aims to investigate the methods of solar and lunar eclipse
predictions in early imperial China, using the eclipse theory in the
Jing chu li (Luminous Inception System ) as a case study. Jing
chu li has been claimed by Zhu Wenxin as the peak of the first
stage of Chinese calendrical systems. This study provides evidences

28

and analyzations on possible reasons of why Zhu made such a claim.

Jing chu li was adopted by the Kingdom Wei in the three kingdoms
period as the official calendrical system in AD 237. Then it has been
kept using in China for more than 200 years, until the end of the Jin
dynasty. From the first century AD to the third century AD, eclipse
theories developed in various ways, including predicting solar
eclipses in addition to lunar eclipses. Comparing to the theories from
the San tong li and the Si fen li, the eclipse theories in
the Jing chu li were improved from three perspectives: first, combine
the lunar velocity theory into the eclipse theory; second, start
calculating the magnitude of eclipses; and third, begin predicting the
direction of impact. The latter two perspectives mark significant
changes of the theories, from focusing the eclipse itself to the
predictions of related topics. Whether these changes were related
to other issues such as political reasons are also fascinating for
historians to reveal. In addition, further evidence will be drawn from
other texts including historical writings to analyse the eclipse
theories. Computations using the methods from the Jing chu li will
be carried to check the accuracy of the eclipse prediction methods.

Lunar and Solar Eclipse procedures in Indian Astronomy

Padmaja Venugopal
SJB Institute of Technology, Bangaluru, India
Eclipses had significant impact on humans in ancient times as the
sudden darkness instilled curiosity amidst the common man. The
Indian astronomical texts discuss about the phenomenon and
computation of eclipses. As and when disagreements occur between
the observed and computed positions, the great savants of Indian
astronomy revised their parameters and if necessary the
computational techniques. These procedures were put to test on the
occasions of eclipses.
In the present paper the procedures for lunar and solar
eclipses in Indian astronomy are discussed. The veracity of the
procedures are verified by considering the examples of different

29

periods. The circumstance of the eclipses are computed according to

Bhaskara IIs Karanakutuhala, Grahalghava and Improved
Siddhntic procedures (ISP). The solar and lunar eclipse dates
belonging to various periods are worked out. It is very interesting to
note that the timings recorded are close to the computed values and
the method devised for calculating the circumstances will be valid
even for the current period if the necessary parameters are updated.
In particular, the circumstances we obtain by ISP are very close to
ephemerides.

Calculation of Solar Eclipse Times in the Zhongxiu-Daming Calendar

Goeun Choi1,2, Ki-Won Lee3, Byeong-Hee Mihn1,2, and Youg Sook
Ahn1
1

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 2Korea University of

Science and Technology, 3Catholic University of Daegu
We study calendrical calculations of solar eclipse times in the
Zhongxiu-Daming calendar of the Jin Dynasty (A.D. 1115 1234) in
China. This calendar was made by Zhi-Wei Zhao in 1180 as an
improvement (i.e., Zhongxiu in Chinese) to the Daming calendar,
which was made in 1127 by Ji Yang of the same dynasty. It was used
in China until 1281, when the Shoushi calendar was enforced in the
Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1279 1368). Meanwhile, since the reign of King
Sejong (1418 1450) of the Joseon Dynasty (A.D. 1392 1910) in
Korea, the Chiljeongsan-Naepyeon (i.e., Datong calendar) was used
as the main calendar with the Zhongxiu-Daming and ChiljeongsanOepyeon (i.e., Huihui calendar) as supplementary calendars for
calculating astronomical events, particularly solar and lunar eclipses.
For this reason, not only books on each calendar but also series of
Jeongmyoyeon-Gyeosik-Garyeong (Example Supplement for the
Calculations of Solar and Lunar Eclipses Occurred in 1447) for each
calendar are preserved at the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean
Studies. In this study, we develop a computer program for
calculating solar eclipse times using the Zhongxiu-Daming calendar
by referring to the Jeongmyoyeon-Gyeosik-Garyeong for that
calendar. We also calculate the times at Seoul (the capital of the

30

Joseon dynasty) using the astronomical algorithms of Meeus and the

Bessellian elements extracted from a modern ephemeris. We
compare first contact, greatest, and last contact times calculated
using the Zhongxiu calendar with the results of modern calculations.
We find that the difference in greatest time the smallest among the
three calendars at ~1.2 min but the differences in contact times were
relatively large, with an average of ~33 min. In the future, we plan to
verify the solar eclipse records listed in the Yuanshi (History of the
Yuan Dynasty) and to investigate the accuracy of the Zhongxiu
calendar for other periods.

Session 9: Interdisciplinary Archaeoastronomy

Session Review: Reliability of the records of observed solar
eclipses in India and comparison with contemporaneous eclipse
data of other countries
Tanikawa K, Sma M, Shylaja B, and Vahia M N
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
In this report, we examine the reliability of the records of solar
eclipses observed in the south-central India kept as inscriptions on
stone. We carry out the examination in two steps. In the first step,
we look for a corresponding solar eclipse for each record. There are
sometime no corresponding eclipses. In these cases, we discard the
data. We should go back to the original inscriptions to see the
reason. There are cases in which eclipses are lunar. We also discard
the data. In this report, we explain some of the reading and
interpretation process of inscriptions on stone. The second step is
for the data survived the first examination. We incorporate the
eclipse data of other countries. We make the so-called S ma
diagram which determines the range of T = TT UT values, where
TT is the uniform time and UT is the time measured by the rotation
of the Earth, at the time of observations using the contemporaneous
eclipse data of India and other countries. From the Soma diagram,
we can check the reliability of eclipse records both of India and other
countries. We will describe the examination process. Here we

31

explain the necessity of the examination of reliability. Some records

of solar eclipses have exaggerated expressions even though these
are observed records. For example, a record says that the eclipse
was total. However, actually it was nearly total. Sometimes it was
only partial. In the case of observed records, it is always necessary
to examine the reliability of descriptions, that is, exaggeration or not.
Astronomical symbols on Indian Punchmarked Coins?
T Hardaker, M N Vahia and N Yadav
Images have had a central role in representation of nature in a
variety of mediums. Coins often contain images of relevance to the
state which mints them. This is tempered by the available
technology. We discuss the images on punchmark coins of the
Janapadas of India (around 6th century BC) and show that many of
them have possible astronomical symbolism. We then discuss these
results in the context of other coins from other regions and from
later periods.

The Meteorites of Japan: an Historical Perspective

Wayne Orchiston
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Chiang Mai,
Thailand.
In the last 40 years Japan has built a remarkable international record
researching Antarctic meteorites, but what do we know about those
meteorites found on Japanese soil? The Meteoritical Societys
database lists 66 Japanese meteorites, but some of these are suspect
and the true number is 54. Included among these are examples of
relatively rare classes of meteorite, such as the Tanokami Mountain,
Saotome and Hirahagi irons; the Kobe and Sayama chrondrites; and
the Zaisho pallasite. Some of these meteorites have been neglected,
and their scientific investigation is long overdue.
Japan also can boast the earliest-know meteorite from
anywhere in the world that was seen to fall, was recovered and has
been preserved. This is the Togata Meteorite, which dates from AD

32

861. Furthermore, it is a remarkable statistic that 34.5% of Japans

confirmed meteorites were discovered in the nineteenth century or
earlier, and many of these are historically and/or scientifically
important.
In this paper we examine the historical context of these and
other Japanese meteorites, and highlight the important contribution
that that Japan can make to the history of meteoritics.

Session 10: Medieval Period

Session Review: K. D. Naegamvala, the Founder of the First
Astrophysical Observatory in India
S. M. Razaullah Ansari
Kavsj Ddbhi Naegamvl (1857-1938) belonged to an Illustrious
Family of Parsi contractors. He was educated at Elphinston College
(Bombay) from where he passed his M.A. (in physics and chemistry)
with the Chancellors Gold medal for the year 1878. He became
lecturer for experimental physics in 1882 at his College, and shifted
in 1882 to the College of Science (Poona) as a professor of of
astrophysics. In 1900, he was nominated as the Director of the
Maharaja of Bhavanagar Takhtasinghji Observatory at Poona, the
precursor of which was the spectroscopic laboratory at the
Elphinston College.
I relate briefly the tremendous efforts of Naegamvala to
educate himself in the celestial spectroscopy/astronomical
physics, first by Fa. Lafont (Calcutta) and later at a few European
observatories: at Rome, Potsdam, South Kensington (UK) before
establishing the first astrophysical observatory at Poona and by
procuring the equipment, then the most modern in India. In his
endeavour, he was helped by the Astronomer Royal, Sir Christie
particularly. The account is based on archival records and family
papers. I present in brief also his own astrophysical observations,
namely, the spectroscopy of Orion Nebula, Sunspot group of

33

Feb.1892, Nova in Perseus on Feb.1910, Nebula NGC 6595 and the

transit of Mercury on May 9, 1891. He published his observational
work in Ap. J. 8 (1898), MNRAS 51 (1891), 52 (1892), 57 (1897), and
61 (1901). However, his most remarkable work was the meticulously
planned expedition to record the Solar chromosphere and corona at
the time of the total solar eclipse on Jan. 22, 1898, at Jeur (Western
India).
I present a few photographs from his Report on the Total
Solar Eclipse Jan 2122,1898 (Publication of the Maharaja
Takhtasinghji Observatory, Poona), Vol. 1, (Bombay 1902). I may
stress that the solar spectroscopy was then so important that a Joint
Eclipse Committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical
Society was set up, headed by the then Astronomer Royal Sir W. H.
M. Christie, to undertake an expedition to India. As a matter of fact,
Naegamvala had been in active correspondence with Sir Christie, Sir
Norman Lockyer ( the founder of the first solar observatory in South
Kensington (England), and also with other renowned astrophysicists
, Vogel (Germany), Huggins (England), Hale (USA) and Maunder
(Vice-President of RAS), all of whom admired Naegamvalas work. Sir
Norman Lockyer in his Report on Indian Observatories
(commissioned by India Office,London) mentioned also that
Naegamvalas claim for the appointment of the astrophysical
observatory at Kodaikanal should not be neglected. Despite all that
scenario, the Maharaja Observatory was abolished in 1912 after the
retirement of Naegamvala and its instruments were transferred to
the Kodaikanal Observatory, where Michie Smith had been acting as
the director since 1900. I intend to discuss in passing the blatant
grudge against Naegamvala on the basis of original records extant in
Bombay archives and family papers of Naegamvala.

34

Astronomical studies in Mughal court culture

Gulfishan Khan
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
The paper would seek to argue that the Science of astronomy as well as
astrology were extremely popular and were extensively cultivated in
medieval India. Astronomical studies formed part of elite culture. Surely,
continuous process of migration from West and Central Asia to India led
to infusion of new scientific ideas and crafts. The Mughal emperors took
a keen interest in the development of astronomy. They patronised
astronomers in their royal courts. The works thus produced were mainly
zijes astronomical tables and calendars. Translation of scientific works in
general and astronomical works in particular was the main strategy in the
process. Accordingly, Persian was utilized to transmit the knowledge of
ancient Indian astronomy through the translations of Sanskrit texts into
Persian and vice versa thus enriching both the Indian and Persian
educational heritage. Many of the scientists-astronomers involved in the
great scientific enterprise belonged to the larger world of Islamicate
civilization such as the Astronomer-Royal Mulla Fariduddin Masud ibn
Ibrahim Dehlawi (d.1629), who compiled the new astronomical tables of
Shahjahan called Zij-i-Shahjahani. The work was based upon the earlier
tables of Central Asian astronomer Mirza Ulugh Beg. The first section of
the table dealt with various calendars second section dealt with spherical
astronomy, third section dealt with the determination of motions of the
planets and their position in the sky. The Zij was translated into Sanskrit
under the title of Siddhanta Sindhu by Nityananda as an imperial
commission and was distributed throughout the empire for wider
dissemination. While there appears to have been little concern for
theoretical astronomy Mughal astronomers continued to make advances
in observational astronomy and produced nearly a hundred zij treatises.
Another scientist Lutfullah Muhandis translated Abdur Rahman Sufis
famous book on fixed stars called Kitab suwar al-Kawakib (Book of the
figures of the stars) from Arabic into Persian as Sur-i-Sufi Thus, the
seventeenth century saw a synthesis between Islamic astronomy and
Indian astronomy where Islamic observational techniques and
instruments were combined with Hindu computational techniques. The

35

paper would analyse evidences found in contemporary mainly Persian

sources.

Mathematical methods of 16th Century Iran

Seyedamir Sadatmoosavi
Institute of History of Science, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
The tourists, who travelled from Europe to Iran in 17 th and 18th
century, had described Irans society. One of the events that was
extremely strange for these people was the particular interest that
Iranian people and government showed towards astrology in those
years. Some of Scholars thought during 16th to 19th century astrology
and Haya books were two separated kind of astronomical books in
Islamic era that had many challenges together.
In this article this challenge is shown and explained with a
mathematical method. At first all of the astronomical manuscripts in
Iran libraries have been sorted in two parts of astrology books and
Haya books. Then the number of manuscripts in each 50 years
period has been calculated to draw some graphs and analyse the
errors.
We want to understand how the interest of Iranian people
in astrology, in this period has changed and which historical events
have caused the increase and decrease of this tendency.

Accuracy of measuring the Northern Celestial Pole in the Joseon

dynasty period
Sang-Hyeon Ahn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
The determination of altitude of the Northern Celestial Pole in the
Korean history is investigated. In the East Asian history there were
two method to measure the latitude: one is to observe the pole star
by using a sighting tube or the North Pole tube in Gaunui and the

36

other is to observe the altitude of the Sun by using Gnomon. In the

15th century Korea King Sejong and collaborating scholars
developed the astronomical instruments to measure various
astronomical constants such as the obliquity of the Earth's rotation
axis, the latitude of the observing place, the sunrise and sunset time
and so on. The latitude of the Ganuidae observatory in Seoul was
measured to be 38 and 0ne sixth du or 38d 37m, while the modern
observation gives us the latitude of the place 37d35m. In the latter
period of the Joseon dynasty, the knowledge on European
astronomy was introduced into the kingdom to make the calendrical
reformation. In 1713 CE one Chinese astronomer visited to Seoul
Korea to measure the latitude of the Jongro Street with a large
quadrant. It was measured to be 37d39m15s. This value is far from
the modern value is 37d34m12s. I correct the effect of the
atmospheric refraction to reduce the disagreements. However, the
accuracy necessary to make practical calendar is merely angle
corresponding to one ke, when one day was divided into 100 equal
parts called ke. The eclipse time was also predicted and reported to
Kings up to half or 7.2 minutes of time. This time corresponds to 1.8
degree in angule. Thus, the measurement accuracy in latitude was
not necessarily better than 1-2 degree in arc. The importance of
determining the altitude of the Northern Celestial Pole in making
local calendars will be discussed.

37

POSTERS
Mapping Time Rather Than Mapping Space: Dar al-Funun and the
introduction of modern astronomy and photography in Qajar Iran
Carmen Prez Gonzlez
Wuppertal University, Wuppertal, Germany
Mighty is he who has knowledge. By knowledge the old hearts grow
young again.1
Modern astronomy was not introduced in Iran until mid-19th
century, a decade after the introduction of photography, precisely
during the Qajar Dynasty (1785 1925), which is a period critically
important for the introduction of modern science in general in Iran.
Founded by Amir Kabir (1807-1852), Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar's (1831
1896) first prime minister, the Dar al-Funun (Polytechnic University;
1851- ca. 1892) was Iran's first secular institution of higher learning.
The fields of study represented at the Dar al-Funun were: the
military and medical sciences, the natural sciences, history and
geography, foreign languages and translation, technological fields
i.e. the printing press, photography and telegraph, and the arts
(painting, music, and drama). During the nineteenth century and
early twenty century, thousands of Iranians traveled west, many of
them in a quest for modern education and scientific knowledge.
Shaped by similar academic, intellectual, and professional
experiences, most of them returned home after a many years
abroad, while hundreds of university educated westerners moved to
Iran to become teachers at Dar al-Funun.
But, even if great efforts were put into introducing modern
science in Qajar Iran, the initial adoption of modern science,
especially astronomy, was extremely slow. My paper studies the role
that the two leading Iranian astronomers of the time (both students
at Dar al-Funun and royal astronomers) played in the introduction of
1

Ferdowsi, Shahnameh. This poem is written in the upper part of the

faade of the main entrance of Dar al-Funun.

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modern astronomy in Iran: Abdul Ghaffar Najm al Dawleh (who also

became teacher at Dar al-Funun) and Mahmood Khan Ghomi (who
spent 7 years at the Paris Observatory and at the Belgium Royal
Observatory).
The camera entered Iran during the reign of the Qajar
Dynasty, as early as 1842. Naser-al-din Shah Qajar, one of the last
shahs of Irans Qajar Dynasty, was fascinated by photography. He
eventually became both an amateur photographer and a patron of
photography, establishing The Royal Photography Atelier in the
Golestan Palace, and ensuring that Dar-al-Funun (Polytechnic
University) offered classes in the science and art of photography.
The first Iranian court photographer was Reza Akkasbashi
(1843-1889), who took what seems to be the earliest photographs
of the moon taken by an Iranian photographer (two stereographs
dated c.1863). It is possible that Reza Akkasbashi and court
astronomer Abdul Ghaffar Najm al Dawleh have known each other,
and have worked together as well.
My currently area of research is the history of lunar
cartography and early photography (19th century), which was
basically written in the West. My aim is to explore and unearth
unknown images (both drawings and photographs) done by Iranian
astronomers during the Qajar Dynasty.

Study of Vyapta from Epigraphical records found in regions, in

and around Karnataka
K G Geetha
Inscriptions whether they were written on metal leaves or on Stones
are invaluable resources of History. Using Inscriptions as sources of
astronomical events gives an evidentiary perspective of the existing
methods of Astronomical techniques used in that particular time
period.
Inscriptions are available all over India numbering in
millions. They are found to be written in hundreds of languages, in a

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period of more than two thousand years. In South India, particularly

in and around the region of State of Karnataka, the available
inscriptions are estimated to be numbered in more than 50000,
written mainly in the languages of Kannaa and Samskrita. In this
region, the number of Kannaa inscriptions far exceeds that of any
other language. (The oldest Kannaa inscription belongs to about
450 AD.)
Not all inscriptions mention the time in which they were
made and not all inscription have astronomically significant events
such as Eclipse (Grahaa), Solstice (Samkrnti) or planetary
conjunctions (Graha-Yuti), etc. In all of 24 Epigraphical Volumes,
which have been studied in preparation of this paper, which have
inscriptions amounting to 11236, only 1408 had significant
astronomical events mentioned. And amongst those a fewer
number can be seriously used for calculations. Since the study of
those 24 epigraphical volumes, which ended in March 2012, a few
more epigraphical volumes have been newly published belonging to
those regions that were previously not covered. I have included the
new data from these volumes for this paper.
The most interesting word called Vyatpta is seen over
and over again in the inscriptions that have been deemed useful
from the astronomical perspective. Along with the eclipses and
solstices, the moment of Vyatpta was also considered as a special
occasion. The meaning of the word Vyatpta and its importance in
the prediction of eclipses are explained in astronomical texts, like
Siddhnta irmai.
Using the data from the 24 epigraphical volumes and the
newly published epigraphical volumes, I intend to show the
significance of the word Vyatpta found in the inscriptions and
how its meaning changed around 13th century onwards.

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Our history in our traditions: a reminder

K Sinha
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciences, Nainital 2631002, India.
The arrival of the Europeans in the Indian sub-continent, the British
in particular, also heralded a search to know the region. Already
there were stories of people with only one eye, a dogs head, some
without head and some others being too short. There could be flying
snakes, flying lions and other strange animals, birds, insects etc.
Men and women with huge leaf like legs used the same as umbrella
and so on!
A conscious effort to study the literature and the people
soon yielded the important result that although the Sanskrit
language contained nothing that could be called history, yet it had
books describing events of true historical importance and these
were presented in the form of drama etc. Several lost manuscripts,
scriptures, and writings on stones were discovered. Excavations lead
to discovery of evidence of lost civilizations.
What is known today is mainly through the writings of such
travelers as Hiuen Tsang, Fahyan, Megathanese and Al Biruni and
others. The Greeks providing an insight into the reign of
Chandragupt. However, clinching evidence in support of what
existed particularly before say Buddha continues to be elusive.
Astronomy too has been invoked to date events in Ramayan and
Mahabharat but with conflicting results.
Taking cue from the fact that we still continue to observe
mythology based festivals and traditions also supported by the
modern TV serials, it is felt that a close study of the same with
modern perspective and tools additionally in the shape of computer
soft wares might lead to new discoveries. Consider the description
of the skies at the birth of Sri Ram, the demise of Bhishm etc. If Sri
Ram was exiled around Ram Navami day, i.e. around his birthday for
exactly fourteen years and if the citizens of Ayodhya celebrated his
return with Deepawali, why should today there be a difference of

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around five and a half months between the two festivals? We do not
know when and how the lunar, solar and luni-solar calendars were
respectively introduced in India. Emergence of different religious
sects at different times often clearly marks epochal changes in
Society. Can we reliably date these societal evolutions through a
study of religious practices? In the present study an effort is made
towards indicating the possibility with the above in mind.

Ancient Astronomy in Kashmir Context

Naseer Iqbal
Department of Physics, University of Kashmir, Srinagar India.
I have been working in the study of old astronomical records of
Kashmir India and came to understand that the people of area had
such kind of intellectual growth that in very old periods they were
fascinating with the study of sky, seasons, supernova, falling of
heavenly bodies, solar eclipses and others. These astronomical
events seem presently to be of usual phenomena but one needs to
give coverage on the efficiency of the intellectual growth of the
people who have been instrumental in putting and maintaining
records in different ways.
In my talk I will discuss all these events very briefly.

Comets in ancient India

Patrick Das Gupta
University of Delhi
The Indo-aryans of ancient India had to observe stars and
constellations for ascertaining times to perform sacrifices ordained
by Vedas. It is but natural that they would have recounted in the
vedic texts about comets. In Rig Veda (~ 1700 - 1500 BC) and Atharva
veda, there are references to dhumaketus and ketus, which stand
for comets in Sanskrit. Rigveda mentions a fig tree with roots held
up in the sky (Parpola 2009, 2010). Could it have been inspired by

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the hirsute appearance of a comet's tail? Similarly, could `Ketu' (the

torso or the tail part of Rahu) be a Dravidian loan word, since `kottu',
an old Tamil word, is associated with scorpion's sting and top tuft of
hair? Varahamihira in 550 AD and Ballala Sena (~ 1100 - 1200) have
described a large number of comets recorded by ancient seers such
as Parashara, Vriddha Garga, Narada, Garga, etc. In this paper, I
conjecture that an episode narrated in the epic Mahabharata of a
radiant king, Nahusha, ruling the heavens, and later turning into a
serpent after he had kicked Agastya (the star Canopus), is a
mythological retelling of a cometary event.

Any Astronomical Alignment in Muaro Jambi Temple Complex,

Sumatra, Indonesia?
Suhardja D. Wiramihardja1, Agus Widiatmoko2, Moedji Raharto3,
Mochammad Irfan4,
1 Astronomy Research Group, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
2 Directorate of History, General Directorate of Culture, Ministry of
Education and Culture, Republic Indonesia
3 Astronomy Research Group, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
4 Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
Muaro Jambi Temple Complex (Indonesian: Pusat Percandian Muaro
Jambi) is a Buddhist temple complex in Muao Jambi Regency, Jambi
Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The temple complex was built by the
Melayu Kingdom. Its surviving temples and other archaeological
remains are estimated to date from the eleventh (or probably
earlier) to the thirteenth century. The site cover about 12 square
kilometres, stretching 7,5 km along the Batanghari river.
We are now studying the possibility of astronomical
alignment of the complex by observing the direction of its cardinal
points and other parameters.

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