Astronomical Efforts of Sawai Jai Singh
- A Review

The Hindu, Muslim and European Assistants

Jai Singh's early training as an astronomer had been under Hindu pundits, and they remained the mainstay of his program until the very end. "Brahmins observe day and night at Jaipur", Boudier wrote (Lettres, pp. 307-308). In 1734 there were 20 Hindu astronomers employed on daily wages at the observatory of Jaipur alone (Tozis 1). Kaval Ram and Jagannath were his principal Hindu Jyotiśīs.

Jai Singh's interest in Islamic and European astronomy, and his patronizing of Muslim nujūmīs and firangīs developed somewhat later, i.e., after 1715. An inventory of his library taken in 1715 shows Sanskrit books only (File No. 424/1 Jaipur records, Rajastan State Archives). However, soon thereafter, Jai Singh started collecting Persian-Arabic works, and began paronizing the predominantly Muslim astronomers of the Persian-Arabic school. The involvement of Muslim astronomers in his program peaked around 1725 and then tapered off until the end of his career (Dastur Kaumvār). Jai Singh's most decorated nujūmī was Dayanat Khan (Dastur Kaumvār, 19, p. 563). The gifts and honors received by Dayanat Khan from the Raja suggest that he remained associated with him for over two decades. In 1718, he receieved his very first gift of Rs. 500 from the Raja. The final record of him receiving a gift is in 1739.

Abdul Khair, alias Khair Allah, is said to have been one of his influential consultants (Brindāban). However, the author did not see any record of gifts received by Khair Allah in the Rajastan State Archives. The Archives mention a dozen or so other nujūmīs, however, receiving gifts from the Raja. It is reasonable to assume that a team of these astronomers wrote the Zīj-i Muhammad Shāhī under the direction of Jai Singh.

As the involvment of Muslim nujūmīs in his astronomical activities lessened, the involvement of Europeans - primarily of Catholic faith - increased, reaching a peak around 1733 (Dastur Kaumvār, 18, 20; Tazis 2). The Europeans played the role of conveyors of European knowledge to the Raja. Accordingly, it was they who led a delegation to Europe, procured texts and instruments, translated de la Hire's tables, and carried out mthematical computations. However, the knowledge the Europeans brought to Jaipur had already become outdated in Europe, for it included neither the theories of Galileo, Kepler or Newton; nor the instruments such as the sextant employed by Flamsteed (Sharma, R.S. 1987; Kaye 1918).

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