Astronomical Efforts of Sawai Jai Singh
- A Review

Astronomical Efforts of Sawai Jai Singh - A Review

Virendra N. Sharma, pp. 232 - 240, in History of Oriental Astronomy,
G. Swarup, A.K. Bag and K.S. Shukla, eds., (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press), 1987

Introduction

Sawai Jai Singh (1688 - 1743), the statesman astronomer of 18th century India, undertook the "task (of revising planetary tables), which during a long period of time...since Mirza Ulagh Beg, no one had paid attention to" (see Reference Zīj Jadīd Muhammad Shāhī, f. 1). He constructed five observatories in different cities of north India and, after a considerable amount of labour of seven years or more, had a Zīj prepared. Jai Singh's interests were varied, he collected books, had astronomical texts translated into Sanskrit, and sent a fact-finding scientific mission to Europe.

The object of this paper is to review Jai Singh's diversified efforts to rejuvenate astronomy in his country, and to assess him as an astronomer.

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