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Indian astronomy refers to astronomy practiced in the Indian subcontinent. It has a long history stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier.[1][2] Astronomy later developed as a discipline of Vedanga, or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the study of the Vedas[3] dating 1500 BCE or older.[4] The oldest known text is the Vedanga Jyotisha, dated to 1400–1200 BCE (with the extant form possibly from 700 to 600 BCE).[5]
Indian astronomy was influenced by Greek astronomy beginning in the 4th century BCE[6][7][8] and through the early centuries of the Common Era, for example by the Yavanajataka[6] and the Romaka Siddhanta, a Sanskrit translation of a Greek text disseminated from the 2nd century.[9]
Indian astronomy flowered in the 5th–6th century, with Aryabhata, whose work, Aryabhatiya, represented the pinnacle of astronomical knowledge at the time. The Aryabhatiya is composed of four sections, covering topics such as units of time, methods for determining the positions of planets, the cause of day and night, and several other cosmological concepts.[10] Later, Indian astronomy significantly influenced Muslim astronomy, Chinese astronomy, European astronomy and others.[11] Other astronomers of the classical era who further elaborated on Aryabhata's work include Brahmagupta, Varahamihira and Lalla.
An identifiable native Indian astronomical tradition remained active throughout the medieval period and into the 16th or 17th century, especially within the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics.
(From left to right): Aryabhatta, A great indian mathematician and astronomer; Jantar Mantar, astronomical observatory made by Raja Jai Singh; Suryasiddhanta, an astronomical treatise.
^Pierre-Yves Bely; Carol Christian; Jean-René Roy (11 March 2010). A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780521180665.
^Ashfaque, Syed Mohammad (1977). "Astronomy in the Indus Valley Civilization A Survey of the Problems and Possibilities of the Ancient Indian Astronomy and Cosmology in the Light of Indus Script Decipherment by the Finnish Scholars". Centaurus. 21 (2): 149–193. Bibcode:1977Cent...21..149A. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.1977.tb00351.x.
^Sarma 2008a.
^The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts, Roshen Dalal, p.188
^Subbarayappa, B. V. (14 September 1989). "Indian astronomy: An historical perspective". In Biswas, S. K.; Mallik, D. C. V.; Vishveshwara, C. V. (eds.). Cosmic Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. pp. 25–40. ISBN 978-0-521-34354-1.
^ abHighlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B: As presented at the XXIIIrd General Assembly of the IAU, 1997. Johannes Andersen Springer, 31 January 1999 – Science – 616 pages. page 721 [1]
^Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy. David Leverington. Cambridge University Press, 29 May 2010 – Science – 568 pages. page 41 [2]
^The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. James Evans. Oxford University Press, 1 October 1998 – History – 496 pages. Page 393 [3]
^Foreign Impact on Indian Life and Culture (c. 326 B.C. to C. 300 A.D.). Satyendra Nath Naskar. Abhinav Publications, 1 January 1996 – History – 253 pages. Pages 56–57 [4]
^Clark, Walter (1930). Aryabhatiya: An Ancient Indian Work on Mathematics and Astronomy – An English Translation. The University of Chicago Press.
^"Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography", p. 17, by Nick Kanas, 2012
Indianastronomy refers to astronomy practiced in the Indian subcontinent. It has a long history stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of...
Ancient Greek astronomy is the astronomy written in the Greek language during classical antiquity. Greek astronomy is understood to include the Ancient...
Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical...
In Ancient Indianastronomy, there are 27 nakshatras , or sectors along the ecliptic. A list of them is first found in the Vedanga Jyotisha, a text dated...
Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse...
elements of Indianastronomy reached China with the expansion of Buddhism after the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE), but most incorporation of Indian astronomical...
major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indianastronomy. His works include the Āryabhaṭīya (which mentions that...
the earliest texts about astronomy within the Vedas. Some scholars believe that the horoscopic astrology practised in the Indian subcontinent came from...
(September 2018). "The Origin of the 28 Naksatras in Early IndianAstronomy and Astrology". Indian Journal of History of Science. 53 (3): 317–324. Bibcode:2018InJHS...
upon the Prakaranas; while the Shvetambara focus upon the Angas. In Indianastronomy and astrology, Siddhanta (or Siddhantic) refers to a genre of texts...
year. They can be traced to the jyā and koṭi-jyā functions used in Indianastronomy during the Gupta period. Sine and cosine are written using functional...
and only known surviving work of the 5th century Indian mathematician Aryabhata. Philosopher of astronomy Roger Billard estimates that the book was composed...
The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics or the Kerala school was a school of mathematics and astronomy founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama in Tirur...
(IAST: Sūrya Siddhānta; lit. 'Sun Treatise') is a Sanskrit treatise in Indianastronomy dated to 4th to 5th century,[failed verification] in fourteen chapters...
and Indian works in particular, which were translated and built upon. Islamic astronomy played a significant role in the revival of ancient astronomy following...
with a specified day. Kali ahargaṇa is one of the basic parameters of Indianastronomy and it is extensively used in all sorts of astronomical computations...
In Indianastronomy, yoga (also called nityayoga) is a period of time, of varying lengths, during which the sum of the nirayana longitudes of the Sun and...
astrology, argues that Indigenous astronomy is largely used as a synonym for astrology in academia, and that modern Indian and Western astrology are better...
598 – c. 668 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta...
of science, notably mathematics and astronomy, especially during the 9th and 10th centuries, had a notable Indian influence. During this era, Baghdad...
S2CID 145178197. Swerdlow, N. (January 1973). "A Lost Monument of IndianAstronomy:Das heliozentrische System in der griechischen, persischen und indischen...
(1973), "The Mesopotamian Origin of Early Indian Mathematical Astronomy", Journal for the History of Astronomy, 4: 1–12, Bibcode:1973JHA.....4....1P, doi:10...
'Pathani'. He went on to study Sanskrit, and later researched traditional Indianastronomy. During his youth time, Samanta measured the length of the shadows...
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