Astronomy during ancient time - Ancient India History Notes

Astronomy first appeared in the Indian subcontinent during the Indus Valley civilization in the third millennium BCE, when it was used to create calendars. Because the Indus Valley civilization did not leave written records, the Vedanga Jyotisha, which dates from the Vedic period, is the oldest extant Indian astronomical text. The 4th and 6th centuries AD are considered the "Golden Age of India" because India made enormous advances in mathematics, astronomy, sculpture, and painting during this time period. In this article, we will discuss Astronomy during ancient times which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Astronomy During Ancient times - Features

• Astronomy has made great strides. Planetary motion was emphasised and closely monitored. The Jyotishvedanga texts established systematic categories in astronomy, but Aryabhatta dealt with the more fundamental issue.
• His Aryabhattiya is a short text of 121 verses. It includes sections on astronomical definitions, methods for determining the true position of the planets, the movement of the sun and moon, and the calculation of eclipses.
• The earth was a sphere that rotated on its axis, and when the earth's shadow fell on the moon, it caused a Lunar eclipse, and when the moon's shadow fell on the earth, it caused a Solar eclipse.
• The orthodox theory, on the other hand, explained it as a process in which the demon swallowed the planet. Varahamihira described all of these observations in Panch Siddhantika, which summarises the five schools of astronomy prevalent at the time.
• Aryabhatta deviated from Vedic astronomy and gave it a scientific perspective, which later astronomers followed.
• In ancient India, astrology and horoscopes were studied. Aryabhatta's theories marked a significant departure from astrology, which emphasised beliefs over scientific explorations.

Indian Astronomy and Vedas

• The Rigveda (c1700-1100 BCE), one of Hinduism's primary and foremost texts, contains the first records of sophisticated astronomy in India dating back to at least 2000 BCE.
• The ancient Indian astronomers used the stars and planets to create astrological charts and read omens, developing sophisticated mathematical models and many intriguing theories, many of which were passed down to the Islamic world and Europe.
• According to the Rigveda, the Indians divided the year into 360 days, which were then divided into 12 months of 30 days.
• Two intercalary periods were added every 5 years to bring the calendar back in line with the solar year, ensuring that years averaged 366 days.
• The Indian year, however, migrated four days every five years, and Indian astronomers constantly tweaked and adjusted their calendars over millennia.
• The text also demonstrates that the Indians used four cardinal points to ensure that altars were properly oriented.
• The Jyotisa Vedanga, the first Vedic text to mention astronomical data, records events as far back as 4000 BCE, though many archaeo astronomers believe it may include observations as far back as 11 000 BCE.
• They note that some of the records may have been copied from earlier manuscripts, but more research is needed in this area because many of the references are unclear and couched in religious terminology.
• Many advances in measuring time and the progression of the heavens occurred during this period, as well as a few proto-theories about the structure of the universe.
• More importantly, this time period witnessed the exchange of ideas between Indians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Persians. This exchange of theories and philosophy was critical to the advancement of astronomy.

Indian Astronomy and the Siddhantic Era

• During this time, a new branch of astronomy emerged that diverged from the Vedas. The Siddhantic Era began with the Siddhanat, or 'Solutions,' a series of books that charted the solar year, including solstices, equinoxes, lunar periods, solar and lunar eclipses, and planetary movements.
• The Siddhantic Era saw three great Indian astronomers, who are sadly little known in the west despite their significant contributions.
• At a time when the Greeks were still using celestial crystal spheres to explain the cosmos, Indian astronomers proposed that the stars were exactly like the sun but much further away by the first century CE.
• They also recognised that the earth was spherical, and Indian astronomers attempted to calculate the planet's circumference.

Aryabhata

• In his magnum opus Aryabhatiya (499), Aryabhata (476-550) proposed a computational system based on a planetary model in which the Earth was assumed to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the Sun.
• Many astronomical constants, such as the periods of the planets, times of solar and lunar eclipses, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon, were precisely calculated by him.
• Varahamihira, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II were among the early followers of Aryabhata's model.

Aryabhata,an Ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer

Bhaskara II

• Bhaskara II (1114-1185) was the head of the astronomical observatory in Ujjain, carrying on Brahmagupta's mathematical tradition.
• He composed the Siddhantasiromani, which is divided into two parts: Goladhyaya (sphere) and Grahaganita (mathematics of the planets).
• He also calculated to 9 decimal places the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. At the time, the Buddhist University of Nalanda offered formal courses in astronomy.

Varahamihira

• Varahamihira (c. 505 - c. 587) was a Ujjain-based ancient Indian astrologer, astronomer, and polymath (Madhya Pradesh, India).
• The Brihat Samhita, an encyclopedic work on architecture, temples, planetary motions, eclipses, timekeeping, astrology, seasons, cloud formation, rainfall, agriculture, mathematics, gemology, perfumes, and many other topics, was one of Varahamihira's most notable works.
• Indian astronomers proposed in the sixth century that the same force that held objects to the Earth also held the celestial bodies in place.
• Long before Newton, this was an advancement on Anaximander's concept of equilibrium and recognition of a proto-gravitational theory.
• Varahamihira proposed that objects must be held stationary by an attractive force.

Astronomy During Shunga Empire

• During the Shunga Empire, astronomy advanced, and many star catalogues were created. The Shunga period is known as India's "Golden Age of Astronomy."
• It saw the development of calculations for various planets' motions and positions, their rising and setting, conjunctions, and eclipse calculations.
• By the sixth century, Indian astronomers believed that comets were celestial bodies that reappeared on a regular basis.
• This was the view expressed by the astronomers Varahamihira and Bhadrabahu in the sixth century, and the 10th-century astronomer Bhattotpala listed the names and estimated periods of certain comets, but it is unclear how these figures were calculated or how accurate they were.

Conclusion

The Indian astronomers' influence did not end there, as their work was used by Islamic scholars and became one of the cornerstones of Islamic astronomy. During India's great Mughal Era (1526-1725), Hindu mathematical techniques combined with Islamic observational techniques resulted in significant advances in astronomy. These techniques became an important part of modern astronomy as a result of the British Colonial annexation of India.