Page 5 - Oct-Dec 2016

ZIJ ASTRONOMY HUMAYUN’S FALL
Post-siddhantic astronomy is known by many names On the evening of 24 January 1556, Mughal king
One of them being Zij. as the main occupation of these Humayun was sitting on the roof of his library
astronomers was to prepare zijes, i.e. mathematical tables. in Dinapanah (now called Old Fort in Delhi) with
There are three types of Zijes: astronomers. When he heard the prayer call, he
fell from the stairs and died two days later at the
(i) Zij-e-rashadi based on actual observations; age of 48. But do you know that Humayun was an
(ii) Zij-e-hisabi obtained by correcting observational expert in the field of astronomy? He improvised
tables for errors, precession, etc.; and on the instrument called astrolabe.

(iii) Zij-e-Tas'hil which were the simplified versions of
other tables - like the one which would deal with the
Moon only. OBSERVATORIES
The first astronomical tables in arabic were prepared by Jai singh set up a number of (pre-telescopic) masonry-
Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi by translating from type observatories. Few of his observatories are located
sanskrit. al-Khwarizmi's tables constituted a landmark in in Delhi (1721-24) and Jaipur (1728-34). he built smaller
the world history of astronomy and mathematics. ones at Mathura, ujjain and Varanasi between 1723
and 1734.

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest of the six
major observatories built by him. it not only follows the
movements of the sun and the Moon to help determine
auspicious dates for events, but also helps mapping
out the position of the stars in the sky. although no
telescopic instruments were available at the time, the
precise observation of the stars was greatly facilitated
by observatories such as Jantar Mantar.

ACTIVITY

MATCH THE FOLLOWING

Sanskrit English

gurutvam winter solstice
graha Date(d)
surya solar system ACTIVITY
Prakash summer solstice Can you name these instruments and
surya mandalam source of light describe how they worked.

Tithi Planet
uttarayan sun
Dakshinayan gravity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20