The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh (An Old and Rare Book)

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THROUGH the kindness of Sir John Marshall, C.I.E., Litt.D., etc., Director General of Archæology, and the Hon'ble Mr. H. Sharp, C.S.I., C.I.E., etc.. Educational Commissioner with the Government of India, I was able, in December and January 1915-16, to visit the old observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain and Benares, and this volume is a direct result of my tour. In the following chapters an attempt has been made to exhibit the known facts relating to Jai Sin Singh's astronomical work and to describe his instruments in some detail. The subject matter conveniently arranges itself into the following divisions: (i). Jai Singh's preparation for his astronomical researches; (ii) his own publications; (iii) the instruments of his predecessors that he employed; (iv) the instruments he devised; (v) the observatories he built; and (vi) an estimate of his work, etc. The sixth section presented some difficulty, chiefly because of the somewhat erroneous idea that prevails, that an account of Jai Singh is necessarily intimately connected with the history of Hindu Astronomy. To form a proper estimate of the value of Jai Singh's work, and to place it in correct relationship with that of his predecessors, it is, of course, necessary to have knowledge of the history of the develop ment of astronomy before his time; and, while there is abundance of literature on European and Muslim astronomy, there is at present no systematic account of Hindu astronomy generally available; so a second part of this work contain- ing a fairly full account of Hindu astronomy was under contemplation. But this would have altered the character of the book and Jai Singh would have ceased to be its principal feature: also, an account of Hindu astronomy will appear at the same time as this volume in the 'Open Court Classics of Science and Philosophy.' I have, therefore, here given only a summary of Hindu astronomy in so far as it is related to Jai Singh's labours, and fo further details would refer the reader to my other book.