Jagannatha Samrat: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Indian astronomer and mathematician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

'''Paṇḍita Jagannātha Samrāṭ''' (1652–1744) was an Indian [[astronomer]] and [[mathematician]] who served in the court of [[Jai Singh II of Amber]], and was also his guru.

Jagannātha, whose father's name was Gaṇeśa,<ref name=kvs/><ref name=na/> and grandfather's Viṭṭhala<ref name=na/> was from a [[Vedic priesthood|Vedic]] family<ref name=kvs/> originally from [[Maharashtra]].<ref name=na/>

At the suggestion of Jai Singh, he learned [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]], in order to study [[Islamic astronomy]].<ref name=kvs/><ref name=na/> Having become proficient in these languages, he translated texts in these languages into [[Sanskrit]].<ref name=kvs/><ref name=na/> These translations include:

* ''Rekhā-gaṇita'', a translation of [[Euclid]]'s ''[[Euclid's Elements|Elements]]'' made from [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]]'s Arabic recension of the same. For this work, he had to coin more than a hundred Sanskrit mathematical terms<ref name=kvs/>

* ''Siddhānta-sāra-kaustubha'', a translation of [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Almagest]]'' from [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]]'s Arabic version<ref name=kvs/><ref name=na/>

His original works include:

*‍''Siddhānta-samrāṭ'', which describes astronomical instruments, their design and construction, and observations. It also describes the use of these observations in correcting parameters and preparing almanacs. It mentions how J‌ai Singh, who earlier used astronomical instruments (such as the [[astrolabe]]) made of metal, later switched to huge outdoor observatories (such as the [[Jantar Mantar]]), as they were more precise; also they were made of stone and mortar rather than brick, to diminish the effects of wear-and-tear and climate.<ref name=kvs/>

* ''Yantra-prakāra'', which describes astronomical instruments, measurements, computations, etc. in more detail, and also observations made by him.<ref name=kvs/>

Jagannātha held that when theory and observation differed, observation was the true ''[[Pramana|pramāṇa]]'' and overruled theory.<ref name=na/> While he used and described a number of astronomical instruments, telescopes were not one of them.<ref name=na/>

{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=kvs>

{{Citation

| author = [[K. V. Sarma]]

| contribution = Jagannātha Samrāṭ

| editor = [[Helaine Selin]]

| title = Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

| year = 2008

| pages = 460–61

| publisher = Kluwer Academic Publishers

| bibcode = 2008ehst.book.....S

| place = Dordrecht

| publication-date = 1997

| contribution-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yoiXDTXSHi4C&pg=PA460

}}

</ref>

<ref name=na>{{cite encyclopedia | editor = Thomas Hockey | display-editors = etal | last = Achar | first = Narahari | title = Jagannātha Samrāṭ | encyclopedia = The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers | publisher = Springer | date = 2007 | location = New York | page = 584 | url=http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Jagannatha_Samrat_BEA.htm | isbn=978-0-387-31022-0}} ([http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Jagannatha_Samrat_BEA.pdf PDF version], [https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&pg=PA584 Google Books])</ref>

}}

*Harilal Harshadarai Dhruva. "The ''Rekhaganita'' or Geometry in Sanskrit", pp.&nbsp;35 ff. Bombay: Bombay Sanskrit Series, no. LXI, 1901.

{{Indian astronomy}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:17th-century Indian astronomers]]

[[Category:18th-century Indian astronomers]]

[[Category:17th-century Indian mathematicians]]

[[Category:18th-century Indian mathematicians]]

[[Category:Scientists from Rajasthan]]

[[Category:Scholars from Rajasthan]]

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{{india-mathematician-stub}}