Sawai Jai Singh and His Astronomy

Sawai Jai Singh, the statesman astronomer of 18th century India, made a great deal of effort to rejuvenate astronomy in India. Towards his ambitious goal, he designed astro-nomical instruments, built observato-ries, prepared a Zij or a text for astronomical calculations and sent a fact-finding scientific mission to Europe. His high precision instruments were designed to measure time and angles to the very limit of naked eye observations. At his observatories, Hindu pundits, Muslim nujuumis and European Jesuits worked side by side. Jai Singh spent enormous sums of money on his scientific pursuits and yet he failed to revive astronomy in India. Sawai Jai Singh and His Astronomy critically examines different facets of Sawai Jai Singh’s astronomical program and attempts to answer questions, such as, why he opted for naked eye masonry instruments when telescope had become common with European astronomers and why he failed to rejuvenate the science of astronomy in the country.