Thursday, November 4, 2010

Astronomy during Mughal Period

Astronomy ; The 16th and 17th centuries saw a synthesis between  Islamic Astronomy,where Islamic obsevational techniques and instruments were employed techniques. While there appears to have been little concern for theoritical astronomy, Mughal astronomers continued  to make advances in observational astronomy and produced nearly a hundred Zij treatieses.Humayun built a personal observatory in near Delhi, while Jahangir and Shah Jahan were also intending to build observatories but were unable to do so. The instruments and observational techniques used at the Mughal observatories were mainly derived from the Islamic tadition. In particular, one of the most remarkable astronomical instruments invented in Mughal India is the seamless celestial globe .