scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1093969

The paper provides a short overview of, and introduction to, the history of astronomy written in Sanskrit in India, divided into the following periods: 1) Of the period the civilization of the Indus valley, no evidence has come down to us. 2) Period of the Vedas (up until 500 B. C.): he presents the basic calendrical knowledge alluded to, in relation to the rituals, and refers to the observations mentioned. 3) Period of the Vedangas, or of the disciplines auxiliary to the Vedas, which help to the adequate performance of the rituals. 4) Period of the influence of the Ancient Greece astronomy and astrology, introduction of the zodiac (second to 4th century). 5) Period of the classical Hindu astronomy (5th to the 12th century). Besides the use of cosmological models and of trigonometry to determine the true locations of the celestial bodies, texts considered the three key problems of determining the cardinal orientations, the place and the time, 6) Period of the coexistence of the Hindu and Muslim astronomies (13th/14th to 18th/19th centuries). 7) Modern period, where modern and traditional astronomy coexist. The author explains the basic principles of the traditional Hindu folk calendar used today. A selected bibliography guides the reader into the literature on the topic.

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