Description du projet
Retracer les idées islamiques des sciences exactes dans l’astronomie sanskrite médiévale
L’influence des sciences islamiques sur l’astronomie sanskrite médiévale, notamment dans les œuvres sanskrites composées à la cour des Moghols (1500‑1800 après J.‑C.) de l’Inde des débuts de l’ère moderne, a fait l’objet d’un vif intérêt dans plusieurs études récentes. Pour mieux comprendre le processus de transmission des connaissances, le projet EMESAS, financé par l’UE, examine les œuvres canoniques (siddhāntas) de trois astronomes sanskrits contemporains du début du 17e siècle. L’objectif du projet est d’identifier les éléments de connaissance d’origine islamique dans leurs travaux et, ce faisant, de contextualiser la pratique et le processus d’assimilation des idées islamiques dans l’astronomie sanskrite médiévale.
Objectif
During the period of Mughal rule (1500 to 1800 CE) in early modern India, traditional Sanskrit astronomers actively engaged with Islamic (Ptolemaic) astronomy for the very first time. The EMESAS project proposes to study the canonical works (siddhāntas) of three Sanskrit astronomers from the early 17th century: Nityānanda, Munīśvara, and Kamalākara. The aim of this study is to find and analyse 'knowledge elements' found in their texts that are of Islamic origin, e.g. computational
methods, geometrical arguments, astronomical models, diagrammatic proofs, etc. In doing so, the EMESAS project will contextualize the process of transmission, reception, assimilation, and adaptation of Islamic ideas in medieval Sanskrit astronomy.
The Centre for the Study of Indian Science (CSIS), hosted by the Department of Cross-Cultural and Religious Studies at University of Copenhagen (UCPH), specializes in research on different aspects of Indian astral sciences like saṃhitā (omens), horā (astrology), and gaṇita (mathematical astronomy). This makes CSIS ideally suited to host the EMESAS project.
Under the supervision of Prof. Kenneth Zysk, the head of CSIS, the EMESAS project will examine Nityānanda's 'Sarvasiddhāntarāja' (1639 CE), Munīśvara’s 'Siddhāntasārvabhauma' (1646 CE), and Kamalākara’s
'Siddhāntatattvaviveka' (1658 CE). The research expertise at CSIS will enable this project to ask challenging questions: What motivated Sanskrit authors to discuss Islamic astronomical theories? What kind of technical explanations, mathematical vocabularies, and cultural tropes did Sanskrit authors adopt in accepting (or rejecting) foreign ideas? How did the scientific milieu of early 17th century Mughal India influence the development of Sanskrit astronomy? To answer these questions, the EMESAS project will develop a unique interdisciplinary approach that brings together philological, historical, and mathematical methods of analysis.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
1165 Kobenhavn
Danemark