Comet tales from India.
1: ancient to medieval*Ramesh Kapoor#31, 4th B Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru - 560034, India
Email: rckapoor@outlook.com.

Abstract
This work is about sightings and astronomical observations of comets made from the Indian region, until the 18th
Century. The sources of the information are some classic texts and historiographies, publications and records ofinstitutions and chronicles and accounts by some individuals. The quest has enabled us to bring forth a number ofinteresting but hitherto lesser known or unknown observations of comets from India. These include a handful of
discoveries too that are not yet part of the cometographies.

1. INTRODUCTION
Since times immemorial, people have seen providence in situations developing in the sky,namely the conjunction of planets, eclipses, meteors and comets. Historians have often traced
history from the celestial phenomena, particularly the eclipses, the conjunctions and theapparitions of comets, recorded in chronicles and other sources. The significance of theserecords is inestimable. This work is about sightings and astronomical observations of comets
made from the Indian region, until the 18th Century. The sources of the information presented
here are some classic Indian texts and historiographies, publications and records ofinstitutions and chronicles and accounts by some individuals. The chief sources of
information since the beginning of the 17th Century are the communications of some Jesuit
priests in India, a number of travelogues and inscriptions. The telescope arrived in India soonafter its invention in Europe in 1609 and was put to astronomical use, initially sporadically.
The quest has enabled us to bring forth a number of interesting but hitherto unknown
observations of comets from India. These include a handful of discoveries too. Some of thematerial presented here has not yet entered the cometographies, by Pingré (1783, 84),
Williams (1871), Hasegawa (1979), Vsekhsvyatskii (1964) and Kronk (1999).
1.1. Tracing history from astronomical events in Indian works
In old times, the sight of a comet evoked fear and awe but also made for an extraordinary
description in many cultures. There is an embarrassing silence in the Indian literary texts andchronicles over their occurrences. There are hardly any real time observations or
phenomenology of the unusual celestial events, until the end of the 15th Century. The pretelescopic astronomy comets we have come to know of were all visually bright and therefore
at visual magnitudes of ~ 5 to 6 mag. or brighter at the most vantage points in the course of
their apparition. In the Indian texts, which comet is the oldest one on record?
The Vedānga Jyotisha (VJ; Vedānga – limb of the Veda) is the earliest Indian astronomicalcomposition. Composed by Lagadha, ca. 1180 BCE (Sarma 1984), when writing was yet tobe, its formulary amazes us with the subject matter it tackles. It was later redacted by ananonymous person circa 400 BCE (Subbarayappa and Sarma 1985, p. xxii). The VJ has two
recensions. The first one belongs to Ṛgveda and has 36 stanzas. It is a manual for computing
the civil calendar and determining times for the performance of various rituals. The VJ------------------------------------------------------------*An extended version of the work presented at the Fifth Symposium on Historical Records of Astronomy andModern Science, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, 22-24 March 2018.

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focuses mainly on the motion of the Sun and the Moon. It speaks of their location withrespect to the 27 nakshatras (the lunar mansions) at specific times and the times when the Sun
crosses equator, determination of the equinoxes, variation of the day length etc. The calendar
is luni-solar where the Sun fixes the seasons and the Moon fixes the dates and the moments.
The lunar calendar keeps correspondence with the solar year through the provision of adding
intercalary months at certain intervals, twice in five years period. The VJ contains noguidelines to computation of eclipses. It does not take the visible planets in its purview thatcame to be considered in later Indian astronomical texts only. The Mahābhārata (400 BCE –400 CE; Winternitz 1977, p. 465), Kautilya’s Arthashāstra (320-300 BCE), the Garg Samhitā(ca. 100 BCE; its oldest version being in the Ist Century CE according to Pingree 1963), thePaitāmaha Siddhānta as presented by Varāhamihira in the Pancha Siddhāntikā (505 CE) etc.
all followed the astronomical system in the Vedānga Jyotisa (Sarma 1984, p. 12). The Indian
astronomy texts zodiacs begin to figure in belong to the period 100 CE- 400 CE. Their
astronomy is pre-Surya Siddhānta, i.e., prior to the great advances in mathematical astronomy
that began to be made from 400 CE.
The Classical Age in the history of India, also known as the Gupta Age, commenced in the 4th
Century with the coronation of the king Chandragupta I (320 CE) and flourished until thetime of the king Yashovarman of Kannauj (740 CE). It was an age of enlightenment that
produced the most monumental works in literature, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy andsciences. In the astronomical works, there is nothing on comets. In the literary or religious
works, there is near absence of any reference inspired by the apparitions of bright and great
comets of history. Where there is an exception, it is not possible to ascertain if it is a
metaphor or a reflection of an apparition. Without the basics – the dates, forms and theasterisms these were seen near or moved through, it is difficult to make correspondence withthe sightings made elsewhere.
The Islamic historical records of the medieval period have been better in this respect.
Recording such events in the political history was a well-established tradition in the ‘Middle
East’ empires. It continued uninterrupted for a long time and even travelled to India. North
India was dominated by the Mughal Empire during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Mughal
chronicles mention a number of solar and lunar eclipses, fireballs and even comets. The
emperors took occurrence of eclipses and comets quite seriously and even sought remedial
measures. Towards close of the 18th century, the Muslim rule was already tottering. There
were no more political histories to be written and the tradition of recording naked-eye
observations of unexpected phenomena came to an end.
2. COMETS IN ANCIENT INDIAN TEXTSThe Ṛgveda is the oldest sacred book of the Hindus. A work in progress since 1500 BCE until
ca. 900 BCE (Kochhar 2000, p. 222), it is a collection of 1028 hymns, composed by a numberof priest families. The hymns include invocation of gods, the ritual hymns and description of
battles, etc. In the Ṛgveda and some later Indian compositions like Atharva Veda, Parāsara
Samhitā (samhitā – collection of hymns), Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas etc., a certain word
ketu appears that is used in the sense of an utpāta, meaning a serendipitous/unusual
phenomenon such as a comet or a meteor. However, their astronomical content is flimsy.
The first major work that delves at some length into the ketus is the Bṛhat Samhitā anencyclopaedic tract on astrology and other subjects composed in 505 CE by Varāhamihira(485-587 CE; Bhat 1986). It deliberates on eclipses, planetary movements, cloud formationand other natural phenomena etc. In a chapter Ketuchāra, Varāhamihira provides amorphological description of the ketus that about resemble features noticed in comets. He
draws from earlier works like the Nārada Samhitā but does not write from actual
observations. He even acknowledges periodicity in comet apparitions but the figures cited are2

on presumption only. Varāhamihira states that it is not possible to determine mathematicallythe rising or setting of the ketus (comets) since there are three different categories of ketus,
namely, celestial, atmospheric and terrestrial. The celestial ketus are seen amid the stars in thefirmament whereas the atmospheric ones are those seen on flag staffs, weapons, trees andmansions, etc. The terrestrial ones differ from those described above. Varāhamihira describes
numerous forms and, amazingly, presents a taxonomy that covers a thousand ketus.
Among the many ketus, Varāhamihira describes an interesting form, the chalaketu (chala formoving) that makes its appearance in the west direction. Of all the forms, chalaketu is the
only ketu that stands out with as much astronomical content. It has a crest. It is raised a digit
high and has its head directed southwards. As it moves northwards, it grows in length. It
touches the Seven Ṛshis (Sages), Dhruva (pole star) and the nakshatra Abhijit (Vega). The
chalaketu traverses half the length of the sky and then turns back to set in the south. Thatmight be about a comet but there is nothing to suggest any real time observations. The
description suggests its becoming circumpolar at some point of its journey. Going throughaccounts of comets in Kronk (1999) sighted during the period 675 BCE– 505 CE, we do finda few prominent comets that could fit this description. The few whose orbits have been
determined are C/400 F1, C/418 M1 (the eclipse comet) and C/442 V1. Among the three, thecomet C/400 F1 seen in the year 400 CE comes nearest the description. But that proves
nothing. There is at least one comet in our lifetime, noticeable naked eye that leaves anindelible mark on the mind. In Varāhamihira’s lifetime, there were 33 comets on records. He
may not have observed them all but he could not have ignored the visit of the Halley’s Cometin 530 CE. There is no commentary on it from any quarters.
Vallālasena (Ballāl Sena) the ruler of Bengal who ascended the throne in 1160 CE deserves
mention here for his great interest in astronomy. He was a learned man who engaged inobservations, determined winter and summer solstices and considered celestial phenomena ina tome Adbhutasāgara that he began in 1168 CE. After his death, the work was completed byhis son Lakshmaṇasena. Adbhutasāgara is composed on the lines of the Bṛhat Samhitā. It too
has a chapter on ketus including reference to dhūmketus but mirrors Bṛhat Samhita in its
treatment. There is nothing that may even remotely suggest of comets actually observed.
Among the prominent comets in the times of the Senas, the Halley’s Comet rose in the year
1066 CE (1P/1066 G1) and in 1145 CE (1P/1145 G1).There are references to dhūmaketus inmany Sanskrit texts that have been dated but it is difficult to associate any to the comets seenin the times. There are comets mentioned in the great epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana also.
We take these up here below, only because the references have attracted the scholars fromtime to time.
2.1. A comet reference in the epic Mahābhārata
In the Bhīshmaparva of the epic Mahābhārata, the sage Vyāsa narrates at length to the king
Dhrutarāshtra the worrisome circumstances developing just as the royal siblings with theirarmies stand face to face in the battlefield. The sage points to the many ominous terrestrial
and celestial circumstances like the peculiar planetary postures, two consecutive eclipses at an
unusual interval of thirteen days and a monstrous comet all indicative of disruption of theworld order. The stanza 3:3:13 in the Epic alludes to the appearance of a dhūmaketu (comet)
thus:
Dhūmaketurmahāghorāh Pushyam chakramya tishthati,
senayorasivam ghoram karishyati mahāgraha.
{A formidable comet has seized the Pushya nakshatra and is stationed there; this great graha willcause great havoc to both the armies}.

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The Pushya nakshatra mentioned above is a lunar mansion, represented by the star δ Cancri.
The information is insufficient and any interpretation requires complex issues to address suchas the state of knowledge of astronomy and the sciences as also the feasibility. The Sage’s
prognosis, concern and warnings did not stop the Great War that went on for eighteen days.
The age of the War is not known. According to some, the war, if there was one, may havetaken place in the window 1400 BCE - 1000 BCE (Majumdar et al. 1990, p. 251). The Epic
was composed much later and the astronomical references are even later interpolations. The
astronomy here is pre-Siddhāntic, < 400 CE. The Sage’s premonitions involve all theconceivable ominous situations in the sky. That cannot be from prescience. A few scholars
identify the comet in the Mahābhārata as the Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley). We may ask, when
did this comet pass near the Pushya (δ Cancri)? Over the writing period of the Epic, the comet
did so in several of its returns, namely those in 12 BCE, 141 CE, 295 CE, 451 CE and 530
CE. However, as the astronomical circumstances in the Bhīshmaparva are self-inconsistent,
the eclipses and the comet described therein are unidentifiable.
2.2. A comet in the Buddhist text Divyāvadānam
The reference to a comet in a particular nakshatra as ominous is not unique to Mahābhārata.
There is a near identical reference in the Shardūlakarnāvadānam in the Buddhist Sanskrit text
Divyāvadānam (200-350 CE Vaidya 1959; Ist Century CE Pingree 1981, p. 68); here, divya –divine, avadāna – narrative. It speaks of a comet in Pushya - Dhūmaketurmahābhagah
pushyamarūdha tishthati…. - O, sir! When a comet occupies Pushya there is defeat in attacks
from all four quarters (Stanza 466). This may be a general reference but its being Pushya
specific arouses curiosity. In this case, it could be the memories of the Halley’s Comet seen in
141 CE. The significance of Pushya lies in the longitude of its beginning (93°20'), thus amarker of the Summer Solstice point. The comet first seen on 26 March was still very brightwhen it passed by Pushya on 26 April evening. However, before that, the brilliant object
passed also by Uttarabhadrapada (γ Pegasi) on the morning of 13 April, Asvini (β Arietis) on
19 April morning, and Krittikā (Pleiades) on 21 April evening. The next notable comet until
200 CE is 109P/188 O1 Swift-Tuttle seen in 188 CE that passed very close by the Earth but
not near Pushya.
2.3. A comet in the epic Rāmāyana
Sage Vālmīki’s epic Rāmāyana (300 BCE – 200 CE; Winternitz 1977, p. 516-7) is the storyof Lord Rāma. Vālmīki, as the legend goes, belonged to Lord Rāma’s age. The Epic contains
references to a few astronomical circumstances, those at the time of his birth, around when heis banished to the forests for 14 years, the great march of his army to ‘Lanka’, the abode ofthe demon king Rāvaṇa and the war with him, etc. Rāma’s period is indeterminable. There isa horoscope featuring in the Epic but it is an interpolation since the zodiacs came to India
from Alexandria along with the Hellenistic astrology around the middle of the Ist Century CE.
It presupposes that this knowledge existed in Lord Rāma’s times. In a later chapter, theYuddhakānda that narrates Rāma’s battle with Rāvaṇa, there is reference to a comet near aparticular naksatra (Vālmiki 1991, 6:4:52-53, p. 678), as follows:‘Nairritam nairritanam cha nakshatram abhipīdyaté,
Mūlam mūlavata sprushtam dhupyaté dhūma ketunā,
Sarvam cha aetad vināshāya rakshasanam upasthitam’,i.e., the nakshaatra Mūlam of the rākshasas (demons) is badly situated such that it is touched by adhūmaketu (comet) that has arisen with tail of light and is bedeviled by it. All this has come to be forthe destruction of the rākshasas because those who are destined so, their own nakshatra is inflicted bya graha’.

4What comet passed over the Mūlam (λ Scorpii)? Among the comets recorded since antiquity
until the year 200 CE, the only comet that comes close is C/-146 P1. It was discovered by the
Chinese on the evening of 6 August 147 BCE 20º south of the Fang (β, δ, π, ρ Scorpii) anddescribed as a ‘tangle star’. According to Hasegawa (1979), the comet had passed its
perihelion on 28 June; q=0.43 AU, i=71º. It passed closest by the Earth on 3 Aug (0.143 AU).
The comet was seen on 7 Aug northeast of Hsin (α, σ, and τ Scorpii; Jyestha) and on 8 Aug
north of Wei (ε, ξ, η, ι, κ, λ and μ Scorpii) when it had a tail extending to 60º. The comet C/146 P1 was then trailing the Sun, moving northeast and possibly its tail touched Mūlam. Thatwould be around the time of its discovery. If the observation in the Epic is for real, the comet,
an evening object, must have been seen by its author around the same point of time as the
Chinese.
2.4. A Sangam Age reference to a star in flames
A Sangam Age Tamil classic Purananuru (also Puram) carries reference in the verse 229 to
the appearance of an unusual object in the sky. To the poet, it is portending imminent death of
the Cheran king Mantaran Cheral Irumborai. The Sangam – an assembly of poets, wasestablished by the Pandyan kings at Madura. The earliest Sangam literature was oral,
composed between 100 BCE and 250-300 CE regarded as a period of prosperity,
enlightenment and literary accomplishments. The poetry was initially secured on palm leaves
and, as the script for the language evolved, into anthologies in the 8th – 9th centuries.
Puranānuru is part of the Ettuthokai (The Eight Collections), one of the anthologies of theThird Sangam. It contains 400 poems composed by about 150 poets and is a valuable sourceof social history of the times. Most of the Puram poems are from the 2nd Century (Majumdar
et al 1990, pp. 291-300; Zvelebil 1992, Ch 4).
The Wikipedia (2010) entry on the king Mantaran Cheral Irumborai gives a brief on his
history, citing also from the verses 20, 22, 32, 53 and 229. Its anonymous writer considered
the astronomical reference in the Puram 229 to be alluding to a comet seen in the month ofMarch-April and identified it with the Halley’s Comet in its apparition of 141 CE aroundFebruary-April first week:“Seven days after a bright comet appeared in the sky, amidst the Mesha constellation, past midnight on
the first leg of the starday of Krittikai in the month of Panguni in the first quarter of Anusham (PN:
229), with North star going down on the west, Moolam rising from the east and Mrigasirisha
wandering above towards north and east of the port of Tondi, Mantaran Cheral Irumborai diedsuddenly", Thus the prediction of an imminent loss for the kingdom by the council of Vaanaviyal
Kanidar (ancient Tamil astrologers) came to be agonisingly true”.
The verse Puram 229 is probably the first record of a celestial apparition in an Indian literarycomposition that has a specific astronomical content. The question is if it can be dated. The
composer describes the night sky using naksatras to stress the significance of a certain event.
Planets and eclipses do not figure in here. So, was it the apparition of a comet or a fireball?
The words as in the verse that come close are kanaiyeri – ball of fire, and orumīn – a star with
tail.
The many translations of the Tamil poem by scholars invariably bring in zodiacs to a place
and an era that did not yet know them. The celestial circumstances by themselves do not settle
the dates. In my preliminary study, a comet rather than a meteoroid fits the circumstances. If
it was a comet, the Halley’s Comet of 141 CE is a strong contender. However, its apparition
appears to be somewhat out of step with the description of the night sky. The king may havedied somewhat earlier than the Halley’s Comet reached its moments of glory. There is noother comet known within several decades on either side of this apparition that would havebeen as spectacular and qualify for similar mention. This work is in progress.

52.5. A comet in the MrcchchhakatikamMṛichchhakaṭika (Stenzler 1947) composed by Śūdraka (2nd – 5th Century CE) is one of theoldest yet most regarded of the Sanskrit dramas. It carries references to certain astronomical
circumstances. Its Act VI refers to the placement of some of the planets in certain houses. The
description is horoscopic and with an ominous tilt. Hermann Jacobi examined theastronomical information and contended that the Act could not have been written before the
4th Century CE.
In the Act IX of Mṛichchhakaṭika, there is reference to a comet and the planets Mars andJupiter. This circumstance has not been explored. Chārudatta, the protagonist is implicated in
the murder of his lover Vasantasenā and stealth of her ornaments. He is produced before ajudge and is convicted. In the course of his trial, Adhikāraṇika (the Judge) at some point (ActIX, 33) exclaims
Angārakaviruddhasya prakshīṇasya Bṛhaspatéha |Graho yayamaparah pārshvé dhūmaketurivotthitaha ||‘What misery! By the side of an emaciated Jupiter whose adversary is Mars, this other planet like acomet has arisen’.
It is not certain if the two circumstances in the play were imagined or were inspired from
actual celestial occurrences. I have examined the circumstances and computed the planetary
positions using modern planetary theory models. All through 100 BCE-600 CE, the celestialconfiguration in the Act VI obtains only on 9 November 309 CE and on 29 November 546
CE, though not as exactly as presented in the text. The astronomical circumstances in the Act
IX involving the comet and the two planets apparently have only one match in the
cometographies, namely, in the apparition of the Great Comet of October 191 CE. The two
astronomical circumstances are mutually exclusive.
It appears that, rather than the circumstances, the astronomy in the play can define thewindow of Śūdraka’s period better. A work Yavanajātaka is the first composition in Sanskritpresenting Greek astrology and horoscopy where solar zodiacs appear; according to Mak(2013), this work may be dated > 22 CE. Mṛichchhakaṭika can only be later than the
Yavanajātaka. In the Act IX, the planets Mars and Jupiter come about as adversaries. The twoplanets as adversaries is a concept of Greek astrology that flowed into India prior to which thetwo were regarded friends. We find the two designated as friends in a later astrological textVṛddhayavanajātaka of Mīnarāja (300-325 CE). This suggests that Mṛichchhakaṭika shouldbe earlier than Vṛddhayavanajātaka. The Mṛichchhakaṭika may belong to late 3rd - early 4th
Century CE, a window consistent with the considerations of history and literature.
2.6. The comet in Dnyāneshwari (Gyāneshwari)
Gyāndeva, or Sant Gyāneshwara (Dnyāneshwara 1275-96), was a great saint poet andreformer and is highly revered for his Dnyāneshwarī or Bhāvārtha Dīpika, an interpretation in
poetry of the great philosophy in the Bhagwad Gītā for the masses who could not follow
Sanskrit. It is regarded as one of the greatest works in Marathi literature. One of the stanzas
from the Dnyāneshewarī (16:319; Dandekar 1953, p. 620) carries the word ketu:‘Udaijaṇé ketūchén jaisén, vishwā anishtāchi doshén,
Janmatī té taisé, lokān ātūn’,meaning that a comet brings along misfortune to the world. The Dnyaneshwarī is considered
to have been completed in 1290 (Bhandarkar 1884). The question is: was the comet reference

6inspired by a sighting? The comets of relevance here are those of 1277, 1282 and 1285 but
none of these was significant enough. The only comet that can be considered in this phase isthat of the year 1293, namely, C/1293 V1. It was discovered on the morning of 20.8
November by the Koreans and last seen on 22.8 December. The comet finds mention in the
Chinese and Japanese texts too (Kronk 1999). It is a parabolic comet with q=0.78 AU, i=30°;
it passed its perihelion on 28 Oct 1293 and closest by the Earth on 22 November from 0.1795
AU. At its best, it had shown up with a tail just ~1º long. The next comet worth a note was theHalley’s (1P/1301 R1) itself. Thus, if the Dnyāneshwarī meant it, it can be C/1293 V1 only.
2.7. Comet references in the Kashmiri chronicle
There are a few comet references to be found in the Kashmiri chronicles. The great Sanskrit
work Rājatarangiṇī (The River of Kings) by Pandit Kalhaṇ written during the years 1148-50
CE chronicles the rulers of Kashmir from the earliest times, the King Gonanda I regarded byhim as contemporary of the king Yudhishthira of Mahābhārata, until the reigning kingJayasimha (1127-50/59?). The tradition was continued, centuries later, by Jonarāja (ca. 13891459 CE), his disciple Srīvara covering 1459-86 CE and Prāgyabhatta and his disciple Shuka
until 1586 CE when Kashmir was annexed by Jalāl-ud-dīn Akbar to the Mughal Empire. The
dates in the Rājatarangiṇī texts are in the Laukika calendar that begins from the March/Aprilof 3076 BCE. To recall, Islam came to Kashmir in early 14th Century.
The Rājatarangiṇī under different authorships cites a few instances of eclipses and comet
apparitions. That makes Rājatarangiṇī the first Indian work of history where references madeto the celestial circumstances can be subjected to a cross check with other sources.
Surprisingly, Kalhaṇ himself missed out referring to a spectacular Halley’s Comet (1P/1145
G1) that appeared during mid-April - early July in 1145 CE and the celestial sensation would
have been fresh in popular memory.
The first comet reference in the Rājatarangiṇī belongs to the king Zain-ul-Ᾱbidīn’s reign
who ruled Kashmir during 1420-70 CE. He is considered one of the most enlightened Muslim
rulers in India. He was a learned man, a poet with command over Persian, Hindi, Kashmiri
and Sanskrit, who encouraged scholarly pursuits (Singh 1976, p. 7). However, the last 20
years of his rule were not peaceful due to the tussle among his sons for the throne, an
unsparing famine in 1460 and then the devastating floods. The apparition of the comet with along tail and how it was seen as a portent to the turbulent times for the king and the people isdescribed by Srīvara in the stanzas 1.7.10-18 (Kaul 1966, p. 78-79). The first two of thestanzas reads so:Ityātankāgamé seturhetuh sarvajanakshayé,athottaradishā rātrau dhūmaketurdrshyata (1.7.10)
dīrghapuchchhochchhalatkantitatketukapatād
kālen drughaṇam kshiptam kshayāyev mahīkshitām (1.7.11)
Dutt (1986, p. 153) condenses the elaborate description in the stanzas to‘A comet was seen at night in the north. Its long tail was of resplendent beauty. For a period of twomonths the comet was visible in the clear sky…The people saw signs of a severe calamity to thecountry…’.
Srīvara sees in it God’s wrath who in the shape of the bright tailed form has thrust his scimitar
to destroy the kings. He also mentions of eclipses of the Moon and Sun that occurred within afortnight. To add to the severity further, the Sun transited into the next sign on an

7inauspicious day (1.7.16). This scared the people into believing the circumstances as portentsof doom. Sultān Zain-ul-Ᾱbidīn who faced long drawn out tribulations in life died in 1470.
According to Kak (2008), the Rājatarangiṇī carries references to three comets and identifies
these as C/1468 S1, the Halley’s Comet 1P/1531 P1 and C/1533 M1 respectively. The first ofthese, namely C/1468 S1 belongs to Zain-ul-Ᾱbidīn’s reign. Elsewhere, the comet was first
noticed on 17.8 Sept in Ursa Major by Chinese astronomers and independently observed by
the Japanese and in Europe. By 21 Sept, it showed up as a white-blue object with a tail 30º
long. The comet passed closest by the Earth on 1 Oct from 0.6691 AU and brightened up to
its maximum on 2 Oct when it reached a visual magnitude mV ~1-2. It passed its perihelion on
7.3 Oct UT and was last sighted on 18.4 November (Kronk 1999).
What can the Sun’s transit on an inauspicious day mean? After the comet of 1468 was firstspotted, the sign the Sun moved into was Scorpio, i.e., passed the longitude 210º, on 14th
October (03:36 UT, Friday). In Islam, the sign of Scorpio is evil and implies affliction to the
populace. In the Hindu system, a calculation suggests that the Vraschika Samkrānti (thepassage into the zodiac Scorpio) would have taken place on 29th of October, 22h12m,
Saturday, Ujjain time. We can not know which astrological system the author pandits referred
to – the Islamic or the Hindu astronomical. In fact, through the comet’s visibility phase, theSun had traversed both: it first moved into the tropical sign and then passed into the sidereal
zodiac. Being a Hindu, how Srīvara meant it to be is not clear.
Slaje (2012, pp. 33-48) on the other hand identifies the first comet in the Rājatarangiṇī as theHalley’s Comet 1P/1456 S1, while dismissing that of 1468. It was first seen on the morningof 26.8 May, passed closest by the Earth on 18 June and was last seen on 8.83 July UT. In thiscase, the Sun passed the solstice on the 12th June (14:45 UT, Saturday) to enter the sign ofCancer and turn southwards. As per the Hindu calendar, the Karka Samkrānti (transit into
Cancer) would have taken place on the 28th of June, 23h29m, Monday. That for the Hindus
marks beginning of Dakshiṇāyana – an uncharitable period.
The comets of 1456 and 1468 were both bright and spectacular. These fit in but the eclipses
suggested by Kak (2008) and Slaje (2012) to have followed the apparition do not. We dismiss
the penumbral eclipses from consideration since these are not counted in the traditional
astronomers’ calculation. The commoners most often do not notice a penumbral. In Fred
Espenak’s Eclipse Tables, the first relevant eclipse-pair is that of 3 July (lunar) and 18 July
1460 (solar), both partial in Kashmir. Post 1468, the first relevant pair is that of the partial
solar of 25 Feb 1476 and the total lunar of 10 Mar 1476. That suggests that Srīvara clubbed
the celestial circumstances postscript though these were far apart in time. The comet of 1468
would be fresh in memory and if it was the Sun’s position in Scorpio that added to people’s
apprehensions, then the comet C/1468 S1 is it.
A ketu reference occurs in Shuka’s Rājatarangiṇī (Singh, 1976, p. 147, sloka 47)
corresponding to the Laukika year 4607 (≡1531 CE). This reference is made in the context ofthe bearing of a signage (banner) in the likeness of a ketu by the bride of a brave Kācha
Chakravarti to show her displeasure over his marching out to a distant place to fight theenemy forces. This is interpreted by Dutt (1986, p. 369) as the appearance of a comet in thewest and by Kak (2008) as the Halley’s Comet (1P/1531 P1). However, there is no additional
information or phenomenology here. Halley’s Comet would rather evoke a stronger response
whereas Shuka’s ketu reference seems to be terminological only. Having settled that, themystery remains how Shuka missed a spectacular Halley’s Comet, followed by yet anotherone in 1532, whereas he became more effusive about a bright comet that arose a year later.
A later reference to a comet in Shuka’s Rājatarangiṇī (Singh 1976, p. 177-8; Sloka 88-90)
corresponding to the Laukika year 4609 rests on a firmer ground. He describes the turbulent
times when a Kāskar army attacked Kashmir in late 1532 and created havoc through the8months of Jan- March of 1533. The Kāskars were barbarians who came from hilly areas
between Afghanistan and Chitral. The Kashmiris rose to fight the Kāskars and peace returned
later with the latter’s departure, as also that of the Mughal invaders under Mirza Haidar, bytruce with the daughter of the king given in matrimony. This happened towards the end of themonth of Shawwāl 939 AH (≡24 May 1533 CE) / Jyestha of the Laukika year 4609
(beginning 25 May 1533). Then, as if to torment the people, there arose a comet in the eastern
and western sky, seen all night. Shuka speaks about the great famine that year and relates it to
the fall of stars on the fields from the sky all over around the harvest time of rice when the
comet was seen again.
That should be about the comet C/1533 M1. As per the Korean records, the comet was firstseen on the morning of 27 June. It had passed its perihelion on 15.417 June UT. A doctor
Rainer Frisius found that the comet was circumpolar on 9 July and it was later seen on theevening of 12 July at an altitude of 7º. The Chinese recorded sighting a ‘broom star’ in theconstellation of Auriga on 1 July in the morning that had reached a visual brightness of 0mag. Seen in Europe, its head shone brighter than Jupiter on 7 July while on 21 July, it
showed up with a tail that measured 15° in length (Vsekhsvyatskii 1964). It passed the closest
by the Earth on 2 August from 0.4211 AU and was last seen on 16.5 Sept (Kronk 1999).
The observation that stars fell from the sky is interesting. It suggests of a meteor shower. The
reference assumes significance for Perseids, associated with the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle(P=133.28 yr; JPL) and known to mankind since the last two millennia, are observed in
between 17 Jul – 24 Aug. The showers peak in the period 9-14 Aug and have shown aconsistency with little variation in numbers. Today keen observers focus on the midnight of
12/13 Aug while the constellation rises. But, that is not as simple as it seems. Hughes andEmerson (1982) in their study of the Perseids have shown how the epoch of the maximum
activity of the showers has changed in the course of about two millennia as a result ofprogression in the descending node of the orbit of the Perseids due almost entirely to theprecession of the equinox. The earliest recorded date of the showers is 17 July 36 CE. In
contrast, their peak activity in 1980 was on 12.3 August. There are no observations on recordin the year 1533 and so we interpolate between the on-record dates for the 1451 and 1581
showers. These dates are 27 Jul (5 Aug Gregorian) and 26 Jul (5 Aug Gregorian) respectively.
There are different estimates of the comet’s tail around these dates. Gasser reported a tail 5ºwhereas the Chinese noted a tail 10º long (Kronk 1999). We have no other meteor shower asprominent as the Perseids around the time of the comet’s high visibility. The Kashmiri
chronicles are qualitative about the timeline here but if the celestial fireworks in Shuka’s
description are the Perseids, the date of the record should be around their peak activity, viz.,27 July 1533 (Julian), give or take a few nights. The Full Moon was on the 4th August. Thissuggests that the best view of the showers as well as the comet was available since the latter
was approaching the Earth passing it closest on the 2nd. Until 5 August the comet was amorning object.
That may be the first record of a meteor shower in an Indian chronicle.
Notably, the Rājatarangiṇīs (1148-1586) feature only two bright comets and relate theirapparitions to turbulence in political and civil life. No other comet including the Halley’s
appearing through the entire period of their writing receives such a mention. The chronicles
being the first dateable works, such references could have served an important purpose.
Eclipses as ominous occurrences have ruled Indian life through the ages. There is hardly an
eclipse here related by the authors to current affairs of the ruler or the state of the people.
There is nothing on planetary conjunctions either. A grand conjunction of the sevenluminaries took place on 4 Feb 1524 when all the planets lay within ~25º of each other. This
included the notorious Rahu (the ascending node and counted as a planet) to make theconjunction into the most dreaded of them all, the ashtagraha yoga; there was also an annular9solar eclipse that day (not visible over India). Thanks to printing technology, the apocalyptic
prognostications of the grand conjunction of 1524 charged all of Europe in a collective scare
but it did not register with Shuka.
2.8. The comet in the scripture Sri Guru Granth Sāhib
The great poet-saint Guru Nānak (1469-1539 CE) was the founder of Sikhism. The Sikhs’sacred book Sri Guru Granth Sāhib (SGGS) comprises of the teachings of their Gurus (theTeachers) including several other saints. Its final redaction was prepared by the tenth Sikhguru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708). Two celestial occurrences find place in the incidents
related to Guru Nānak or in his teachings. The first one referred to as lammā tārā (long star)
figures in a hymn in the Sri Guru Granth Sāhib and the other a solar eclipse that occasioned
while Guru Nānak was visiting Kurukshetra, a pilgrimage centre for the Hindus.
In the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, one finds a beautiful blend of spiritual poetry and of music
which all the Gurus were great connoisseurs of. The first guru Guru Nānak observed natural
phenomena very keenly and wove some of them into his poetry metaphorically. In his hymns
set in Tukhāri, a rāga (a scale of notes) sung in the evening, he refers to the rising of a longstar in the sky (SGGS, First Mehl, pp. 1110-11) so:
Tara chadhiya lamma kiu nadari nihalia Ram ||Sewak puur karma Satiguru sabadi dikhalia Ram ||[The meteor shoots across the sky. How can it be seen with the eyes? The True Guru reveals the Wordof the Shabad (group of hymns) to His servant who has such perfect karma].

A few lines later, Guru Nānak repeats the reference:
Nanak haumai mari patine tara chadhiya lamma |Gurumukhi jagi rahe chooki abhimani Ram|(O Nanak, killing his ego, he is satisfied; the meteor has shot across the sky. The Gurumukhs remain
awake and aware; their egotistical pride is eradicated).

The word tārā, translated above as meteor, actually means a star so that the phrase Tārāchadhiyā lammā that literally means ‘a long star has risen’ would refer to a comet rather thana meteor that does not ‘rise’ and is only a momentary spectacle. Could the phrase - a long star
has risen mean a fireball? Such an event will be accompanied by a sonic boom and may evenharm structures and people. A great meteor shower would register but then the scripturalobservation would be different from the above. The long star referred to in the phrase should
be a comet, and most probably the Halley’s Comet in its apparition in 1531. It was seen firstby the Chinese on the morning of 4.8 August with a tail of over 1° when it would have beenin the constellation of Auriga. The apparition is historic for another reason when Apianus
showed in his famous work Cosmographia from five consecutive observations of the comet
during 13-17 August that its tail was always directed away from the Sun. The comet passed
closest to the Earth on 14 August from a distance of 0.4414 AU and its perihelion on 26.239
August (UT). It was last seen on 8.5 September UT as an evening object. The comet wassighted for 34 days on.
The desired clue to the goings on in the sky is probably vested in a phrase that can mean it
only when the comet is in ascendance – in brightness and in form. The lines in the Sri Guru
Granth Sāhib that follow the ones quoted last suggest this out - Night and day, it is dawn forthem; they merge in the True Lord. The Gurmukhs are merged in the True Lord; they arepleasing to His Mind. To see in these verses a parallel with the celestial form may besubjective but, in its pre-perihelion phase, the long star was surely getting progressively
spectacular and appearing to rush for a grand union with the lord of the sky, the Sun.

10

After 14 August, the comet would be moving away from the Earth and gradually lose inbrilliance. We may therefore take the comet to have been noticed around the times it flew by
the Earth when with its noticeable movement and the developing form and brilliance it would
have made a lasting impression. That makes it to be in the period 10 -14 August. We presume
clouds of a rainy season permitted the sighting, early in the morning and near the horizon, andmore than once. After 14 August, the comet headed southeast moved up high into the evening
sky losing some brilliance.
The other notable comets appearing in Guru Nānak’s lifetime are: C/1490 Y1 discovered on
31.5 December by the Chinese in the evening in the constellation of Vulpecula, C/1499 Q1
discovered on 16.6 August by the Chinese in Hercules, C/1500 H1 discovered on 7.8 May by
the Chinese near the Capricornus-Aquarius-Pisces region, C/1506 O1 discovered on 31.5 Julyby the Chinese within the region around Draco-Ursa Major-Camelopardalis and, after the
Halley’s, the bright comet of late 1532. There is no comet in Guru Nānak’s lifetime thatwould have been as magnificent as the Halley’s. This is significant considering that the recordof sighting of a comet in an Indian scripture has so far not been identified.
Notably, eclipses, whether of the Sun or the Moon, were considered auspicious occasions
when the Hindus throng to the nearest river, engage in ceremonial ablution and oblation andoffer charity. Among these, Kurukshetra, a holy place associated with Lord Kṛshna andMahābhārata, holds the highest significance and referred to in the ancient texts like thepurāṇas. Of the many eclipses occurring in between the relevant period of 1498-1521 during
which Guru Nānak undertook long journeys to spread his mission, the solar eclipse of 13
January 1507 is the most probable one. The eclipse is historical in the sense that it is the firstobservational record of an eclipse in India to be depicted in a 19th Century mural at the
Gurudwārā Bābā Atal Sāhib Ji at Amritsar. Elsewhere, I have discussed these references indetail (Kapoor 2017).
2.9. Sant Eknāth on comets
We come across in a Marāthī epical poem Eknāthī Bhāgawata by Sant Eknāth (1533-99;
Datta 2006), the great religious Marāthī poet and social reformer, two verses 6.282 and 30.69
on his sighting of three comets. Apparently, these are all at one time. The epic is an erudite
exposition on the Canto XI of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, a Hindu religious work. The three
comets are described thus (30.69):‘Gagani ugavalé trividhketu, dandaketu, dhūmaketu,
Shikhāketu ati adbhuta, divasā disat sarvāhi’,‘there arose in the sky three comets, namely dandaketu, dhūmaketu. Shikhāketu is spectacular, visible
in the day.’
The description in the other poem is very similar. Herein, dhūm means smoke and danda
means staff. Wagh (1989) identifies the last one, Shikhāketu, with the Great Comet of 1577.
The identification seems to be in order but if the Eknāthī Bhāgawata was composed during
1570-73 as is believed (Datta 2006), then the verses on comets might be later interpolations
only, perhaps by the poet himself after viewing the Great Comet that went on to become asensational daylight object. There are only two comets during the stated period ofcomposition of the Bhāgwata, the one seen in November 1570 and that of 1573. There is no
information from elsewhere on the former comet except that it was seen from Europe whereas
the latter is reported in a Chinese text as a broom star seen during July in Pisces (Hasegawa
1979). The next in line is the comet of 1576. However, none of these was so significant as tomerit description as an adbhuta (spectacular) object. Therefore, it is as well that the Eknāthī
Bhāgawata was open until at least end of 1577. Around the times of its discovery, the Great11

Comet was a low declination object. It is likely to have been spotted by the poet around then
only. What is remarkable is his terminology for comets that must have come from his
exposure to traditional tracts such as the Bṛhat Samhitā etc.
It is interesting to note that the supernova burst of November 1572 in Cassiopeia, one of the
few seen in our Milky Way and called Tycho’s Nova, had taken place during the years of thecomposition. It rose in visual brightness to daytime visibility matching that of Venus. There is
no word on it in any literary composition.
3. THE MUGHAL RECORDS OF CELESTIAL EVENTS
Through the 16th and the 17th Century, traditional astronomy in the north India received
patronage from the Mughal Emperors when amalgamation of the Islamic astronomy and theIndian astronomy – more specifically the observational techniques and instruments of theformer and the computational techniques of the latter, paved the way for accurate
astronomical observations. There was no clear division between astrology and astronomy andastronomy enjoyed attention mainly for the calendar or the quibla. The powers that be werealways concerned about the auspiciousness of the celestial circumstances as their journals andmemoirs bear this out.
3.1. The Akbarnāmā and the great comet of 1577
Abū’l Faḍl (1551-1602), the celebrated prime minister of the third Mughal Emperor
Jalāluddīn Mohammad Akbar (1542-1605; r. 1556-1605) was a scholar who possibly has noparallel. The Akbarnāmā he wrote is a highly acclaimed biographical account of the Emperor
where he has mentioned the Emperor’s interest in the study of astronomy. Faḍl’s writings
reveal his own awareness and grasp of the physical sciences. The Ᾱīn-i-Akbari (institutes of
Akbar), the third volume of the Akbarnāmā is a great documentation of life - material andspiritual. It describes geography, cosmogony, the Hindu philosophy and the way of life, itscustoms and beliefs and languages in good measures and draws parallels with the Greek
scientific knowledge and cosmogony. Referring to the Sūrya Siddhānta, Abū’l Faḍlintroduces to us the heavens and the Earth etc. At the heart of the discussion is thepresumption that the Earth is spherical and that at its centre lies the centre of the Universe.
In the Akbarnāmā, in the part relating to the expedition of the Emperor from Rajasthan to
Punjab, Abū‘l Faḍl records the appearance of a comet in the twenty-second year of Akbar’s
reign (i.e. 985 AH). During the journey from Ajmer to Punjab, they camped at Mahrot (nowMarot, in Nagaur district) on the 9th of Ābān, at Amber (now Amer, part of Jaipur) on the27th of Ābān, and so on, passing subsequently through Kot Putli, Narnaul, Delhi and othercentres. Thus, the comet was first noticed before the Royal entourage reached Amber. From
the recorded date, Abū‘l Faḍl turns out to be an independent discoverer of one of the most
famous comets in history - the Great Comet of 1577 (C/1577 V1). He writes (Modi 1917, p.
70 and p. 74):

“On the day Arad (Arshisang), the 25th of the Ilahi month Aban, at the time when the sun made his
conspicuous appearance in the sign Scorpio, this heavenly sign (i.e. the tailed comet) kindled its
brilliant face in the sign of Sagittarius, faced towards the west (and) inclined towards the north. It had along tail. It had reached such a limit, that in many towns they saw it for five months…”
According to Aristotle (384-322 BCE), comets were dry and warm exhalations in the upper
atmosphere that belonged to the sublunary sphere, vide his Meteorologica (ca. 330 BCE). For
the Islamic astronomers too, comets and meteors were atmospheric rather than heavenly
phenomena and were mostly ignored. However, Ja’far b. Muḥammad Abū Mash’ar (787-886
CE), the famous Persian astronomer, astrologer and philosopher considered comets celestial.

12

Writing about the appearance of a tailed star in the western skies after sunset, Abū’l Faḍlintroduces the subject first, observing that comets belong to the realm of physical sciences.
The commentary is prefaced with a description of formation of vapour versus steam risingfrom the Earth by the heat caused by the rays of the Sun. As a formation from vapour risingfrom the Earth, a comet is thus a terrestrial meteorological phenomenon. He treats meteors
too but distinct from a comet. These references assume significance in view of the fact thatobservations from Europe of the very same comet made a decisive impact on the course ofastronomy.
Another Mughal courtier ‘Ārif Quandahārī also recorded appearance of a comet on the nightof Thursday, 25 Sha’aban, 985 A.H. The phrase night of Thursday shall mean the day postsunset of which the following morning is a Thursday. Quandahāri’s observation belongs tothe evening of Wednesday. The likely UT of the observation is 6.5 November 1577, for thetime of observation is just after sunset.

Figure 1. Scorpio region as at sunset on 05 November 1577, 12:05 UT, Tuesday; the comet iswhere the aim point is in a 45° field (base star map from Your Sky).

I computed the apparent position and altitude of the comet in the sky with respect to the
Earth’s true-equator and the meridian containing the Earth’s true equinox of date,
and also that of the Sun, as seen from Amber (26°58′ N, 75°51′ E). The Figure 1 shows the
Scorpio region as at sunset on 05 November 1577, 12:05 UT, Tuesday; the comet would havebeen where the aim point is in a 45° field. As the observations are in order, we have Abū’lFaḍl and ‘Ārif Quandahārī among the earliest few to have independently recorded on 5
November and 6 November 1577 respectively the apparition of the spectacular tailed form.
Full details are given in Kapoor 2015a).

13

3.2. Jahāngīr and the great comets of 1618
The year 1618 in astronomy was a unique one in that it presented three bright apparitions inquick succession. The comets created enough sensation and belong to the era when Galileo‘stelescopic observations had created a paradigm shift in our perception of the heavens andJohannes Kepler was introducing a fundamental change in mathematical astronomy byredefining planetary orbits around the Sun. In what follows is an account of the observationsof two of the three great comets of 1618 made from India, namely, C/1618/ V1 and C/1618
W1. This turned into a unique occasion indeed when the same targets of opportunity were
followed, independently, by astronomers of two very different cultures and observations
recorded quantitatively (Kapoor 2016).

Figure 2. A margin drawing from the folio of Jahangir's Album: An astrologer surrounded by his
equipment - astrolabe, zodiac tables and an hour glass; period: early 17th century (Courtesy:
Werner Forman Archive/Naprestek Museum, Prague).

Jahāngīr, the fourth Mughal Emperor of India, recorded in the Tūzūk-i Jahāngīrī (Memoirs ofJahāngīr), appearance of two comets during the royal course from the town of Dohad in
Gujarat to Agra, the capital city of the Empire, via Ujjain in the thirteenth year of hisaccession, i.e., 1027 A.H. Jahāngīr’s memoirs clearly demonstrate his interest in astronomy
and the level of accuracy reached in the observations. We find the recorded information in
excellent agreement with modern computation. Jahāngīr’s astronomers used instruments likeastrolabes, sundials, sandglasses and accurate ghati-yantra (water driven clocks; clepsydras),vide Figure 2. The following passage from Jahāngīr’s memoirs Tūzūk-i Jahāngīrī (Rogers andBeveridge 1909, 1914) carries his observations:“On Saturday the 18th (Aban), the camp was at Ramgarh. For some nights before this there appeared,at three gharis before sunrise, in the atmosphere, a luminous vapour in the shape of a pillar. At eachsucceeding night it rose a ghari earlier. When it assumed its full form, it took the shape of a spear, thinat two ends, and thick in the middle. It was curved like a sickle, and had its back to the south, and its
face to the north. It now showed itself a watch (pahar) before sunrise. Astronomers took its shape and14

size by the astrolabe, and ascertained that with differences of appearance it extended over twenty-four
degrees. It moved in high heaven, for it was first in Scorpio and afterwards in Libra. Its declination(harakat-i-arz) was mainly southerly.
Sixteen nights after this phenomenon, a star showed itself in the same quarter. Its head was luminous
and its tail was two or three yards long, but the tail was not luminous. It has now appeared for eightnights; when it disappears, the fact will be noticed, as well as the results of it.”

The memoirs mention a number of halts en route, including Ramgarh from where the firstobservation was made. These are not readily identifiable but the Persian and A.H. dates in thememoirs help us follow the royal traverse from Ahmedabad to Agra, through Dohad andUjjain.

Figure 3. India’s outline maps to show the stipulated royal route; the map on the left shows theprominent locations mentioned in the present paper; the map on the right depicts certain modern
locations in the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh that might have been on or near the
stipulated route Jahāngīr took from Dohad to Agra through Ujjain in 1618.

We have looked into the District Census Handbooks (DCH) of the Census of India 2011
released in 2015 by the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, of the districts of
Dohad in the state of Gujarat and Jhabua, Dhar and Ujjain in western Madhya Pradesh. It isthese districts, spread roughly along a west-east corridor, through which the stipulated route
must lay. In the respective census listings, we do find a Ramgarh in the Thandla block ofJhabua district in Madhya Pradesh (DCH Jhabua, p. 60). The Figure 3 shows the royal routeon which a few modern places of the state most likely fall.
The epoch of the observation as read off the memoirs is 72 min before sunrise. Since the Sunrose at 01:13 UT at Thandla (read Ramgarh) that day, this would make the observation at
00:01 UT, 10 November, 1618. Sixteen nights later than the 18th of Ābān, and therefore on
the morning of 26 November, Jahāngīr observed a second comet, now designated 1618 II. It
then lay in Libra. This one was a Great Comet and the third bright comet of the year.
According to Yeomans (2007), the brightest magnitude was reached on 29 November, at 0 -1.
From the recorded dates, Jahāngīr turns out to be an independent discoverer of two great
comets appearing one after the other on 10 November and 26 November 1618 respectively.
The heliocentric worldview of Copernicus (De Revolutionibus, published in 1543) arrived inIndia much later. This knowledge did rest with the Jesuits missionaries of the times but,involved as they were in their missions at several places in India, their primary goal was to15

spread the Christian faith. The heavenly sightings in 1618 threw up a rare opportunity fordiscussion across the board. There were instances of past apparitions duly recorded in many
Muslim texts but there is nothing in the memoirs to suggest of any interaction that may havetaken place on the present apparitions among Jahāngīr’s astronomers or with the Jesuits who
visited his court. On the conceptual side, Jahāngīr’s writings take an exceptional departurefrom the conventional wisdom. There is no concern expressed for any untoward consequences
because of the apparitions or pause the royal traverse.
4. NEW ASTRONOMY TO THE FAR EAST: A PASSSAGE THROUGH INDIA
The telescope arrived in India soon after its invention in Europe in 1609 and was put toastronomical use, initially sporadically. In the 17th Century, the chief sources of astronomical
information are the communications of some Jesuit priests in different parts of India and anumber of travelogues.
The 16th Century Goa was an important centre of long distance trade with the West. Under thePortuguese empire, the role got only wider, turning Goa into a political, cultural and religious
central engine of the Portuguese India. The activities of all the religious orders that arrived insuccession to spread Christian faith received backing of the Portuguese government. The
Jesuits, in Goa ever since 1542, developed an economic framework and acquired land andhouses to be able to continue in their mission to spread the faith. Many Jesuits of the times
were mathematicians, geographers and astronomers and in their missions to different parts of
the world carried with them the new European science as well. Missionaries headed Far Eastneeded to set sail from Lisbon, with a stop-over at Goa, the capital of the Portuguese India,
and Macao, the Portuguese commercial base farther out in the East overcoming very unkind
circumstances. The voyages from Lisbon to Goa took six months and one headed to Macao
had to stop over here for another six months when winds became favourable again.
4.1. Telescope comes to India
The story of the telescope reached the Indian shores quick enough. Father Antonio Rubino(Antonius Rubinus, 1578-1643), a Jesuit missionary in Goa, hearing of the invention initiatedefforts in 1612 to acquire one from Rome. He is understood to have first introduced thetelescope in India (Udias 2003). However, no details on this part are available. On the other
hand, in 1616 the Emperor Jahāngīr received a spyglass as a gift from Sir Thomas Roe (Huff
2010, p. 12) but he never directed it towards the sky. Then, we come across accounts about
the observations of bright comets 1618 III and 1618 II by Father Venceslaus Pantaleon
Kirwitzer (1588-1626), later joined by Adam Schall von Bell (1591-1666) from Goa (Nature1878).
As part of a group of missionaries led by Nicolas Trigault (1577-1628) deputed to China that
included Giacomo Rho (1592-1638), Johannes Schreck-Terrentius (also Terrenz; 1576-1630)
and Adam Schall, Fr. Kirwitzer set sail aboard San Carlos from Lisbon in April 1618 (Leitao,
2008, p. 107) and braving the rigours of the voyage, sickness aboard and death of five of the
22 China missionaries, sailed into Goa on 4 October 1618. The group was carrying a few
telescopes and some measuring instruments and a large number of books. Along with Terrenz
and Adam Schall, Kirwitzer had subsequently proceeded to China, setting sail on 15 May
1619 and reached Macao on 22 July 1619. In 1621, Terrenz presented the Emperor with atelescope as gift.

164.2. Fr. Kirwitzer’s Treatise
Fr. Kirwitzer, joined by brother Jesuits, observed the two bright comets from Goa. Their firstobservations also correspond to the discovery dates of the comets. The same comets were
followed by Father Antonius Rubinus then in Cochin.

Figure 4. The cover page of Fr. Kirwitzer’s treatise (digitized by The Austrian National Library
2014; Google Books).

Figure 5. ‘The world's oldest surviving, securely-datable telescope’, 1617, with the
Kunstgewerbemuseum / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; cloth and paper; maker unknown. ‘Main
tube and five draws of pasteboard. Each draw covered in marbled paper; end tube and ringstops in silk velvet embroidered by gold thread. Collapsed, rings and end tube form cylinder with
common outer diameter (48mm), common feature of other early scopes’; picture and description
adopted from http://dioptrice.com/telescopes/782 .

17

Figure 6. Pages 5 and 23 from Fr. Kirwitzer’s book of 1620, on his observations of two brightcomets that appeared in November 1618. Both the pages carry reference to the use of a tubo
optico / tubus opticus for viewing the comets. This is the first documented evidence of use of atelescopic device in astronomical observations from India (Source: The Austrian National
Library; Google Books).

Fr. Kirwitzer presented a detailed description of his observations of the spectacular tailed
forms as they first appeared in the morning skies of November 1618 one after the other in amonograph in Latin, entitled Observationes Cometarvm Anni 1618. In India Orientali Factæ
A Societatis Iesv Mathematicis in Sinense Regnum Nauigantibus ex itinere eo delatis(Kirwitzer 1620). It was published in Ursellis by Schönwetter in 1620 (Figure 4). The treatiseremained virtually lost through the centuries until digitized a few years ago by the Austrian
National Library. The treatise is short, consisting of 24 pages only.
The treatise is of great importance as it reports first ever modern astronomical observations
carried out in India, as also that it records the first ever use in India of an optical device forastronomical observations soon after the introduction of telescope to astronomy. Fr. Kirwitzer
and his brother Jesuits deserve credits on other counts - as independent discoverers of the two
great comets in succession as also the first independent users of an optical device forobserving comets outside Europe (Figure 6). Baichun (2003) has provided illustrations ofseveral astronomical instruments carried by Trigault et al. to China as also of those madethere subsequently. One may look up Bolt and Korey (2010) for examples of the telescopes of
early 17th Century starting from the earliest surviving device, that of the year 1617 (Figure 5).
These consist of a main tube and a number of draw tubes.
Fr. Kirwitzer in his treatise refers to the places from where the Jesuits made astronomical
observations. The one named Rachol (pronounced Rashol) is mentioned as being 5 leagues
away from Goa (i.e., Old Goa). It is a town in Salcete peninsula, south of Panjim (now Panaji)
and 7 kilometres north-east of Margao. Fr. Kirwitzer records in detail what the observers saw

18and measured, namely, the altitudes and azimuths, angular distance from stars like Spica etc.
in grad (degrees), and the observers’ visual impressions including difficulty from illumination
due to the Moon and sunlight. The observations are presented systematically andappropriately divided in two sections for each comet. He also included the observations madeby the brother Jesuits at other stations.

Figure 7. The cross-staff as depicted in Pedro de Medina’s 1552 treatise Regimento de Navegacion(Wikimedia Commons).

In those times, astronomers observed position and direction of the tail and indicated positionof the comet with respect to many nearby fixed stars whose position was already determined.
The main idea was to determine position of the comet in the ecliptic and its movement. While
indicating the positions, Fr. Kirwitzer also refers to the informi (unformed) - the field stars notgrouped with other stars into a constellation.
The few astronomical instruments the Jesuits in transit were able to access were an
astrolabium (astrolabe) and a radium astronomicum (astronomical radius, i.e., cross-staff) of
the Goa College. A cross-staff consists of a staff with a smaller, sliding transversal arm,
generally made of wood but sometimes of brass and bearing a scale that could read degrees
directly (Figure 7).
All through, Fr. Kirwitzer’s treatise contains records of observations only, at times adding aphenomenological description. There is no theorizing about comets and there is nothing about
where they belong, etc. While summing up, Kirwitzer (1620, p. 24) notes that“For a fuller understanding of those observations, it remains to make known the true longitude andlatitude of the places where the observations have been done. However, we have not seen yet any
Moon Eclipse and from others nothing we learned that we can accept with confidence, we will work
diligently in order no latitude and longitude of this or other places of Asia remain unknown. In the
meanwhile we will supply to this lack and any other: easily we will relay on Johannes de Barros, princeof Portuguese Historians."
19

Fr. Kirwitzer’s observations are discussed in full detail in Kapoor (2016).
4.3. The early instances of use of telescope in India for astronomy
The next incidence of use of a telescope to observe an astronomical event from the Indian soil
dates to 1651. This is about the observation of transit of the planet Mercury across the disk of
the Sun by Jeremiah Shakerley (1626 -1655) from Surat. What telescope, timing device andthe method of observation (see below) he used is, however, not known (Kochhar 1989).
Shakerley was a great admirer of Jeremiah Horrox (1619-1641), an English astronomer andthe first to predict and observe the transit of Venus of 4 December 1639 Greg. Johnson (1874,
p. 100) describes Shakerley’s venture so:‘In 1651, a young Englishman, Jeremiah Shackerley, made a voyage to Surat, to observe a transit ofMercury, which his calculations told him would not be visible in England. It is satisfactory to knowthat he was successful in his wishes’.

The planet transited the Sun on 24 October 1651 (3 November 1651 Greg). The transit
circumstances, adopted from Fred Espenak’s tables, are as in the Table 1:
Table 1
The transit of Mercury of 3 Nov. 1651
Ist Contact IInd
23:07
23:09

Greatest IIIrd
00:52
02:35

IVth
02:38

Sun RA
Dec
14.540 h -15.01 deg

The timings are in UT and suggest that Shakerley had 80 minutes in which to view the event,since the Sun rose that day at Surat (21°10'N, 72°54'E) at 01:15 UT, with the transit alreadypast its ‘greatest’ phase. Wing (1669, p. 312) provides a brief but glorious description of the
conjunction, cross checking with the ephemeris of the Sun and Mercury to find that
Shakerley saw it in India just as it was predicted by him in a colloquium. Wing observing
conspexit Mercurium in circulo disci Solis post Telescopium depictum points to the
conjunction seen by projection.
4.4. The bright comet of 1652
Shakerley in his communication of January 15, 1652-3 to Henry Osborne in Englandpresented results of his calculations and observations of the transit of Mercury. He describedin the letter his observations in 1652 of a comet also. As Chapman (1990, p. 9) wrote:“India was stimulating to Shakerley, and conducive to him making his own independent observations,for on December 8th, 1652, he recorded the appearance of a comet. It was 'first observed to blaze
amongst the stars of Procyon in the lesser dog, with a quick and lively flame, the tayle of which
extended itself northwards to the quantity of three or four degrees', though this soon diminished as it
grew fainter, eventually disappearing in the constellation of Cygnus. Although it was his ' misfortune
not to have instruments to observe to any purpose' he was able to determine that the comet's head neverexceeded 5' of arc in diameter. Shakerley also enquired of Osborne whether the comet had been visible
in England, and what predictions European astrologers may have drawn from it”.
The comet as mentioned should be C/1652 Y1 and the date Julian. The corresponding
Gregorian date is 18 December. It was a bright comet but in modern cometographies,
Shakerley’s observations do not figure. The comet was discovered by Jan van Riebeeck fromthe Cape of Good Hope as an evening object on 16.8 Dec 1652 (Full Moon on 15 Dec), in theconstellation of Puppis east-south-east from the head of Orion and nearly 80° above thehorizon. He described it in his journal as a ‘strange star with a tail; the tail extending
northwards right on the knees of the giant and the head mostly to the south about 10 degrees
away’ (Cooper 2003). He observed it until 24 Dec by which time the tail had lost some sheen.

20

The comet had passed its perihelion on 13.153 Nov UT, and was last observed on 20 Jan as
noted by Knobel (1897, 1918) from the book of an anonymous author who may haveobserved it from Cologne from 19 Dec onwards. The comet has q= 0.8475 AU, i = 79.º461(JPL).
Was Shakerley an independent discoverer of the comet? That seems like it. He wasfavourably placed to do so as the comet was a low declination object when discovered.
Besides, he was equipped with a telescope, then among the very few in Asia. We presume hewould often stargaze with it.
The comet, on a parabolic path, had on 16 December reached quite close to the Earth (0.15
AU) and was moving, rapidly, north-west. It passed closest to the Earth from 0.1284 AU on
19 December at about 23:30 UT. It would be at its brightest then. For the perspective, we
present the respective positions of the various objects in the sky as at Surat, at 15:30 UT, on
the various dates, vide Table 2.
On 16 Dec, the comet rose in the east at about 15:30 UT, the Moon having risen at 13:40 UT
and still quite bright. On 17 Dec, the comet rose ~ 14:40 UT, the Moon rose at 14:42 UT. On
18 Dec, the comet rose earlier than the Moon, at ~ 13:45 UT while the Moon rose later at
15:40 UT. The evening of 18 Dec offered the best window for the observation though theearlier dates are as much possible.
Table 2The comet position in the sky at SuratrΔ
Alt
Az (S-W)
Dec 16, 1652
Comet
Sun
Dec 17, 1652
Comet
Sun
Dec 18, 1652
Comet
Sun

1.046
0.983

0.157
-40.4530.172
76.719318.30
Set

1.057
0.983

0.143
-40.3458.289
76.657317.572
Set

1.067
0.983

0.133
-40.235

19.32876.604314.265
Set

The other few who discovered the comet in the days to come did so from Europe. Peter
Mundy observed it on 18 Dec from Penryn in England, Arcieri on 19 Dec from Rome,Johannes Hevelius on 20 Dec from Danzig (now Gdansk) who found it equal to Moon in size
though not as bright (Bard 1832) and Riccardo de Albis on 21 Dec from Rome, followed by
the Chinese on 22 Dec (Kronk 1999).
4.5. The comet of 1665 (C/1665 F1)There is a reference to a comet in the travelogue of the famous French traveller Jean Baptiste
Tavernier (1605-89), the Baron d’Aubonne and a jewel trader that appeared in the year 1665.
Tavernier who pioneered trade with India made six voyages to the East in between 1631 and
1668. During the sixth, he left Isfahan on 24 Feb 1665 to come over to India. He landed atSurat on 5 May, with a stock of precious stones, goldsmith’s works etc. He met the Emperor
Aurangzeb (b. 1618; r. 1659-1707) on the 12th of September. His travelogue of 1676 wastranslated by Valentine Ball (Tavernier 1925). Ball was the brother of the astronomer Sir
Robert S. Ball and was with the Geological Survey of India during 1864-81. He provided afootnote as follows to the description by Tavernier in his travelogue of the Emperor
Aurangzeb afflicted with the comet. Tavernier’s description runs thus:“Since Aurangzeb, who reigns at present, has occupied the throne of the Moguls, which he usurped
from his father and brothers, he has imposed on himself, as I have said, a severe form of penance, and21

eats nothing which has enjoyed life. As he lives upon vegetables and sweetmeats only, he has becomethin and meagre, to which the great fast which he keeps have contributed. During the whole of theduration of the comet of the year ------1, which appeared very large in India, where I then was,
Aurangzeb drank only a little water and ate a small quantity of millet bread; this so much affected hishealth that he nearly died, for besides this he slept on the ground, with only a tiger’s skin over him, andsince that time he never enjoyed perfect health”.

The foot note ‘1’ to Tavernier’s account reads so:‘This comet, if, as many suppose, was first seen in Europe at Aix, on the 27th of March of that year. It
lasted four weeks, and had a tail 25 deg long. Its orbit was computed by Halley (vide Chambers’s
Astronomy, ‘Catalogue of Comets’, No. 64). Terry refers to two great comets which appeared while he
was at the Mogul’s Court in the month of November, 1618. They were followed by drought andfamine’.

That is about the comet now designated C/1665 F1. As given in Vsekhsvyatskii (1964), thecomet was first seen in Nurenberg on 26 Mar, in the morning of 27 March in Aix-enProvence in France, and so on. The Chinese recorded it soon thereafter (Kronk 1999). It had atail 30° long as noted on 10 April as reported from Jena. The comet passed its perihelion on
24.719 April though it was last seen on 20.8 April only; q=0.10649 AU, i= 103.893 (JPL).
Ever since Aurangzeb ascended the throne on 1 Dhu-al-Qa’dah 1068 AH (31 Jul 1658 Greg),
there arose bright comets in 1661 and 1664 too that should be in memory still. Of these, thecomet of the previous year, namely, C/1664 W1 made a matching spectacle. First seen on
17.9 Nov, it passed closest by the Earth on 29 Dec from 0.1699 AU and showed up with a tail35° long on the 27th. The comet faded by February next and was last seen on 20.83 March
1665 (Kronk 1999). The Emperor, one may say, was already under influence of the evil
blazers, and then came this one.
Incidentally, Tavernier had shown and sold a number of his most precious stones to
Aurangzeb and as a gesture was shown those in the possession of the Emperor, including the
280 ct great diamond (Tavernier 1925). This is about the famous stone that in 1739 wasplundered by Nādir Shāh, who upon first seeing it exclaimed koh-i-noor (the mountain oflight), from the Emperor Aurangzeb's descendant Muḥammad Shāh. The diamond’s traverse
has a history of its own; http://www.diamonds-are-forever.org.uk/kohinoor-diamond.htm.
4.6. The Great Comet of 1668 (C/1668 E1)
In the telescopic era, the next astronomical observation of a comet from India is that of the
Comet 1668. It was in fact a Sungrazer, with a perihelion q=0.0666 AU, motion direct thatpassed its perihelion on 28.08 Feb UT. The comet was discovered on 3.8 March at the Capeof Good Hope as an evening object, on 5 March in Lisbon and on 5.9 March by Fr. Valentine
Estancel in Brazil (Vsekhsvyatskii 1964, Kronk 1999). According to Lynn (1882), only its tailwas visible in Europe and that too was first noticed in Lisbon on 5 March. When observed
from Rome, its tail was reported to be over 30° long on 9 March. According to Yeomans(2007), it reached a maximum magnitude 1-2 on 8 March.
According to Marsden (1967), the comet was observed from 9 to 21 March (5 mag.) fromGoa by a Belgian Jesuit Fr. Gilles-Francois de Gottignies who made most carefulobservations during 9.6-17.6 March UT every day. The observations were later used in 1901
fruitfully by H.C.F. Kreutz. Calculations of its orbit were made by Thomas Henderson in1843 on the basis of the comet’s track shown against the background stars made in an
engraved map ‘as observed at Goa’ during the period 9-21 March (Lynn 1882). Henderson(1843) came to possess the map entitled Observationes Goæ habite circa Phanomenum
coeleste, qupd apparuit Menæ Marlio Anno 1668 Romano Miscæ ad P. AEgidius Franciscum22

de Gottignies in Collegio Romano Matheseos Professorem. Henderson had noted that in the
map the comet was depicted just by straight lines, and to each was affixed the date of theobservation. The observations would have been made since 5 March itself as the map carrieddates from 5th March to the 8th March also. During this period, the comet’s head was sunk
below the horizon. According to Lynn (1882), these maps were sent over to Father Aegidius
Franciscus de Gottignies, a mathematics professor at the Collegio Romano, Rome. Lynn
quotes Henderson observing that ‘the map is rather a rough one, as I find, on examining therelative positions of the stars which are laid down, errors amounting sometimes to a degree.’
About the map, Henderson goes on – ‘I think it probable that it formed part of the work
entitled “AEgidius Franc. de Gottignies de figures Cometarum qui an. 1664, 1665, 1668
apparuerunt cum animadversionibus & tabulis in aes incisis. Rome. 1668”.’
We note elsewhere that Fr. Gilles-Francois de Gottignies (1630-1689) was professor ofmathematics at the Collegio Romano from 1662 to 1689 (Mancosu 1996) and is credited withhaving observed comets of 1664, 1665 and 1668 (Consolmagno 2006). If he visited Goa is
not clear from his biographies. The different accounts suggest that the references above
should be to the same person. Ravene (1897) notes in respect of the comet of 1668,‘the observations having been made by some Jesuits of Collegio Romano while stationed in Goa. We
have a calculation of the orbit by Henderson, and I have deduced some elements which satisfy in amore or less degree the observations, but do not satisfy me, and, last of all, it has been shown that thegreat comet of 1843 will completely satisfy these positions’.
Lynn (1882) however was not confident of Henderson’s orbit calculation that he said did not
duly represent the observations and was affected by many errors. England (2002) notes thatprecise positions of the comet’s head were taken during the period 5 –21 March by Gottignies
at Goa. Moreover, during the period 5-20 March, the comet was viewed from Surate (Surat)too (Pingré 1784, p. 22). Who then were the observers at Rome, Goa and Surate? Fr GillesFrancois de Gottignies - the observer from Goa, as also the unknown observer from Surat, areto be credited with an independent discovery of the comet.
In this matter, an 1843 publication Estratto della osservazioni fatte sulla cometa del 1668, in
Italian, needs taking a look at as it clears the mist around the actual observer in Goa. It was
written ‘for the sake of science’ by a Padri of the Society of Jesus (Padri 1843). The prologuesays:“In the circumstance, where everything leads us to believe that this year's comet 1843 is the same asthat of 1668, it will not be useless to gather in one body the observations made then on this comet bysome of our Fathers, and scattered here and there in works of not easy acquisition. Indeed stimulated by
the investigations of several astronomers, there we hasten to publish it for the sake of science”.

The Padri put together the various communications on observations of the comet of 1668
made in Europe, Goa and Brazil. The part from Goa is reproduced here:“From the city of Goa our Father Giuseppe Candone sent to Rome the report of the phenomenon hesaw, and the same published in the Giornale dei Nazari of April 1670 as follows:"This observation is communicated to us by Fr. Francesco Gottignies, Mathematician of the Roman
College, which Father Cardone received from the same name with a letter from Goa dated 12 May
1668. The phenomenon appeared on the 4th of March, but by the observer it was not seen until the 5. Is
there any who saw it on the 3rd, but with doubt. On 9 it appeared all out of the horizon and about 35
degrees long: it ended up sharp in the part near the horizon: in the widest part it was one degree: on 18
then the extremes began to be eclipsed, and disappeared due to the splendor of the Moon due to which
it remained invisible till 22”.
23

“Even if in the IIIrd Giornale of 1668 the observations made in Rome were recorded in the days thatthe clouds allowed, it is not to omit to mention those that Fr. Gottignies gave to you, so that thecomparison with the aforementioned in Goa can be better seen. He observed the phenomenon 35
degrees long and one wide, unlike the comets because it had no head; and its width was almost uniform
everywhere, except in the extremities, which were narrower. On 9, 10, 12 of March it spread from thestar of Eridani according to Ticone to the star of Balena, fourteenth according to the same. On 9 it
seemed a little further from the Equator than the aforementioned star: on 10 it had almost the same
distance; and on the 12th it had approached the Equator: on 18 it passed over the first and third stars of
the ear of the Hare, and over the ninth and tenth of Grienberger’s Eridani, on which day it was lessvisible than on 10 for the splendor of the Moon. On 19 it moved away from the star, which it had
almost reached on 18, towards the Equator and the East. «. . . . . . from the 18th to the 21st the light of the Moon remained visible to the end than towards the
middle; clear sign (Fr. Gottignies says) that the appearance was different from the comet that has head,
like the two comets of 1664 and 1665; because the parts near the head were always more visible in thelight of the moon, and much more the head. . . . and in Goa where it was observed (the phenomenon)
right from the5th until the 22nd of March it is impossible that the head had not been seen if it had been
there; especially since the observers used every diligence to recover it.
«. . . . . . There was no sensible parallax. For in Goa's observation (March 18) as we can see in the
figure attached here the right phenomenon comes up grazing on one side the first and third star of theear of the Hare, and on the other side the ninth and tenth star of Eridani: and all this was observed andnoted in Rome on the same day.
For a better understanding of Goa's observation here is the figure extracted exactly from the drawing inpaper that Fr. Candone sent "(Giornale de Letterati, Day IV, April 30, 1670, pages 51 and 52).
This card, which we here faithfully report, is missing in almost all the copies of this rare Journal foundin public libraries in Rome, from which we can clearly see that it has been removed and robbed. It is
desirable that this fact be added to those many others, which can serve to excite vigilance neveroverwhelming who is in charge of such public establishments.”

Figure 8. Fluvius, Eridanus vel Nilus in Christof Grienberger’s Catalogus.... (from Stoppa 2016).

The said figure is not there in Padri’s (1843) text. Note that the constellation of Eridanus
zigzags from the equator down to about -60° where Achernar (α Eridani) is (Figure 8). The

24

Giornale dei Nazari was the first Italian literary journal, started by Francesco Nazari, Rome,in 1668. As for the word Ticone, the astronomer Tycho Brahe was called Ticone in the past
centuries; Baleno (Whale) is Italian for Cetus, the adjoining constellation. Christopher
Grienberger (1561–1636) was an Austrian Jesuit and Professor of Mathematics at theCollegio Romano. His work Catalogus veteres affixarum Longitudines, ac Latitudines
conferens cum novis. Imaginum Caelestium Prospectiva duplex ... was published in 1612. It
contained astronomical tables and maps relating to 21 numbered northern constellations, 12
zodiacal constellations and 15 numbered southern constellations. It also included the newnorthern constellations of Antinous and Berenices Crinis; these, however, were not numbered(see Stoppa, 2016). These new constellations were first added to the existing 48 Ptolemaic
constellations by the cartographer Casper Vopel (1511–1561) in 1536, but Antinous was later
abandoned.
It is not clear if a telescope was used by Fr. Gottignies in his observations. The reference to
Grienberger suggests him having been duly equipped including some catalogue and a sky
atlas.
4.7. The Great Comet of 1680 (C/1680 V1This spectacular comet was the first one to be discovered with a telescope, by Gottfried Kirch
from Coburg in Germany on 14.1 November in the constellation of Leo. Soon after the
discovery, the comet brightened up as to be seen unaided. It was first sighted naked eye in themorning sky on 19.8 Nov from the Philippines (Full Moon on 5 Dec). It passed its perihelionon 18.4876 Dec from q=0.006222 AU (i=60º.6784), became a trailing object by 19 Dec andwas last seen, by Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) with a telescope, on 19.96 March 1681 (Kronk
1999). It passed closest by the Earth on 1 Dec from 0.4214 AU and on 4 Jan 1681 from
0.4895 AU. Edmund Halley had seen this comet from Paris, with Cassini (Lynn 1910).
This comet proved a milestone in our understanding of the comets in more than one way.
First, Georg Dorffel in his remarkable observation put forth an explanation for the comets
seen in pairs, one in the morning and the other in the evening (see, Festou et al. 2004 fordetail). The comet drew great attention from Newton and his friend Edmund Halley (16561742) alike. Newton showed in his monumental work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (the mathematical principles of natural philosophy; 1687) that if heavenly
bodies were attracted by a central mass in the inverse proportion of square of their distancefrom it, they would follow a path in the shape of one of the conic sections. – a circle, an
ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola. Newton had observed the comet naked eye and followed it
up with a telescope for long. He used the observed positions of the comet to show that its
orbit was nearly a parabola (see Heidarzadeh 2008 for details). Halley subsequently carried
the application of Newton’s law of gravitation to the observations of twenty four comets ofhistory and showed that one of these was periodic and therefore its return predictable. That
was a remarkable finding. He did not live to see it do so but the comet did return in 1758 andsubsequently got named after Halley. He also expressed that some other comets too areperiodic that do an encore and that all comets are members of the Solar System (Hughes
1987).
The famous travelogue of Dr John Fryer (1650-1733), A New Account of East India andPersia Being 9 Years’ Travels 1672-1681, carries description of his travels to the East madeduring the years 1672-81 (Fryer 1698/1992). He had graduated in medicine from the Trinity
College in 1671. In the travelogue, Fryer records his observations of the state of science andmedicine, flora and fauna, the lands, the culture and society, trade and manufactures etc. inIndia and Persia. His narration of sighting a ‘wonderful Sign in the Heavens’ that he dated‘The 25th Jan. our Ships Setting sail then from Swally Hole’ makes for an interesting reading.
This is about the celebrated comet of 1680, also known as Newton’s Comet. Swally Hole was25

East India Company’s anchorage near the roadstead at the mouth of the river Tapti (ancientname Tapi), near Surat. Of the Comet he had this observation to make:‘Animadversion; which beginning the Twentieth of November, disappeared, not till the latter end ofJanuary, which enters on the next year, that within the space of our Europe Fleet may bring you the
Rise and Fall of the most prodigious Comet I ever was witness to1; or it may be oldest Man alive. Whatmakes me the more willing is, that I may have your Account over Land, whether it was visible inEngland, and what observations our prying world have made thereon’.
Fryer further notes:‘Eleven degrees from the Earth South-East, a terrible flaming Torch was seen in the skies in
Capricorn, near the head of Sagittarius, darting it’s Rays upwards to the stars; at first not above two
Ells in a small Stream, but day by day as it inclined to the Horizon, the Flame grew longer but
slenderer; it rose first at Three in the Morning, and so later and later till the Sun out-shone it; and as if it
had circled the Globe, at last it arose and set at Night, after the Sun was down, when we beheld it
W.N.W (west-north-west) which was on the Evening of the Twelfth of December, and about Seven at
Night; at first no bigger than a man’s hand from its coming forth of the Horizon, which thence arosewith a might Fulgor or shining Light for more than Nine Degrees as big as a Rainbow, towards thehighest point of the Hemisphere; or to speak more truly, like a Pillar of Fire, whose Basis, whether for
its tardy rise, or the Clouds gathered about the Atmosphere, I could not discern till the Seventeenth, itsetting about Nine of the Clock, but after that time it ascended above the Horizon, and passing the
middle of the Heavens (which afore it seemed to enlighten after Seven) as it grew higher it lost of its
brightness and Splendour, but looked more fiery. January the 16th, 1681 it had attained its Zenith, whenabout the Noon of Night it vanished and so by degrees at last it came to nothing’.
‘While this was reigning, several in the Hole and Buzzar at Swally, attested they saw two Moons;
others of our English-men out a Hunting after Sun-set, saw an unusual Star of the bigness of the Sun,
which must certainly be this fiery Ejaculation, striking obliquely upwards, being equally thick until its
highest part had stretched its self into a Column. It pointed towards the North, and whether it beMeteor, Comet or Exhalation, it is certainly ominous; and since they disclaim its influence here, I wish
it may not affect our Europe Kingdoms’.

Incidentally, the footnote 1 (by the travelogue’s editor) on p. 174 of Fryer’s travelogue
identifies the comet with Newton’s comet, of 1680. The footnote also cites the Madras
Records, wherein Wheeler (1861) while describing the events of the year 1680 comments thatthe only other event which is worth noting is the appearance of the celebrated comet of 1680,
known as Newton’s Comet. The apparition was duly recorded in the consultation book of the
Agency as follows‘Wednesday, 22nd December 1680. The Blasing star which in the middle of this month (December)appeared in the evening just at the setting of the sun, and does now appear 15 Degrees above thehorizon, at half an hour after six at night, the tail pointing to the north-east 65 degrees long’.

The dates recorded by Fryer and the writer of the Madras Records are Julian.
Niccolao Manucci (1639-1717) was a famous Italian traveller and writer. A Venetian,
Manucci was a physician. He had come over to India in 1656 where he spent most of his life,
including serving in the Mughal Court for long. In 1656, he found employment as anartilleryman in the service of the Moghul prince Dārā Shikoh, Emperor Shāh Jehān’s eldest
son. After Dārā was executed by Aurangzeb, Manucci joined Rājā Sawāi Jai Singh’s artillery.
He travelled through India widely as circumstances forced him to relocate often, to move later
to Madras. In his memoirs, he presents a revealing account of life of his times. The following
narration is taken from the Introduction by W. Irvine to Manucci’s highly acclaimed Storia do
Mogor (the history of Mughals; in three volumes; first published in 1907) that describes his

26sighting of a comet in 1680 (Manucci 1907, Vol I). The comet referred to is C/1680 V1. The
passage cited below is intentionally long, for the perspective:‘During 1677 (III. 264, 265) he made his home at Bandora, on Salsette Island, nine miles north ofBombay fort. Having lost his money in a bad speculation, Manucci was during 1678-1682 obliged totry his fortunes once more at the Mogul court. He returned to Dihli, where, through a courtchamberlain, he was called in to attend one of Shäh 'Älam's wives, and, having cured her of a gatheringin the ear, the lady interested herseif in his affairs and procured his appointment by that prince as oneof his physicians. This must have been subsequent to January 30, 1678, the date on which Shäh Älamreturned to Delhi from Kabul. On September 28, 1678, Shäh 'Älam was made governor of the Dakhin,
and Manucci went there in his train. He says once that he was at Ägrah in 1679, and possibly theoccasion was on this march to the Dakhin. On September 6, 1679, Shäh 'Älam's thirty - seventhbirthday, they were at Aurangäbäd; but not long before this (December 18, 1678) Jaswant Singh ofJodhpur had died in Kabul, and Aurangzeb, after failing to seize one of the rajah's infant sons, resolvedon the conquest of the Jodhpur State. Shäh Älam was recalled to take part in the campaign, and theprince (Manucci with him) passed the rains of 1680 at Ujjain (II. 204). In January 1681, they joined themain army at Ajmer, having seen a comet on their way (December 24, 1680). Prince Akbar had justfled (January 13, 1681), and had raised the Standard of revolt. On the 26th Shäh 'Älam was sent inpursuit, and remained on this duty until the end of March (1681). Some sort of peace was patched up
with the other Räjputs, Akbar escaped to the Mahrattahs in the south, and, in consequence, on
September 15, 1681, Aurangzeb began his first march towards the Dakhin, a country from which he
was destined never to return’.
4.8. A comet in a Marāthi poem of Samartha Rāmdās
There is a reference to the appearance of a comet in a poem by the great saint poet Samartha
Rāmdās (1608-1682). The poem, in Marāthi, goes as:‘Akasmāta māgé Bhūmīkampa jhālā,
Nabhamāji tārensi sendā nighālā’,i.e., suddenly sometime ago, there was an earthquake and a star with pigtail (comet) rose in
the sky’. Samartha Rāmdās was spiritual guide of Chhatrapati Shivājī Mahārāj (1627/301680), the founder of the Marātha Empire, who greatly influenced the latter. His poetry is
devoted to Lord Rāma. The poem above most likely relates to Shivājī Mahārāj’s demise in
1680. We find a similar expression in his biography, first written in 1694 by Krishṇājī Anant
Sabhāsad as told by Shivājī’s second son Srimanta Rājārām Mahārāj (1670-1700) then at the
Jinji fort, and considered a most valuable account in Marāthi on Shivāji’s life (Sarkar 1920).
Sabhāsad titles the particular passage as Naisargik utpāta (natural calamity) and says
(Kulkarni 1987, p. 99):
‘Rājiyanché dehāvasāna jhālé. Te divashi Prithvikampa jāhālā. Gagann dhūmaketu udeylā,Ulkāpāta ākāshāhūn jhālā. Rātrī jod indradhanushyén nighālīn…’’,‘the Mahārāj passed away. That day the Earth trembled. A comet arose in the sky. There was ulkāpāta
(the shooting stars) from the sky. In the night appeared rainbows in pair’.
The comet reference in the poem of Samartha Rāmdās is most probably about the great cometof 1680. Though believed by some, it can not be about the Halley’s Comet of 1682,
discovered on 24.4 August, since the saint poet had passed away months before its
appearance that year. From astronomical considerations of several of his horoscopes, Apte etal. (2003) deduce the date of birth of Shivājī Mahārāj to be 1 March 1630 (Greg). Further,
considering the circumstances of the solar eclipse of 30 March (Greg) that preceded his
demise by a fortnight, they affix his demise on 13 April 1680 (Greg). The eclipse was ofmagnitude 0.8 at Raigad. It was a total eclipse down south, postmeridian, and the path of27

totality passed over Kasargod, Mahe, Mandya, Mysore, Salem, Pondicherry and
Chidambaram. Around the latter dateline of Shivājī Mahārāj, there is no recorded appearanceof a comet. There is only one comet on record that year, the great comet of 1680, first sighted
naked eye in the morning sky on 19.8 Nov in the Philippines. That being so, the meteoric fallreferred to above could be the Leonids. Their activity in the present times peaks around 17/18
November, past the midnight. That suggests sighting the comet around its discovery date. For
example, seen from the Raigad Fort (18º14′2.69"N, 73º26′24.83"E) the capital of Shivājī
Mahārāj since 1674, the comet would be high in the eastern skies - on 18 Nov, 00 UT, at Alt
62°, Az 104° (N-E) and on 19 Nov, 00 UT, at 60º, 105º (N-E) respectively. However, the twocelestial events were consecutive. The Leonid streams peak is shifting. The Table 1 in Brown(1999: 289) provides details of Leonid showers between 1799 and 1999, where a shift bythree days in the epoch of the peak every hundred years can be easily noticed. In the present
case, the Leonids in the late 17th Century should have been peaking around 9/10 November.
Other observers have not mentioned meteoric fall around the discovery of the comet.
Nevertheless, the poetic reference remains in order.
This is the second record of a meteor shower in an Indian work of literature.
5. MODERN ASTRONOMY IN THE 17TH CENTURY INDIA
The coming of Shakeley’s telescopic observations to light took away the first use credit
attributed to French Jesuit Fr. Jean Richaud (1633-1693) who, several decades later, had
carried out astronomical observations at Pondicherry with a 12 ft telescope (Kameswara Rao
et al. 1984). Fr. Jean Richaud was a member of the group of fourteen French Jesuits, named
the Mathematiciens du roi de France Louis XIV and led by Fr. Guy Tachard (1648-1717),
that went on a diplomatic cum scientific mission to Ayutthaya, Siam (now Thailand) in March
1687 on an invitation from the king Somdet Phra Narai (1633-88). They arrived in Bangkok
in October 1687 bringing along telescopes, quadrants, astronomical ring, microscopes,
pendulums, thermometers and barometers etc. as gifts for the King. The King himself was
well-read with keen interest in astronomy and had an observatory of his own. It was built in
1685 at Wat San Paolo that was a Jesuit church on the outskirts of the then capital Louvo andthe predecessor to the present day National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand(NARIT) in Chiang Mai. Due to unwelcome developments at the Palace in May 1688, theJesuits were expelled who then left in November 1688 for India. It was a very tough andtroubled journey through sea. Only three survived among whom Fr. Richaud arrived in
Pondicherry on 1 February 1689 along with Fr. Jean Bouchet (1655-1732) and Charles Dolu
(1655-1740), a natural philosopher (Louyat 1982).
At Pondicherry, Fr. Richaud resumed astronomical activity. The discovery of the brightest
star in the constellation of Centaurus, α Centauri, as being a double by Fr. Richaud on
19 December, 1689 from Pondicherry with telescope makes for an astronomically significant
incident in the history of astronomy in India. It was from here that he made observations of
the comet of December 1689 also (Louyat 1982). These observations were reported in the
Memoires de l’Academie Royale des Sciences de Paris. In fact, he is credited as one of the
discoverers of the comet, a Sungrazer now designated C/1689 X1, on 8 December(Vsekhsvyatskii 1964: 121).
5.1. The comet of 1689
On 8 December, the day of his first observations, the comet lay ~7° to the south-west of τ
Scorpii. Fr. Richaud (1699) noted the comet moving at great speed, by over 3° between 14
Dec and 15 Dec. For his 19 Dec observations, he writes:28‘On 19, approximately at 4 o'clock in the morning, I saw the head of the comet near the leg of Lupus,
it was with the star of the first leg of Centaurus a line parallel to a line drawn by the star of the first arm
belly of the Crusade, the line extended parallel to the two feet of the Centaur’.
On 21 Dec, Fr. Richaud found the comet a degree from the foot of Centaurus. In his report,
he goes on:‘I saw the tail at the beginning of January for two or three days without being able to distinguish thehead that had dissipated entirely to our gaze’, and that ‘I forgot to mark that the tail was the figure of agreat sword, whose tip was bent to the north, the largest party refraction near the horizon (as it was,though somewhat obliquely, from the horizon to the top) could cause this curvature. The tail sometimes
occupied nearly 60 degrees of a large circle’.
It was during the course of these observations that Richaud discovered on 19 Dec that αCentauri is a double star. This discovery finds mention in R H Allen’s 1899 classic Starnames and their meanings (p. 153). Allen quotes Baily’s edition of Ulugh Beg’s catalogue
giving its name as Rigil Kentaurus that is from Al Rijl al Kentaurus, meaning the Centaur’sFoot, one of the many names of α Centauri, such as Toliman etc.
From the relative immersions of satellites of Jupiter and the lunar eclipses of 4 Apr 1689 and
24 Mar 1690, Fr. Richaud determined the longitude of Pondicherry. Among the otherobservational accomplishments of Fr Richaud is his correct prediction of the occurrence ofthe lunar eclipse of 4 Apr 1689 and precise determination of latitude and longitude of Sāo
Tomé (San Thome), zodiacal light, the Magellanic Clouds and two dark patches towards the
Coal Sack. Monsieur Francois Martin (1634-1706), the founder of the city of Pondicherry in
1674 and governor of the fort of Pondicherry also had witnessed the lunar eclipse of 4 Apr
1689 together with a multitude of French and Indians present (Louyat 1982).
Fr. Kirwitzer’s and Shakerley's were an innovative use of the telescope while in India but Fr.
Richaud made a systematic effort to introduce telescopic astronomy. He practiced and taught
astronomy at the Jesuit school in Sāo Tomé until his last (Kameswara Rao et al. 1984). Be
that as it may, these instances were no trend setters for modern astronomy in India. These,
however, scored several firsts.
5.2. The Comet C/1695 U1
The comet of 1695 was discovered by P. Jacob, a French Jesuit in Todos-os-Santos, Brazil
who first observed it on Oct 28.3, early in the morning. The head of the comet lay in Libra
while the tail reached into Virgo (England 2002). The perihelion passage had taken place on
23.768 Oct. For a small q=0.0423 AU, the comet was a Sungrazer. It approached the Solar
System almost vertically, i= 93.º589.
The comet was independently discovered from Surat on 30.0 October by the French Jesuit
Joachim Bouvet (1656-1730), a mathematician and astronomer (Vsekhsvyatskii 1964, Kronk
1999). His observations featured in the Histoire. Acad. de Sciences, Paris as part of Cassini’s(1702, p. 126) write up on the comets. He cites Fr. Bouvet’s observations so:“On the same day, 30 October, at Surat, Father Bouvet, who had come from the Red Sea, perceived
this headless Comet which had come half an hour before the beginning of Dusk. Its length was about
18 degrees of a great circle: the end where the head was to be, terminated in the thigh of the Raven. On
the 31st at Surat it appeared a little shorter, of a more feeble light, which was attributed to the approachof the Moon: the capital extremity occults the top of the right leg of the Raven. On the first ofNovember in Surat, it was seen better than the preceding days: it was longer, occupying the space of 22
degrees, whence it was judged that a part had been previously hidden in the rays of the Sun. Yet the29

Moon was still approaching it; but as it was in its 25 day, its light had less force; its extremity on theside of the head declined towards the southern region on the side of the leg of the Raven”.

The software translates the word Crepuscule, used by Cassini in his write up, as Dusk whatshould actually be Dawn. With the Horizons System, we find the comet a few degrees below
Spica on 30 Oct, 00:00 UT; the last Full Moon was on 22 Oct.
Fr. Bouvet had been sent in 1685 to China as a member of the group of five French Jesuits,
named the Mathematiciens du roi de France Louis XIV to the Chinese Emperor K’ang Hsi(Kangxi; r. 1661-1722) of the Qing Dynasty. The group arrived in Peking (now Beijing) in
February 1688. Fr. Bouvet joined the royal court in 1690 where he spent a major part of hislife teaching the sciences. He left China in 1693 for Europe to bring back more scientists andreached France in 1697. He returned to China in 1699 (Landry-Deron 2001). The passage toEurope was through India, and with a sojourn. In the latter half of the 16th Century, the Jesuits
had ventured northwards of Goa to spread their mission and as a part of it Jesuit residences
and colleges came up in Diu and Daman under the jurisdiction of the Jesuit Province of Goa.
A century later, the missionary work was started at Surat. Its significance can be gauged fromthe fact that the town and the harbour were an important trading centre.
By 6 Nov, the tail of the comet measured ~40°. That morning, it was near β Corvi.
Commenting on Fr. Bouvet’s account, Pingré (1784, 2, p. 34-35) writes –"We continued to see it every day in Surat, where on the 16th it appeared between the two more
Eastern stars (β, ο) of the Hydra triangle, which it left to the west on the 18th and 19th of April. It is
certain that it is necessary to read November instead of April: and as, moreover, the apparent course ofthis Comet was retrograde, it appears that it would also be necessary to read in the East, instead of to
the West. I tried in vain to combine these various observations to extract some approximation of theorbit of the Comet.”
Fr. Bouvet last observed the comet on 18.9 Nov by which time it had become faint (Kronk
1999). The comet lay in Centaurus, near border with Hydra, Antila and Vela. All through theperiod of the observations, the comet led the Sun. It is not clear if a telescope was used in theobservations.
6. CHASING STARS IN THE 18th CENTURY INDIA
The 18th Century India saw some significant, even though sporadic, efforts in astronomy interms of facilities, literature and observations, and in related sciences. Apart from serving theprime purpose of geographical surveys, telescope was used in India through the century anumber of times for observing astronomical events also.
The most notable contribution to astronomy was made when, at the instance of the thenMughal Emperor Muḥammad Shāh (r. 1719-48), the king Sawāi Jai Singh II (1688-1743) ofAmber built an observatory at Delhi in 1724 consisting of unique, large-sized instruments ofmasonry, stone and metal to measure time and angles. This was followed by similar structures
at Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain and Jaipur. Sawāi Jai Singh’s observatories were patterned after
Ulugh Beg’s at Samarkand. The observatories (vedhashalas) are epitome of Indian scienceand a milestone in the history of India. These received their name from Yantra-Mantra(instrument and theory). The degradation of the name to Jantar Mantar undermines theirscientific and educational significance and the observatories should rightly be introduced as
Sawāi Jai Singh Vedhashālās. The following extracted from Law (1916) speaks highly of
their instrumentation and the accomplishments:

30

‘From the observations made in this observatory, the celebrated Astronomical Tables, known by thename of Muhammad Shah, were drawn up by Mirza Khairullah and Shaikh Muhammad Muhaddis,
under the supervision of Jai Singh, and the accuracy of the Tables was proved by the conjunction of
two planets in 1154 A.H. (1741 A.D.) as recorded therein. In the observatory at Delhi there is a big
equatorial dial which for its accuracy and magnitude was called Samrat Jantra by Jai Singh himself.
The gnomons and the periphery of the circle are marked with degrees for determining altitudes andazimuths of the heavenly bodies. Besides this, there are two circular buildings open at the top and asmall altitude-meter’.
Sawāi Jai Singh II was a great scholar of mathematics and astronomy. He had madeobservations with a glass telescope also, acquired standard Persian and European monographson sciences, and initiated translations to Sanskrit from Persian. The telescope came with theastronomical mission in 1730 that he had sent to Portugal earlier in 1728-29. Then he got
another one fabricated by local artisans. With it, he was thrilled to see celestial objects. He
crosschecked the discoveries of Galileo and other European astronomers for himself that henoted down in the Zīj-i Muḥammad Shāhi. He realized that like the Moon, Venus and
Mercury shine by the sunlight as they showed up with phases. With the telescope, he saw thefour satellites of Jupiter and found Saturn to be elliptical in shape, not round. He also saw
spots on the disk of the Sun. Their changing position led him to deduce that the Sun rotates
and that the rotation period is about one year. The astronomical treatises and tables that hereceived from Arabia and Europe included Pere de la Hire`s Tabulae Astronomicae, Historia
Coelestis Britannica by John Flamsteed and Ulugh Beg`s tables Zīj Ulugh Begi. Pandit
Jagannātha Samrāt (1652- 1744) who was his chief court astronomer translated the classic
works, Tahrīr al-Majistī [Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s (1201 – 1274 CE) recension of Ptolemy’s
Almagest] and Elements of Euclid, from their Arabic versions into Sanskrit that were given
Sanskrit names as Siddhānta Sāra Kaustubha and Rekhāgaṇita respectively (Bose et al 1971).
The work Samrāt Siddhānta was his own (Sharma 1982). Ironically, Jai Singh’s endeavours
died out with him.

Figure 9. The Madras Observatory at Numgambakkam (1838; IIA Archives).

Then there were the Jesuit missionaries based in various parts of or travelling through thecountry many of whom were astronomers and geographers (Kochhar and Orchiston 2017).
Some of them, like Claude Boudier, Emmanuel de Figueredo and Ströbel had come into
contact with Sawāi Jai Singh. Joseph Tiefenthaler (1710-85) a Jesuit Missionary who came toIndia in 1743 (Sharma 1982) is said to have recorded observations of sunspots and zodiacal
light. He laid great emphasis on determination of longitude and latitude of places in India as
being fundamental to knowing its geography correctly. Tiefenthaler observed lunar eclipses,31

on 2 Feb 1744 the occultation of Jupiter by the Moon, and the transit of Mercury of 4 Nov
1743 from Goa (Phillimore, I, p. 150). From the occultation of Jupiter by the Moon, hedetermined the longitude of Surat.
The British, fresh from victory in 1757 at the battle of Plassey, initiated scientific surveys to
get an accurate geographical knowledge of the land. By 1765, the East India Company had
more or less taken over all of Bengal. In the operations lay a great strategic value that paved
the way for rich dividends in the times to come. This can be gauged from the fact that theSurvey of India itself was founded in 1767 what may be termed the earliest modern scientificinstitution in the country. Astronomical observations were made from time to time by theJesuit missionaries and the English surveyors for determination of latitudes and longitudes ofplaces by observing the meridian altitudes of the celestial objects and eclipses of the satellites
of Jupiter including the transits of Venus (Phillimore 1945-68). Towards the end of theCentury there came up the first modern astronomical observatory in Madras (Figure 9). It wasa private one, established in 1786 by William Petrie, an officer with the East India Company.
That was the most significant beginning in modern observational astronomy in India.
While the two transits of Venus were observed in 1761 and 1769 from various locations inIndia (Kapoor 2013), the last part of the century also saw growing inclination of Persianspeaking scholars towards European sciences due to their contact and interactions with theofficers of the East India Company. This resulted in the writing of books by personages likeMīr Muhammad Hussain, Mirzā Abū Tālib, Abdul Qādir Jaunpurī, Ghulām Hussain Jaunpurī
and Rājā Ratan Singh Zakhmi that touched upon various scientific disciplines including
astronomy and quite up-to-date at that, an activity that continued in the following century too(Ansari 2002). In one of his works probably finished in 1802, Abū Tālib talks about
discoveries of Uranus, Ceres and Pallas, transits of Mercury and Venus and provides
information on comets, as follows (Ansari 2002):‘The comets are numerous and three of them, possessing elliptical orbits around the Sun, have been
observed more or less better [than others]. One of them has a period of 79 years and the period of thesecond and third are 229 and 575 years. For the latter he gives also the aphelion and perihelion
distances of the comet, and even the speed of transit through the perihelion as 880,000 miles/hour’.
6.1. The comet of 1702
Niccolo Manucci in his Storia do Mogor describes his sighting of a comet in 1702 from
Madras (Manucci 1907a). At Pondicherry the French had just re-established themselves in1699 after conclusion of a peace treaty with the Dutch in 1697. Monsieur François Martin(1634-1706), the founder of the city of Pondicherry in 1674 and governor of the fort ofPondicherry had been facing trouble from insolent elements, in particular those active from asmall earthen fort in a village by the seaside, Bamiapalam, near Pondicherry. In October
1701, informed of an imminent attack Martin took upon them and could successfully quell themenace. Ever since, Manucci says, there happened no robberies, and the route past
Bamiapalam remained open. Bamiapalam was under the rule of the governor of Singy (Jinji),situated about fifteen leagues from Madras. For the sign in the sky, Manucci (1907a, p.383384) wrote:‘Up to this time this last town (Madras), where I have made my abode, had not been troubled by war
on any considerable scale, and had enjoyed pleasant enough repose. But now, in the midst of thetroubles which have agitated the other settlements on this coast, we have seen the appearance in theheavens, early in the year 1702, of a long tail, which at first led us to the belief that it was a comet, andyet no head to it was visible. At length, after some days the two ends of this tail showed without any
star. This celestial sign was visible from February 23 to March 6 following. The point was directed tothe south, and it issued from the west; the head continued to advance towards the east. Such signs have32

ever been the harbingers of approaching calamity or some revolution among men. God only knows
what may come of it, but we have already begun to feel the effects of a war, the details of which I will
give. To be still clear, it is necessary to begin somewhat farther back and tell you what brought it uponus’.

That is about the comet X/1702 D1 that had been observed by many but none of the observers
reported seeing its head and so a precise orbit could not be deduced. It was first sighted in theevening of 20.8 Feb from ships sailing near the Cape of Good Hope and on 23 Feb from aship in the Gulf of Pegu (Myannmar), etc. According to England (2002), the tail of the comet
was observed from Bengal on 23 Feb about 30 minutes after the sunset that took 45 minutes
to completely set. Kronk (1999) quotes from the 1753 work of Nicolaas Struyck, the firstcometographer (1740, 1753) in history, according to whom the log of a ship Schulp, thensailing in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Burma (now Myanmar) carried description ofsighting of the comet on 28 Feb, with a tail 42º 46ʹ long. England (2002) observes that thecomet must have been very bright, at mag. 0 or even brighter as it was seen in twilight at sucha low elevation. The comet was suspected by H.C.F. Kreutz to be a Sungrazer. The orbits ofthe great comets C/1843 D1 and C/1882 R1 fitted the observations, suggesting for the cometof 1702 a perihelion passage on 15.1 Feb; q=0.01 AU (Marsden 1967).
There was another comet that followed it shortly, namely, C/1702 H1, but that is not referred
to in Manucci’s work. The latter was discovered by F Bianchini and Filippo Maraldi from
Rome on the morning of 20.94 April and by Gottfried Kirch from Berlin on 21.03 April. This
comet had passed very close by the Earth, from 0.0435 AU on 20 Apr and was last seen on
5.9 May (Kronk 1999). The comet C/1702 H1 does not fit into Manucci’s description.
6.2. A comet in 1705
There is a footnote in Dr John Fryer’s travelogue on p. 175 quoting Niccolo Manucci about
his seeing a comet in 1705 (Manucci, 1907b, IV, p. 233). Manucci first provides a descriptionof a devastating earthquake in Gogo (Ghogha), a British seaport town about 154 km from
Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The earthquake that occurred in February 1705 was so terrible that it
caused parting of ground for as much a length as five leagues and fissures as wide as thirty
cubits. A few days later torrential rains of ‘blood in drops of considerable size’ lashed theregion reddening the lands. ‘At the same time there appeared a comet, which was visible forfifteen days’. The apparition was interpreted by Brahmins to portend the approaching death of
the Emperor Aurangzeb and devastation in several parts of the Mughal Empire together withthe loss of the port of Surat. The Emperor died two years later, on 3 March 1707 (Greg.).
Vsekhsvyatskii (1964), Hasegawa (1979) and Kronk (1999) list no comet for the year 1705.
Manucci’s own description of the comet in the travelogue does not give times of its
observations and positions in the sky and whether the sighting was a morning or an evening
one. Could Manucci’s comet be the one seen in early 1706? This comet (C/1706 F1) was
indeed a low declination object and touched its highest declinations in March. It was a faintobject. However, it does not solve the mystery of the comet of 1705 that nobody else saw.
6.3. The Comet C/1723 T1
The next instance of observations with a telescope relates to the comet of 1723. This comet
was discovered near the horizon by Gian-Priamo and Ignatius Kegler, a French missionary in
Peking, on the morning of 11 Oct as a m=+3 object with a tail 4º long. It was independently
discovered on the 16th Oct in Lisbon and by William Saunderson on 17th Oct (Greg.) at
Bombay. Hind (1852, p. 146) gives Saunderson’s date as 12 October. Crossat, a Jesuit in
Cayenne, saw the comet on 15th of October as a 3m star with a tail 7º.5 long. Kronk (1999)
attributes to the Chinese the comet’s discovery on 10.8 Oct in the constellation of Columba as

33

recorded in the text Ch’ing shih kao. At the time of discovery, the comet had already passed
its perihelion, on 28.128 Sept UT; q=0.999 AU. It passed closest by the Earth on 14 Oct from0.1036 AU. The comet had begun to trail the Sun 14 Oct (Greg) onwards.
Its period is not given and the comet 1723 is most likely among the non-returning ones.
Edmund Halley had seen the comet naked eye on the evening of 20 October, describing it ‘notmuch unlike a star of the third magnitude’ (Kronk 1999). The Full Moon occurred on 14
Oct/12 Nov.
The comet was sighted by Saunderson (1726) at Bombay first, most likely, on 5 Oct. The
communication ‘Mr. William Saunderson’s communication of his observations through ‘Dr.
Halley, Astron. Reg. R.S.S.’, to the Royal Society dated 12 Sept 1725 read thus –‘In the Month of October 1723, being riding at Bombay, a Brightness in the Heavens appear’d to a
Right Line, for but very little to the Eastward of one) with Lyra and the Bright Star in the Eagle, being
about 50° distant from the last; and on Monday the 7th following it had advanced 10° toward the Eagle,
moving towards it in the forementioned direction, from the S.E. Quarter.’
Saunderson had a six-foot glass. In the communication, he tabulated his observations for theperiod 7 – 19 Oct taken between 9 and 10 hours at night that show how the position of thecomet changed with respect to the Eagle’s Heart from 40°00′ south on 7 Oct to 11°40′ southon the 19th. He noted further –‘At first it looked only like one of the White Spots called the Magellanic Clouds, the Space filling the
Field of a Six-foot Glass. Afterwards I saw the Head in the Center of the illuminated Space, which did
not look with much Brightness; but appeared largest on the 10th of October, decreasing gradually bothin its Bulk and Motion from that time until the 25th, at which time I could find no Appearance of it withthe fore-mentioned Glass. N.B. From the 20th to the 25th it had nearly the fame Place in the Heavens,seeming to move directly from the Earth…’
The dates in Saunderson’s communication are Old Style (Julian calendar). The date of firstrecorded observation 7 Oct 1723 Monday corresponds to 18 Oct 1723 Monday (Gregorian).
Generating the apparent positions of the comet on a few crucial dates from the Horizons
system, we have the comet positions as in the Table 3.
Table 3The positions of the comet of 1723 on different dates
Date (Greg)
UT
r
Δ
Alt
Az (S-W)
Comet
1723-Oct-16
1723-Oct-18
1723-Nov-05

16:00
16:00
16:00

1.048
1.059
1.193

0.132
0.187
0.822

34.01742.63333.017

11.60032.93379.117

Above, r is Heliocentric and Δ the geocentric distance, in AU. Saunderson (1726) would havemade his first observation on 16 Oct (5 Oct Julian), and as he says ‘between 9 and 10 at
Night’, presumably around 16:00 UT (sunset 12:46 UT). That day he would have found thecomet aligned with Lyra while 50° south of Altair. As per the positions in the Table above,the comet would have lain about a degree north of γ Grucis and 10º north of Alnair (α Gru).
By 18 Oct (7 Oct Julian), the date of his first recorded observation, the comet had moved
north-west by about sixteen degrees towards the Eagle. By the last day of his observation (5Nov, Greg) when he actually could not view it, the comet had reached a location some 10°
south east of Altair, and ~ 4º north-east of θ Aquilae. A cross check with the computed
ephemeris of the comet corroborates Saunderson’s observation that from ‘the 20th to the 25th’(Julian) the comet was apparently motionless and so was moving directly from the Earth.

34

In the same communication, Saunderson (1726) also briefly describes his lunar eclipse
observations that he saw at Gomroon in Persia. Another communication from him thatappeared in the Philosophical Transactions (Vol. XXXI, pp. 120) was – ‘Observations on the
Variations of the Needle in the Baltic, Anno 1720’.
6.4. The Comet C/1737 C1 (1737 I)This comet was discovered on 6.99 Feb by Rose Fuller in Jamaica. Fuller’s communication
says 26 Jan, presumably a Julian date. The comet passed its perihelion on 30.847 Jan (Kronk
1999). On 9 Feb, it was seen in sunlight in Lisbon and Gibralter with a tail 7º long. The comet
was seen with the naked eye until 18 March (Vsekhsvyatskii1964); q=0.22282 AU, i= 18.326,
e=1 (JPL).
John Anthony Sartorius, a missionary at Madras (now Chennai) first saw the comet 1737 I on
13 Feb with a telescope having 10 or 11 feet focal length (Kronk 1999). Sartorius was the firstmissionary sent in 1730 from England to India by an English Missionary Society. Soon hebecame proficient in Tamil language of which he made a lexicon also. About a year before his
death on 27 May 1738, Sartorius had moved to Cuddalore with Geister, a German Missionary(Westcott 1897). The comet observations would have been made when Sartorius was still at
Madras. An extract from his letter dated ‘Feb. 9. 1736-7 V.S.’ (Sartorius 1737) to Mr Bayer at
Petersburgh concerning the comet appeared in the Phil. Trans. RS London after a translationfrom German by C.M. R.S. Sec., together with other communications on the same. It read so:‘For seven Days last past, about 7 Hours Vesperè there hath appear’d a dim Comet, as we
took it to be: It is feen in the Weft, under Venus towards the S.W. It looks through a Tube of
10 or 11 Feet long, like a dim or pale Planet; its Tail tends upwards. What do the Astronomers
in Europe say of it, if it hath been seen there’.
With the Horizons System and Solar System Live, we find the respective apparent positionsof the comet and the Sun as at Madras. The positions in the Table 4 are for a perspective.
Table 4The positions of the comet of 1737 on different date
Date (Greg) UT
r
Δ
Alt
Az
Comet
1737-Feb-13
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Moon
Comet
1737-Feb-20
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Moon

12:43

0.501

1.056
0.988
0.862
1.071
58.7 ER

28.30079.200-0.37476.504 Setting
16.83880.219 Up
40.09881.529 Up
24.085 -102.029 Up

12:45

0.676

1.072
0.990
0.698
1.024
57.5 ER

37.767-0.4199.572
40.940-71.65678.73379.029 Setting
83.786 Up
86.193 Up-91.449 Set

On the 13 Feb evening, the comet lay in Aquarius near the Pisces-Aquarius-Cetus
borders, with Venus about 12º N-E from it.
Rose Fuller’s communication dated ‘Spanish-Town, Mar.1. 1736-57’ appears on the same
page of the Phil. Trans. as extract of the letter of Sartorius. It mentions of the comet ‘first
perceived about the 26th of January,’… ‘in the West first of all, some Degrees below anddirectly under Venus: Every Night it appear’d nearer to that Star, but inclined Northerly. …’ .

35

The date 9 Feb in Sartorius’ letter and 26 Jan in Fuller’s letter are Julian. For the perspective,
the Full Moon occurred on 15 Feb.
6.5. The bright comet of 1742
There is record of a comet in the writings of an 18th Century Indian historian Sayyid
Muḥammad ‘Alī al-Ḥusaini that he says appeared in 1154 A.H. (1741-42). No astronomical
detail of the observation is given. Sayyid al-Ḥusaini was a Persian scholar and political
historian. He wrote in 1759-60 a history of the Timur dynasty, Tārīkh -i Rāḥat Afzā, covering
the period 1359-1759 (Khan 1948). In it, he mentions a detonating fireball in the year 1155
A.H. (1742-43) and an earthquake in 1171 A.H (1757-58)1. More importantly, he records theoccurrence of a comet“In the year 1154 A.H., a star with tail appeared at evening in the West, during the months of Shawwāl,
Dhu-al-Qa‘dah and Dhu-al-Ḥajjah. Afterwards it made its appearance in the East, during the earlymorning, for a few days in the month of Muḥarram 1155 A.H.”.

In the cometographies of Vsekhsvyatskii (1964) and Kronk (1999), there are no records of acomet in 1741. The only comet that can match the description above is the one that appeared
early in 1742. Its exact discovery as Kronk (1999, pp. 403-5) comments ‘is somewhat open todebate’. The circumstances suggest Muḥammad ‘Alī to be an independent discoverer of thebright comet of 1742, now designated C/1742 C1.
The comet C/1742 C1 was a bright one, having a parabolic orbit and inclination 112º.948,
motion retrograde; it passed its perihelion on 8.696 February 1742 and the closest by the
Earth from 0.3334 AU on 7 March. It was noticed first in the southern skies from the Cape ofGood Hope (Hind 1852, p. 147) where the first records date 5 February 1742 that also statethat the comet had been seen on several nights before (Kronk 1999). The comet was moving
northwards and by March became visible in the northern skies when it was widely observed.
In Europe, the comet was first seen by William Whiston, Isaac Newton’s successor as
Lucasian professor of mathematics, in England on 1.2 March. By 8 March, it had developed atail 8°-9° long with its head at about 2 mag. The comet became circumpolar by 11 Marchwhen it could be seen throughout the night. By April 1742, it became strenuous to view thecomet unassisted. The comet was observed last, telescopically, on 7 May (Kronk 1999).
Muḥammad ‘Alī’s sightings of the cometMuḥammad ‘Alī does not specify any date of the month of Shawwāl. His last recorded
sightings are in the initial days of the month of Muḥarram 1155 A.H. and made earlymorning. I shall take these to be the few days following Muḥarram 1 (≡7 March 1742 Greg.,
Wednesday), i.e., from the morning of 8 March.
In light of the history of observations of the comet made from the Cape and Europe,Muḥammad ‘Alī’s initial observations assume significance. These are also very critical to theobserver’s location. The observation was made from Burhānpur (21°25'N, 76°19'E; in modern
Madhya Pradesh). For one at Burhānpur, it is necessary to ascertain if the comet wasobservable so early, i.e., 9 December onwards. I get that Muḥammad ‘Alī,s first recorded
sighting would have to be before mid-December. However, this time around, the comet – Sunaltitude difference is not very favourable and naked eye observation in the month of Shawwāl
is not possible at all.
In early February, the comet rises in the nautical twilight but no longer a challenge to theunaided eye. On 5 February, it rises a half hour earlier, at 00:22 UT when the estimated visual
magnitude improves further to 2.7 mag. With the Sun still 16º below horizon, the sky is dark36and a view of the comet in the astronomical twilight is surely possible, it being a New Moon
that day.
The reference to an evening sighting of a star with tail followed by another apparition in themornings can come from actual observations only. It implies that Muḥammad ‘Alī was well
read and had some exposure to the relevant literature. More importantly, the observation that
it is the same comet suggests of a rare perception. It overarched the canonical knowledge andwhatever practical astronomy he may have known, for, the inference is independent of theWestern tradition. Only, his description has turned out to be correct selectively.
Must we take Muḥammad ‘Alī’s first sighting of the comet only in 1742 it is likely to havebeen around the times it was first recorded – on 5 February 1742 at the Cape of Good Hope.
That makes Muḥammad ‘Alī an independent discoverer of the comet (Kapoor 2015b). The
next reported sighting of the comet in February is on the 27th and 28th only, by two Dutch
navigators on a ship in the Indian Ocean. It would have been easier had Muḥammad ‘Alī
mentioned also the constellation or any bright star in the vicinity.
6.6. Dr. Halley’s Comet 1759 I (1P/1758 Y1)
In the year 1456 ... a Comet was seen passing Retrograde between the Earth and the sun... Hence I
dare venture to foretell, that it will return again in the year 1758. - Edmund Halley {A Synopsis of the
Astronomy of Comets (1705), 22}

The 27th apparition of the Halley’s Comet was the first ever predicted return of a comet and it
was Edmund Halley (1656-1742) who made the prediction on the basis of Newton’s laws ofgravitation. Halley was computing orbits of comets that had been observed between the years
1337 to 1698. He saw great similarities in the orbits of the comets of 1531, 1607 and 1682.
He regarded these as the same comet that had returned repeatedly and surmised that the cometof June 1456 was a previous apparition too. The intervals were similar and if these slightly
differed, he attributed that aspect, significantly, to the influence of Jupiter. Keeping that inmind, Halley predicted that the comet should return in late 1758 or early 1759. He did not live
to see the comet return for real but the prediction made it the most awaited apparition inhistory. Searches for the comet that was destined to be christened the Halley’s Comet began
in 1757 itself. As Lynn (1910) has put it, Halley had had only one view of the comet in its
apparition of 1682 after his return from Italy to England through France. Recounting thecomet’s story, Dr Lardner (1835) wrote that:‘In 1757, Lalande proposed to Clairaut, the calculation of Halley’s comet which was expected to return
speedily. They were assisted by a French lady, the wife of a chronometer maker. The calculation wasenormous, because the orbit must be divided into degrees, and each degree requires as great acalculation as the whole orbit. They tell us, that they were employed from morning to night, notexcepting meal hours, incessantly for six months in this computation. Clairaut was so nervous that hehurried his calculation before the Institute, although he had not completed it. He stated, that the cometwould reach its perihelion on the 4th of April, but that it might be seen sooner. Voltaire has said, thatthe philosophers did not go to bed in the beginning of the year, so anxious were they to observe it’.

Clairaut as referred to above is the distinguished mathematician Alexis Clairaut (1713-65).
The comet returned indeed. It was recovered by a farmer and amateur astronomer Johann
Palitsch from Prohlis in Germany in the constellation of Pisces on 25 Dec 1758 with atelescope of eight feet focus (Hind 1852). The finding was confirmed only on 20 Jan 1759.
The comet was well observed ever since its discovery and widely noticed by several
acclaimed observers. It passed its perihelion on 13.0623 March 1759. Kronk (1999) gives afairly detailed account of the apparition. Charles Messier viewed it from Paris with atelescope first on 21.74 Jan 1759. Observing conditions in Europe were not favourable in37

February due to strong twilight, the waxing Moon and the comet’s position in the sky. In midFebruary, Messier could watch it again with a telescope. On 1 April, Messier spotted it in themorning skies a few degrees above the horizon with a 25° long tail. The comet reached its
brightest mag. at 1.19 as it passed closest to the Earth from 0.1222 AU on 26 April. It had justturned to move swiftly north-west after having touched its southern-most declination of -71º
in Apus near the border with Triangulum Australis. From 27 April, the comet began to trail
the Sun. It continued to be a naked eye object throughout May, gradually slowing down in its
apparent motion to become near stationary and fading out to 5.4 mag. by 2 June while itreached Sextans.
With this return as predicted, the comet provided the most cogent proof of the strength ofphysical theory - the laws of universal gravitation. Dr Lardner (1835) further observed,‘Now, although Clairaut was not quite correct as to the day, the only wonder is, that he should havebeen so accurate, for as he said, when a body traverses a space of 1500,000,000 of miles beyond oursphere of observation, how do we know but that some other planet may act upon it and influence its
course. In 26 years the planet Herschel was discovered, which it was proved, did actually operate inproducing the effect which Clairaut had surmised’.

While Dr Lardner wrote that, the planet Neptune, itself the first planet found frommathematical analysis of unexplained deviations in the orbit of the planet Uranus rather thanby observation, was yet to be discovered in 1846, on 23 September.
While the Halley’s Comet lay below the horizons in Europe, it was observed by M de la Nux
from Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean, and from India on 28 March. It was a French Jesuit
Gaston-Laurent Coeur-doux (1691-1779) who while at Pondicherry independently found thecomet at 04 hrs in the morning (local time). Coeur-doux was a Jesuit missionary, a naturalist
and linguist and the first to demonstrate similarity between Sanskrit, Latin and Greek, as also
German and Russian. His letter of 29 Sept 1759 to L’Academie Royale des Sciences, Paris(Coeur-doux 1760), translated reads thus:‘It was not until 28th March that we noticed, for the first time at four o’ clock in the morning, a Cometthat seemed to have been present for a long time, given its width and the length of its tail that extended
to several degrees; the comet appeared to be at the east of the Aquarius constellation, and with respect
to Pondichery, at about the same vertical as the brightest star of the southern shoulder of Aquarius, but
a little to the north of this vertical’.

The observations were made with the help of a semi-circle 10 inches in diameter placed
perpendicularly on a circle of the same size, and using an 18-inch telescope. Coeur-doux
noted that

‘Since the Comet was then visible in Europe, we did not think we would be able to observe it closely,
more so because for several days its movement was almost indistinguishable. Towards the 9th of April,
it appeared as if it had considerably accelerated….’.
After mid-April, the comet moved quite fast through the southern skies, more to theadvantage of southern observers. On the 25th of April, at 4 a.m. the comet stood 12° 40'
above the horizon, making‘a straight line with the Peacock eye and the clear of the Southern Triangle, that is, the closest to Birdof Paradise, and they seem to be equidistant from each other….The following two days wereextraordinarily busy, and we thought, given the great speed at which the comet was traveling to thesouth, that it would completely disappear from our sight. On the 28th, a little while after sunset, wespotted the Comet to the east of our meridian….’38

At 9:52 pm, Coeur-doux found its elevation on the horizon at 30° 30'. According to him, aline from the two stars to the west of the Raven would just about intersect the Comet. On the
30th at 7:28:30 pm, the Comet appeared at an elevation of 44° 9' on the horizon. The tail of the
Comet stretched to over 10° and its apparent diameter seemed to diminish proportionally with
its elevation towards the north. Coeur-doux observed the Comet last on 4 May 1759 when at
07:29 pm, it showed up at an elevation of 59° 54'. He discontinued the observations reasoningthat the elevation of the Comet had become very high and so, astronomers in Europe would
be able to carry out more accurate observations.
While describing his observations, Coeur-doux also refers to the seconds’ watch thatbelonged to Fr. Boudier – as falling behind by 45 seconds in 24 hours on the 30th Apr,delayed by 2 minutes and 30 seconds on the 2nd of May for it had not been wound theprevious day and falling behind by 1 minute and 30 seconds on the 5th.
Fr. Boudier referred to above is the French Jesuit and astronomer Fr. Claude Boudier (16861757). He came over to the French mission at Chandernagore in 1719, a French Colony since1673 in the Hooghly District. Equipped with 6 feet- and 17 feet- telescopes, a 2 feet- quadrantand some other instruments, a group of Jesuit astronomers under Boudier had commenced
astronomical observations beginning 1730 that included solar and lunar eclipses (Udias
2003). In 1734, he had taken a long journey to visit Jaipur together with Fr. Francis Pons
(1698-1752) on an invitation from Rājā Sawāi Jai Singh II. He had carried a 17 feet longtelescope and an astronomical clock along. He had even measured latitudes, and fromobservations of Jupiter’s satellites, longitudes of the towns that fell en route. He recorded thesolar eclipse of 3 May 1734 that he observed from Delhi (Sharma 1982). Notably, the path of
totality passed over Mumbai, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Rajahmundry, Kakinada andVishakhapatnam etc. Delhi saw the eclipse at a 0.7 magnitude with C1 at 10:46 UT and C4 at
12:45 UT.
Coeur-doux’s communication nowhere relates the apparition of the comet to Halley’s
prediction nor does it use a phrase ‘Halley’s Comet’. The right honours were first conferredby the French astronomer Abbe de La Caille, sometime in May 1759. A decade later, Charles
Burney (1726-1814), the music historian most well known for his ‘History of Music’, had thisto say – ‘The comet of 1759 is known throughout Europe by the name of Dr Halley’s Comet’(Hughes 1987).
The reader can find poetic echo of an astronomical prediction in a poem by Victor Hugo on
Halley’s Comet entitled ‘la Cométe, 1759’, reproduced by The Observatory in its August1910 issue, p. 341-2:‘Il avait dit:--Tel jour cet astre reviendra. Quelle huée !.., meaning He said such a day this star will
return. What a hoot !.....’
After Edmund Halley, J F Encke successfully predicted in 1820 the return of a comet in 1822,
now appropriately named 2P/Encke. Encke’s Comet has the shortest period of them all, 3.28
yrs.
6.7. Le Gentil and the Comet of 1769 (C/1769 P1)
The comet of 1769 (C/1769 P1) was discovered by Charles Messier (1730-1817) on 8 August
1769 from Paris in the course of his dedicated search for comets. The great comet, inMessier’s own words in his Memoirs of 1808 (1769 Grande comète qui a paru à la naissancede Napoléon le Grand, découverte le 8 aôut 1769 et observée pendant quatre mois par M
Messier) ‘preceded the birth of Napoleon the Great by 7 days…’. Messier possibly believedthat comets were premonitions to events on the Earth and in William Smith’s words as quoted39

by H. Frommert in his biography of Messier, it was ‘the last comet put astrologically before
the public by an orthodox astronomer’ (Meyer 2007). By 25 August, the comet visible to thenaked eye had developed a tail 10° long. Messier describes his observations of the impressive
comet in his Memoirs citing de la Nux having measured from Isle de Bourbon a tail 97° long.
It passed closest by the Earth on 11 September from 0.32296 AU and passed its perihelion on
8.1204 October; q=0.122755 AU i=40°.7338. It was last observed on 3 December. There is adetailed description in Kronk (1999) of its observations made from various locations.
In India, the comet was observed from Pondicherry by Guillaume Le Gentil (1725-1792), a
French astronomer who had originally set sail in 1760 to come over to India to follow thetransit of Venus of 6 June 1761 from Pondicherry, then in French possession. Caught in theSeven Years’ War between the French and the British, he could not make it for the British
had taken Pondicherry just while the frigate he was aboard appeared before Mahe on the
Malabar shores. They decided to turn back to set sail to Isle de France (now Mauritius). Le
Gentil could make observations of the transit from a moving ship but with measurements
hardly of value (Hogg 1951).
The transits of Venus are very rare, about 12 in a millennium and occur after 8, 105.5, 8 and
121.5 years and so on, either in June or in December. After the telescope, the first of thetransits of Venus as predicted by Kepler happened on 7 December 1631. Looking through his
Tabulæ Rudolphinæ, the British astronomer Jeremiah Horrox (1618-41) deduced the next one
to be on 4 December 1639 and actually observed it. It was James Gregory in 1663 and later
Edmund Halley in 1691 who proposed that from the timings of ingress and egress of a transitof an inner planet observed from different locations on the Earth one should be able todetermine solar trigonometric parallax and deduce an unprecedentedly precise measure of
distance to the Sun. Halley died in 1742. The next transits of Venus were to happen in 1761
and 1769. As the time drew near, the forthcoming transits evoked great scientific interest in
Europe to observe these from different locations of the globe. Le Gentil who had been
inducted into astronomy by Jacques Cassini at the Paris Observatory at a young age and grew
to be a dedicated astronomer was in the French expedition that was part of an international
collaboration for the purpose. Disheartened but not giving up having ventured so far from
France, Le Gentil knew that the next transit was due on 4 June 1769 and so determined to stayaround and observe it. The intervening period spent in drifting and sails was sufficiently
trying but he eventually returned to Pondicherry on 27 March 1768, well in time to be able toobserve the transit that to his misfortune was clouded out. The British too had prepared forand had observed both the transits from various locations in India (Kapoor 2013).
Hogg (1951) in her four part essay presents an insightful description of the travails of Le
Gentil from his memoirs in French, namely, Voyage dans les mers de l'Inde… (Le Gentil
1779). She calls his eleven year voyage to the Indian Ocean to observe the transit of Venus of1761 and then of 1769 as the longest lasting astronomical expeditions in history. Pondicherryin the mean time had its own tryst with its occupants. When he landed, it was under French
occupation. M. Law, the ‘Governor General for the King of all the French establishments in
India’, accommodated him well and asked him to go around next day, find a suitable site andbuild an observatory (Figures 10 and 11).
In the Tome Premier of his Voyage…, Le Gentil (1779) writes about how the observatory
came up (p. 353-6). It got ready by 11 June. He carried there his instruments, the quartercircle (quadrant) and clocks, and his effects, saying ‘It was my home and my retreat during
my stay in Pondicherry’ (Le Gentil 1779, p. 354). It was the British of Madras who provided
Le Gentil with an excellent telescope, an achromatic three feet long to observe the transit.
Here he began with taking correspondent altitudes of the Sun, and determining latitude andlongitude of Pondicherry. In the course of his work, he had an exposure to Indian astronomy
too. He marvelled at the fine art of eclipse calculations by the locals and even tried to learn it.

40A local Tamil Brahmin computed for him in three quarters of an hour’s time using shells, andtables from his memory, the circumstances of a lunar eclipse of 30 August 1765 that Le
Gentil had observed from elsewhere. Upon cross checking with the tables of Tobias Mayer
that were considered the most accurate, he was astonished to find the Tamil giving the eclipse
duration short by only 41 sec, in contrast to Mayer’s tables that gave a duration longer by 68
sec (Neugebauer 1975, II, p. 620). Le Gentil found computation of solar eclipses much moredifficult to comprehend and master.

Figure 10. The ruins of Pondicherry in 1769, as seen from the north. Le Gentil set up his
observatory in the ruins of the former Governor’s palace, in the structure to the right of the flagpole (Image adopted from Le Gentil 1779).

Le Gentil (1779) writes about his (pp. 464-73) observations of the comet, noting“During the month of August, there appeared a comet that I observed as much as I could afford thetime & the fever that I was attacked for the first time….. I will only report those which could serve to
discover whether the Comet had a sensible parallax. I made three observations of this kind; I am surethat I would have had more, if the weather had been more favorable to the Observations…”
He describes the first sighting as follows,“It had been a long time since the Comet was visible when I began to observe it; not only is Heaven
almost always covered in Pondicherry during the month of August, but I must make my return toFrance in the first days of the month of October: my observations were finished, I had finished the lastones on the length of the simple Pendulum on July 27th. I made my arrangements for my departure,when the sentinel of the guard-house came to warn me, on the feast day of St. Louis, that he hadperceived the night before, a great trail of light in the sky, between the clouds, and that time at fouro'clock, they had seen from the guard-house a large star with a long tail; that his comrades had told himthat it was a comet, and that it was necessary to come and give me notice of it. On this report I was
attentive; but I spent a fortnight idle with M. de Willems, Major des Troupes. Finally, on the 30th, thesky was a little clearer of clouds, and we perceived the long tail of the Comet. This tail occupied morethan 30 degrees in Heaven: I compared the Comet to a few Stars of the Bull”.

41

Figure 11. Pondicerry as in 1769 (Le Gentil 1779).

Figure 12. Le Gentil’s shows with sketches of the comet and the star field how the separation
between a particular star in the field of view and the comet head changed in a matter of minutes.
Here, the Figs.1 and 2 depict the situation on 1 Sept, Figs 3-5 on 9 Sept and Figs. 6-10 on 12 Sept.
(Le Gentil 1779).

42

In the month of September, Le Gentil was able to see the comet three to four times only, thenonce after its conjunction with the Sun at the end October and next on 2 November. By then,
the tail had diminished in length. Before the conjunction, the tail that stretched more than 40°
now measured barely 5°.
For the 1 September observation with ma lunette de 15 pieds (my 15 foot telescope), he foundthe comet, in comparison to the Andromeda Nebula, to have ‘the same density, the same
diameter, and to be as badly finished as this Nebula’. He made observations of correspondent
heights of the upper edge of the Sun to determine the True Noon to the last second, a momentthat occurred a bit earlier with the days. He specifies angular distances of a few stars of
Taurus and the field stars in terms of the diameter of the Comet. In the course, he measured
how the Comet took certain time to drift a distance. For example, on the 9th September, hefound the comet taking 12 '15" of time to move away from a star in the field of view by anamount equal to its diameter. He made several sketches of the position of the comet withrespect to adjacent stars at specific epochs. The Figure 12 has several of such sketches drawn
to show how on the respective days, the comet moved among stars in a matter of minutes;
within it, the Figs.1 and 2 depict the situation on 1 September, Figs. 3-5 on 9 September andFigs. 6-10 on 12 September. On 8 September, he found the tail of the comet more than 40°
long; it was of very great density for more than 20°. On the 11th, he observed“The tail of the Comet has very visibly reached the three shapeless Stars in the front feet of the
Monoceros, on the confines of the Milky Way; so it occupied about 20 degrees. The Comet appeared
like a star between the second and the third magnitude, very pale. In the telescope, no nucleus was
visible; there was a sort of disheveled Nebula, but very clear, and transparent, much more so than the
Nebula of Andromeda.”
The 12th of September witnessed the most favourable weather when he could see the tail of
the Comet in a form not seen till then:“It was going to confine to the Stars of Orion's sword, which had an extent of more than 35 degrees….
These are the most interesting observations I have been able to make on the Comet. I find one made in
Paris by M. Messier, correspondent of the one I made on the 9th. This observation is unique, in that wehave compared the Comet to the same Star, M. Messier & I, and almost to the same moment…”
He further observes (Le Gentil 1779, p. 521),“On the 30th and 31st of October, were beautiful and charming days, not too hot; the Sun has always
appeared lightly covered with a rare and transparent cloud…..Until the 4th of November, we had nearlysame temperature; but it must be remarked that the horizon has always been covered at sunset by heavy
storm clouds, and that I have been able to observe the Comet only twice”.
What did he communicate to the locals about comets and the transit of Venus that he hadoriginally come for, so far? The Halley’s Comet should be lingering in their memories, andnow, just past the extraordinary conjunction of Venus with the Sun, there was yet anotherbright apparition. However, none of it moved the traditional astronomers. What they actually
thought about his activity is revealed in Le Gentil’s comments as follows (Le Gentil 1779, p.
42):“The Brahmins do not know anything of Comets: Indians believe that they are signs of Heaven's wrath.
They were astonished to see me spend part of the nights watching the comet that appeared in 1769;
they asked me a lot about the cause of this phenomenon….In spite of their contempt for us, and thefaith of their idea of our knowledge; although this Brahmin, who had come to visit me from afar,
showed the greatest indifference in seeing my instruments of Astronomy; although he seemed very
little flattered by the explanation I gave him of the use of the quadrant for astronomical observations;43however, my prediction, in the name of the Comet, which appeared in August and September, 1769,
struck him; it made the same sensation on the minds of all the Indians of Pondicherry. I had announced,
during the month of September, that this Comet, after it ceased to appear in the morning towards theend of the month would return near mid-October at seven o'clock in the evening, and we would see thetail turned in the opposite direction to that which it had when we saw it in September. What finallysurprised them was to see this Comet in the evening, at the end of October & in the early days ofNovember, in accordance with that I predicted them, as well as all Pondicherry.
Even though the Brahmins do not observe, they can trace the Meridian line by means of the gnomon;
they use it whenever they are building a pagoda, because their religion teaches that temples are oriented
according to four cardinal points; so that the four faces of pyramids that serve as entrance & gateways
to their pagodas, are North & South, East & West”.

Le Gentil was appreciative of the sky conditions at Pondicherry when he observed (Hogg
1951) –

‘The nights at Pondicherry are of the greatest beauty in January and in February; you cannot have any
idea of the beautiful sky which these nights offer until you have seen them. I had nowhere seen Jupiterso well with my telescope of fifteen feet (focal length) as I did there….’.
It is not clear if Le Gentil knew that the year 1769 would actually see two transits. Even so, he
was not rightly placed to observe the transit of Mercury that fell on 9/10 November 1769. The
transit ended on the morning of 10 November 1769. The IVth Contact was at 00:12 UT, justbefore the Sun rose at Pondicherry - at 00:38 UT. Had he known it, he would surely havegotten in the observation mode, vide his Voyage, p. 358:

“I remember that we saw so many differences between all the observations that have been made of
Mercury's passage on the Sun, in 1753, that we do not dare to give one of them in preference to theother, without having it, above all, subject to the most critical examination.”
8. EPILOGUE
The next comet observation from India I know of relates to the Great Comet of 1807 by Capt.
John Warren (1769-1830). He was Acting Astronomer of the Madras Observatory during theyears 1805-11 when the Astronomer John Goldingham went on leave to England. The workon the observations of comets made in India in the 19th and 20th century is in progress.
‘Comet tales from India’ is the author’s ongoing search since 2009 for the records ofcometary sightings from the Indian region, since antiquity until 1960, where available data,
however minimal, permits identification of the comet. Here is hoping that more comets fromthe period will join the narrative.
9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Prof. K. Tanikawa and Prof. Mitsuru Sôma for the kind invitation and The National
Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Mitaka, Tokyo for the financial support toattend the Fifth Symposium on Historical Records of Astronomy and Modern Science, at the
NAOJ, held during 22-24 March 2018. I am grateful to Dr. Sabino Maffeo, S.J., and Prof.
Armando Reale for help in the translation of a few passages from an Italian work. Any
shortcomings in the translations are my responsibility. I thank the Werner Forman
Archive/Naprestek Museum, Prague for providing image of a margin drawing from the folio of
Jahangir's Album. My sincere thanks are due to Mr Kaustubh Khare and Mr. Suhas Vitekar
who in 2011 made efforts and got me relevant pages from Krishṇājī Anant Sabhāsad’s bookon the life of Chhatrapati Shivājī Mahārāj. I thank Christine Foulcher, Archives, Académiedes sciences, Paris for providing a crucial link to Histoire et mémoires de l'Académie royale,44

en 1702 for J.D. Cassini’s communication. The research presented here has made use ofNASA's Astrophysics Data System, the "On-Line Solar System Data Service" of the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, eclipse predictions by ‘Fred Espenak, NASA’s GSFC’, the websitesof Chandra X-ray Center, CalendarHome.com, John Walker’s Your Sky and Juhani
Kaukoranta and Raahen lukio. Many papers and images, works of history as also those on thehistory of astronomy not otherwise available were accessed through the Internet Archives,
Hathi Trust Digital Library, The Packard Humanities Institute, the Google books, Wikimedia
Commons, the British Library, Gallica BnF, World Digital Library and a number of otherinstitutions. I am grateful to the Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) for facilities,
to Dr. Baba Varghese and Mr. Manu Kapoor for help at the computer and to Drs. Christina
Birdie, A. Vagiswari, Mr. P. Prabahar and Mr. B.S. Mohan at the Library, IIA for help withaccessing various references.
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