Sanskrit Mathematical and Astral Sciences in Ancient Java
For at least three reasons the exact sciences have so far received little attention in Indonesian Studies. First, almost no texts have come down to us. Second, there was no university that taught exact sciences in the Netherlands East Indies in the nineteenth century. Third, the views of the scientific colonial establishment discouraged any serious interest in traditional mathematical astronomy in the Indonesian archipelago in the second half of the nineteenth century.By Amrit Gomperts
The leading Dutch astronomer J.A.C. Oudemans, went to the Netherlands East Indies as head of the topographical service. His accurate mapping of the archipelago was essential to the military during the Dutch expansionist conquests in the second half of the nineteenth century.Occasionally Oudemans found himself involved in studies in traditional astronomy in the Indonesian archipelago. E. Netscher reported on 8 June 1861 that one of the chiefs in the Lingga and Riau islands --Tongku Haji Ahmad -- was able to compute the time of a forthcoming eclipse. According to Tongku Haji Ahmad the solar eclipse would occur on 8 July 1861 at 8 o'clock in the morning with a three-quarter obscuration of the sun's disk. Oudemans commented the following: '... calculation of time and magnitude of a solar eclipse for a certain place requires skills which cannot be expected from the inboorlingen (natives) of the Indonesian archipelago' (Natuurkundig Tijdschrift van Nederlandsch Indië 23, 1861, p. 483-484). However, this solar eclipse was visible in the Riau Islands at the approximate time on the date computed by Tongku Haji Ahmad. As confirmation, Netscher sent the chief's original computations in Arabic script to Batavia. They were met with patronizing scepticism because the traditional mathematical methodology was incomprehensible to the Dutchmen involved. To my knowledge Tongku Haji Ahmad's mathematical astronomy has since been lost.
Oudemans said much the same about the Javanese thirty years later: '... he was not an astronomer who calculated the moment of the full moon accurately to the minute' (Notulen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap 26, 1890, p. 112). European attitudes towards indigenous mathematical astronomy were quite different in India.
Greek influences
The French astronomer, Le Gentil, consulted a Tamil astronomer about the exact time of a lunar eclipse in Pondicherry in 1669. The accuracy of the results were comparable to those of contemporary European astronomical tables. Colonel John Warren repeated a similar question in 1825. The Tamil calendar makers computed an eclipse with an error of 23 minutes. This kind of research set a different tone in the European appreciation of Indian mathematical astronomy and Warren published a large book, Kala Sankalita, on the subject in 1825.
The theories of Indian mathematical astronomy have been described in several Sanskrit siddhanta texts. The earliest surviving texts like the Paitamahasiddhanta, Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya, and Varahamihira's Pancasiddhantika date from the fifth and sixth centuries AD.
In 1807 H.T. Colebroke introduced the idea that Indian mathematical astronomy was in some ways indebted to that of the Greeks. D. Pingree has shown in various publications in recent years that traditions of Babylonian astronomy and later Greek astronomy before Ptolemy (c. AD 150) found their way to India. The Paitamahasiddhanta introduced spherical trigonometry into India. Important traces of Greek astrology are present in the oldest surviving Sanskrit astrological and divination text, Sphujidhvaja's Yavanajataka (AD 269/270). Pingree has also shown that mathematical astronomy was primarily used for calendar reckoning, astrology, and divination in India. These were all closely related textual traditions within the field of jyotisa. With the influx of Indian culture Sanskrit textual jyotisa traditions found their way to Southeast Asia.
The Cambodian astronomers used methods that were based on Latadeva's Suryasiddhanta (sixth century AD). The Greek mathematical astronomical and astrological concept of a zodiac sign in the ascendant (Sanskrit: lagna) appears in Cambodian inscriptions as early as the seventh century AD.
Traditions of Indian mathematical astronomy also found their way to Java in the period AD 700-1100. However, the situation in Java and Bali is different. First, no texts on Indian mathematical astronomy have come down to us from Java or Bali. Second, there are no living traditions comparable to that of the Southeast Asian mainland in these islands. Third, Java is the only region in the world of Indian astronomy which is situated in the southern hemisphere. The mathematical theories of Sanskrit siddhanta texts commonly refer to the northern hemisphere. From the mathematical point of view, parts of these theories cannot simply be transposed to the southern hemisphere.
Mathematical astronomy in antiquity used the concept of the twelve zodiac signs as a division of the ecliptic. The positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets in the zodiac signs are concepts of both Indian mathematical astronomy and astrology. Images of Graeco-Babylonian-derived zodiac signs reappear on Indo-Javanese holy water cups (prasen) that were perhaps material objects of Indo-Javanese astronomical and astrological cults in East Java in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD.
Indo-Javanese people were aware of the Greek concept of the sphericity of the earth through the Old Javanese version of the Brahmandapurana (tenth century AD). In a search for Javanese traditions of Indian mathematical astronomy, the most important sources are the inscriptions AD 700-1500. The greatest obstacle so far has been the computational verification of the astronomical and astrological cycles in the inscriptions. The research has been simplified by using Indian astronomical software and digital Sanskrit text editions available through the Internet.
Sanskrit Divination Texts in Ancient Java
Although it has not been possible to determine the specific Sanskrit siddhanta texts that were used by the Indo-Javanese astronomers, computational verification showed that they closely followed the theories of siddhanta texts.
H. Kern and J.G. de Casparis have already identified several cycles in the inscriptions of Java AD 700-1500 that refer to specific Sanskrit texts. First, the Indo-Javanese astronomers and astrologers used the Indian concept of muhurtta hours (each 48 minutes) for computing the auspicious time for an undertaking. The Old Javanese names of the muhurtta hours appear in a rare Sanskrit astrological text the Atharvanajyotisa. Second, the mandala and the parvesa were used for earthquake divination and related to eclipse computations respectively. Both concepts, either directly or indirectly, originate from one of the most popular Sanskrit divination texts Varahamihira's Brhatsamhita (sixth century AD).
More details on the identification of the astronomical and astrological cycles appearing in the inscriptions of Java can be found in a forthcoming article by the present author published by Instituut Kern. Furthermore, following his investigation of the Thai and Burmese astronomical records, J.C. Eade (Australian National University) is preparing an extensive publication on the various Indian calendar elements appearing in the inscriptions of Java based on L.C. Damais' publications.
:Amrit Gomperts can be reached by E-mail: amritgo@pi.net