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History of Science
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Medieval
Faridud-din
Mas'ud (Astronomer)
Faridud-din flourished during mid 1500 to 1629. He was the son
of Fathu'llah Shirazi, he studied under the guidance of his father.
He was a court astronomer of Shahjahan and acclaimed in his days
as the unrivalled master of mathematics, astronomy, geometry,
divination, magic and the science of composite number. He compiled
many astronomical tables and calendars. He made the new calendar
'Tarikh-i-Ilahi-I-Shahjahani', starting from the
year of Shahjahan's enthronment.
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Jahangir
(Naturalist)
Born in 1569, he was the son of Akbar. He was Mughal Emperor of India
from 1605-1627 and was a great patron of art, literature, architecture
and natural sciences. His memoir Tuzuk-i-Jehangiri includes
extensive information on flora and fauna of India, astronomy, technology
and collection of biographies of scientists of his time. It gives
detail information of 36 species of animals and 57 species of plants
available in India, the text is supplemented with excellent paintings
of flora and fauna by Ustad Mansur, the famous court painter of Jahangir. |
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Narahari
(Pharmacologist)
According to some scholars, Narahari probably lived around
17th Century AD. He hailed from Kashmir but appears to have
lived in different parts of the country. Narahari is the author
of Raja Nighantu or Abhidhana
Chudamani, an elaborate work giving names and medicinal
properties of substances. He provided names of drugs in Sanskrit,
Prakrit and Apabhramsa and regional synonyms in Marathi, Kannada,
and Telegu. He emphasized seven considerations for each drug
as: usage, effect, regional names, form, similarity, potency,
and place of origin. The work divided Ayurveda into eight
important parts such as pharmacology, diagnostics, therapeutics,
major surgery, minor surgery, psychotherapy, paediatrics and
toxicology.
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Paramesvara
(Ayurved)
Paramesvara was born in 1813 at Tirupurayath village of Travancore.
At the age of 30 he was attacked by severe skin disease. He
consulted many doctors but no body could cure him. Then he
decided to study the science of Ayurveda himself to get rid
of the disease and he soon became a master of the science.
However, he got himself cured by Vadasseri Nambudiri, a great
tantric teacher. Paramesvara's fame as a great physician spread
throughout and he traveled to Travancore, Cochin and other
adjoining countries. He was the recipient of special honours
from three successive Maharajas of Travancore, namely Uttanam,
Ayillian and Visakham Tirunal. He wrote several books on Ayurveda
including Hrdayapriya and Sukhasadhana
written in Sanskrit and Malayalam. His books have since been
in daily use of all Ayurvedic teachers and students of Kerala.
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Ratan
Singh (Astronomer)
Ratan Singh was born in 1782 at Lucknow, a great astronomer
of his time. He served East India Company at Calcutta for
some years. In 1814 he returned to Lucknow. Ratan Singh served
the court of Nawab Ghaziuddin Hyder and became his teacher
and finance minister. He received the title of 'Musbiru'l
Mulk' for Royal Service. After his retirement, he went
to Bareilly, where he left a big library after his death.
He was also a well known poet and adopted the title of 'Zakhmi'
for his poetic work. He authored many valuable books including
'Hada'iqu'n Nujum', a compendium on astrology
and astronomy written in Persian, 'Mi'yaru'l-Az-mam',
a book on calendar and chronology giving details of day, night,
month, year and various eras like Christian, Hindu, Jew, Greek
and Egyptian etc.
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Sawai Jai Singh II (Astronomer)
Born in 1686 at Amber, Rajasthan. He was a Kachwaha Rajput who
succeeded to the throne of Amber in 1699. Jai Singh made a strong
attempt to revive Indian astronomy by introducing Islamic and
European scientific works and instruments into the Indian traditional
astronomy. He constructed five astronomical observatories at
Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Banaras and Mathura. He also constructed
many astronomical instruments of metal and stone. |
JantarMantar-New
Delhi |
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