VARANASI OR JAIPUR, NORTH INDIA, 19TH CENTURY

At the beginning of the 18th century, Sawai Jai Singh II (r.1699-1727), ruler of Jaipur and keen astronomer, ordered the construction of five observatories in Delhi, Mathura, Varanasi, Ujjain and his capital of Jaipur. These sites, known as Jantar Mantar, consisted of several structures facilitating the study of the stars. On the present astrolabe, the single plate is calibrated for the terrestrial latitude of 25° N, corresponding to the latitude of Varanasi. This suggests it was made either made in Varanasi, or was intended to be used there.

While the Sawai Jai Singh II's interest in astronomy supported a flourishing production of brass astrolabes, examples in silver are much rarer. Only four other silver astrolabes are known, all of which have been attributed to 19th-century Jaipur, in part on the basis of their calibration. Two identical examples with a diameter of 21.2cm. are in the Science Museum, London (acc.no.1990-605) and the National Museum, New Delhi, (acc.no. 86193⁄1), while a third with a diameter of 31.7cm. was formerly in the Time Museum, Rockford, IL (acc.no. 1752). An interesting fourth example was presented to King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, during his tour of India in 1875-6 by Maharaja of Jaipur Ram Singh II (r.1835-80). It measures 24.8cm. in diameter and its provenance to the Maharaja of Jaipur reinforces the attribution to Jaipur for the group. The diameter of 36cm. on the present example makes it the largest example within this group of silver astrolabes, and the only one calibrated for Varanasi rather than Jaipur.