BIOGRAPHY

From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 299 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_361 Courtesy of Springer.


Setsuro Ikeyama

Dinakara

Flourished(Gujarat, India), 1578–1583

The Indian astronomer Dinakara composed three sets of astronomical tables. He belonged to the Moḍha clan of the Kauśika lineage, and was the son of Rāmeśvara and great grandson of Dunda. Dinakara resided in Bārejya (or Bāreja) in Gujarat. His tables are (1) the Candrārkī (epoch 1578) for which there is an anonymous commentary on it, (2) the Khe'ṭasiddhi (epoch 1578); and (3) the Tithisāraṇī (or Dinakarasāraṇī) (epoch 1583). The first two tables are planetary tables for computing the longitudes of the planets; the first deals with the Sun and Moon, including the tables for calendar making, and the second with the other five planets. The third is for making Indian calendars. These use the parameters of the Brahma school.

Selected References

Pingree, David (1968). “Sanskrit Astronomical Tables in the United States.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n.s., 58, pt. 3: 51b–53a.

——— (1971). “Dinakara.” In Dictionary of Scientific Biography, edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie. Vol. 4, p. 100. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

——— (1973). Sanskrit Astronomical Tables in England. Madras: Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute.

——— Census of the Exact, Sciences in Sanskrit. Series, A. Vol. 3 (1976): 102b–104b; Vol. 4 (1981): 109a–109b; Vol. 5 (1994): 138a–139b. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.

——— (1981). Jyotihśāstra. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.