Aryabhata explained the solar and
lunar eclipses as well as the
movement of the planets.
O True
O False
Answers
Answer:
The earliest description of a solar eclipse can be found in the Rig Veda, the oldest document from
India dated to between 1700 and 1400 BC (Subbarayappa 2008; Sarma and Subbarayappa, 1985).
In later literature, dated to between 900 and 600 BC, a more detailed description of the phases of
an eclipse can also be found. However, these details are not accompanied by calendrical details
and hence it is not possible to date them. The eclipses are explained through the existence of a
body-less head of Rahu who tried to eat up the Sun and the Moon due to an enmity to them
(Damle, 2011). In 499 AD, Aryabhata gave a formal theory of eclipses based on the transit of Moon
between Earth and Sun and in the shadow of the earth. In India, eclipses are considered occasions
when the gods are in trouble because the Sun or the Moon is eaten up by Rahu and hence large
donations are common at the time of eclipses. These donations are often recorded on stone or
copper plate inscriptions along with the date and place of donation. A fraction of these are
catalogued in various records of the Archaeological Survey of India. We have scanned them and
found record of more than a thousand records dated to between 400 AD and 1800 AD. They make
a useful database for systematic studies of ΔT (Soma and Tanikawa, this volume) as well as other
possible causes of perturbations in earth’s rotation.