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and that, t^ finder the mas^ of concealment, under the name of reviewer, by which he thought to stab me in liie dark, to destroy my la'bours, and to do me every possible injiHy, without my knomng to wlmt hand I had been indebted for such unprovoked and unex- pected usage? Cwi it be supposed that I would tamely submit to be thus treated, without speaking my mind, and exposing the malice and ill will of the individual who could shamefully, smd in spite of truth, act in tiiis nmnner ? What serves to miark his malice and ill willj is his attempt to magnify ima- ginary defects in my method, whUe at the same time he endeavours to uphold the method of BaiUy, which of all others wias the most imperfect. For the quantities of the motions bf the planets were totally inapplicable, from their not beirig d^ived in the Eu- ropesm manner, on which he reckoned. And though (the greatest equations of the planets were fiot Iktble to the saane objection, yet th6y were too ill deter- mhied in Hindu books to answer the purpose. Not satisfied with this marked ill will, he crowns it by accusing me of having attacked Sir W. Jones, Mr. Playfair, and others, thinking thereby, no doubt, as he found his sophistry imd misrepresentations not s\ifficient to answer his views, that their friends would join him in raising a hue and cry against nie. Digitized by Google PREFACE* XXVU In this, however, he has been disappointed. I cer- tainly attacked no one; but I explained the nature and principles of the modem Hindu system of astro- nomy, showing that it ¥ra8 entirely contrary to the view that had been taken of it: so that I think I have fairly and clearly proved, that the spphisfary and misrepresentaticms of the reviewer are founded in malice. By his attempt to uphold the antiquity of Hindu bodes against absolute fistcts, he thereby supports all those horrid abuses and impositions found in them, under the pretended sanction of antiquity, viz. the burning of widows, the destroying of infuits, and even the inmiolation c^ men* Nay, his aim goes still deeper; £* by t^e same means he endeavours to overturn the Mosaic! accounti. and sap the very foundation of our religion: for if we are to believe in the antiquity of Hindu books, as he would wish us, then the Mps^c account is all a fable oar a fiction* When our just endeavours to do all the good in our ppwer, to steip the torrent pf imposition^ and to lay the same opea to. full view, are opposed by secret means, or by persons in concealment coun* teracting our intentions, we caimot help feeling a regret that such things should exist : that they do exist, however, is certain^ and has been fuQy proved by th$ preceding pag^; and w^e I so dispo^ed^ I could exhibit a great deal more. However* for the prssent, I must draw a veil over themi and proceed Digitized by Google XXViii PREFACE. to what may be deemed of more importance; that is, some account of the present Essay. This work, as I noticed in the beginning of the preface, I began many years ago, in hopes that by giving a dear and concise historical view of the Hindu astronomy, from the earliest period of time iii which the science was known, it would contri- bute greatly to the dispelling of that mist of igno- rance under which ' it had lain so long. In con- formity, therefore, with this plan, I begin the first section with the earliest observations known or no- ticed in Hindu books, which will clearly show that the Hindus Had no astronoitiy, at least that we or themselve^know of, anterior to the year 1425 B.C. when it k duj^posed the Lunar Miansions were formed, and the first observations made. About the yiear 1181 B.C. they with great in- genuity^ formed the months, and gave them names, derived from.tiie Lunar Mansions in the manner explained in tb^^first section, which puts a stop to the imfeiginary antiquity, of all Hindu books and syste^i^ that Mention the names of the months, let their pretensions be whatever they may. • In the second section, f give the epoch of Rama, deduced firott 'the positions of the planets at his bl)rth> iwhieh is confirmed by the eclipse of the sun, ttnd other circumstances, at thexbuming of the ocean, or war between the gods and the giants ; as also the eolipse- <^ the sun, and poieMoiis of tiie Digitized by Google Fa£FAC£. XXl% plaiiets, at the .time his father wished hiQi to join in the goyemmeht; so that there is not a point in history, detennined with more certainty and preci- sion than the celebrated epoch of Rama^ which may be of some importance to those who make the Hindu history their study^ as it will enable them to correct and settle other points by the number, of reigns, either before or after Rama, with more cer* tainty than they otherwise could do* I have also noticed the observations then made in respect of the length of the year, the precession of the equi- noxes derived from the lunisolar period then dis^ covered, which was the foundation of the changeis made in the commencements of the year from time to time. The war between the gods and the giiuits I have given at full length, in order to diow the time to which it referred, and followed it up in the third section by a description of the war between the gods and the giants in the west, with all the curcumstances I could find relating to it, for the better determining the time ; wlHch nseems to be of importance for establishing with' more cettaioiy the epoch of the formation of the contdilationi9, the jVi^ gonautic expedition, as it is called, and ^e timfe of Hesiod, who gives a description <rf the War, whidi could no^ therefore, have been written: till Uie dose of it, which I have placed in. the year 746 B,C , In the fourth section, I, have given the epoch of ¥ijdhishtlura> Parasara, ^d GfeiPga, which fe a very Digitized by Google XXX PREFACE. materiftl point in Hindu history. I have explained the nature of the term, the Rishis in Magha, as in- troduced by the astronomers of that period ; which term the modems have entirely perverted, to answer their own impositions* I have also ex- plained some other passages of Parasara and Garga, relative to the positions of the colures, which like- wise have been perverted in modem times. In the fifth section, I have given the four periods into which the Hindu history was divided in ancient times, that is, as esurly as the year 204 before Christ, when this division seems to have been first invented. It is very remarkable, that by this arrangement, the creation took place at the very year of the Mosaical flood, by which it appears they had then no know- ledge whatever of any history anterior to that cir- cumstance. It serves, however, I think, as a proof of the year of the deluge being correctiy given, as the Hindus must have preserved it by tradition as the year of the creation, whith was very natural* In the sixth section, I have given the nine pa- triarchal periods, called Manwantaras. These ap- pear to have been invented in the first or second century of the Christian era, with a view, I believe, of correcting the error in respect of the creation, as given by the four ages. For the first of these pa- triarchal periods goes back to the year 4226 B.C. which is called the creation. By the former divi- sion, the creation took place at, or near the vemal Digitized by Google PREFACE. XXXI equinox : by the latter, on the 26th of October, at the autumnal equinox. But though the latter al- tered the time of the creation, it was only for man ; for the animals they stated to hare been created at a much later period. In the Modem Astronomy, first section, I have given a full view of the introduction of the modem systems, by which the creation has been thrown back into antiquity several millions of years. I have shown, by operations at length, how the epoch of the modem £^* I^^ was settled, and the method by which the planetary motions, posi- tions, &c. were adapted to the system of Brahtna, to answer the purpose in view. These systems have been the origin of a great part of the mcxlem impo- sitions, which would be too long to describe here. In the second section, I have gi^n the system called Varaha, as given in the Surya Siddhanta, &c. and shown the object of it was to support the former system in imposition. Its date I have shown by computation, and explained the ingenious contri- vance of the author for calculating M^ith eade tihe precession of the equinoxes, &c.