Mohan Yadav, the newly ensconced Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has hit the headlines with some ambitious plans in the domain of astronomy. His wish list (as revealed in his speech in the MP Vidhan Sabha recently) comprises moving the Prime Meridian from Greenwich to Ujjain, the city of Mahakal, revisiting the commencement of the civil day from midnight to fairer hours and replacing the Gregorian Calendar with ‘Vikram Samvat’.
Cutting the fizz of cultural nationalism out, one must examine his proposals on the bare scientific merits. From his profile available on the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha portal, he appears to have graduated in science (BSc) but later digressed into political science, management etc for his higher education. Though he cites science as one of the areas of his interest, his speech does not reveal any great command over the discipline. All his proposals reveal more about himself and less about the subject. This article confines itself only to the first proposal being the principal one.
He claims that Ujjain was regarded as the Prime Meridian in the world since times immemorial before it shifted to Paris, and later to Greenwich (near London) due to the rising clout of the Western nations. It is an exaggerated claim as various nations have used different initial meridians throughout history. A single meridian would have been impractical before the 19th century. What he perhaps meant by the world, was India.
“Indian astronomy treats Ujjain as on 00 longitude,” says Keshav Rao Balwant Dongray (1935), “and this is due to the fact that Indian astronomy from the days of old Siddhantas was zealously studied and formulated at Ujjain” (In Touch with Ujjain, P.112).
GR Kaye (1920) concedes that Ujjain or Avanti, as it was called, is one of the most ancient astronomical centres in the world and even to this day regarded by the orthodox Hindus as “the Greenwich of India”. Kaye, employed by the Archaeological Department of India, found it appropriate if Ujjain once more became the centre of Hindu astronomical learning (A Guide to the Old Observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain and Benaras, P.55).
His subsequent observation, however, proves that the devil is in the details. “It is doubtful,” says Kaye, “whether there ever was a fixed point in ancient Ujjain which was considered as zero longitude. Rather vaguely, the old city of Ujjain- to the north of the present city- was meant; or is it just possible, that Jai Singh considered this point when he located his observatory to the south of the present city, and that the site of Jai Singh’s observatory is the traditional place- but this is doubtful” (P.55-56).
Longitude abhors such imprecision. The Greenwich Meridian is actually the meridian passing through the “centre of the transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich” as per the resolution adopted on October 22, 1884, at an International Conference held at Washington for the purpose of fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day, 1884 with 22 countries supporting, only one opposing and two countries abstaining from voting. The voting was preceded by seven sittings of the conference that saw an animated debate on the subject. It might be noted that even rivals of Britain like Germany, Russia, Spain and Italy supported the cause of the Greenwich Meridian in the conference that was organised in the US. The original resolution itself was moved by Lewis Morris Rutherford (1816-92), the American lawyer, astronomer and pioneering astro-photographer.
The adoption of Greenwich Meridian was never turned into a national or parochial issue at the conference. Stanford Fleming (1827-1915), the Scottish-American railway engineer, who is credited as the pioneer of the 24-hour time format, presented revealing statistics of ships that already used Greenwich as their initial meridian in comparison to other cities of the world. Of the 57,697 registered ships in operation worldwide, a total number of 37,663 ships with a carrying capacity of 14,600,972 already used the Greenwich Meridian. This came to 65 per cent of ships in number and 72 per cent in tonnage terms.
Paris was a distant second with 5,914 ships with a carrying capacity of 1,735,083 tonnages representing 10 per cent in number terms and eight per cent in tonnage terms using the city as the initial meridian. “It thus appears,” observed Standing Fleming on October 13, 1884, “that one of these meridians, that of Greenwich is used by 72 per cent of the whole floating commerce of the world, while the remaining 28 per cent is divided among ten different initial meridians.” No Indian city, or anything east of Suez, even featured on that list.
Greenwich was thus the de facto Prime Meridian before it became a de jure one. Mohan Yadav has promised ‘research’ into the field to prove that Ujjain is the natural Prime Meridian. He stated that the city is situated on the Tropic of Cancer, which is actually latitude. There can be hundreds of cities in the world situated on the equator, Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer. It does not make them any fitter than the rest to claim the status of zero-degree longitude.
In reality, there exists nothing called natural zero-degree longitude. It is purely a mathematical assumption and legal construct. Whereas nature has endowed the Earth with a zero-degree latitude (equator), there is no longitudinal counterpart of it.
Meridians or longitudes are great circles that pass through the north and south poles. They converge at the poles and diverge most at the equator, in sharp contrast to latitudes that run parallel to each other. As the Earth rotates eastward, it sees the Sun going westward. During the course of a 24-hour natural day, the sunlight touches every longitude, as though they were strings of a grand santoor. At any given moment on Earth, the 24-hour natural day exists in all its stages sequentially across longitudes- day-break, forenoon, noon, evening, midnight etc. The Earth acts like a natural clock.
The longitudes, including the prime meridian, also called Greenwich Meridian, are invented entities. Any longitude, mathematically speaking, could serve as prime meridian. Neither Greenwich, nor Paris, nor Ujjain enjoys any sanctity in this regard. It is entirely a matter of convenience and convention.
The growth of modern astronomy and geography was triggered by the demands of high-sea navigation. The Royal Observatory of Greenwich, near London, was founded in 1675 for that purpose. “No thoughts of abstract science,” says E. Walter Maunder (1900), “were in the minds of its founders, and there was no desire to watch the changes on Jupiter, or to find out what Sirius was made of. The Observatory was founded for the benefit of the Royal Navy and the general commerce of the realm, and in essence, that which was the sole object of its foundation at the beginning continued to be its first object down to the present time” (The Royal Observatory Greenwich: A Glance at its History and Work, P.24).
The Royal Observatory Greenwich was thus a product of its time as England became a leading maritime nation. Historically, the observatory at Ujjain constructed by Jai Singh II possibly between 1728 and 1734 AD (Madhya Pradesh government says 1719 AD), is of more recent origin than Greenwich Observatory. However, its instruments like Samrat Yantra, Narivalaya Yantra, Digamsa Yantra, Dakshinovritti Yantra etc — all works of solid masonry — were already out of sync with 18th century developments. Whereas Greenwich prospered under successive Astronomers Royal viz. Flamsteed, Hailey, Bradley, Bliss, Maskelyn, Pond, Airy etc, Jai Singh’s Ujjain Observatory fell into disuse, partly because of the anarchical state of India in the 18th century, but actually because it was never institutionalised.
The challenge of determining the longitude on high seas, in sharp contrast to the latitude, had bedevilled the mariners and astronomers alike for centuries. The British Parliament had to pass the Longitude Act, 1714 on July 9, 1714, offering public reward up to £20,000 to such person(s) who could come up with a method of finding longitude at sea within half a degree (equivalent to 2 minutes of time) after six weeks of voyage to the West Indies. Smaller rewards were available for methods achieving lesser accuracy.
The same year, Rouille de Meslay, French Parliamentary counsel, announced bequeathing 125,000 livres to institute two awards to be given annually by the French Academie des Sciences. The minor award was to be conferred upon one who best achieved the shortest and easiest method and rule for taking heights and degrees of longitude at sea exactly, and who made useful discoveries for navigations and great voyages.
The 17th and 18th centuries witnessed a battle royal between the astronomical and horological methods to determine the longitude on the high seas. Dava Sobel and William J.H. Andrewes in their book ‘The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time’ (1995) informs that renowned astronomers like Galileo Galilei, Jean-Dominique Cassini, Christiaan Huygens, Sir Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley “all entreated the moon and stars for help. Palatial observatories were founded at Paris, London, and Berlin for the express purpose of determining the longitude by the heavens” (P.8-9). The heavens, however, failed them. Sobel & Andrewes narrate the story of English clockmaker John Harrison, a mechanical genius, who pioneered the science of portable precision timekeeping, thus making it possible to determine the longitude. He accomplished “what Newton had feared was impossible. He invented a clock that would carry true time from the home port, like an eternal flame, to any remote corner of the world” (P.9).
To cut the long(itude) story short, it was not an academic interest in astronomy that led to reshaping the space-time matrix of the globe. The practical needs of navigation in the era of seaborne empires triggered it. Until almost the middle of the 19th century, little need was felt to organise the world into time zones according to the longitudes. Despite the fact that territorial possessions of the European nations had spread out from North America to the Asia-Pacific even in the 18th century, the modes of communication were extremely slow prior to the ascent of steam power, making such arrangements redundant.
The advent of railways and steamships accelerated the process of travel in the mid-19th century, making it possible to travel faster than changes in disorganised local time. The advent of railways necessitated the adoption of a uniform time. Simultaneously, the forces of colonisation brought remote parts of the world into closer contact. It became necessary to systematise the global time.
It was at the International Geographical Congress (1881) at Venice that Sandford Fleming, representing the Canadian Institute of Science, Toronto and American Meteorological Society, New York simultaneously, made a strong pitch for the adoption of a single prime meridian. Though in his 15-page long address, Fleming did not suggest any prime meridian, he proposed a conference specifically for the purpose to be held in Washington DC on the first Monday of May 1882.
Those who have read Henry Kissinger’s book ‘Diplomacy’ (1994) might recall that few international conferences took place in the US during the 19th century. The Prime Meridian Conference held at Washington DC between October 1 and November 1, 1884, to determine the prime meridian was thus a landmark.
The adoption of Greenwich Meridian could not be attributed to the colonial domination of Britain. Most of the nations who participated in that conference were free and sovereign nations. The host, USA, had gained independence from Britain through an exemplary war of independence in the previous century. Nor was the American relationship with Britain particularly warm. Yet, when American delegate Lewis Morris Rutherford moved the resolution for the adoption of the prime meridian, it was in favour of Greenwich. This was subsequently adopted through a long and winding discussion. Pierre Janssen (1824-1907), the French astronomer and delegate to the conference, pitched for a neutral meridian passing through the ocean between Asia and America. This later became the International Date Line, from which a new date begins.
At the Washington Conference, every delegate tried to prove himself an internationalist rather than a nationalist. They were, however, capable persons who knew what they were speaking about. Greenwich Observatory was not undeservingly fortuitous in being elected as the Prime Meridian. It had already emerged as the leading timekeeper of the world alongside the Paris Observatory.
Derek Howse in his book ‘Greenwich Time and the Discovery of the Longitude’ (OUP, 1980), the Royal Observatory in the very year of its foundation (1675 AD) procured two clocks from Thomas Tompion, the leading clockmaker of London. These two great clocks, as they were called, had several features that made them the most accurate clocks in the world in 17th century (P.33). John Flamsteed (1646-1719), the first Astronomer Royal, not content with them, observed the transit of Sirius to arrive at the sidereal time to compare them with Mean Solar Time kept by the great clocks.
The essence of the story is that Greenwich Observatory attained its pre-eminent position on the dint of its merit. It did not rest on the plumes of ancient glory. Can the Observatory at Ujjain compete with the Greenwich Observatory? As Mohan Yadav himself stated they will promote research to ‘prove’ Ujjain as the true Prime Meridian. Besides that being a misleading claim, it proves that one has yet to begin the actual spade work. A little knowledge could be a dangerous thing, Yadav has capably demonstrated. Cultural nationalism and religious biases have a dubious record of clouding astronomical truths.
The writer is author of the book “The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India” (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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