Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context

Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context

M. Reza Pirbhai

Books

Available
Publication year: 2009


Series:	Social Sciences in Asia, 25
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 17758 1
ISBN-10:	90 04 17758 2

Cover:	Paperback
Number of pages:	384 pp.

List price:	€ 106.00 / US$ 157.00

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
Translation and Transliteration Note
Maps
Chronology

Introduction

Part I—Foundations: Islam and the Mughals

Chapter One: The Categories of Doctrinal Islam
Chapter Two: Indicism, Intoxication and Sobriety among the ‘Great Mughals’

Part II—Transformations: Islam and Colonialism

Chapter Three: Codification and a ‘New’ Sober Path
Chapter Four: Anglicisation and the ‘Old Islam’
Chapter Five: Objectification and a ‘New’ Intoxicated Way
Chapter Six: Nationalism and the ‘New Islam’

Bibliography
Glossary
Index

Readership

All those interested in Islamic intellectual and institutional history, Muslim sectarianism and inter-faith relations, colonialism and the development of contemporary South Asian societies and cultures.

About the author(s)

M. Reza Pirbhai, Ph.D. (2004) in History, University of Toronto, is Assistant Professor of South Asian History at Louisiana State University. This is his first book. Previous publications include articles on Islam, Hinduism and culture in Modern South Asia.

Despite late reconsideration, a dominant paradigm rooted in Orientalist essentialisations of Islam as statically ‘legalistic’ and Muslims as uniformly ‘transgressive’ when local customs are engaged, continues to distort perspectives of South Asia's past and present. This has led to misrepresentations of pre-colonial Muslim norms and undue emphasis on colonial reforms alone when charting the course to post-coloniality. This book presents and challenges staple perspectives with a comprehensive reinterpretation of doctrinal sources, literary expressions and colonial records spanning the period from the reign of the 'Great Mughals' to end of the 'British Raj' (1526-1947). The result is an alternative vision of this transformative period in South Asian history, and an original paradigm of Islamic doctrine and Muslim practice applicable more broadly.

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