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Cited by 11Historical Astronomy and Related StudiesIndian and Buddhist StudiesHistorical and Architectural Studies

The Units of Time in Ancient and Medieval India

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Hayashi, Takao·2017·History of Science in South Asia
DOI 10.18732/h2ht0h
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Abstract

This is a preliminary survey of time units used or mentioned in ancient and medieval works written in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. The fields of the works surveyed are jyautiṣa, paurāṇika, uttara-vaidika, smārta, bauddha, and jaina literatures, includingChinese translations of bauddha works. No small portion of the data presented in the following sections has already been taken up and explained in the works mentioned at the end of this section, but I newly collected the data from the original sources and arranged them in my own way according to my own interest.

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  • In India, different incommensurable systems and traditions were generally tolerated.

    “In India, different incommensurable systems and traditions which are generally tolerated in India (Hayashi 2017).”

    From From Zero to Infinity (2024) · cites this paper as Hayashi 2017

    The Concluding Remarks (§61) describe different systems of time units for ordinary life and astronomical computation, sometimes presented in the same work. This supports the coexistence of different systems, but the paper does not establish that incommensurable traditions were generally tolerated across India. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Authors
Hayashi, T.
Corresponding author
Hayashi, Takao
ORCID
Hayashi, Takao
Venue
History of Science in South Asia
Publisher
University of Alberta Libraries
Published
2017-07-03
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
1
ISSN
2369-775X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.18732/h2ht0h
OpenAlex
W2730981286
Cited by
11
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2
FWCI
1.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • History of Science in South Asia (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Érudit (Université de Montréal) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Indian National Science Academy
  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Calcutta
  • Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Historical and Architectural Studies
Keywords
time units, Sanskrit texts, Buddhist scriptures, Jain literature, Chinese translation of Buddhist texts, ancient India, medieval India

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