A Mughal astrolabe preserved in the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University at Varanasi is unique in many respects. While almost all the extant Indo-Persian astrolabes emanate from a single family of astrolabe makers of Lahore or are influenced by the products of this family, the present astrolabe differs from the characteristic style of the Lahore family and testifies to the presence of another style of astrolabe-making in the Indian subcontinent. Made by a Brahmin apprentice of a Muslim astrolabe maker at Jahāngīr’s court in Agra, this astrolabe carries legends in Arabic and Sanskrit so that it can be used by Muslim nuzūmis as well as by Hindu jyotiṣīs and is thus a ‘unique testimonial to an intercultural encounter’—to borrow David King’s phrase. This article offers a full technical description of this astrolabe and attempts to situate it in the history of production of Indo-Persian astrolabes on the one hand, and that of Sanskrit astrolabes on the other.
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