This project explores the socio-political history of astrology and fortune-telling and its enduring legitimacy among elites and commoners in the eighteenth and nineteenth century North India. It answers how and why astrology strengthened its hold during India’s transition to the British colonial rule despite its emerging split from astronomy, colonial modernity, and Muslim orthodoxy. Using Persian, Urdu, and English language sources, my project changes how we think of the early modern narratives of science and politics. It makes a fundamental contribution to the field of South Asian social and cultural history and the history of science and time.
Following are a few significant aspects this project covers.
What is Astrology?
How do we define astrology today and how different this definition is from the pre-modern times?
Astrology v/s Astronomy
Known today as two different disciplines, did astrology and astronomy share a common origin and past?
Types of Astrology in India
What are the known technological and socio-cultural types of astrology?
Religion and Astrology
What was the perspective of pre-colonial religions (Islam and Hinduism) towards astrology and astrologers?
Science, colonialism and Astrology
Did coming of 19th century rationalism, science and modernity via colonialism impact the social, cultural and political presence of astrology in South Asia?
The Sources
What primary sources can we use to study the history of astrology?