[INDOLOGY] Unit of time in premodern Indian system of time units.

[Jean Michel DELIRE]

Dear Harry,

A very interesting (though centennial) article about time is :
Fleet, « *The Ancient Indian Water-Clock* », *JRAS* (April 1915), and more
recently, you have :
S.R.Sarma, « *The Bowl that Sinks and Tells Time* », *The Archaïc and the
Exotic.*
There are many datas about time in the *Vedāṅgajyotiṣa* and *Sūryaprajñapti*,
of which exist many editions with explanations. But, of course, these are
not exactly premodern...

Best regards,

J.M.Delire


Le sam. 3 mai 2025 à 13:46, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :

> Dear list members,
> I've been asked to confirm the meaning of *kalā* in the premodern  Indian
> system of time units.
>  According this wikipedia page
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_time
>  referring to the  Sūrya Siddhānta, 1 kalā = 30 kāṣṭhā approximately
> equal to 48 seconds but I've also been told that 1 kalā  is about one
> hour of the western time units. Can someone confirm the meaning of  kalā
> in the Indian system of time units . Was there more than one system of time
> units in general use in premodern India?
> Thanks,
> Harry Spier
>
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