Indian Astrology

Indian Astrology. There is a perpetual debate concerning the antiquity of Indian astrology between those who claim that it evolved several thousand years B.C. and those who claim that all astronomy and astrology was imported into India as a result of contact with the Greeks after the invasions of Alexander (4th c B.C.). This is not an easy issue to resolve for, not only is Indian civilization very ancient, at least as old as Mesopotamian, but the Indians never kept recorded histories. However, at present the balance of evidence stands with those who say that the Greeks were responsible for Indian astrology. Indian astrologers in their turn influenced their colleagues to the west, as Arab and Persian astrologers looked to India for inspiration. A number of Indian texts were considered to be very important in the Arab world, and the first major astronomical text to be translated into Arabic was Indian. This was the Siddhanda, known to Arabs as the Sindhind, which was brought to Baghdad between 770 and 773 A.D. It has also been suggested that Indian astrologers influenced their counterparts in China , mainly on the grounds that the 28 hsui, or houses, of Chinese astrology, correspond to the 28 lunar mansions of Indian astrology.