Indian astronomy has a long history stretching from pre-historic to modern times.

Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus
Valley Civilization or earlier.[1][2] Astronomy later developed as a discipline
of Vedanga or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the study of
the Vedas,[3] dating 1500 BCE or older.[4] The oldest known text is the Vedanga
Jyotisha, dated to 14001200 BCE (with the extant form possibly from 700600
BCE).[5]

As with other traditions, the original application of astronomy was thus religious.
Indian astronomy was influenced by Greek astronomy beginning in the 4th century
BCE[6][7][8] and through the early centuries of the Common Era, for example by
the Yavanajataka[6] and the Romaka Siddhanta, a Sanskrit translation of a Greek text
disseminated from the 2nd century.[9]

Indian astronomy flowered in the 5th-6th century, with Aryabhata,

whose Aryabhatiya represented the pinnacle of astronomical knowledge at the time.
Later the Indian astronomy significantly influenced Muslim astronomy, Chinese
astronomy, European astronomy,[10] and others. Other astronomers of the classical
era who further elaborated on Aryabhata's work
include Brahmagupta, Varahamihira and Lalla.

An identifiable native Indian astronomical tradition remained active throughout the

medieval period and into the 16th or 17th century, especially within the Kerala school
of astronomy and mathemati

History
Some of the earliest forms of astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley
Civilization, or earlier.[1][2] Some cosmological concepts are present in the Vedas, as
are notions of the movement of heavenly bodies and the course of the year.[3] As in
other traditions, there is a close association of astronomy and religion during the
early history of the science, astronomical observation being necessitated by spatial
and temporal requirements of correct performance of religious ritual. Thus,
the Shulba Sutras, texts dedicated to altar construction, discusses advanced
mathematics and basic astronomy.[11] Vedanga Jyotisha is another of the earliest
known Indian texts on astronomy,[12] it includes the details about the sun,
moon, nakshatras, lunisolar calendar.[13][14]

Greek astronomical ideas began to enter India in the 4th century BCE following
the conquests of Alexander the Great.[6][7][8][9] By the early centuries of the Common
Era, Indo-Greek influence on the astronomical tradition is visible, with texts such as
the Yavanajataka[6] and Romaka Siddhanta.[9] Later astronomers mention the
existence of various siddhantas during this period, among them a text known as
the Surya Siddhanta. These were not fixed texts but rather an oral tradition of
knowledge, and their content is not extant. The text today known as Surya
Siddhanta dates to the Gupta period and was received by Aryabhata.

The classical era of Indian astronomy begins in the late Gupta era, in the 5th to 6th
centuries. The Pacasiddhntik by Varhamihira (505 CE) approximates the
method for determination of the meridian direction from any three positions of the
shadow using a gnomon.[11] By the time of Aryabhata the motion of planets was
treated to be elliptical rather than circular.[15] Other topics included definitions of
different units of time, eccentric models of planetary motion, epicyclic models of
planetary motion, and planetary longitude corrections for various terrestrial location