Astronomical evidence is the best . Agree?

Suppose we have a historical/Semi-mythological/theological event.

To what best genre of evidence must we take recourse to make it as unassailable as possible?

Literary evidence? It can be fabricated. Whats written down may not present the case in real. There may be nationalistic ,religious or sectarian bias in some of our historical texts that devour accuracy. Tons of literary fabrications and interpolations are noted in many of our so called "historical texts".

Religious figures like Jesus, Buddha etc, their lives,  cannot be redrawn solely on the basis of the scriptures. In the case of Jesus there is now no doubt that the Gospels were not infact written by the Apostles or their immediate generation. Infact, there  is no contemporary literary evidence for Jesus( except a fabricated sentence of Josephus which most scholars admit was a later day interpolation)

For Buddhist scriptures----They are of nearly Zero historical value as far as Buddhas life is concerned . They are so extremely bent on eulogy and cosmetics. The physical description of Buddha is no less fantastic and likewise impossible as "biography." He is depicted as having feet like golden sandals, with chakras (wheels) in the center of the soles. His palms and soles were as soft as "cotton dipped in oil" and "appeared like richly ornamented windows." He possessed antelope-like legs and long, straight arms that reached to his knees. "His secret parts were concealed, as the pedicle of the flower is hid by the pollen," and his body was impervious to dirt and dust.(http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/historical-buddha.html#.UGiGAaOC-no)

Archaeological evidence? Probably one of the best .Yet it is likely the cause for as many controversies as the problems it solve, well at least most of the time.  I cant think of many historical questions that Archaeology has solved without causing conflict . Mind you, we are looking for that Art of proof which cannot be questioned in frequent

Linguistic evidence?-- Personally, its ludicrous. Trying to solve history solely with Philology. Yet this happens more often than we think.  South Asian history is the biggest victim of this Philological uppity. This is the very last leg of the Aryan invasion/migration theorists. Mind you , the arguments are not ripe with "Facts" but with mere speculations and suppositions than in no way will be interpreted in less than more- than -tolerable ways. Its true. A linguistic "fact" will be interpreted in probably dozens of ways by different historians spawning many substantially divergent histories.

JUST THINK OF THE FOLLY . Postulating migrations drawing from  linguistic similarities and later attributing the same similarity to the movements !

There are more types.  Like the strong Geological indications .

But lets aim at the Stars.

What if a particular text of unknown date ( necessarily assumed to predate 1100 AD) has recorded an astronomical event?

Then, as you may know, we can close in on the exact year, month and day with remarkable accuracy---Not even carbon dating can beat that. Ofcourse an astronomical(stellar) event can repeat itself after a few centuries, millennium or eras . But with a little help from the above less blessed species of evidences , we can narrow in on our victim.

Isn' t this the best possible evidence of historicity? How easily we could date Jesus if that blue star were really a Stellar Phenomenon !

Take a freakin example.

Shatapatha Brahmana (2.1.2.3) says that Krittika (Pleiades) never move away from east and
that other naksatras(constellations) move away from east. This could have happened only when
Pleiades were on the celestial equator. This would have happened around 2900
BCE. Even if we accept a mistake of 2 to 3 degrees, the latest possible date
would 2400 BCE and no later than that. So this part of the Yajur Veda may not be older than 2900 BC and cannot be later than 2400 BC.

Star map for August 16 2926 BC

Maitrayani Upanisad (6.14) states that the winter solstice occurred in the
middle of Dhanista (as against the Vedanta Jyotishas’s(VJ) statement that it happened in the
beginning of Dhanista). Thus, it belongs to an earlier period. The solstice point had moved by half a naksatra between Maitrayani Upanisad and VJ. This means that about 450-500 years elapsed between Maitrayani Upanisad and VJ. This would place Maitrayani Upanishad in 1900 - 1800 BCE.

The date of Suryaprajnapti (a Jaina astronomical text) is safely established. Bhadrabahu has written a commentary on this text. Bhadrabahu died c. 298 BCE. Therefore, the text must be from the period 400  300 BCE. Thus, the text belongs to the period of Vedanta Jyotisha if we accept the beliefs of Aryan Immigration theory scholars. According to Suryaprajnapti, the winter solstice occurred in the vicinity of Abhiijit (which is the same as the beginning of Sravana in 27 naksatra division) while the summer solstice occurred in Pusya. The summer solstice point was in the vicinity of Pusya (delta Cancri) during this period while the winter solstice point was before Sravana (beta Capricorni)Whether VJ is contemporaneous with Suryaprajnapti?The answer is “NO”. Suryaprajnapti has made a fairly accurate observation.By comparing the VJ and Suryaprajnapti, we can understand that the solstice point had moved an entire naksatra between them. Thus, a period of around 1000 years must have elapsed between them. Considering that Suryaprajnapti belongs to 400 - 300 BCE, Vedanga Jyotisa must belong to 14th century BCE.

Kausitaki Brahmana refers to winter solstice in Magha new moon. At present, Magha is about 60 degrees away from the solstice point. Thus, it would have been on the summer solstice point in 2200 BCE. This is not very useful as the other observations: there is an uncertainty of about 15 degrees on either direction

Pancavimsa Brahmana (25.10) mentions about Sarasvati being lost in desert. The Samhita literature does not speak about the Vinasana of Sarasvati. It is found only from the Brahmana literature. Astronomical dating of the Brahmanas gives third millennium BCE as their date. The desiccation of Sarasvati began to affect the Harappan settlements on the southern course of the river during this millennium. Once again, we see that the two independent methods give the same
date for the texts.

Remarkably, Archaeology and Geology join hands with Indian tradition and agree with the astronomical data


Edited by SuryaVajra - 08-Jun-2013 at 16:41