No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Keplers supernova (SN1604)

TL;DR

This paper refutes a previous claim that an early 17th-century Indian mural depicted Kepler's supernova, clarifying that the interpretation was based on a misunderstanding of Islamic astrological symbols.

Contribution

It provides a critical analysis demonstrating that the supposed Indian sighting of SN1604 was a misinterpretation of iconography, dismissing prior claims.

Findings

The mural does not depict SN1604.

The interpretation was based on a misunderstanding of iconography.

The claim of an Indian sighting of SN1604 is rejected.

Abstract

In a recent paper Sule et al. (Astronomical Notes, vol. 332 (2011), 655) argued that an early 17th-century Indian mural of the constellation Sagittarius with a dragon-headed tail indicated that the bright supernova of 1604 was also sighted by Indian astronomers. In this paper it will be shown that this identification is based on a misunderstanding of traditional Islamic astrological iconography and that the claim that the mural represents an early 17th-century Indian sighting of the supernova of 1604 has to be rejected.