Shooting Through Time 4. Photo by viviannedraper (Creative Commons CC BY 2.0)
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Shooting Through Time 4. Photo by viviannedraper (Creative Commons CC BY 2.0)
Thoughts on Fantasy 
In India, during Mughal times, these things were also of concern. Sundial clocks were built by Rajputs and Mogul rulers and given the popular name Jantar Mantar which alludes to the magical nature of using instruments to understand time, the calendar and astrology. It arises from the mystery of astronomical/astrological work as a whole, and not from any particular instrument.
Meanwhile, these same rulers had musicians employed in their courts with drummers to beat out the times of day. Other musicians were adept at playing the right melody [raag] for the right time of day. A special caste of drummers called ‘Ath Paheriya’ [eight periods] was employed specially to beat the times of day for the whole of the city to hear. Even today in Hindi we refer to afternoon as ‘Do Paher’ meaning the ‘second period’. I do not know if there ever was an ‘Ek Paher’.
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That’s fascinating, I’ve never heard of drummers beating out the times of day before. I also like that there’s a melody to indicate the time of day, and musicians who are specifically tasked with doing this. Now I’m tempted to use all of these in a fantasy novel 🙂
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