India Within the Ganges

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

India intra Gangem-India within the Ganges-was the Latin name used by Europeans for many centuries when they were referring to what we now call the Indian sub-continent or South Asia. There were many Indias, since the term was used for all known or unknown land beyond the river Indus, and even for some areas on the African continent. Hence our India was known as India ‘on this side of the Ganges’, to distinguish it from ‘India beyond the Ganges’ which meant mainland south-east Asia, ‘India superior’ which might extend to northern China, or the more general term ‘India orientalis’ which included all the islands, from Australia to Japan and beyond.

This book is about the maps of the country called India in the twentieth century. Since they take no account of modern political boundaries, which have changed many times since the maps were printed, and they were often drawn from incomplete knowledge of the terrain, no reliance can be placed on their accuracy, nor can they be used to bolster any territorial claims. Their interest and charm lie elsewhere, in their aesthetic value, in the glimpses they allow of the way early travellers viewed the country, as evidence of the changing importance of towns and districts over the years, in any way people enjoy looking at them.

Almost all map reproduction prior to the mid-nineteenth century was in monochrome. Colours were applied by hand, sometimes in the printery itself, in the bookshop, or at any time later. Hence the maps reproduced here are also in black and white, losing perhaps some of their appeal, but nearer to how they must have appeared when they first came off the presses, though necessarily now much reduced in size. Some maps have already been used to illustrate my two previous books on the maps of India. The majority of the maps in this book have not been reprinted before, and even the famous world maps have been used only partially here, throwing emphasis on their delineation of India. A few of the early maps are essential to any discussion on the mapping of India, either for their originality, or the influence they had on other cartographers; this requires their use in every publication, though they are still not so well known.

The value of early maps is rarely recognized, especially in India where maps of any period are difficult to obtain. It is hoped that the present book will encourage more people to appreciate not only the maps themselves, but the amount of effort that went into their production. Before the time of surveys, it was an adventure to undertake a long journey, often through unknown lands, and the reports of such travellers were the main sources for the maps. Their descriptions can be found in libraries, and when they are read along with a map of the period, their tales come to life. Though the map may be less than accurate, it depicts the country as it was imagined to be at that time. That is why so many travel books contained maps, as well as engravings of the people, the countryside and the monuments. These maps are frequently detached from the books they were once bound in, since they have achieved an antique value independent of the text they accompanied, and an aesthetic value as decoration.

In this book I have tried to satisfy two widely differing groups of readers. The text chapters provide the story of how the maps came to be drawn, and here I have used some of the material from my earlier book, since it formed the basic structure for the history of the maps of India. The results of my later research have been woven into this framework. The second part of the book is for use as a reference work, not only for the serious student of Indian history, sociology or geography, but for anyone who has a map of India printed before 1800 and would like to know when and where it was made, how many editions were printed, what other maps were bound in the same book, or just to identify the cartographer. For these readers, the three indexes should make the task of tracking any loose sheet map a quick and easy one. In the main catalogue section the works of any one cartographer have been placed together, and his order in the list is determined by the date of his first known map of India.

I am grateful to the museums and publishers who have permitted me to reproduce maps in their possession. I am also grateful to the staff of the libraries, who were unfailingly helpful, patiently answered all my questions, and produced nearly all the books I wanted to see. Most of my research was done in the British Library and Map Room, one of my most favourite places. I also received assistance from many friends, in map and book shops, auction rooms, and in their homes, and I take this opportunity to thank them all. The study of early maps has opened many worlds to me, and I shall repay a little of the debt I owe to all who have helped me, if I can pass on some of my joy through the pages of this book.

**Sample Pages**