Max Scheler Omul Resentimentului

Cartography in Colonial India
Author(s): U. Kalpagam
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 30, No. 30 (Jul. 29, 1995), pp. PE87-PE98
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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Cartography in Colonial India
U Kalpagam
This article examines some aspects of'surveying atnd mapping in 19th centur) colonial India. It shows that the emergen
ofmodern cartographic represetntation in Iidia is intimately linkedto the colonial project of conquest, rule atd administra
After examining the ear-ly mappilng efforts in the later half of the 18th century, the paper then focuses on the three
surveys - the topographical, the trignometrical and the revenue surveys that were carried out, and which were all cr
to mapping India.
THERE is by now a general acknow- well. The whole period of 19th century geographic genre of that time accompanied
ledgement that British colonial rule in colonial
India rule in India involved a series of as it was by a detailed 'Mcmoir'. D'Anville,
produced a vast body of knowledges about surveying and mapping operations as newer the French geographer compiled the first
Indian society. Critical historians and social territories came under British control. modern map of India which was published
scientists have often pointed to the biases, Representing what came to be known as in French in 1751-52, and was based entirely
omissions and interests and motivations 'India' pictorially in the form of maps on knowledges derived from the routes of
behind such portrayals of the colonised involved very complex processes of various travellers all through recorded
society, although they still do form an retrieving knowledges, reconstructing history, and from some rough charts of the
important source material tor much of the historics, laborious measurements, coasts [Markham ud]. Route maps or itinerary
history writing of that period. The production calculations and enuinerations in which the typically show the succession of points
maps
of thecolonial archive is the immense project advances in the sciences of measurement along one or more routes but not what lie
of conquest, rulle and administration of a vast and cartography rendered it possiblc to definebetween routes or how to get 'rom one route
subcontineXltcalled the 'Indian Empire'. The and fix boundaries, demarcate terr itories andto another. With the Battle of' Plassey in
informational requirements of the colonial locate personis and objects in fixed spaces. 1757 marking the beginning of British rule
state in conjunction with the discourse ofThe need for such fixity became more in India, began the era of surveying and
scientific rationality as part of the paramount as the revenue administration ofmapping which was to continuie for well
enlightenment rationality gave rise to a states gained importance, and more so when over a hundred years. Rennell's survey of
mutual complicity of the power/knowledge such administration had to be conducted Bengal and Bihar laid the foundations for
relation that has not so far been explored. from a distanice. Even apart from the the first map of India based on survey methods
The forms of knowledge produced by the exigencies of revenue administration which forthe distances to be measured were actually
colonial state has not received adequate are not an excl usi ve feature of modern states, chained, and observations were taken for
attention, though an inspirational paper by such states even in the days of the 'empire' latitude and longitude at certain stations.
Bernard Cohn (1988) promises to undertake prepared the ground for the emergence of Reducing from the original surveys, he made
such a project. Cohn outlines a set of modern nation-states. Whereas lor pre- the maps of the rivers Ganges and
'investigative modalities' by which know- modern states, territory was important to 'Brahmapootra' on a scale ol' two inches to
ledges of Indian society were generated. delineate the kingdoms for military and a mile, and also compiled the maps of the
These modalities were the historiographic, taxation purposes, new 'political districts ot' Bengal and Bihar on a scale of
the observational/travel, the survey modality, rationalities' emerged with the modern state.
five miles to an inch from n500) original
the enumerative, the museological, the As governaince and the 'welfare' surveys. of people
These maps were published in 1781
surveillance and the sanitary modalities. In progressively came under a new matrix ol' as the 'Bengal Atlas' and was dedicated to
this article I will consider cartograiphic calculating rationality, it became important Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Hector
knowledge and focus on the emergence of to define and demlarcate the 'site' of political Munro, Verelst and Company [Markham
modem cartographic representations in India anud administrative power. In ordeer to 1871]. Appearing at a time when modern
showing how it was intimately linked to theintroduce and consolidate these new politicalhistoriography was at its formative stages
colonial project of rule. After examining the r ationalities, demarcationi ot' administrative in India, the preliminary maps and surveys
early mapping efforts in the later half of the spaces onl a scientific basis formed an ot' this atlas were used by historian Orrne
18th century, the paper then focuses on theimportant agenda of state-making in the l'or his tirst part of A Histor-y of the Miliiarv
three major surveys - the topographical, the 18th and 19th centuries. In the course of Transactions of the British Nation in hi ldostan
trignometrical and the revenue surveys that time, the scientific mapping of space also (1745-1760) which appeared in 1763, in
were carried out in most parts of the country acquired a new epistemological significance. three volumes recounting the early military
during the 19th century and which were allMaps function as a measure, as a means of achievements of the English in India. Not
very crucial to mapping India from the field inquiry and as a method of examination. All only did the constitutioni of geographical
and village level to the country level. of these functions did not quite arise at the knowledges of India entail a retrieval of'
same time nor are they non-overlapping history, it also served to write new histories
I functions. as wellI
The Mal) of Hitidoosaia was compiled
Surveying and Mapping as Political II f'rom the evidences ot' various route surveys
Technology anid was first puiblished in 1782, It sub-
Earlv Mapping Efforts sequently went through three editions with
Surveying and mapping were important its accompanying Memoir of a Map of
aspects of the technologies of state formation One of the early milestones were the BenigalHindoostan; orthe Moghul E,mnpire published
in the early modem period in Europe [MukerjiAtlas and the Map of Hintdoostain by James in 1788, dedicated to the president ot The
1983], and it can be seen that in the heydays
Rennell (1788), the latter which is here taken Royal Society as an "attempt to improve the
of empire-formation these practides were up for some detai led analysis, is an extremelygeography of' India and the neighbouring
carried out in other parts of the world as interesting example of the nature of the countries". For the 1788 edition Rennell
Econonic and Political Weekly July 29, 1995 PE-87
claimed that he had collected far more the patronage of Warren Hastings, and for thieves and robbers. that parties of Mewatti
information from various sources which Frazer's History of Nadir Shah, Rennell are taken into pay by the Chiefs of upper
enabled him to produce a map which was sought to demarcate the 11 'Soubhas' of Hindoostan. for the purpose of distressing
more perfect and therefore decided to draw Akbar, also referring to it as "the original the countries which are made the seat of
it on a larger scale with the surface of the division of India", which were further warfare [Rennell 1788].
present one exceeding the former in the subdivided into 'circars' and 'purgunnahs'. Even though for the most part, Rennell's
proportion of two and a quarter to one. The In so doing he marked the boundaries of the map was based on the route surveys, he
quantity of land represented in it was claimed 'soubhas', noted the capitals, remarked on encountered significant problems of
by Rennell as equial to one half ot' Europe. the Hindu practices of naming places, citingmeasurement. Specifying the dimensions and
A cartographic representation is not a mirror the authority of the Orientalist William Jones
distances of regions was quite complex. An
image of reality. Proper scaling and traced the etymology of place terms as the itinerary measure was adopted, which in
establishing limits and boundaries enables 'Deccan', and most importantly noted the most parts of Hindoostan Rennel found was
the possibility of truth, which is sought to revenues of the provinces at the time of called coss or crores which was then
be grasped through a process of ap- Aurangzeb, carefully noting so as tenable comnionly estimated as two British statute
proximation as more and more facts to fill "the reader to make a just estimation of its miles. This measure of coss varies depending
in the void inner space of a map are absolute value" that the "products of the on what was fixed as the length of Coss by
ascertained. Route surveys of Huddart, earth are about four times as cheap in the different emperors, and Rennell
Pearse, and Fullarton effected an outline of Hindoostan, as in England" [Rennell 17881. proclaimed his inability to find what was
the hitherto unknown shape of the southern Thus, it needs to be noted that right from fixed by Akbar to be used as a standard ')y
penninsular region, which complemented the beginning colonised spaces were him, nor would that have enabled him to
what was then known of the shape and size predominantly conceived as revenue reduce all to a standard one, for the measures
of the Moghul empire in the north. Thus for generating ones. In outlining the divisions he had were in computed cosses and there
the first time India could be viewed as a of 'Hindoostan' that were then under the were regional (lifferences in the measure of
whole from four detached sheets that could company possessions he even presented the coss as well. Unless all the measures of the
be put together. company receipts and disbursements from different regions were reduced to a uniform
The Memoir also carried 'sketches' of the Bengal, Bombay and Madras indicating also standard it was not possible to figure out the
history of the 'Moghul empire and that of the total net revenue in India. Accustomed relative sizeof eachof theregions. As Rennell
the Maharattas, the narrative of the former as we are today to reading the political maps noted, this was not something unique to
of nations the details of the revenue and
to indicate the possibility of a similar British India:
empire, and the latter narrative was to describe disbursement statements though contained It is no more than what happens in different
the formidable foe who needed to be separately in a Memttoir is surprising. Indeed provinces of the same kingdom, in Europe.
vanquished. India was not to be envisioned it needs to be read as a statement of political But as far as we have any data for making
as a fixed entity since the days of Alexander, intentions, and as yet unaccomplished task, a just comparison, the coss does not vary so
the turbulence of history had made it into the task of conquest and the establishment much as one-sixth part over the whole coun-
a malleable entity and the purpose of of a 'revenue state', which like all other try; and between the northern and southern
selectively reconstructed narratives of historyendeavours needed to be reckoned in terms extreme of India, (that is, in an extent of
was meant to impress the idea of the non- of the costs and benefits. about 1700 miles) the difference is not more
fixity of political spaces. Rennell explicitly While the geographic description of Bengal than one-sixteen part. The miles vary much
noted, was possible because of the Bengal Atlas more in their proportions, in the different
and the region was in fact surveyed by parts of Europe [Rennell 1788].
I shall not attempt to trace the various fluc-
Rennell himself, for most parts of the other Further the problemn of specifying the
tuations of boundary that took place in this
empire... It is sufficient for my purpose that regions no such topographical survey had dimensions of a region is to convert
I have already impressed on the mind of the been conducted then, and the geographic measured distances to horizontal distances.
reader, an idea that the provinces of knowledges were primarily derived from Here too no standard conversions can be
Hindoostan proper have seldom continued information provided by various route done as it depends on the terrain of the land
under one head, during a period of 20 suc- surveys of the troops. Other information and the winding of the roads. While noting
cessive years, from the earliest history, down such as the dimensions, the geographic that the roads in India have "a degree of
to the reign of Akbar in the 16th century...; features, the places with their positions crookedness, much beyond what we meet
and that sometimes the empire of Delhi was sometimes drawing evidence from as far as with in European countries" [Rennell 1788],
confined within the proper limits of the Ptolemy, the history of the possessions and the degree of winding Rennell noted must
province of that name [Rennell 1788]. the genealogy of the ruling families, the be estimated taking account of the
Early British historiography, envisioning relationship of the present rulers with their "evenness, dryness, and openness" [Rennell
the possibility of an Indian empire, not only neighbours, the size of revenue collections 1788] of the country, for which some local
provided the chronology of different rulers and their military strengths were all soughtknowledge was necessary. For each region
but also attempted to present the locale of to be presented for each of the states in the the evidence on dimensions from different
those regimes. The Memoir also contained Memoir. There were indeed rather scanty sources, measured in different cosses that
detailed notes on each of the principal states references to the inhabitants in each of the differed both spatially and over time, had
and they certainly surpassed what is normally regions, and these were mainly in terms of to be assessed and a judgment made of the
defined as geographic details, encompassing third person accounts of how amenable they most plausible one.
as they did information on the military were to conquest or resistance, such as tor The era of scientific surveying and
capabilities as well as the revenue potential instance while writing about Mewat (what mapping that began from early 19th century
of these states. That is, it served both as an is probably known as Meerut today) Rennell had to grapple with yet more numerous
instrument of inquiry and of examination remarks, problems of measurements. Whereas in some
and evaluations of the strength and ...its inhabitants have ever been characterised surveys the technical problems in the
weaknesses of the rival states. Compiling as the most savage and brutal: and their chief introduction of European methods ot'
evidences from the then recently translated employment, roberry and plundering... At measurement had to be surmounted, in yet
Aini-Akbari of Abul Fazil by Gladwin under others the conflicts between the European
the present time, Mewat is so famous a nursery
PE-88 Economic and Political Weekly July 29, 1995
methods and the indigenous methods had to every year. When thie Institution closed downcontrolling the surveys of all three
be resolved. In what follows, some of these in 1816, it had surveyed l5,(00 square miles presidencies, and compiling all the general
issues are highlighted. covering the greater parts of north and south maps that might be required but without the
Arcot, and Chittoor. The important military general authority over Lambton's survey.
III surveys done by the quartermaster-general's
office were the surveys of Travancore and IV
Era of Scientific Mapping the Nizam's Dominions.
Apart from the military surveys, there Topographical Surveys: Science,
While Rennell's Ma!) of Hindoostant was were three other surveys going on Statistics and Surveillance
for the large part based on route surveys, simultaneously - the topographical survey,
his survey of the Ganges river in 1764, and the trignometrical survey and the revenue The British project ol governance entailed
then the survey of Bengal and Bihar in 1765 survey. The topographical surveys were 1irst defining the territory and fixing the
following closely Plaisted's survey of the meant to survey and map the topography of boundary, and an understanding of the realm
coasts of Chittagong in 1761, and Cameron's
the country, in particular to mark the contained therein in terms of people and
survey of the 24 Parganas may be seen as administrative boundaries and the villages. things. The topographical surveys of Colin
having inaugurated the era of scientific The first important topographical survey in Mackenzie are considered to be a major
surveying in India. Even though Rennell the south was commenced by Colin marker in the history of surveying in India.
was appointed surveyor-general of Bengal Mackenzie in 1800 in Mysore and Kanara, The Mackenzie endeavours clearly indicate
in 1767, it was only in the early decades of after the defeat of Tippu in 1799. These that the objectives of science, in particular
the 19th century, and more so in southern surveys, as will be shown later, were carried the collection of tropical specimens for the
India that scientific surveying made rapid out in a systematic manner involving newly emerging natural sciences, the
progress. As more and more areas came measurement of base lines at suitable inter- collections of statistics of people and
under company rule particularly after the vals and triangulation. Measurement by resources to adminster and exploit, and the
defeat of Tippu Sultan, there were triangulation was then being made popular objective of surveillance were all conjoined
considerable newly acquired territories to be for the first time as it was "founded upon in the topographical surveys. When
surveyed and settled. As the company troops Geometrical certainty and truth". Mackenzie was appointed in 1799 to survey
advanced towards central and north-west Both in the Mysore survey and in the Mysore, the governor-general proposed that
India, the need to know the geography of survey of the ceded districts in 1809 that the attention of the surveyor should not be
the land became more apparent as the Mackenzie was in charge, particularattention confined to mere military or geographic
commanders of troops had little knowledge was paid to administrative boundaries and information, but that his enquiries should be
of the country and its topography beyond villages, and comprehensive statistical extended to a "statistical account of the
the main roads. A great deal of geography memoirs on the resources of the country whole country..." [Phillimore 1950:91].
was yet to be made known. Individual were compiled for each district. In the survey
Mackenzie submitted in 1800 an elaborate
surveyors working on particular roads or of the ceded districts, Mackenzie with the Plan of the Mysore Survey', wherein he
areas found it impossible to envision how help of Indian interpreters also made a noted:
their new knowledge of the area would fit collection of historical and archeological
The Survey of Mysore should embrace two
into the surveyor-general's latestjigsaw map, records which he afterwards extended to
great leading objects, Mathematical and
for the country was not yet known in its other parts of India and Java, and which have
Physical... The Mathematical part including
come to be better known than his surveys
totality. The idea of di ff erent kinds of surveys
a Geographical and Geometrical survey will
such as the military, the topographical, the [Dirks 1993]. There were other district
comprehend; (1) A survey of the Frontier and
trignometrical and the revenue surveys undersurveys as well carried out by Indian assistant
Exterior Boundaries of Mysore... The ascer-
different administrative controls evolved in revenue surveyors and under the charge of taining with some precision the boundry and
this context. the revenue board. These surveys included line of demarkation between the Rajah of
The military surveys as the name suggests a general topographical survey, and then a Mysore, the Nizam, and the Mahrattahs, is
were for military purposes, and the survey of tanks, watercourses and cultivated necessary to be attended to early, in order
quartermaster-general was in charge of the areas. The revenue surveys were to survey to avert, or clear up, any difficulties... from
various military surveys. Wherever prior the plots of fields in the villages, determine the intermixture of inferior Divisions, from
route surveys existed, these were generally the nature of land rights, and the revenue parts of Talooks or Purgunnahs being some-
used for the advancement of troops in new potential based on past assessments. times insulated.. .from their ancient Cusbas...
territories, but for the most part surveys had The trignometrical survey initiated by (2) A series of Primary Stations to be ob-
to be done so as to chalk out supply routes William Lambton was to lay down a tained throughout Mysore in all its extent,
and encampments, as well as the existence continuous series of triangles such that the for which the country, from its numerous
of forts, etc. Some of the route surveys werepositions of the places could be Peaks and Hills, many of them remarkable
carried out by the Corps of Guides, and this unambiguously fixed by determining the for the building upon them, is peculiarly
favourable, forming a series of triangles
Corps was merged with the quartermaster- latitudes and longitudes. In the early years
connected by Bases to be carefully mea-
general's office in 1806. In 1804 the Madras no presidency was interested in making a
sured,... and joining the Surveys already
Military Institution was started by William single plan for co-ordinating the scattered
executed in the Malabar Province on the
Bentick, then governor of Madras for the surveys, nor was any scheme put into action
west, with that of Baramahal on the east, will
purpose of training military cadets in for a continuous progressive survey of the
form the ground of a work mutually illus-
mathematics, drawing, surveying and. whole country until Lambton's trigno-
trating, and correcting, the labours of the
military fortifications. Under the leadership metrical survey. Later on a decision was several surveyors employed afterwards on
of Anthony Troyer, who was earlieran officer made by the directors that it was wasteful the several portions of the country in detail...
in the Austrian army, the plane-table was to maintain three separate and independent (3) On this... foundation the Country in detail
introduced for the first time to the'Madrassurveyor-generals for each of the is to be laid down. The position of every
army. The students of the institution spentpresidencies, each with his own department town, fort, village ascertained by correct
several months a year on field survey, and Colin Mackenzie was appointed bearings of the primary or secondary sta-
triangulating and planetabling a fresh area surveyor-general in 1815 with the task of tions, a register of which should be preserved
Economic and Political Weekly July 29, 1995 PE-89
for reference and verification afterwards: of our provinces as are deficient in that dctailcd descriptioni (of tlhiem... Observe pur-
beginning with the parts next to our frontier, necessary produce, and to collect with par- ticuilar ly thc state ofr the water therc, and the
and proceeding in succession to embrace ticular diligenice the valuiable plants connect dimensions of thc head springs. breadth.
every individual plan. carefully rciiiarking ed with his own profession JPhillimore depth; enquire ol thc most intelligenit Natives
all the rivers and their courses. the roads, the 1950:113]. of the commeicemenit and duurationi of the
lakes, tanks. defiles, mountains, and every difterent seasons. Rainy or Dry. and by what
Among the reports submitted by Hyne
remarkable object, feature and property of Circumstances attended (Phillimore
while attached to the Mysore survey weIec
the country. 1950:111I.
'Meteorological journals from March 1 800
In this manner by laying down the smaller The existing records of each district were
to March 1802 and a 'Memoir on Copper
districts or Purgunnahs and their respective found to be usetul foritenabled the surveyors
bouindaries in detail. the limnits ot the greater Mines near the Ongole district in the Lower
Carnatic'. He published an accoiunt of his to verify nearly every individual place, the
divisions will naturally follows... (4) The
work in Mysore in his Tract 11: Statistical actual positions ot which were in the course
situation, extent, tigure, and contents of the
Fragments oI Alysore. In 1800 Franicis of the survey inserted by their bearings from
country in all its divisions being thus ob-
each other or from some fixed stations.
tained. . the position of the principal points Buchanan was appointed "to investigate the
state of agriculture, arts, and commerce, in Topographical knowledge was not limited
ought at the same time to be corrected by
to the physical nature of the terrain alone.
astronomical obseivations coninected by a the dominions lately acquired from Tippoo
series of triangles .. This branch might be It included information provided from the
Sultan" [Phillimore 1950:113]. He toured
executed by persons expr essly employed for through Mysore and Malabar in 1800 and cusbas' on houses, families, castes, tanks
this purpose, acting in connection with the and nu'lahs. rhcse were included in the
published his well known account of A
general survey, and duly communicating its memoir of each district. As part of the survey
Journeyfroim Madras through the counitries
progress; the corresponding observations of the ceded districts and later on elsewvhere
of AMysore, Canara and Malabar in 1807.
being also regularley transmitted to the as well, Mackenize collected a number of
It was also proposed that the superintendent
observatory at Madras. (5) But another of the Mysore survey dedicate as much of
inscriptions, grants and other documents
important branch, a land or agriicultural survey
his tirne as possible to institute a series of
whichi weire to serve as 'evidences' in
would be equally desirable... It would in-
enquiries into the statistical history of the constructing histories [Dirks 19931.
clude the Divisions ot'the lands into hills and In submittinig his finial maps in 1808, he
country. Mackenzie also recommended that
mountains, plains and valleys. cultivated and put them foriward as the start ot an atlas of
the agricultural survey "should bc executed
waste, the species and quantity of each kind
the souther n peninsula, noting that no errors
separately after the first part" to avoid the
of cultivation, the revenues, allotments of from any previous work could come into his
land. also the waterworks, canals reservoirs, hazard of "undertaking too much at once.
of retarding and confusing the whole" surveys. as no part ol it. cithci in its
and a nuinber of objects connected with
groundwork or materials w as boorrowedl from
these... [Phillimore 1950:91-921. [Phillinmore 1950:931 and indecd that part
was never carrie(l out. any other. It imiay be recalled that in the era
The physical brancih ofl the sur-vey was to The plan ot' the Mysore survey was an ot maps based on route surveys, information
include all "remarks, facts and observations"important marker in the era of surveying for and evidences were culled ftrom diverse
[Phillimore 1950:921 that can be conduciveit laid the groundwork of all the later surveys.sources. The Mysore survey served as a
to the improvement of natural history. The Mackenzie, above all, was most obsessed model for a series of methodical surveys
particular branches that were to be covered which were spread over the Madras provinces
with the idea ol' ensuring a 'uniform' plan.
by the survey were the following: (I) botany, The memoirs accompanying the maps durinig the following 25 years and many of
mineralogy, medicine; (2) the diseases, submitted by Mackenzie to the governor in
them had the fuirther advantagc of being
medicines, remedies, etc; (3) the air, climate, 1803 included information about the directly based on Lambton's trignometrical
seasons, periodical rains; (4) soil, its produce, suirvey.
situation, extent, boundaries an-d contents in
modes of cultivation, water works, tenures square miles of the several 'purgunnahs', the Simultaneously. with Mackenzie's
of land; (5) the various descriptions and topographical survey in Mysore, there were
population by castes and houses, as no
classes of natives, their customs, languages. other surveys in the Madras provinces by
enumeration by census was then possible,
mnanners etc; (6) animals, wild and tame; and details about woods,jungles and forests, and the military. For instance, in 1801 when the
(7) revenues and population [Phillimore the nature of the soil, and in somc instances Madras ariny was fighting with the Poligars
1950:921. estimates of the gross quLantity of cultivated of Shivaganga, various routes in Tanjore,
Oni Mackenizie's suggestion Hyne. thle or waste in plains and mountainous lands.
'I'richinopoly.Tinnevelly, and Ramnad were
company's botanist on the Madr as Mackenzie also indicated then that this
surveyed. It is interesting to note that the
establishment was given charge of the records of'ten mention that the native guides
pattern would be f'ollowed more thoroughly
Sultan's garden at Bangalore in 1800 which in the surveys of the other districts as well, were considered very useful in exploring the
was then appropriated as a botanical garden, and made every attempt todo so. For instance, various roads for the military troops, (whether
as the depository for useful plants senit trom he wrote as follows t(o one ot the surveyors out of fear, ignorance, bribery or the marvel
differnt parts ot the country. Hyne was under himn in 1804. that something new was happening is ditficult
instructed as tollows: to decipher from these records!) and they
The Teak and Sandal Woods in that quarter were soon instructed in the principles of
A decided superiority must be given to useful will also be a particular object of your at- geometry and surveying.
plants, over tholse whichl are merely recom- tention, anid to estimate their extent, quality.
lI January 1804, at the suggestion of the
mended by their r.arity or beauty. and it will and etc; as far as may be consistent with the
surveyor-general, the governor-general
be Doctor lHyne's primary care to attend to health of you-r party, your observations on
reissued the order of 1788 ordering the
suchi as may furnish any facility in the supply these Woods will be conducted with your
regular survey of every military route. In the
of food or forage; ... to collect with care all usual discretion [Phillimore 1950:105].
that is connected with the arts and manufac- republished order the surveyor-general
Similarly he wrote to another syrveyor on included many provisioris on the conduct of
tures of this country, or thait promises to be
the Kanara survey in 1807, professional surveys. For instance he noted:
useful in our own; to give due attentioln to
the timber employed in the various provinces ... if you could contrive to visit the Heads of A correct military, as well as Geographical,
o- his route, and to the -ossibility of intro- the CGoom and Budra, it would be very survey should be made of the Route... For
ducing the growth o)f useful tices into such satisfactory to me to have a minute and this .. .observe everything on the Road, or that
is visible from it, which can be considered the surveys tit tor incorporation. The sheets but since the government was impatient for
as of any importance, but particularly... Forts.were engraved in Londoon as material became up-to-date maps, it appointed a non-
Hill Forts, remarkable peaks, mountains or available. anld formed the standard map of protessional committee to conduct map-
Hills, Ghats or Passes. Towns, ...villages. India tor the next 80 years. It was decided makinig policy at Calcuitta. This committee
etc; Rivers or Nullahs, with their namnes. that and only those of the surveys that were proposed the comlpilation ot maps from old
noticing the way the stream runs, whether linked to the trigonometrical survey were surveys, without any regard to theregulations
right or left, at the crossing place; their
conisidered to be finail. Though Colin for the quarter-inch atlas ot India. Everest
breadths and directions as far as visible, up
Mackenzie's survey of Mysore was not launclhed a protest and it was then resolved
and down the stream... All Jeels, Tanks, and
grounded on the great trigonometrical survey. that the responisibility for map-making would
Wells. should be laid down,...and the quality
it wals also considered tinal. Much ot the be only with the surveyor-general.
of water should be mentioned.
early revenue surveys werI thus disqualif ied.
You should be particularly attentive to
Everest very muclh doubted the mapping V
mark the boundaries of districts as often as
you cross them, but the information of the
value of the old surveys, even when contnected
Rayuts or villagers is best, as well as for up by the new triangulation. And in soome Trignoinetrical Survey: Grid ()l
giving the true names of the towns and regions, even though topographical surveysPrecision and Rhetoric of Accurac%
villages... [PiPilimore 1950:198]. were based oil triainlgiliation, thsce were not
linked to the trigonometrical survey, and tiic The purpose ot a trigniometricail survey is
The military surveys were carried out by
quality of sucil work was ofteni poor. For to plrovide the lines of latitudes andl longitudes
the cadets of the Madras Military Institution.
instance, Jervis's survey ol south Konkan using trignometrical calculation.s from the
This mitilarisation of geographic knowledge
Greenwich base mer-idian rather than the
was considered of poor qluality though Ihis
was sought to be firmly based on scientitic
earlier determnination of latitudes through
statistics and reports were useful. EvenI
methods. The survey by planetable
though he had attended a course with theastronomical observations. Eveni before the
superseded or supplemented Mackenzie's
Ordnance Survey in England anild often Greeniwich base linie ushered tihe oreat
system of theodolite traverse according to
trignometrical survey. surveying, by the
referred to the works of Laplace. Roy and
the nature of the ground. The surveys were
Lambton, the mataps he compiled did not method of' triangulation was considered
on a large scale ot four miles to an inch, and
qualify to be inclu(led in the 'Great Map of superior, andi Michel Fopping wa,s one of
cach pupil reduced his ownl work to the two-
India' that is, the guiarter-inicil atlas. Therethe early advocates of triaingulation in the
inch scalc lt tlhc end of' the season. but no
were also a numbner of surveys going on thatearly years of the 19th century. T'he method
immediate attempt was made to compile a
were not linked to the great trigonometrical entailed fixing a base poinlt ald then carrying
miiap. Reviewing tle surveys done by the
survey in the late 2).s, but nevertheliss yielded torward a series of triiangles in difflerent
instilLtuion several years later. Montgomerie
useful information on unknown territories. directions, the base lines were to be clone
wrote:
Olten in those cases, 'sketches' were by actLual nmeasurement. This was consideredl
It is in this faithful delineation ot the features
accompanied by detailed 'ficid-books'. a superior way of unambiguously fixing the
of the countrvy that their chief merit coinsists,Burnes' survey o1' southern Rajputana is places.
for in many otlher irespects these suiveys airepresented as a 'sketch' entitled 'Geographical Lambton submnitted in 1799, aiter
very defectivc. [hre absence of all Revenue Ind(tex to the Map ol Southern Rajputana' Mackenzie received his orders for the. Mvsore
or Political boundar-ies, andii the iCCzuralXCyconistructed in 1 829-1 830 and is survey, his 'Platn of a Mathematical and
of the names, render-s these surveys ol faraccomiipanied by a field-book which is Geographlical Suirvey' which was approved
less value than they would otherwise hlave indicative of the style in which he workedi. in 1800. In it Lambton noted:
been, and from the carelessness o 'some otf
For instance, he noted;
the officers employed, the detail in some in a tormer commUnication I took the liberty
sections is inaccurately laid down. These
By 2 pm the survey of the morning figures of stating... my idea of a survey to be ex-
deIects however admit of future correction,
on the map, and the latitude is determined tended ft om the Coromandel to the nialabat
to correct it, when a party of two. three. or
a1nd it must at the same time be admitted that Coast. with a view to determine the *xact
four, villagers are invivted into my teint to
by far the greater part of these Surveys are, position ol all the grieat obJects that appeared
talk... till within half-an-hour of sunset. I ask best calculated to become permanent geo-
with the exception of the Goa and Soonda
surveys, the best ot Indian topography and the distances of all the villages around witlhin giraphicall mlarks... .facilitatingJ a g,eneral sutrvey
ten miles. the road to each), and the cross of lthe Peninsula. and particularly the terri-
Geogyrapihy [Phillimore 1950:129].
distances of one to another, which I sketcli tories conquered... during the late glorious
The Madras Military Institution closed r oughly on paperwithout any riegard to scale. campaign... The Surveyors ofl plarticular
down in 1816. The surveys ot lhe institution but whicih greatly facilitates the survey... In
districts will he spared muclh labour when
formed a vIIluable contribution to the the eveniing I take the angles to all Ihills and they know the position ol somc leading points
geography of South India, especially since towns in sight ol' my encamnpment, and also to which they can refel becau.se. when these
they are connected to Lambton's a sCIiCs of bea.rinxgs to SuLCh as ar-e beyonid p1oints are laid down in the cxaict situations
triangulation. Their clhietf detects view,
asby gueCsS. on the direction heing point- in whlichl they are upon the globe, all otlher
noted
above were the spelling otf nlamiiesedoutby antida tlhe
villager... !Plhillimore 1'950:1321. obtjecs... will also have their situations true
omission of administrative boundiaries. The visit to England between
During Everest's in latitude and longitude... I have now ad-
boundaries ol the surveys weirc disregarded 1825 aInd 1 830 he persuaded the aLuthorities due:Cd... the l)rinci!ple of my intenided sur-
as thle -objecis ol the suLrveys"' sothe
that astrigornomietrical
to suivey should take vey. . . .which... involve imany mor e obiects
accustomn the students '"to a teadiness and
priority overi all othler suirveys in India. Ont than what immllnediately appertain to Geog-
Ifacility in expiressinig the various hisfeatures
return hieof decidedl to devote all his raphy... Whelnever-a cooperation withi Cap-
the country at sight. in re-lerenceattention.to military
I rst to the completion of Lamibton s tain Mackenzie canr- be dispensed witlh I shall
rath'er than reveniue purposes" [Plilimore
Great Arc, anid then to subsidiary then direct my views to the GCeneral object
of deterinining the Geographical features of
1950:96]. Thc standards of accuracy ailso triangulation on which lutuIir-e suirveys should
tlhe Peninuila I Phillimore 1950:2341.
variied considierably. be based, and( which woul( ailso tic ul) sucih
In 1822 the directors decided to start an old surveys as were lit for the quiarter-in The
chessential features of Lamnbton's
atl;as of India to cover the wlhole country on atlas. The making of niew surveys without proposalts were Ohat hli; survey should be
the quartet-inlch scadle, anid called on the tih control of e t ttrionomretical survey brased upon "correct. mia ithematical
sulrveyor- generall to send redluc*tions fro lm all was ot cons^id?eredl favourably by Everest,
principles", thiat it should extend( rightl alcros*s
Econiomic and Political Weekly July 29, 1995 PE-91
the peninsula and be capable of extension Everest joined the trignometrical survey The immediate task of the great
in every direction, and that it should torm in 1 822, and ran a chain of triangles. trigonometrical survey was the provision of
a reliable basis for all other surveys. At the westwards towards Poonla and Bombay. In points over the whole country to torm a
same time it sought to accomplish sotlmething 1828. a more extensive siurvey was started reliable basis for topographical and other
more 'sublime', viz, to determine by actual surveys and maps. Measurements and
by Boileau fromn Allahabatd; he ran a traverse
measurement the magnitude and figure of through Kanpur to Delhi and Agra, observations had to be taken, and results
the earth, which was then considered of great incidentally correcting an error in the worked out, with all the refinements of
importance lor physics and astronoimy. longitude of Kanpur which had persisted geodesy and niceties of mathematics. The
Lamhton noted: since that fixed by Reuben Burrow in the completion oJ Lambton's great meridional
Should the eartlh prove to be neitlhe an mid- I th century. In plannling these surveys,
arc as the backbone of the whole system was
ellipsoid, nor a figur e gencrated by any Hodgson aimed at a system of co-ordinated Everest's first task. The measurements ot the
plarticular CuIVe of known properties. but atanl intersecting traverse lines, controlled by base-lines and theobservation of the principal
figure whose meridional section is bounded regular astronomical observations as triangles were to be completed. The
by no law ol curvature, theni wc caii obtain continuous triangulation was out of question. determination oft meridian by astronomical
nothing until we have an act Loal measurement Neither the Deccan nor the Konkan survey azimuths, and the observation of zenlith
IPhillimorce 1950:2751]. was o' verv high41 standard, and both lackeddistances whereby a definite amplitude of
Betwecn 1802-1815 Lamnbton covered the the accurate control that would have been arc could be expressed in linear mcasure was
whole peninsula southi of thle Krishnila rivergiven hlad Everest's longitudinal branch of the next task. Initial values for latitude and
with the exception of a f'ew small areas alongtriangles bee continueel to Bombay. In 1827 longitude had to reinvestigated, and the ruling
the western grhats with a network ot triain- Jopp obtainied lhe siurveyor-gencri' 's support clemiienits of the figure of the earth decided,
tles. He fixed the geographical p(sition oflfor a trigonotnetrical survey on scientific upon. belore tables of (eographical co-
severIal thlousand promiient points, and lines, and Robert Shortrede, famnous later for ordinates couild be drawni up.
comiipiled a general inap of the southler his logarithm tables. stairted triangulation Flis tfinal computationis aire given in hiis
penini.sula, south of Mysore. He observed an rtom a base mieLasured juist above Kliandala Accolutt of't/)i Me'asuremiieint of Two Sec'tioIts
arc of the meridian stretching fromii Cape ghat on the Bo3mrbay-Poona road. His work of the Meridlionial Arc tof I,zcida drawn lrom
Comorin to parallel 18 degrees, the longest was nlot. however. in any way comparatble the material contained in Ms Gen1erCal Rep)ort
geodetic arc ever imeasured so close to the with that olfthc grea.t trigoniometrical survey, 7. and published by order of the directors
equator, and he compu.ted his results. and and was stopped by Everest's orders in 1834. in 1847. These values for the figure of the
ptublished them. The wor-k whiclh was executed belore 1830. ealrth are described as 'Everest's Constants.
In 18 12X Lamtblon received new values ot' though of value lor geographical and 2nid set' antd have never been widely accepted.
the earth's figure from Europe, (Tivint topographical purposes, ceased to be of'value His first set, published in 1830, ha(l already
elfipticity as nealrly as 1/304 Trhese inducedlfor geodetic requirclilemets, ainJd shared been generally
the adopted for Indiani purIposes.
h1im to recomputc the whole of his great fate of aill similar oper-ations which were and was considered to be suflicient.
cenltral airc up to Cjooty. Then, after he had CxcCLuted contemiiporanecously in other parts Like Mackenize, Everest was obsessed
extended it further to Bidar, to an aimplitude of the world. rhe operations prior to 1 830 with 'accuracy' antd 'uniformity'. For
of nearly 10 degrees, he worked out his own mlay be brietly described ais the con.structiotn instance. he instructed all oll'icers on lirst
constants aind in 1 8 I 8 recompLuted the wlhole ofta network of triangulation over soutlhern starting out to acqtiire the habit of
arc a ain. In1 182 1 . on receiving tfrom El-nglaln(d India grounided on and verified by chiain-
extreme care in taking observations. and
the repoti- of the parliamentary coimmittee measured base-Ii nes. rhrough the midldle of uindeviating regularity in registering themn.
on the standard of length. anid Kater's the network a chaiin ol principle triangles and... omit no opportunity ol' scrIpulously
reduction of' Cary's brass scale to that was carried in ac meridional direction, the examining every individual observation,
standard, he set to work to reaidust all his angles and base-lines of which were measured taking the meanrs of all the micrometer read-
computations. alnd derived final valuies. with greater caire thalni was done on tile ings. ...and deducing each anle. ...The sun
Owing to its great length and(i proximlity to surrounding network. to obtaiin a never shouild r ise and set twice on an
the equator, Lamibton' s imieasiured arc becaimne determination of the fioure o tlhe earth for
unexamined angle book.
an important conltributioni for all later the calculationsi of the latitudes and And( he sent out a circular calling tor
investications ol 'the figure ol thte earth imore longitudes.
especially in those (dedtucedi by Everest and 1 830 is considered anl imporltant date l'or thle striictest uniformity in all ...operations,
whiether as regards observing, r egistering, or
Bessel. the Indian surveys. lor it marks the triumph
computing. ...Until my coinsent is obtained,
T'lle publications of thc Asiatic Society. of' Latnbton' s great conlception, the
no innovationl oni prevailing mctlhods can be
generally known lor pronmoting schiolairship subordination ol all surveys work to the one
per mitted [Phillimor-c 1950:92]1.
unldler' thle rubric of' 'Oriental Stu(dies', a1ls(o master survey, the great trigonomtrical survey
servedl as an imp)ortant aveIlnuc to propogate whicil was to Ifacilitatte "ascer-taininigEverest's the obsession with 'accuracy' and
tIhe re.SuIlts ol tile scienltific researchles going gcographical f'eaitures of a counitry upoIn 'uniform-nity' was of course part of the 19th
on then. 'rhe report of'Laimbton's imieri(lionial cor1rect mathematical priniciples" I PhiIliinore century rhetoric of apprehending the world
arc in the Ca.riniatic was submiitted in October 19501. Several new instruments such ais within a framework of scientific rationality.
1803, one copy being passed to thle Asiatic theodolities, astronomilical circles and theBLut it was not that scienitific interests brushed
Socicty at Calcutta. and(i published in the Colby base-line azpparatus began to be aside the other coTnitive iinterests of colonial
'Asiaitic Researches'. T'hie second report. r eceived froml E ngland, where they had becnrule. Everest. for instance, asked all his
1 807- 1 81 1, WaS SubLiitted in February, the consstrtcted under the superintendenlce otsurveyors to miiake collcctions of specimntIe.s.
(Gnei-'il Myp ofhle SouiIli Penlsil,z ila havinlg Evcrest. With the new equipmilenit. newOne ol his surveyorsi recorded tL. ffollowing
been submitted with a memnoir in December systems of observation aind new methlods of observ.ation:
18 1 0. Accounlts of the geodetic work werce reduction were introdLuce(d. Thlouglh mnlaking?, With regatrd to the Geological Survey. ...it
published in Asiatic Resechlt cies, and an no major contribuitionl to the theories Of is impossible to say... of whalt advantage it
abstract of thle measurement of thc great geodesy as a science. Everest introduced m-ay prove to be in a mineralogical and
micridionial iu'sc appeared in the Ph'ilo.s)hical ililportailt innovations in practical procedurescominnercial way. But lately only I have
Trasc,,. t tieon of i/u' Royatl .So'w,(ivo. inl the field. discovered inexhasibl-ie stores ot Carbo-
PEI-92 Ecolomic and Political Weekly July 29, 1995
ate of Soda, which.. .can be easily puritied in most parts ol the presilency only small hadi lockecd the gates of the villages. and
by crystalisation, and which a commercial landholders prevailed and it hecame woUld let people in only it they apprehen(led
gentleman is now trying to introduce into the niecessary to think of a dilferent imiode o' loie;, which made Read deploy the Com-
markct in England. A supply...would be revenuc settleiment. This brought to debiate pany troops overthemn ais well as experienced
invaluable, just...when the supply of sulphur
the mannerof'conductinig revenule settlemiient. otticiail people to gain -every requisite
required for its production in England With
has the delfeat ot 'lippu Sultain in 1792. information ot'their al'tairs". This is of coursc
been cut off, while.. .pure salt can be here
Alexan(der Read was sent to coniduct the the monst direct antd obvious use of force in
produced f'or a inere nothing... lPhillimiore r evenue settlemenit in those parts. Read wasthe acquisition ol knowledge. He niotes:
1950:1011.
able to demilonstrate the possibility ot detailed Mv l'ihst imieasures therteoiot weUL to ralise
Thlere were also maly tlimes the conilict settlement diirectly with the ryots for a period suh,ind l) pcons. andl appoint s'icL men, as
between ftullilling scientif'ic objectives ainld of yvears. Rcad's method citailed lield I Could tfind qualilfied toi the employ.
administrative objectives. For instance, long measiuremnent by 'amin)s' workine undler sen-siasuldais., to ever-y district, to dispense
belore Everest completed the field-work of Indi-an supervisors and European olficers. CLale. to encoulage the inhabhitaints to seek
the great arc and before he completed the Thomas Munro, one of Read's assistants. is under the company's piotection to take
computationsi, he was pressed, both by the said to have perfected the methods of Read. Revenue accouints from tl-ie pirovincitii reg-
directors in London andL the government of whien he took charge of the survey of the isters. and to assess them foi suLpplics...
India, for approximate geographical results ceded districts in 1801-1807. Munr-o's I next entered upon an en(quiry into the
to be used for mapping purposes, insteatd otcontribution to surveving have been system ot Polity ain(d Finance in Ballaga.ut
waiting the 10 years required for complete
considered nioLewo-thy. for thoug1,h it be generally the sa<mc throutgh-
verification. It was. however, on thc Bomt-bay side out Indsi, ther-c is a diflcrintce in every two
that
In July 140() the survey conmilittee at hle first successtsul reveniuc surveys werc provinces, and a maiteriall oeic in the two
Carnatics, a knowledoe of which I found
Calcutta comp)lained that the surveyor-
carried out by Europeain methods. In 1810
esseintial, in everiv revenue tiran;isaction.
general's office in Calcutta was not in a survey of fruit plalntiltionis was begun.
While occupied in this undertaking aind
which was ta}ken over by Dickenson as
possession of a comlplete set of triangulation waiting the inlormation imy scristaida;rs were
of the grainad trigonomiietr-ical survey, a.nd t hat surveyor in 1812. During the next
revenue
collecting.... and my prolessional vocations
withouLt hllat documiient it was not possible
eight years he is credlited to have completed
proved ot service to iny new department. for
to compile any mlaps in the correct manner. an 'accurate' land survey of the whole ol by directing my resear-chies to the discovery
Everest was asked t)o submit hy the surveyor- Bomblay and Salsette islands. Besides the of' s.irkar- papers. at the captures of'
genieral's olftfice a copy ol all that has alr-eady exact ilmeasuremnenits, some of which wcre
1B./ihnun111{gliurh-?'.tkunIdv i)i'iDroog. I lor-ttunately
becni maade out. Althoutih Ever-est was ot the carried out by Indiain measurers, Dickenson secured, at those places. the records ot thle
opinion tilat in all trigonomietrical operations and his assistants, all military olfficers, districts unldcr me. whiich ser-ve to check and
a complete imap was the la.st task in tlhe comiipiled *complete register of land-tenue-es,
to complete the anIOunts. given in by the
performance. and thalt it ought not to be done anid a classification and valuaitiotl ol crops.zamindars. aniid villalgc registers. whose in-
until the whole of the topographical materialsHis siurvey was based on triaingulation aned terest is to miilslcad and t(o conceal. whlatevcr
have been worked up. the surveyor-general's traverse, and he also produced maps and relates to thc iilffairs ol the COUntry. a tiruth
oflice on the contrary, felt tlhal no high records hbased on his surveys. I daily cxperience being obliged to (dralw
precision wais niecessary lfor mnapping So tar the distinctive featuLres ot the early lfom tlihen by stealth and by )erseverance.
purposes. revenlue surveys have becn highlighted every poinit of inlformation. iReaid 17()2].
briefly. In whiat lollows I will highliglht the To reestablishi 'order', Retad foundt it
VI dlebates surrounding the practices of necessar-y to mlake a 'political survey' of the
mleasuiremient, alnd the conduct of thc revenuc (listricts under him, and to entirce .some
Revenue Surveys: Indigenous vs surveys in the Madras presidency. While re,gulations of the late government7s andci to
European Methods there are certain conmmoni and recurrcntmiake others suitable to the present tinme. lie
themes in the debatcs in the different drew% up a code for the information aiid
The object of the revenue surveys was to presidenicies, aind it would bc interesting to
guidlance of the Company's auinildairs in
determine the size, the prodIuctive potential consider both the commonialities aind the Ballagaut. These related to ai whole range
and the nature of ownership claiims to speciticities of debates in the dillerent ot issue that wolid make revcnue assessiment
landholdings. It is not surpr-ising that such regions, I have for purposes of' expository and reveniuc collectioin el'ficieiit fo'r lien
an enideavour should have generated conveniience limlited it to the Maidras rulers who had to lirst f.aiailalrise themsielves
consi'deraible controversies relatinlo to presidency. witil the locall practices. hlese clated to
imieasuremilenit practiccs alnd r-evenue tables of exchatnge. IfOr regulating the
EFi-oRrTS 01: RExAD ANt) Mt'NRo
settlemilenlt procedures. In particular. ulllike aLuinild.ais accounts with the ilariiers and the
thetopographical anld trignometrical surveys Alexa.nder- Read was appointed in-charge exchequer; tables olfweights aiid mi easures.
whichi entailed the application of' ilfoderni of the regions known as 'Ballagaut' ceded fOr regulating the quantities aind prices ofI
by Tippu Sultan, and in January 1 792 he sent
scienitilic princilples anid imea;suriements, the grain and otlher articles of supply. reqUirel
condiuct ol revenue suirveys brou ht forth to thlc first repor-t of the settlelint wor k hie h.ad for the sirlkar; a calentder of the cuIrrent
the lorefront the conftlict betweenl the cairried on in thc Kolatr district. The report revenue year in Ballagaut. showing its
indig,enous methods and the ELuropean is a very interesting testimonly of how an correspi)ndence with the prescnlt aind ensuiig
methodis. In the Bengal presidency unknown territory was sought to he known ycirs oIf the Christlikil Cra spccitfying the
indigenous imiethlods for land meiasuremiienti
in a short span ol time lor revenuc purposes. terims of leaseholds. granted by the laite
anid assessment of reveniucs were used.I shall
anldhighlight somc of the salietnt features government and directing! thenii to be
iL was decided to adopt a permanent of Read's repor-ts from Ballagtiti F;irst. conisidered VialidL hy theComlplainy a.1mildatrs:
settlemilent. i e. the decisions miadeRead in openis
1793 witlh In accounit of' how the Particularisingt the ptroportiotns of' m1)onecy
lor assessimient was to be perimianeilinhabitants
tfor all of the region have becomile rents antd rcnts in kind(l of di-v grains, and
time. In the Madrais presidency thedistrustfultfirst both of the Company's and prohibiting ainy deviation 1'rom 'ancienit
teildency was to form such a perinanent Tippu' s people, in particular the 'aumildars' usagt e: speciflyig go vrnment's and thle
settlement with the leadingt z.amindars. B3ut
of Tippu were ralpacious. a1nd so the peop)le farmers share of wet cras avcordin to the
Economic and lPolitical Weekly July 29, 1995 Pl-93')
means required for watering them, with the As Read noted in his letter to the governor- from Kaveripatam wrote to Read in October
like injunctions to be guided by custoin; general Cornwallis in 1792, his scheme for 1793 that the common practice ol'
requiring that pecuniary aid may be given the manatgement of the districts was to bring
appropr-iating 'sarkar' lands under the
to the contr-actors f'or keeping reservoirs ot'every head of revenuie into order, and denomination of 'Inam' Iands couldl be
water in repair: directions respecting the ;afterwards to carry it on with a steady eye
'et'fectually remediecl' only by a survey [ The
reservoirs of water, the expense of which is Barclolamlitl Records, Section 1, No XXVII.
to imnprovement, thus requiring a perfcct
defrayed by governimient; rules tor renting knowledge oft lhe affairs as an initial necessar-y
T'he idea was to settle every district, village
betel leaf, betelnut, sugarcane plantati(Ins, step 1Thie BCiwnahal Recordtls, November by viilage, i n smal.ll tarms as the "best method
and coconut topes; injunctionis to auinildars 15, 17921. To that end Read proposed a to establislh proper-ty".
to regulate their collections by the rules of' political survey" ot every district btut soon-i
To make it even mote 'comnplete', Read
every 'sunnad', as they are founld to vary finding that it was a work oft- inany intended
years to accomiipany ever y such settlemiient
from one another; requiring the aumilldars ratlher than oie, incorporated it into a general
ot'a district with a "copious and correct map"
to reimburse themselves the losses they may survey. His schemle for the political suLrvey though time and the lack ot' trained
be in danger of sustaining, by an increaise included amonig others the following: gcoglgraphical surveyors prevented this
of ploughs, and not by oppressively assessing accomiphshment. He therefore had to settle
1st Section:- Inquiry into the prevailing
the inhabitanits; to ascertain the quantities of only for a 'sketch' that conveyed the idea
distinctions, occupations annd privileges of
gygur that can be processed in every district ot' the situation, shape and magnitude of
their inhabitants, to ascertain their r espective
l'orithe use ofthe army; sin-mi larorders respecting places in society, the uses to be derived firom every district suf'ficiently correctly for general
bullocks. saddles and guinnies; prohibition each class to the community. and a thorough purposes [The Barainahal Records, Section 1,
of, collecting any road customs; regulations knowledge of their municipal policy. No XXVI'. Again in his letter to Cornwallis
respecting the el'fects of people dying with- 2nd Section:- Inquiry into their divisions of in September 1794, Read pointed ouit that
out heirs; directions concerning the property time; tables of their weights and measures his map though defective due to the method
of people in thc Envoy's service, or belonging used in different commodities, an analysis adopted in the survey of them conveys much
to the army: ordicrs about clearing the country of coining, assay and exchange. information that is very useful. Read notedJ
of the nulimerous bodies of theives thalt inft-est 3rd Section:- A particular accounit of ever-y that the object of the systeim projected was
it; and(i or-ders iespectilng f'inies. produCtion of thiese countries illustrated by to consist in making ever-ythitng it
In March 1792. Read wvas aiso appointed drawings properly claissed and specifying coomprehendled "as ti.stinct, simple, and
collector aniid nianagcr ol' the Company's tlelir sowling aind reaping seasons. the peli- prcimanent as possible" 171w Bearamnaaltl
revenuICS ill the ceded (districts ol' Baramiiahlalods they are ,n the oround, averag,e prices Records, Section 1, No XXVII. lThe couirt
anIdc Saleim, an1d Ills letter- of appointimienttheir quailities and uses comprehending a o 'directors in its letter to the Ieveinue board
thorougyh investigationi of' the season aind
explicitlY r equired him "to inspirecontfitence datedl October 4, 1 797 appreciated hoth
Crops.
among the inhabitants of the just ainld Read's miap ot' the B3aramallal and S iemni
4th Section: IniqLlir Y into tIlC va-lrious C011-
miioderiate itntentionis *)f the English diistricts ani(l hlis sLurvey,. tak-ing lnote mllat it
ditions of land irents and tenur!es. andi into
Gove.-rnmlent i The B)ariunilmal Rc (I,dls. is 'tlie first of its kind lor procurinu, the
tile vaLriouLs nodes and a ites of taxat(iol.
March 1 1 792): He wais to enter on the knowledge ol the real vlueLI of anily part of
5tlh Section:- History ol' these coountries.
o tfice in the best possible imianiner, "p'repai-ed the Conmpany'.s possessions' on thle coast"
tr-acling thi origin Of illslitLutiolns in the plisent
wilti suchi autienlitic in'ormation as can he systein of f inlace, aniid their etftects ill sulc- The Boiraw udi Records., Sectioin li.
oathered togethier- respectine the real annual cessivc goveinilcnts to ti-hc present time.
Mu NRC) .'N EAY (RE ONTRtB1UTI.S
Produce of the Districts"and ftor that purpose 6th Section- Par-ticulall statemcnts of the
waS Lo pr-ovidle hlillselfl' Witil '"sLuC numbiiiier settleeinnts of cvery distriict in 1792' with While Read was in B3aranmahal, Munro
of accounts and subordinatc illStuliiment.s froim-l every ne,cessary inlforllmation rcspecting tlheil was appointed tlhe Irilst collector of3 Kanara
amongst the natives on whose integrity vou sale, productions alndl situltion: illustratedb hy dUring wilich pei-iod he miadie a scttlemicin't
can place rel iance" 1T7hSe Bar aut,ihil Ki Re, rlds, a mapl) defining tlieir resplective boundaries there withi the landliolders. estate by estate,
Mairch 31 1792]. and piaces of f'or ts. hased on veinaicular i-ecords. and ialso miiade
In the initial year, settlement was ait the 7th Setlion:- Review of' the forcooing sec- ain exp)erimental suirvey of one village. In
level ot' districts or small portions of it, and tiotns Land a m11o0de of IrevenuLeC management October 18(X) Munro was transferred to the
no survey ot' themii were unidertaken, though deduLced troin them: by which may he eftTct- :eded districts coveriln B3eilary, Kurnool,
in Read's instructions to his assistants he ed equall and legal assessments, the sainc Ananitapur, anid (Cuddaph , whiere hie
annual receipts to government, and pcrleet inistituited a suirvey aInd asSessIllnt (o) that
caref'ully noted the Hindu calender year, the
security to the inhabitants against oppressiion
revenue calendlers then prievailing in the country. Munro nloted that in the cedted
[The' Baraniahal Recodls. Section 1. No XX. listricts, unlike that oi Kanara there was no
districts, thc Cropping seaSOflso ol'the dry and
No 11.
wet grains, anid for other crops as well, aind private property in land, anid lanid was always
the prevailing tax anid customis systcm, all In t-ililng his report on the progr-css of regarded as the property ol the state. He also
wlat lhe term-c(d ias 'tlhe ancient usage of settiement
the to the presidenti and members of claimed that accurate recordls of' earlier
country". Leasing by village farmis seemned tihe revenuc boairJd in Au,gust 1794 Readc assessinents were not alvailable, tlhough Since
prei'erable to thc revennuc board, but Read noted hiat lhe found that eveni thle m1(ost the tlime of Haitler Ali thcy were apparently
was of' the opinion thait the vailue of every initelligent oi the natives were 'partially' ill as comipletc a forimi Is possible.
tfarmi sholiuld be truly ascertained hel'ore given and imperfectly' in formed on revenuc dettil, Munro beganl a survey ot t distriicts ill
inr lease, aild tile paucity of accounts had so anid that any gener-al lplan miustL be the reSl-1t JuLIne 1 902 with f'our 'gonlashtas' who he
t'far mzade thait impossible, thloLugih in 17'92 otf -much practical experience anld claimiied werc the only ones thsen who
Reild saw it as a possibility for the entsuinig information, which none of them possess" uinderstood land 1meauILlllellm t . Thougth it
reveniue Year, based on the accounts of the iThIe &wiantiamihitil Re(cordts, Sectioin 1, No proceededi very slowly at first, the numibei
then current year. Read also f'elt it expedient XXVII He therefOre felt that the 'survey of sutrveyors werc progressively atugmiented
to lease out farmis tor l'ivc or seveni year.s was the only mleans. Wh,ile Reatd suirvey eL by training the illhahitants. io thait by lihe
ais it thien gave sul'ficient time to 'survey Ti rupattU r, Van iamnbadi, awnd Coonlotoor, hi s etnd of the year heire were aibout a hundred
them T Thles Baiwnali(l Recordls, Novemiiber a;ssistanlts sulrv yed the grealter pairt o toufr of them, whou told then he Ibrined into
24. 1792j. other districts. One of his assistantl ot lector~ gro,ups. With) th 1 cXcel)tionl oft hills an!d roctk.,
PE-94 Economic and Politicai Weekiy July 29, 1995
all land of whatever kind was measured, results of one such revenue survey for the exhibited the total average revenue and
including roads, sites of towns and villages, village of Covoor in Nellore district, the average produce of the village. Thus, the
beds of tanks and rivers, and wastes and board remarked on the manner in which correctniess of assessment depended cruicially
jungles. The surveyors used everywhere the measurement methods deviated trom the on the correct classitication of lanids.
same standard measure, a chain of 33 feet, one suggested by Munro. Whereas Munro In 1822 the board ot revenue submitted
40 of which made an acre. Out of this survey had suggested that separate numbers be givena report on the extent to whicih the survey
Munro evolved a Code that was followed to fields keeping the distinction between classification and assessmernt of the lands
during the introduction of the ryotwari dry, wet and garden lands, the surveyors hadhad been completed in eaclh district
settlements in the I 820s. numbered the fields serially in their order [Company Government 18261 and Munr
While surveys and settlements in of appearance without distinguishinig recorded a Minute or the subject. which the
Baramahal and Salem were initiated in the between dry, wet and garden lands [Cotnpany board accepted. Munro noted thal different
last decade of the 18th century, there was Government, 18261. 'Purrumpoke' lands, standards of measurment had been adopted
no regular policy for the assessment of that is, waste lands never cultivated, were in different districts, and sometimes even in
not to be numbered but the difft'erent kinds
revenue in the various districts of the Madras the same district. He pointed out that the
presidency: each was cdealt by the hoard of of'waste lands had lo be stated. Measurenlentmain objects of it survey were to record "the
revenue accordint to local conditions, which exact quanitity and description of all the land
and classilication wer-e thus seen to go hanid
included past history and the capacity of the in hand. in ever-y village; to ascertain the tenures and
collector. It was in 1 805 a general priniciple The boaclr's Minute f'urther noted that rights of the occupants or owners as well
that the collectors of revenue should proceed whereas the inhabitanits slioxved no as the rights of Government; to fix limits
with a 'survey' of their respective districts. inclination either to obstruct or retardland
theby removing doubts to obviate disputes
T'hese settlement surveys were entirely measurement, they were reluctanit to assist
respecting them; to establish mutual
distinct tro-m the more general district surveys confidcence between the Ryots and the
in the classification of' lanlds JCompwLa1ni
cntrusted to the assistant revenue surveyors Goire-nnent, 1 8261 Whereas the Government by showing each what belorigs
and which were consideered untrustworthy classification of lands was to 'I'ix' the to it; to ascertain the grounds ot the
for reveniue purposes. Remarking on these assessment, the peopic of the villages felt assessment, not for the purpose of increasing
general district SUrveys, Bentinck noted in that suchi lixitv was not possible for the the aimount, but rather lor that of enablinig
1804: quantity of produCe of' each f'ield was Gover-nnieiit to avoid over-tLaxation, and in
short, to make whiat is niow vatgue and(I
unknowin, meaniis of irrigation olten fa.-ileld.
How gieat would the advantage havc beenl
f'luctuating, defiillte and permanent"
and custoiri had in soimie places instilutedl the
in forming cithcl the annuali or permanent
system of 'veesabuddy'. in whicih cultivators eCnompany Governlmienit 18261.
settlement of our Revenues if the (listriects
have a joint interest in wet-field cultivation,Munro was not only involve(d in evolving
Ihaid been Ilid downi by meni of science.
anld often they didl not have the mleains to a framenwork for the ryotwari system, but as
precluding the necessity olf trusting to the
cultivate the whole lands. deeply conicerned with systematising all
SuLrveys of' natives, elually liable to error
fr-oin want of lhonesty and fromn want ot Wet lands were classilied into eight sorts aspects of admniniistration. One of the
k-nowledge j Phillimnore !95): 182j. according to the proportion whiclh the important recluisites for effective
produce bore to the quantity of seed sown, admniniistration in Munro's view was
Except in the Chinglcput Jaghire and the that is, an index of land productivity. Thus intormation. In one instance while arguitng
Northern Circa-rs whcr-e permanent iand calculated to yield 40-fold was classed the case tor including 'natives' in the civil
settlemnents were introduCed, in most other as first sort, 35-f'old as secon(d sort and so administration who can supply all the
istricts a survey or1 'peimash' by the natiVe on. But as no single whole field could produce necessary intormation he noted:
staffwas completed bef0re 1 808. anld th-ese forty or 35-fold, as a tield was often composed
Intelligentcollector-s are necessa-y it all times
lormed the basis of all periodic assessment ot different qualities of' soil, some more
but more especially when it becomes expe-
during the next 5t) years. productive and some less productive. an dient either to raise or lowcr the revenue.
Whlat is siglnificant in the early debates is average was taken, thus rendering the eight-
Such an operation requires not judgment
how the diScourlse progressively shifts from t'old classification ot wet lands into a live-
alone but great knowledge of details, and if
placing "reliance on the natives' to the natives l'old classification. Dry lands were classed undertaken without these essential requisites
being "eequally liable to error from want ot into l'our, according to the quality of the soi l. would he pro(luctive ol much mischief. We
honesty and from want of knowledge". and In the case ot' garden lands', whereas the ought, thereforc not to be satisfied with a
how that discursive shift was associated with Munro code only specified that 'betel and superficial knowledge ol the general state of
the introduction of surveys. A case tor suirveys cocoanut' be also classed as 'garden', doubts the country, btit make it a part of oui system
had to be made out, it was not something persisted as to whether this was true of only to obtain the most minute and accurate
that w2z so apparent. Such surveys as would tree plantations, and as to whether informationi concerning its internal condi-
he clear sought to achieve two objectives. diffterentiation with other non-cereal crops tion. and preserve and accumulate that in-
On the one it sought to detine property was necessary or not. In other words whether formation in clear and detailed revenue
relations, and on the other- it led to a detailed garden lands be dit'ferentiated on the basis accounts and statistical statements [Com-
mapping of village plots, which were then pany Government 1826].
of soil alone, or whether 'produce' and the
fitted into village maps. 'value of produce' becomes the basis for While the necessity of accurate
FroIn 1818 onwards, the board of revenuef'urther classit'ication. Similarly the code formeasurements ot the land and of a more or
sought to introduce the ryotwari system on assessment required the correct ascertainmentless exact classification of soils, as the only
an experinental basis in the Madras of the produce for each field, which was not right basis of a land revenue settlement was
presidency. and to that enid conducted possible to obtain either from the accounts acknowledged early on in the Madras
experimental surveys ot a few villages laying of the 'karnams' or of the cultivators. presidency, it was not acted upon in the
great emphasis on measurement andc Theref'ore, the quantity of' seed each fieldensuing years. Whereas in most provinces
classitication of lands, and on assessment was capable of receiving, along with the regular revenue surveys were undertaken, in
pm-ocedures Munro's code evolved at theproductivity in each class ot' land was used the Madras presidency alone there were no
time ol the sur-vey of the ceded districts
to get at the gross produce of each field. Thissuch regular surveys. In some districts of the
provided the guideline.s. In evaluating the
was compared with every other account that presidency attempts were made in the early
cultivaible land. includinig all ever actually
years, to establish somethinig like a register consideredc more defective than the maps of
of lands, and tixced rates of' assessment,
cultivated, with such other land ats may seem the other parts ol the company Is provinces.
lounded on actual measurement anid likely to he brought under cultivation within The old engraved sheets of Rennell's survey
valuationi. But these mcasures were a few years. The rest of the area of the had gone out-ot-date and out of print. Also
considered in the lateryears as very defective
village, viz the jungle and unreclaimed wastemany regions in the map were still lelt as
in many respects. The surveyors were under generally, was not to be Ssurveyed in detail,blanks. Copies could only be made by hanid-
no etf'ectual control; there were no maps. but only in its chief features. And as further drawing, and it was almost impossible lor
either field, village or talook, and no portions of it were to be successively brought local ofticials to get hold of maps of their
permanent boundaries; and even the records under the plough from time to time, it was districts. In some districts surveys were
of the suirveys that were (lone were decided that they may be surveyed by the copied on their original scales, and there was
imperfectly preserved. Hncne, even in those survey establishment which was to form a no appreciation that maps on a reduced scale
districts where the work was the least part of the permanent establishment ot every would be useful for purposes of
iniperfect, as in the ce(led distr-icts, it district.
was Lastly. it was considered essential administration. It was still a stage whe
realised that few of the advantages ot a really
that permanent boundary marks should be function and utility of maps for
el'fective survey had been secured. established; and thait field maps, village maps administration had to he argued out. A dist
But even these def'ective and imperfect and talook maps should be prepared. officer in Bengal remarked:
surveys extended to only a tew districts; and The government was of the opinion that
The convenience of a good map lor judicial
there were many, wherein the land revenue the survey should be done by the English
and police purposes I can speak of from
demand was basedi merely on the unchecked methods of surveying, as was done in
experience. ...We know at a glance what
statement oftthe karnam. For instance, it was Bombay, and was then being done in South
officer can most conveniently be employed
claimed thlat, in the Canara distiict during Arcot, and not in the "inaccurate Native
on any special duty, and we can a(djust the
the last 60 vears preceeding 1 858, Method".
proper stations for our police chokies. The
considerable w.ate anid forest land had been The method proposed therefore stipulatednew settlement of Aziinghur is about to
reclaimed, whichi \v is liable to pay reveniue both the size and nature of fields to be commence, but tile Collector-has nothing on
to the governmenit, hLt on which there was covered. It noted: which to found his measurements or surveys,
no meanis, in the absenice of' a survey to and even the sites of the principal towns are
The proposal by the Board of Revenue in
enforce that right. In Nellore again, the land unknown IPhillimore 1950: 2751.
para 25 of their letter of the 27th February
rcvenue arrangements were considered to be
1854, appears judicious. viz that f ields in the Some amount of mapping was done in the
in a state of utmost contusion. The settlements
survey shall not generally be smaller than early years of the 19th century. In the Madras
of the f-irst collector at the beginning of the
one acre of irrigated and two acres of presidency, the military institution and the
century were based on no certain data; and unirrigated land, and that minor subdivisions district surveys produced some maps though
it was believed that they had been tampered sshall be shown by dotted lines according to was not given the same priority as
mapping
with since, such that it was impossible to the village accounts. Very near the village, surveying. Arrowsmith's first map of India
say to what class any given piece of land where land is valuable and is held in very based on information from route surveys
belonged, or what was the proper demand small plots, it may be proper to relax this was published in 1804 in six sheets on a scale
upon it. The only thing certain was that very rule. In Bombay. the smallest fields allowed
of about 21/2 inches to a degree. In 1816 he
numerous and extensive tracks had been were munch larger. none being permnitted under
reissued a new map in eight sheets on a scale
committed and were in operation, which it ten acres: and this was not only a detail of'
of 16 miles to an inch and revised yet again
was admitted only a survey could correct. the survey, but a part of the reveniue system.
in 1821. The other map of India that was
In the districts of' Rajamundlry anid and if a lfield were held in partner-ship. and
prepared was Reynold's map, but it was
Masulipatnam both of which were in processone of the co-partrners died or gave up his
part, the other co-partner must take it or generally believed that there were more
of being brought under the influence of
extensive systems of' irrigation, there was abandon his pa;rt also, unless he could find places laid down in Arrowsmith's map than
once again no accurate information rendering someone to take the vacant share. Under this in the Reynold's map and Reynold's map
Presidency, where land is almost invariably was never published. Between 1821 and
the levying of a water tax that much difficult
regarded as property, it would be impossible 1823, Hodgson. as surveyor-general sent to
[Government of Madras 1858].
to enforce such a rule, and the attempt would the directors in London a large number of
The government decided that the revenue
lead to great discontent, and possibly to maps, journals, fieldbooks, originals and
survey should be connected by minor
popular outbreaks [Government of Madras copies, to which the directors responded:
triangulationis with the trigonometrical
18581.
survey, to ensure botth greater acctiracy and ...surprised to find that the Collectors and
permanence. As to its more immediate The government was of the opinion that Judicial authorities are not lurnished with
objects, what was required was a survey for the ryotwari or individual system, should be maps of their respective districts. We are not
revenue purposes, not a topographical sur-vey. adhered to generally. They looked upon that aware who is to blame for this omission, but
Its main design was to show all the principal mode of settlement as an advancement of we desire that no time be lost in issuing
variations in the surface of the soil, as whether settlements by villages, orothercommunities; instructions to the Surveyor-General to pre-
and they believed that in the progress ot pare in all practicable cases maps of the
hill, jungle, roads, channels, tanks. topes,
houses, cultivated and cultivabic land, and society the latter must give way to individual several revenue districts for the use of the
local authorities... [Phillimore 1950:2761.
also to exhibit accurately the sizes of fields holdings.
in the cultivated and cultivable land. For a The directors also instructed that a map
MAPS, MAPPING PROBLEMS
system of ryotwari field settlements, the be prepared for their own use showing the
AND MAP FUNCnrONS
sizes of fields require to be accurately boundaries of all the districts as well as the
determined. It was also decided that the It has already been mentioned that mapping'sudder' (headquarters) stations. The
survey should extend to enam lands as wellwas an important follow-up of the surveys, directors further requested for
as to government lands; and that the occasion
and it was not always efticiently executed, a sketch map of India on a moderate scale,
should be taken to investiggate the titlesatofleast in the case of the early topographical describing the course of the principal rivers.
enams, as well as their alctual extent. The
and revenue surveys. At the turn of the 1 9th and the situation of the principal cities of the
detailedl survey wasi limited only to thecentury, the published maps of Bengal were peninsula, together with the names and
positions of all military posts at which more which the "native Tamil names torimi no map ot India with a list of states and
than five comppanies of tiroops mnay be sta- guide" 'Phillimore, 19501. Everest was also chronological table, a military map showing
tioned. and that the Adjutanto r Quarter Master supposed to have been exactinig in ensuring stations occupied by troops, reveniue maps
Generall of the Armny imay ... be directed t(o unitorm spelling in the maps and charts showing districts but no roads and few place
inseri in wo,/ds an7d figiu-es under each militar-y
prepared under his direction. He ruled that names, and ajudicial map. Furtherto illustrate
post, the number and description of troopshis topographical surveyors should "adhere Thornton's Histor- of India, they ussued a
stationed at it- We desirc tlhat suclh a inap smaller map appropriate to the periods of
undeviati ngly to the orthography olfthe namels
may be transmitted to us annually I Phillimor-e
frorn the Great Trignometrical survey" each volume. A second edition with five
'1950: 282J.
lPhillimore 1950:3101. Following the additional mapsi were brought out in 1848.
When Colin Mackenzie was surveyor- method of William Jones, he was in f;avour These were, however, still only skeleton
general he was much preoccupied with of the introduction ol Italianl vowels. which maps.
surveys rather than the prepartion ol maps. were conisidered to have the most detinite It was with the series of illustrative maps
He however laid down the scales for intonation of all known languages with by E A Prinsep, the settlement officer in the
geographical maps as 8. 12, 24 anid 48 miles English consoniants into the orthography of district of lthe Punjab in 1 863 that
Sealkote
to an inch. A useful geographical map on maps as an instrument of knowledge acquired
all maps and the trigonometrical survey.
the 48 miles scale entitled 'Map of the Also a fixed system ol signs had to be new epistemic heights. a feature that was
countries included between the parallels of evolved, and since the early years of undoubtedly being constantly developed as
Madras and Delhi, designed to exhibit at one surveying, this had been a preoccu)ation. we have seen tor nearly a hundred years
view the capitals of' States and of Provinces' For instance at the time of the appointment since Renell's maps. Prinsep's Statistical
was compiled in 1817. of Colin Mackenzie as surveyor-general in Account os,'f tdte Sealkote District contains
This map was reproduced in Blacker's Madras, the council of the governor wrote maps showing the agricultural tribes arranged
Memoir, and was incorporated into the 25- to the directors of the company: according to occupancy of land; political
mile map of India engraved by Cary in six and liscal divisions; rent-tree aspect of' the
Plans of the nature which I have descr-ibed
shieets. Blacker was the first to propose a cannot be constiucted cithier- without great district: physical features anid zones of
map of southern Asia, that was completed f'ertility: dil'ferent kinds of soils; acres under
personal exertion. or within a shor-t pcriod...
soine 60 years later. An essential condition, differcnt k-in(ds ot' produce: police divisions;
But although suchi sketches and r emarl-ks must
in his opinion was that the surveys used for be highly useful where none befoic existed. statisticail aspect of area, agriculture, and
his proposed map should have been linked population; and prevailing tenures and modes
yet it is easy to conceive how iml)ertect. and
to Lamilbton' s triangulation, and at his request even unintelligible such wor-ks must often beol'f ssessmenit lMarkhatn 1871:2731. In 1870
an exhaustive report on the surveys of Madras wherc no systein of dr-awing and no lixedPrinsep published yet another series of maps
were made. Further, in order to ensure that signs to represent pIarticular ob jects and all relating to irrigatioi aspects ol thedistrict.
all materials should be unitormly prepared, features of a country have been establishied, For each presidency, there are at least
ready for engraving Blacker drew out a but where every officer- pursues a differentthree sets of maps - the presidency maps,
mode of expressing the objects which he sees the district maps and the village maps, and
graticule based on the projection used tor
[Phillimore 1950:1241. in some instances the taluk maps as well.
the French military map L C(cl)te delEl 'Emlire
krancatis. The surveyor-general issued In due course district maps became It is noted that in 1871 from the Madras
instructions tor the preparation of quarter- available from the revenue surveys though presidency alone four districts maps, 17
inch degree sheets on the projection devised the early ones had no trigonometrical control. taluk maps, eight maps of parts of Madras
by Blacker. The various general maps publishied such as town, 76 plans of Wynaad cottee estaites,
Inserting names of villages and towns on the Arrowsmith's and Allen's went out of and 5650 village maps were sent to the
the maps was not tree of' problems either. date. Orders for the standard quarter-incih geographical department of the India Office
There were rival systeins of transliteration atlas of India were tirst issued by the court [Markham 1871:1341.
ot Indian names that of Sir William Jones of directors in October 1823 and the first The eraof geographical and topographical
and that of Gilchrist. Whereas in some published sheets reached India in 1828. surveying also ushered numerous other
provinces either of' the two systems were Though from their start, the revenue surveys
surveys on the botany, geology, forestqs and
adopted, in yet other regions. some were recognised as valuable material tor other natural resources as well as on the
combinations of both were used. Though in topographical and general maps, and the antiquities and archeology. Though
gencral surveyors were not particular about surveyors were directed to sketch in all the population was not the object of concern in
the question of orthography as the map- main features of their village areas to that these surveys, it has been noted that right
makers were, revenue surveyors were advised end, they could not be accepted for the atlas from the early surveys of Colin Mackenzie.
to use some tixed principle in expressing ol' India until they were linked up by the population and its characteristics figured in
native' names. Apparently much confusion trignometrical survey. The atlas occupied the statistical surveys to some extent. By the
was experienced with village names, not 177 sheets, each 40 inches by 27 and on a mid- 19th century, population became an
only from differences in pronounciationscale explicit object of concern, and this moment
and of4 miles toan inch. For the f'irst sheets
doubtful transliteration, but even from the ol' the atlas, materials were furnished from of surveying and mapping was extended to
existence of two or more forms of the same the Madras topographical surveys, and it the population as well. From surveying and
name, or from the use ol' a name in the took nearly 60 years for the atlas to he mapping territories, the epistemnological
ofticial list that was never used by the completed. concerns and administrative requirements
villagers. Colin Mackenzie had instructed It was from around the 1 830s onwards that shifted to mapping populations.
his surveyors to follow the lists ot' names a large number ol' maps to suit dil'ferent
supplied by the collectors, but as Campbell purposes were produced. For instance, in Notes
who was in charge of the Salem survey in 1833 Parbury and Allen issued in a book
[I am thankful to the staff of the Tamilnadu
1840 noted while preparing his maps that form a set of five small maps of India that Archives (Madras). the National Archives (New
the names of the villages supplied by the were "illustrative of the European connection Delhi), the library of the Asiatic Society
collector had to be corrected for spelling with India and of the British administration (Calcutta), and to Rama l)ebroy of ISI (Calcutta)
which were sometimes very preposterous as in its several department.s". These were the for helping ine in acquiring the inaterial on
"to be totally unlike the real one", and to general and commercial map, the political which this paper is based.]
I For a lucid account of how the project of dicamienit: Perspc)t(ive.; on Sonii/ Asia, Uni- Columbia University Press, New York.
geographv and history in colonial India, versity of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. Orime (1763): A History oJ the Military Traits-
particularly with reference to the work of Governimient of Maidras ( 1 858): P'apers Relatigactions: Briti.Ih Nation itn Indostant, 1745-
Colin Mackenzie, were linked; and the pol- to the (;e,er(il Revenue Survey ofthei Ma(dras 1760 (3 volumes).
itics associated with the writing of new his- Presidencv. Selections fromn Records, 2nd Phillimore, RH (1950): Historical Re(cord.s oft/ie
tories and the denial of historicity and the Series, No 55. Survley of Itndia, Vol 11, 1800-1815, Survey
erasure of the histories of the colonised, read Markham. Cleinent R (1 87 1): A Memiioii- omi theof India, Dehra Dun.
Nicholas Dirks (1993). Inidiant SurveYs. W H Allen and Comppany. Rennell, James (1788): Memoir of a Map of
2 There is indeed a very interesting chapter on London. Hinidoostan or the Mogul Empire, London.
the Akbari Measure of distance called 'The - (nd): Major Jame.s Renn1ell an(d the Rise ol Widinaiml, Sven (1990): 'Accuracy, Rhetoric and
Karoh or Kos' in Abu L'-fazl Allamiii (1989). Moeretii Engligsi Geograpulhv CasselI andTechnology: The Paris-Greenwich Triangu-
It notes that directions were issued by Akbar Coriypany, London. lation, 1784-88' in Tore Frangsinyret al (eds),
for the ascertaininent of distances and their .Muker i. Chandra ('1983): tr3oIri Gravern 'I/ie Quantifyiing Spirit in the 18th Century.
determination by the standard ineasure of the lmages: Patterns of Modlern Materialism. University of California Press, Berkeley.
kos. The kos was fixed at 1t)0 'tanabs', &ach
consisting of 50, Ilahi 'gaz', or of 400 'poles'
('bans') each pole of 12?/2 gaz to the kos. It
further notes that whenever Akbar travelled,
the distances were recorded in pole-measure-
SAMEEKSHA TRUST BOOKS
ments by careful surveyors, and their calcu-
lations were audited by the superintendent Selections of Articles from Economic and Political Weekly
and inspector. The chapter also contains ev-
idences on the diversities of measurement, General Editor: Ashok Mitra
the problem alluded to by Renniell. It notes
that Shre Khao fixed lhe kos at 60 'jaribs',
each of 60) Sikandari ga. which miieasurement Industrial Growth and Stagnation
was cnployed in the lDelhi country. In Malwah
it consiste(I of 50 (a;n;abs of 60 gaz, each and Edited by
in Golara;at is called the cow kos, thatt is the
greatest distance at whicih the ordinary lowing Deepak Nayyar
of a cow can bc heard, whicil is put by exprerts
ait 5<t), ribs. ln Bengal, it was called 'dhapiyah', A selection of essays presenting the main strands in the debate on
which is the distance that a fast runner can industrialisation in India. The contributors analyse the factors underlying
traverse at one breath. It further notes that
the deceleration in industrial growth from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s
some assert that the dhapiyah is the distance
within which a green leaf placed on the heatd
and discuss the conditions and policies for a return to the path of sustained
of one who walks rapidly. will become dry. growth. Alternative hypotheses about the macroeconomic determinants
Soime meastire by the steps of a woman with of and constraints on industrial growth in India are examined, focusing
a water-jai on her head and carrying a child on the performance of the agricultural sector, intersectoral terms of trade
in her arms, reckoning a thousand SUClh StClSbetween agriculture and industry, disproportionalities within and between
to a kos. The chapter also conitains a footnote
sectors, the level of investment in the economy, the nexus between public
on the length of a kos fixed by Babar. It
appears that this note has beeni inseried by
and private investment and the relative significance of supply and demand
Jadunaih Sarkar who was the editor- for this constraints.
edilioni of the book.
3 Concurrent with Lamnbton' s trigonometrical 362 pages Rs 275
.survey in India, there were surveys done in
other parts of the world. France was in the
vanguard tinder the leadership of Cassini's
Poverty and Income Distribution
famiiily in the early aind mid-1 9th centtiry. Edited by
National surveys of comiiprehensivc rinangu-
lation measurements lien followe(d in l)en- K S Krishnaswamy
mark and Englan(l. For more (on these, reald
Sven Widmnali (I 990)).
While there has been, over the years, a perceptible increase in per capita
4 Captain Read's first report of' the Colar
income and expenditure and possibly some decline in the incidence of
District, January 1 792. Manuscript. Maidras
Records Office. poverty in India, what still remains is massive and of a kind that is not
remedied quickly or smoothly. Even with radical policies, the shifts in
References income and occupational structures to make a serious dent on it will take
more than the rest of this century. In the welter of recent exchanges
Allaini, Abu L'-fazl ( 199): I/he A 'i-i- Akba-L, between the government and the opposition as well as between planners
Low Price Publicattions, D)elhi
and market advocates on the strategy of growth, these issues have been
Cohn, Bernard S (1988): 'The Anthropology of
a Colonial State aind( Its Forimis of' Know-
largely obfuscated. It is therefore more than ever necessary today to
ledge', paper presentedl at the Wenncr-Gren recognise the magnitude of the problem and the inadequacy of the*
conference on 7en.sioais o(fEliniire: Colonial measures adopted so far to deal with it.
Contirol tan(d /isilons of Rule, Spain.
Comtipany Government in India (1 826): Selec- pp viii + 420 Rs 240
liols oJf'P(i)er.1J-ont Ile Recoirds (tt/lt Eaist
hIdia House -- Revenue. PeJlic. ('ivil and
Cri,taiiiiil Justice, Vol 11. Available from
Dirks, Nicholas (1993): 'Colonall Histories and
Naltive Inform1ants: Biograprhy of an Archive' OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
in Carol Breck;enridge and Peter van der Veer Bombay Delhi Calcutta Madras
(eds) Or'ie,uta(li.s'n (Iltr(l /i Po.sico}t{lnial Pie-
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