Mapping an Empire: The Geographical Construction of British India, 1765-1843

by Matthew H. Edney

In this fascinating history of the British surveys of India, Matthew H. Edney relates how imperial Britain used modern survey techniques to not only create and define the spatial image of its Empire, but also to legitimate its colonialist activities.

"There is much to be praised in this book. It is an excellent history of how India came to be painted red in the nineteenth century. But more importantly, Mapping an Empire sets a new standard for books that examine a fundamental problem in the history of European imperialism."—D. Graham Burnett, Times Literary Supplement

" Mapping an Empire is undoubtedly a major contribution to the rapidly growing literature on science and empire, and a work which deserves to stimulate a great deal of fresh thinking and informed research."—David Arnold, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

"This case study offers broadly applicable insights into the relationship between ideology, technology and politics. . . . Carefully read, this is a tale of irony about wishful thinking and the limits of knowledge."— Publishers Weekly

Genres: History, India, Geography, Nonfiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 1997

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a comprehensive, academically-dense history of the political structures involved in the British efforts to map India. On this point it is extremely well researched and informative. However, I had been hoping to read about the actual mechanics of the Great Trigonometrical Survey, such as the methods of computation, the instruments used, the mathematics, and accounts of surveyors as they embarked on the survey -- there was virtually none of that in the book. Thus, if you are looking to learn about why the British wanted to map India, the political and cultural motivations behind the decisions to organize surveying expeditions, the anthropological explanations behind issues of colonialism, and the like, this book is for you. If your focus is wanting to learn more about historical surveying techniques, I would look elsewhere.

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a dense book, but is the standard academic text on trigonometric surveying in colonial-era India. The beginning is a bit impenetrable, but if you get through it, it's such a fascinating and incredibly detailed survey that I use it as a source text for academic work.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed information. Hoping for more stories of the mapping.

[Bettyzhou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Placing mapping and production below the British Empire, this book focuses on the class nature of scientific research, arguing that the pundits were at the bottom of the social intellectual class because The Survey of India established a race-based hierarchy of labor and responsibility
Pundit is less well documented but just as an example of the author's argument about the "division of labor in racial hierarchies.
Still a good book.

[Cade · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India Was Mapped and Everest Was Named and thoroughly enjoyed it. I read this book hoping it would be even more of the same. I couldn't have been more wrong. This book is very "academic" in the absolute worst sense of the word. It is full of pretentious philosophizing and excruciating detail primarily intended to prove the author's extensive research rather than to actually interest the reader. If you are an academic, this book seems highly researched, so maybe you'll find what you're looking for. If you are a layman interested in surveying, stay far, far away. This book has 4 sections (as I recall, I don't have it in hand as I write):
1) The first section is totally unreadable garbage about the way maps do or don't affect the way people perceive/relate to places. It is mostly philosophy and sociology with a few cartographic words thrown in. If you like the word "graticule" and "panopticon," then you will love this because the author can't get enough of it.
2 &3) These sections actually sort of talk about the surveying of India. However, it doesn't talk about specific stories of surveying, nor did it provide any information on the actual procedures/techniques/processes used for surveying. Rather, it was all about the political and economic factors. If you want to know which surveyor had petty squabbles with which bureaucrat, this will be your favorite part of this book!
4) The last section is more about the broader picture of other scientific disciplines in India under British rule. This part discussed the racial and social hierarchy of British India.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unless you want to read every scintillating, technical detail about how map making was carried out by the British and the in-competencies of the East India Co. and the British military as they bumbled through the map making process, skip to page 293 and just read chapters 9 & 10. Otherwise, the book is a complete drudgery!