The topography of colonialism: maps in East India Company
The India Office Records: F series of the East India Company collection features hundreds of documents including correspondence, consultations, financial documents and reports.
One of the many highlights includes a selection of maps which demonstrate the East India Company’s attempts to encompass the vast amounts of land they had control over in India. Maps are inherently biased and what is not included by the cartographer can often reveal as much as what is included. The maps that can be found in this collection offer insight into the priorities of the Board of Directors and how the East India Company approached understanding the territories they held in Asia.
Many expeditions were sent into company territory in order to properly map the lands the company had acquired through war or alliances. The board needed to understand the lands they were governing from England to properly capitalise on the amassed territory, and the primary use of maps in this collection is to trace the waterways of India.
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Hand drawn map of the head of the Delhi canal. Content provided by: The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved.
There are a number of sketches of river networks and canals from within East India Company territory, with contextualising towns and villages. Many forts had been, or were, established near waterways, and the Booria fort is marked on the map above. Now known as Buria, it was originally built by the Mughal empire and was acquired by the British in 1829.
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Map of Salsett [Salsette] island, Bombay [Mumbai] with key features marked in colour. Content provided by: The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved.
Maps also show the layers of history in the new Company territories. The map of Salsette island, Bombay [Mumbai] shows the locations of the forts on Salsette and the neighbouring islands. However, also included are the Portuguese churches marked with crosses, which had been built by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century after the island had been seized by the Portuguese empire in 1534. The East India Company was not the first European power to hold the island and the previous colonisers had already created permanent structures that were still standing two centuries later.
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Geological survey map of part of the Himalaya mountains printed in colour. Content provided by: The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved.
The geological survey of the Himalayas provides a different kind of detail to the map of Salsette Island and it is illustrated to indicate the different kinds of rock and stone that could be found in the mountain range. Captain James Herbert who produced the map was the Geological Surveyor of the Himalayan Mountains for the East India Company from 1823-1829, and this map forms part of a marked rise in interest in the Himalayas as the Anglo-Burmese war pulled the company’s attention to the North East. Herbert was the first to attempt to create a geological survey of the Himalaya.
Visit the East India Company collection to discover the new India Office Records: F records detailing the Company’s impact on Asia.
About the author
Eleanor Cambridge is an assistant editor at AM.
About the collection
East India Company, Module VI: India Office Records F, The Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board is out now.
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