{"id":17397,"date":"2021-11-05T15:19:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T15:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/?p=17397"},"modified":"2021-11-05T15:19:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T15:19:18","slug":"a-cartographic-guide-for-strangers-in-madras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/a-cartographic-guide-for-strangers-in-madras\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cartographic \u201cGuide for Strangers in Madras\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s blog is written by Philip Jagessar who provides an update on one of the earliest maps that the Society acquired which features a detailed town plan of Madras.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Full town plan of Madras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Many of the earliest maps acquired by the Royal Asiatic Society were, unsurprisingly, of India. Among them was a Plan of the Town of Madras and its limits, <\/em>published in 1834, showing the layout of the East India Company town which grew out of one of its earliest settlements in southern India at Fort St George.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\"\"
Detail within the town plan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What makes this town plan of Madras intriguing is that the map had been created to serve one function and subsequently repurposed into an early \u2018tourist\u2019 map of the settlement. The map description informs the user that the town plan was made from a survey of Madras by a certain Captain William Ravenshaw \u201cfor the use of the\u201d Justices in Sessions. It would appear the town plan served a functional role in the day-to-day operations of Madras\u2019 Supreme Court which had been established in 1800. This map could have been created to help the Justices locate and situate where in Madras a particular legal issue or dispute had occurred, or whether it fell under their jurisdiction. Although faded, the map clearly shows details such as cadastral parcels which would have been important in property disputes.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Town plan description \u201cfor the use of the\u201d Justices in Sessions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]However, the description also explains to the user that the map has been \u201ccompiled for the benefit of the Madras Hindoo Literary Society, and intended as a guide for strangers at Madras\u201d by the Society\u2019s Vice-President, C. V. Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy was one of the three Cavelly (Kavali) brothers who famously collaborated with Colin Mackenzie on his surveys of southern India in the early 19th<\/sup> century. Another brother had set up the Madras Hindu Literary Society, with Ramaswamy as Vice-President, to coexist with the British dominated Madras Literary Society (established in 1817). Ramaswamy and his brother were among the earliest Indian members of the Madras Literary Society, which had been set up by members of the East India Company as an affiliate of the Asiatic Society in Bengal and subsequently also established a relationship with the Royal Asiatic Society in London.<\/p>\n

The Madras Hindu Literary Society conceivably compiled and published the map to help esteemed visitors from other societies across India and Europe make sense of the geography of Madras and find their way around town. The Plan of the Town of Madras <\/em>was possibly gifted by the Hindu Literary Society to the RAS for such a purpose. Perhaps, however, the map found its way into the collection through a member of the RAS who may have once been a \u201cstranger at Madras\u201d.<\/p>\n

Philip Jagessar <\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Upcoming events: <\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bayly Prize Ceremony: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Please join us at 6:30pm on Thursday November 11th<\/sup> for three Zoom presentations from the finalists of this year\u2019s Bayly Prize.<\/p>\n