Exhibit on 3 West, Main Library

The Survey of India was conducted by the British from 1765-1947. Covering the area between Iraq, the Himalayas, and Indochina, the survey produced thousands of maps at a variety of scales. These maps formed the base of future mapping work in the region, including maps used by the U. S. Department of Defense through much of the 20th century. The vast project resulted in unexpected benefits of greatly improved surveying equipment and molding the very discipline of geography.

The survey was conducted from a grid of measured lines with a 1,600-mile "spine" that ran from the southern tip of the subcontinent into the Himalayas. John Keay, in his book The Great Arc describes this project: " The Great Indian Arc of the Meridian, begun in 1800, was the longest measurement of the earth's surface ever to have been attempted. Its 1,600 miles of inch-perfect survey took nearly fifty years, cost more lives than most contemporary wars, and involved equations more complex than any in the precomputer age."

"Rightly hailed as 'one of the most stupendous works in the history of science,' it was also one of the most perilous. Through hill and jungle, flood and fever, an intrepid band of surveyors carried the Arc from the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent up into the frozen wastes of the Himalayas."

Survey work in the Himalayas formed its own drama, as teams, many in diguise, dodged Russians, Nepalese, and Tibetans. This late-19th century intrigue was later dubbed "The Great Game."

The exhibit sketches the history of the project and contains map products and illustrations.

Exhibit created by Kathleen Weessies, Maps/GIS Librarian.

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