Mapping and empire: British trigonometrical surveys in India and the European concept of systematic survey, 1799-1843

The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India (GTS), under William Lambton (1799-1823) and George Everest (1823-43), is examined to understand the cultural, social, political, and personal motivations of modern systematic surveys. Such surveys have so dominated western cartography that they define the modern perception of cartography as a progressive science. Under this belief, the early systematic surveys are seen to have developed as a matter of course, but this is belied by the British surveys in India.;The GTS presents a paradox: highly expensive and laborious, it rarely fulfilled in this period its role of providing control for detailed surveys. Its continued existence stemmed not from its utility but from its embodiment of cultural and social values. It struck a cultural nerve in providing the ;Systematic surveys were not undertaken to meet the specific cartographic needs of European governments, but rather were begun in accordance with cultural beliefs and values. The belief that cartography is a progressive science is a construct of modernity and is therefore questionable. The abstract cartographic process is not linear in nature; nor is it historically uniform and timeless. Rather, it is highly complex and culturally dependent.