Charting the Shape of India

In an age when vast swathes of the world remained unmapped and mysterious, maps were more than navigational tools—they were instruments of power, knowledge, and ambition.

- RASHMI GOPAL RAO

In the late 18th century, as European empires scrambled to define and dominate distant lands, accurate cartography became a prized asset. It was against this backdrop that James Rennel undertook the first large-scale survey of India in 1782, producing the Map of Hindoostan through rudimentary route surveys. Rennel's efforts were merely the prologue to a far more audacious endeavor: the Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS) of India, an epic scientific undertaking that spanned nearly a century.

In their new book India in Triangles, authors Shruthi Rao and Meera Iyer chronicle this extraordinary project.