Author: Dr Naureen Khan
Images Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons What is cartography? Simply put, it is the science and practice of drawing maps. We humans have long tried to depict the Earth’s three-dimensional features on a two-dimensional, flat surface. Interestingly, maps have a language of their own: symbols, directions, scale, and detail. Over time, maps served different purposes, hence, they evolved from pictorial or artistic renditions to the more accurate, digital, scalable versions today. Long before the introduction of the modern surveyor’s chain and theodolite, cartography in the Indian subcontinent existed as a vibrant synthesis of cosmology, pilgrimage, and administrative geography. Early Indian maps were…