The Survey of India was founded in 1767 in order to map the vast holdings of the British East India Company. It remained in operation following Indian independence and is currently the national mapping organization of the government of India, under the Department of Science and Technology. The map shows portions of Afghanistan and present-day Pakistan (then part of British India). It is dated July 1891, although it is a reissue of an earlier map of November 1886, with updated information on political boundaries and railways. The border between Afghanistan and Baluchistan was to be redrawn in 1893, just two years after the publication of this map, by the establishment of the Durand Line. An arbitrary political demarcation, the Durand Line cut through the boundaries of the various tribal entities residing in a region recognized for the fierce independence of its inhabitants. The area remains a source of political volatility today. The map was published during the directorship of the Survey of India of Colonel Sir Henry Ravenshaw Thuillier (1838–1922). Sir Henry was educated at the Addiscombe Military Seminary (also known as the East India Company Military Seminary), and led the Survey of India from 1886 to his retirement in 1895. Sir Henry’s father, Sir Henry Edward Landor Thuillier, also led the Survey of India, in 1861−78. The map was reproduced by photozincography, a process of photolithography using a zinc plate. The scale is one inch to 32 miles (2.54 centimeters to 51.49 kilometers).
The Survey of India was founded in 1767 in order to map the vast holdings of the British East India Company. It remained in operation following Indian independence and is currently the national mapping organization of the government of India, under the Department of Science and Technology. The map shows portions of Afghanistan and present-day Pakistan (then part of British India). It is dated July 1891, although it is a reissue of an earlier map of November 1886, with updated information on political boundaries and railways. The border between Afghanistan and Baluchistan was to be redrawn in 1893, just two years after the publication of this map, by the establishment of the Durand Line. An arbitrary political demarcation, the Durand Line cut through the boundaries of the various tribal entities residing in a region recognized for the fierce independence of its inhabitants. The area remains a source of political volatility today. The map was published during the directorship of the Survey of India of Colonel Sir Henry Ravenshaw Thuillier (1838–1922). Sir Henry was educated at the Addiscombe Military Seminary (also known as the East India Company Military Seminary), and led the Survey of India from 1886 to his retirement in 1895. Sir Henry’s father, Sir Henry Edward Landor Thuillier, also led the Survey of India, in 1861−78. The map was reproduced by photozincography, a process of photolithography using a zinc plate. The scale is one inch to 32 miles (2.54 centimeters to 51.49 kilometers).