Asian Journal of Law and Society· 2026Q2
Trigonometrical Juridism in British India: Unificatory Images and Jurisdictional Rationality
- 1citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
British colonial cartography, particularly the Great Trigonometrical Surveys and the Atlas of India, established a unified perception of India as a coherent geographical entity, which in turn fostered the idea of it as a refined British legal territory.
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Key points
- Colonial cartography, specifically the Great Trigonometrical Surveys and Atlas of India, established India as a coherent geographical entity.
- This cartographic representation fostered an epistemology of a 'civilizing impulse,' perceiving India as a refined British legal territory.
- Cadastral and revenue surveys visualized territory via police networks, facilitating the rationalization of jurisdictions.
- Maps played a critical role in systematizing horizontal jurisdictions with vertically aligned hierarchies across British India.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract This article engages with two aspects of how cartography enabled law and jurisdictional ordering in a specific historical context. First, by interrogating the ways in which the great trigonometrical surveys of the British colonial enterprise and the Atlas of India entrenched “India” as a distinct, coherent, and contiguous geographical entity, this article will demonstrate how an epistemology rooted in a civilising impulse produced the perception of India as a thoroughly refined British legal territory. Second, by engaging with the maps and records of colonial cadastral and revenue surveys, this article will show how maps played a critical role in the visualisation of British Indian territory in terms of police networks. Such a visualisation paved the way for the rationalisation and systematisation of horizontal jurisdictions, with vertically aligned hierarchies, across the territory.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Asian Journal of Law and Society, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Law
LawSocial Sciences