National Institute of Advanced Studies

Indian Institute of Science Campus

Bengaluru-560 012

Thesis Proposal Presentation

Title: 

Advancing archaeological and geomorphological understanding of the

Indian Coast using old cartographic and visual records

Speaker: 

Ms. Ekta Gupta

Date: Tuesday, 29 August 2017, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 2.00 pm

Abstract: Exploration and later colonisation of Indian coastal regions by the Portuguese, French, Dutch, and British from 14–18 Century CE led to the extensive and meticulous mapping of Indian coast to enable maritime travellers/merchants to navigate across the seas. These maps/charts are valuable as they mark contemporary buildings (forts and religious structures) that were visible on the coast from the sea at that time; also, they record coastal geomorphic features such as depth, beaches, shoals, spit bar, lagoons, tidal inlets, etc., of a time when there is no direct information from other sources. With advancement of geospatial technologies, it is possible to gain new perspectives on history of landscapes from analysing old records that contain spatial information. The proposed study intends to - explore maritime maps (also known as portolan charts), textual records called Pilots or Pilotages that accompanied these charts and paintings of the Indian coast which are archived in various collections (e.g. National Archives in Delhi and Pondicherry, British Library in London and National Archives of Netherland); develop methods to extract archaeological and geomorphological information from these records and integrate them with remote sensing images and topographical models on geospatial platform; and analyse the changes the landscape has undergone since the time these charts were made.

All are invited to attend