Early Maps of India

Susan Gole, Early Maps of India , New York: Humanities Press, 1976

xxiv, 126 pp. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white reproductions of early printed maps of India (complete as issued; list of illustrations included in preliminaries); publisher’s full orange cloth boards. Gilt lettering on the spine. No dust jacket
12 x 9.5 in (30 x 24 cm)

Early Maps of India — Susan Gole’s Authoritative Study of Pre-Modern Indian Cartography

Susan Gole’s Early Maps of India (1976) is a compact yet enduringly influential scholarly study of the cartographic representation of the Indian subcontinent from the early modern period onwards. Written with methodological rigour and notable restraint, the book examines how India was visualised, measured, and gradually re-imagined through European mapping traditions, situating individual maps within their intellectual, political, and informational contexts.

The volume is introduced by a foreword from Irfan Habib, whose contribution firmly grounds the study within South Asian historical scholarship and underscores the importance of cartography as a historical source rather than a neutral technical exercise. Gole’s text focuses on the transmission of geographical knowledge, the persistence of cartographic conventions, and the slow correction of inherited errors, avoiding speculative claims in favour of documentary clarity.

Illustrated throughout with carefully selected black-and-white reproductions, the book uses maps as analytical evidence rather than visual ornament. These plates support discussions of coastline accuracy, interior geography, nomenclature, and the relationship between travel accounts, surveys, and printed atlases. Scholarly in tone yet accessible in scope, Early Maps of India remains a standard reference for collectors, libraries, and researchers concerned with the history of mapping and the visual construction of India.

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