India 1852

This map of India is from “The College Atlas” by H.G. Collins, 22 Paternoster Row, London which was published in 1852. The descriptive text that follows is adapted from various sources, including the “Universal Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary" published by John Thomson & Co, Edinburgh in 1843.

An extensive region of Asia, comprehending, in its greatest extent, all the countries lying between the 65th and 95th degrees of eastern longitude. Its extreme breadth, reckoning from the northern boundary of Cashmeer to Cape Comorin, is about 27 degrees of latitude. In 1852, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian sub-continent, which included modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. In 1858, in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion (also known as First War of Indian Independence) all power was transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown, which began to administer most of India as a colony. Two-fifths of the sub-continent continued to be independently governed by over 560 large and small principalities, with whom the Raj (in Hindi meaning ‘to rule’ or ‘kingdom’) entered into treaties of mutual cooperation.