About this book:

*Mapping the Past* provides a comprehensive theoretical and practical framework for applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the "spatial turn" to the study of South Asian history. The book argues that space is an active participant in historical narratives rather than a passive backdrop. It guides researchers through the technical lifecycle of a digital project—from critically reading and georeferencing colonial and indigenous maps to digitizing shifting administrative boundaries, trade routes, and archaeological sites. Central to its methodology is the creation of historical gazetteers and temporal models that account for the region’s linguistic diversity and fluid political territories across imperial, colonial, and post-colonial eras.

The text is anchored by detailed case studies that illustrate the analytical power of GIS. These include reconstructing maritime and overland trade networks influenced by monsoon patterns, tracing the evolution of colonial districts and princely states, and mapping the human geography of labor, caste, and urban growth in metropolises like Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Notably, the book addresses the logistical and human dimensions of Partition, using flow maps and density surfaces to visualize mass displacement. It also explores advanced techniques such as remote sensing and LiDAR to uncover "ghost" landscapes and environmental changes that traditional archives may omit.

Beyond technical execution, the book emphasizes the ethical responsibilities inherent in digital scholarship. It tackles the biases of the colonial archive, the sensitivity of mapping marginalized communities, and the importance of collaborative, decolonized research practices. The final chapters focus on the public and pedagogical dimensions of the field, advocating for the use of interactive story maps to communicate complex histories. By championing reproducible workflows, standardized metadata, and open-access data preservation, the author aims to move South Asian studies toward a more collaborative, spatially literate, and transparent future.

What You'll Find Inside:

• Practical guidance on applying GIS and spatial analysis to South Asian historical research, from map criticism to georeferencing and digitization
• Case studies on Indian Ocean trade routes, colonial administrative reorganization, and Partition migration demonstrating spatial methodologies
• Techniques for building historical gazetteers, cleaning multilingual toponyms, and modeling temporal change in historical geography
• Core spatial analysis methods (buffers, overlays, networks) applied to historical South Asian datasets
• Best practices for ethical research, reproducible workflows, and sharing spatial data with scholarly and public audiences

Who's It For:

The book is designed for historians, students, archivists, and digital humanists interested in applying spatial methods to South Asian studies. No prior GIS expertise is required, as each technique is introduced with conceptual explanations, worked examples, and guidance on common challenges. It will particularly benefit those working with historical maps, administrative records, migration data, or environmental sources who want to move from theoretical interest to practical spatial analysis.