Role NameEVOLUTION Affiliation
OF
GEOGRAPHICAL
THOUGHT IN INDIA
Principal Investigator Prof. Masood Ahsan Siddiqui Department of Geography,
Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi
Paper Coordinator, if any Dr. Taruna Bansal Department of Geography,
Jamia Millia Islamia, New
Delhi
Content Writer/Author Dr. Taruna Bansal Department of Geography,
(CW) Jamia Millia Islamia, New
Delhi
Content Reviewer (CR)
Language Editor (LE)
Component-I (A) - Personal Details
Component-I (B) - Description of Module
Items Description of Module
Subject Name Geography
Paper Name Geographical Thought
Module Name/Title Evolution of Geographical Thought in India
Module Id GEOG/11
Pre-requisites Evolution, Geographical Thought in India
Objectives To Study Evolution of Geographical Thinking and in
India
Keywords Geography and geographical thought, Ancient period,
Middle Ages, Colonial Period, Modern India,
e-text
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL THOUGHT IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION
India is the home of one of the earliest civilizations; it has been observed by number of
scholars that in India geographical studies date back to those times. The contributions
of Indian scholars by no means are less than that of Greeks, Romans and Chinese. The
legendary works like Upanishads and Vedas led us to develop number of indigenous
systems of knowledge. Surprisingly, most of the inventions and discoveries that are
believed to have originated in the Western world have their roots in the ancient Indian
knowledge which has 2000 years old legacy. Although the formal foundation was laid
during the British period (1920s); this can be affirmed through the statement of James
and Martin (1972) ‘the new geography was transmitted by British to its colonies through
universities’. In India the first geographical association was established in 1920 at
Lahore where a college was established with under-graduate classes. And later on it
was established in Aligarh in 1924 and in Patna in 1927; therefore geographical studies
found their expression in India education system only in the early twentieth century. To
understand the development and growth of this discipline in India one has to see the
paradigmatic changes that this field has witnessed especially in last hundred years as
well as the roots that lie in our ancient traditional knowledge.
The roots of Indian Geography in the Ancient Literature
In Hindi geography is called “Bhugol”, where ‘bhu’ means ‘earth’ and ‘gol’ means
‘round’ that is study of round earth (Rana, 2013). The word Bhugol is derived from two
Sanskrit words. It means that from ancient times Indian scholars considered earth to be
round; a notion contrary to the other ancient civilizations which considered earth as a
flat disc. This becomes evident when one dwells upon the fact that many scholars of
that time had expertise in various disciplines relate to earth. Table 1 provides the
information on different disciplines which were popular among these ancient scholars.
Table 1
The Earliest Known Indian Scholars and Their Field of Interest
Name Field
Acharya Kapil (3000 BC) Cosmology
Acharya Bharadwaj (800 BC) Aviation technology
Baudhāyana, (800 BC) Mathematics
Acharya Charak (600 BC) Medicine
Acharya Kanad (600 BC) Physics (Atomic Theory)
Acharya Sushrut (600 BC) Medicine (Surgery)
Gautama Buddha (563 to 483 BC) Philosophy
Pānini (400BC) Grammar
Nagarjuna (100 AD) Chemistry
Âryabhatta I (476–550 AD) Mathematics & Astronomy
Varahamihir (499-587 AD) Astrology & Astronomy
Brahamgupta (598-668) Mathematics & Astronomy
Bhāskara I (600 - 680) Mathematics & Astronomy
AdiShankara (788 AD - 820 AD) Philosophy
Aryabhata II (about 920) Mathematics & Astronomy
Sridharacharya (AD 991) Mathematics
Brahmadeva (1060- 1130) Mathematics & Astronomy
Bhaskaracharya (1114-1183 AD) Algebra
Source: Rana (2013 )Evolution of Modern Geographical Thinking and Disciplinary Trends in India, p.2.
The above table clearly shows that the ancient scholars in India made significant
contributions to the discipline of geography through their works in philosophy,
cosmology, astrology, mathematics, medicine and linguistics. These works have largely
benefited the branches of regional geography, physical geography, climatology and
practical geography. The ancient scholars such as Aryabhatta-I, Bhaskaracharya,
Brahamgupta and Varahamihira had contributed to astronomy where they have put
forward theories and concepts related to the planetary positions, planetary movements,
planetary forces, latitudes, longitudes and local time, directions or cardinal points,
earthquakes and volcanoes, atmospheric observations with reference to seasons and
its physical divisions along with related astronomical calculations. Example can be cited
of works of Aryabhatta; what Copernicus and Galileo suggested nearly 1500 years ago
was originally propounded by him. Another example can be sited from the concept that
from the Vedic times, Indians had classified the material world into five elements viz.
Earth (Prithvi), fire (Agni), air (Maya), water (Apa) and ether (Akasha). These five
elements or Pancha Mahabhootas have been identified with the various human senses
of perception; earth with smell, air with feeling, fire with vision, water with taste and
ether with sound. It is perceived that material world is composed of these panch
mahabhootas and hence comprised miniscule particles of matter. The concept was
atom (Parmanu) was also known to them; that suggested that there was a possibility
even at an abstract level.
As during those times the means of communication were poor, the scholars had
limited knowledge about the earth. In spite of that some description is available on the
various regions of the world; these regions were known as the dwipas. Seven dwipas
have been mentioned in the Puranas. These are Jambu Dwipa, Krauncha Dwipa,
Kusha Dwipa, Plaksha Dwipa, Pushkara Dwipa, Shaka Dwipa and Shalmali Dwipa.
Jambu dwipa formed the centre of Geography as a discipline was not developed at a
formal level during ancient times; the earliest mention of geography is made in the 8th
century Puranic text – Bhagwat Purana. Some information is also found in the epics of
Ramayana and Mahabharta. The oldest Veda, the Rig Veda clearly states the idea of
six directions - Purva (East), Paschim (West), Uttar (North), Dakshin (South), Zenith
(Meru) and Nadir (Bhadvanala). The reference has also been made of vacuum that
existed between the earth and the heaven (Antariksha). The thickness of the Antariksha
was calculated as 12 yojans which is equal to 96 kms (1 yojan = approximately 8 kms).
all these continents. India has been mentioned as Bharatvarsha. It extended from the
Himalayas to Kanyakumari and consisted of regions like Saptasindhu, Himavat, Kailash
Parbat, Vindhayans, Sahyadri. Rivers originating from the Himalayas like Ganga,
Yamuna, Brahamputra, Saraswati, Satudri (Sutlej), Asikni (Chenab),Vitasta (Jhelum),
Arjikeya (upper part of Indus), Susoma (Savan), Sindhu (Indus), Kubha(Kabul), Gomati
(Gomala), Krumu (Kurrum) along with the inland river like Narmada, Tapti (Tapi),
Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery and Tungbhadra; all are mentioned in these ancient texts.
Indian Geography during the Middle Ages
During the medieval period the geographical boundaries of the known world extended
for Indians. They migrated to lands like Cambodia and even set up trade links with china
on one end to Greece on the other. The most significant feature of this period was that
the Indians came into contact with the Arabs. The influence became more prominent
when the Muslims established their empire in India. One of the most important writings
of this time is Al-Beruni’s Tarikh – i – Hind where he describes the geography of India.
Other scholars of this period include Al-Beruni, Ibn-Batuta and Abul Fazl. The
contribution came through ‘Kitab ‘l Hind’ of Al-Biruni;’s Travels in India and China, a
travelogue of Ibn Batuta; and ‘Ain-i - Akbari’ the third volume of Akbarnama, of Abul
fazl-i-Allavi.
Geography in British India
As already stated that geography as an independent discipline established itself during
the colonial period when number of colleges with under-graduate classes was initiated
and geographical societies and associations were established in those colleges. Some
of the prominent societies include the Curzon Geographical Society, Aligarh (1925);
Madras Geographical Society, Madras (1926); Patna College Geographical Society,
Patna (1929); Calcutta Geographical Society, Calcutta (1933) and Bombay
Geographical Association, Bombay (1935). India’s great personalities in the field of
geography during this period were N. Subramanyam from Chennai, R.N. Dubey from
Allahabad, K.S. Ahmad from Lahore, Tahir Rizvi from Aligarh and S.C. Chatterjee from
Patna.
To promote their knowledge of the territories and the resources the Britishers set
up a number of Surveys like the Survey of India followed by Geological, Zoological,
Botanical, Linguistic, Archaeological and Anthropological Surveys. Further, the
gazetteers, the reports of the Geological, Archaeological as well as Anthropological
survey of India, the Census data and reports, and statistical reports were produced
periodically. The climatic data from the Indian meteorological department of
Government of India was also published at regular intervals and therefore became a
reliable source of geographical information.
At the end of the British period, the discipline of geography was still in its pre-
embryonic stage as Indian scholars were not interested in this field; the possible reason
may be lack of professionalism of the discipline viv-a-vis the continued relevance of
geology in the earth studies (Adhikari, 2010).
Geography in Modern India
The progress of geography as an independent discipline in India can be best
understood through its development in a series of sequential phases as suggested by
Rana (2013). These phases are:
(1) The Formative Stage: Pre-1950s;
(2)The Informative Stage: The 1950s;
(3)The Confirmative Stage: The 1960s; and
(4)The Reformative Stage: Since 1971.
(1) The Formative Stage: Pre-1950s
There is no wonder that the first generation of the Indian geographers were those who
were trained in other related disciplines. They chose geography only as their
professional career; among these who left their marks on the history of geography in
India are H.L. Chhibber, S.P. Chatterjee, R.N.Dubey, M.B. Pithawalla, G. Kuriyan, K.S.
Ahmad, S.M. Ali, N.K. Bose and C.D. Deshpande. Their wide-ranging research interests
covered the various branches of geography but their methodology was similar - the
descriptive ideographic way to describe and interpret the heterogeneity and unevenness
that prevailed over the earth surface. The geographical associations and societies
founded during the colonial period played a vital role in disseminating geographical
knowledge and promoting geographical research. They made the journals like Indian
Geographical Journal (Madras), the Geographical Review of India (Calcutta), the
Geographer (Aligarh) and the Bulletins of National Geographical Society of India as
their key geographic boughs.
(2) The Informative Stage: The 1950s
The second phase immediately after Independence gave geography a national base,
though it followed the prototype framework as followed during the preceding stage. The
torch bearers in this stage were O.H.K Spate and D.L Stamp. The monumental work of
Spate India and Pakistan (1952) laid strong foundations for the discipline. Apart from
this the work of R.L.Singh Banaras: An Urban Geography (1955) brought urban
geography in the forefront. In this phase the year 1956 holds a significant place as
several goals were achieved. The National Atlas and Thematic Organisation (NATMO)
was established in 1956 under the leadership of S.P.Chatterjee. The National Atlas
Organisation was also set up, which gave impetus to the growth and development of
geographical teaching and research at universities.
On the eve of India’s independence only four universities- Aligarh, Calcutta,
Allahabad and Banaras- offered postgraduate studies in geography. By 1950, four other
universities – Agra, Punjab (Chandigarh), Madras and Patna started postgraduate
programmes in geography. The result was that in the next 30 years the discipline saw
tremendous growth in India.
(3) The Confirmative Stage: The 1960s
The most important event of this stage was the 21st International Geographical
Congress held in New Delhi in 1968 under the presidentship of Prof. S.P. Chatterjee.
Apart from these now nearly 36 universities started offering geography as a post-
graduate subject. Number of societies and associations also increased and this time
they came up with academic journals also. To name a few - Transactions of the Indian
Geographers (Patna), Deccan Geographer in Secunderabad, Geographical Outlook
(Ranchi), Indian Journal of Geography (Jodhpur), Geographical Knowledge (Kanpur),
Geographical Viewpoint (Agra), and the two Hindi journals known as Uttar Bharat
Bhoogol Patrika (Gorakhpur) and Bhoodarshan (Udaipur). Several branches of
geography came up; important being Economic geography, Human geography,
Physical geography, Regionalisation and regional planning, Cartography, Geographical
thought and Historical geography.
(4)The Reformative Stage: Since 1971
The number of the departments of geography grew up to 48 in this stage. In 1972, the
Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi came up with a project
report with a title “Survey of research in Geography”; and stated that eight branches of
geography have reached their development. These are – economic geography;
geography and planning; human geography; historical geography; political geography;
regional geography, methodological review and research methods. This report identified
the salient features of the Indian geography as:
a) Concern with regards to the problems of planning and development
b) Inter-mingling with other sister disciplines
c) Adopting quantitative methods in geography
d) Lack of generalization
e) Application of western models on Indian geographical studies.
Similar surveys were conducted three more times and the fourth survey cone in
1999 identified the following trends which clearly show the shifts and paradigmatic
changes that Indian geography went through. These are:
a) Acceptance of quantification
b) Model building
c) Development of methods related to observation and data handling
d) importance to social processes
e) integration of data with socio-cultural phenomenon
f) implication of research to overall development
This shows that the Indian geography since independence has moved much
ahead as rather being dependent on Anglo-American geography it is moving in different
directions without the baggage of dualisms and dichotomies. The credit for this goes to
the leaders of first generation which include – V.L.Prakasa Rao from Delhi School of
Economics; R. L. Singh from Benaras Hindu University; P. Dayal from Patna University;
M. Shafi from Aligarh Muslim University; G. S> Gosal from Punjab University,; S. M.
Alam from Osmania University; C. D. Deshpande from Bombay University; S. P.
Dasgupta from NATMO; Moonis Raza from Jawaharlal Nehru University and R. P.
Mishra from IDS, Madras. By 2000, there were as many as 50 societies and
associations and they are playing pivotal role in disseminating and promoting
geographical studies and research throughout the country. Various new branches
emerged which are shown in table 2.
Table 2
Main Branches and their Proponents in Indian Geography
Branches of Geography Major Proponents
Regional Development and Planning C. D. Deshpande; K. V. Sundaram; C.R.
Pathak; R. P. Mishra;
Urban Geography R L Singh; R.B. Singh; R. Ramachandran
Climatology P Dayal
Regional Geography O. H. K. Spate; L S Bhat
Administrative Geography Gopal Krishan; Suryakant
Agricultural Geography M.Shafi; Jasbir Singh; Majid Hussain
Geography of Health Rais Akthar; Jayati Hazra; Jayashree De
Geomorphology H.L.Chibber; S.P.Chatterjee; R.P.Singh;
Enayat Ahmad; Savindra Singh; S. R. Basu;
S.C.Mukhopadhay; V.S.Kale; A. Kar;
R.C.Tewari
Gender Geography Saraswati Raju
Political Geography R.D. Dikshit; C.P.Singh; R.L.Dwivedi;
Swaranjeet Mehta; S.Adhikari; R.N.P.Sinha;
Govind Saran Singh
Population Geography G.S.Gosal; R.C.Chandana; Gopal Krishan;
Swaranjeet Mehta; M.S.Gill
Social Geography A.Ahmad, M.Ishtiaque
Cultural Geography A.B.Mukherji; Kashi Nath Singh
Economic Geography S.P.Chatterjee
Resource Geography R.P.Mishra; B. Thakur
Transport Geography H.Ramachandran
Cartography and Thematic Mapping S.M.Alam; B.K.Roy; A.Ramesh; L.R.Singh;
Ashish Sarkar;
Conclusions
In the words of Reddy (1982) geography in India is only 50 years old while the modern
geography is as an academic and applied discipline in 150 years old. This means that
Indian geography is much younger than modern geography. The reason can be found in
what Panikkar stated in 1955 – geography has been at all times one of the great and
most regrettable gaps in Indian knowledge. We have totally neglected geography even
when historical events should be related geographically. A nation can only neglect
geography only at its peril.
Clearly, Indian geography is today at an important turning point. The foundation
laid down after independence by geographers who are now in retirement is being
challenged by newly developed or introduced methodologies or research techniques,
such as remote sensing, quantitative analysis and GIS. At the same time, the Indian
geographers are just now beginning to look beyond their own regional boundaries,
indeed even to the rest of the world for research subjects.
The need of the hour is to develop a methodological system of Indian geography
which has its distinctive traits as an intellectual and scientific discipline that can provide
a meaningful synthesis of our cultural heritage and physio-technological progress, our
habits and habitats, as well as our opportunities and challenges and that can be more
substantive, productive and satisfying. Modern Indian Geography, if it has to reach the
status of science, must start studying our problems of life and living. Unless we identify
the geographical perspectives of these problems and seek an explanation, there can be
no Indian geography.
To conclude it can be said in India lacks the tendency of developing indigenous
models and methodologies and are dependent on the western world geography in India
has come a long way. After independence it has established itself as an independent
field and made its place among the science dealing with the reality through its
contribution to development and regional planning (Gosal, 1980).
