Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History

First Advisor

Wendy Singer

Second Advisor

Hilary Buxton

Abstract

This thesis examines the geographies and writings of Major James Rennell and puts Rennell’s work in the context of greater colonial knowledge-gathering. Cartography in Europe during the eighteenth century was undergoing a standardization process and the field was to be understood as scientific and objective. Rennell’s work was celebrated among his contemporaries as the most detailed and accurate geographical depiction of India. Rennell’s maps however, could not depict the entirety of India’s landscape, leaving out details such as people, or the crops that grew there. His maps were limited in this respect. Rennell’s maps also cast an imperial gaze over India and functioned to increase the British East India Company's control over India. Rennell’s geographies would become entrenched in an understanding of India, having lasting impacts into the twenty-first century. For this reason it is important to not only understand cartography as a science, but also a deeply political act.

Rights Statement

All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.

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