Hey folks,

Have you heard the story of the eccentric emperor who created a gigantic map that was exactly the same size as his empire—coinciding with it point by point? He wanted to have an ‘intimate knowledge’ of the territory and the people he governed.
Sounds crazy? Then you will be surprised to know that mapmaking and imperialism have always been entwined. Take the case of the British colonisers in India. As soon as they stopped playing the role of a trader here,
and donned the mantle of the king, they began to draw maps. In the early 1830s, cartographers were assigned the task of creating a full map of India. The expense was enormous, but the military needed
geo-data to control the terrain, and the government needed it to set up telegraph and railway lines.
In the past, only the rich and the
powerful made maps. Not any more. A magic potion can now be cooked up
with two ingredients—online maps and innovative use of technology. It bestows the power of mapmaking on every at-home programmer. Not to set up colonies—but to do some really fascinating explorations.
Want to know more? Here goes….