Bangladesh孟加拉国
Curatorial Note
AI-curated draftThe cartographic tradition of Bangladesh emerges from the colonial and post-partition geography of the Indian subcontinent. The earliest atlas in this collection, *Bengal In Maps* (1949), was published by Orient Longmans shortly after the partition of India and Pakistan, reflecting a period when the region—then East Bengal, later East Pakistan—was being redefined politically and spatially. This work belongs to a broader wave of regional atlases produced in the late 1940s, as reviewed in contemporary scholarship that assessed geographical output in newly independent India and Pakistan. The atlas’s editorial approach followed the conventional regional survey model, emphasizing physical features, administrative boundaries, and economic resources, often drawing on colonial survey data. The second and more recent work, *National Atlas of Bangladesh* (2017), published by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, represents a fully national cartographic project. Its compilation reflects modern standards of thematic mapping, integrating demographic, environmental, and infrastructural data, and is organized around the sovereign state’s administrative hierarchy. Together, these two atlases bracket a seventy-year evolution from a provincial cartographic legacy to a comprehensive national reference. Their significance lies not only in documenting territorial change but also in establishing a visual grammar for national identity, serving as essential tools for planners, educators, and researchers, and positioning Bangladesh within the broader tradition of national atlas production in South Asia.
The Shelves
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Review1950Taking Stock in India and Pakistan: A Review
O. H. K. Spate
This article, written by O. H. K. Spate, is a review of geographical works produced in India and Pakistan shortly after their independence. The author first traces the development of geography as a young discipline in India, noting its low academic status and uneven output, but acknowledging real progress. He then evaluates a series of books: Srivastava's survey reveals inadequate library resources and other academic problems; Nafis Ahmad's "The Basis of Pakistan" analyzes the geographical rationale for Pakistan's creation; Pithawalla's books on Karachi and Pakistan contain vivid details but occasional errors; Chakravarti's "Economic Geography of West Bengal" is poor, while Chatterjee's "Bengal in Maps" and Bose's "The Damodar Valley Project" are commended; Deshpande's "Western India" is a pioneering regional monograph; and Dr. Thomas's "India's Basic Industries" offers a detailed factual survey showing wartime industrial expansion and imbalance. The author concludes that Indian geography, though still immature, holds great promise, with vast uncharted research areas remaining, and these books collectively signify a promising beginning for geography in the newly independent states.
- Review1951Some Recent Regional Atlases: A Review
Walter W. Ristow; Niels Nielsen; Axel Schou; W. E. Calvert; Hugo Hassinger
This review examines sixteen noteworthy general and topical regional atlases published during the past decade, representing eleven countries. It applies the Wright-Platt classification of atlases, distinguishing between general regional and topical regional works. The atlases discussed include French thematic volumes on viticulture, textiles, peat bogs, and hydroelectric power, as well as national and regional atlases from Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, Tanganyika, India, Australia, and Brazil. The review assesses their organization, cartographic quality, editorial collaboration, and scholarly utility. It finds that such specialized atlases serve primarily researchers and serious users, and that many reflect the growing practical needs of regional planning, resource appraisal, and national self-knowledge. The cooperative production of the Atlas of Denmark is singled out as exemplary, while the rainfall atlas of Brazil fills an important gap in South American climatic studies. The review concludes that regional atlases make significant contributions to geographical scholarship and inter-institutional collaboration.
- Article1951Reviews: Bengal in Maps
Masefield, G. B.
From the Physical Collection
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