The Great Trigonometric Survey was a project of the Survey of India throughout most of the 19th century. It was piloted in its initial stages by William Lambton, and later by George Everest. Among the many accomplishments of the Survey were the demarcation of the British territories in India, and the measurement of the height of the Himalayan giants - Everest, K2, and Kanchenjunga. The Survey had an enormous scientific impact as well, being responsible for one of the first accurate measurements of a section of an arc of longitude, and for measurements of the geodesic anomaly.
The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India started on 10th of April 1802 with the measurement of a base line near Madras. Major Lambton selected the flat plains with St. Thomas Mount at the north end and Perumbauk hill at the southern end. The base line was 7.5 miles (12.1 km) long. Lieutenant Kater was despatched to stations in Coorg and Bednur so that flags on the western sea coast could be connected. From Tellicherry, Cannanore and Mount Delly and triangulated with the top of Tadiandamol. No base line was measured on the Malabar coast. This distance from coast to coast was 360 miles (580 km) and this survey line was completed in 1806.[1] The East India Company thought that this project would take about 5 years but it ended up taking more than 60 years, draining the profits of the Company, so much so it was brought under the Crown after 1857.[citation needed] Many surveyors became very rich. Prominent among them was Andrew Chamrette, his son Peter Chamrette and grandson Charles Chamrette, who worked for the GTS of India from 1802 to 1876. This family acquired huge tracts of land in village Kapsi district Yavatmal maharashtra (formerly CP Berar) amounting to more than 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) and George Everest bought 600 acres (2.4 km2) of land near Dehra Doon.
References
- ^ Markham, Clements (1878). A Memoir On The Indian Surveys (2 ed.). London. W H Allen And Co.. http://www.archive.org/details/memoirontheindia025502mbp/. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
Further reading
- John Keay. 2000. The Great Arc. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-257062-9.
External links
 |
This cartography or mapping term article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
