Bangladesh
National Atlases
The 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.
Versions and Their Documents
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Journal Article1950Taking Stock in India and Pakistan: A Review
O. H. K. Spate
This review examines the state of geography in India and Pakistan following their independence, highlighting both progress and persistent challenges. Despite low academic status and scarce resources, notable advances have been made, with several universities and journals emerging. The article critically assesses key works: Ahmad's analysis of Pakistan's geographical basis, Pithawalla's studies on Karachi and Pakistan, Chatterjee's atlas of Bengal, Bose's Damodar Valley project, Deshpande's regional monograph on Western India, and Thomas's survey of basic industries. The author underscores that while regional studies are developing, vast geographical problems remain unexplored, urging more rigorous fieldwork and regional monographs to foster the discipline's maturation across the subcontinent.
- Journal Article1951Reviews: Bengal in Maps
G. B. Masefield
This is an academic review of S. P. Chatterjee's *Bengal in Maps* (1950), a socio-economic regional atlas focusing on resource distribution in West and East Bengal. The review highlights the atlas's clear presentation of natural vegetation and agricultural patterns (e.g., rice, jute), which facilitates teaching and regional planning. However, it criticizes the combined mapping of rocks and soils as confusing and notes that the extent of soil survey coverage is not indicated. Overall, the review commends the author's painstaking work despite imperfect data and underscores the urgent need for regional atlases as a basis for intelligent planning.
- Journal Article1951Some Recent Regional Atlases: A Review
Walter W. Ristow
This review examines sixteen regional atlases published over a decade up to 1950, representing eleven countries. It begins by referencing Wright and Platt's classification of atlases into four types—general world, topical world, general regional, and topical regional—noting that the latter two serve as specialized tools for scholars. The author then critiques each atlas by country, covering French topical atlases on wine, textiles, peat bogs, and hydroelectric power; general regional atlases from Denmark, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, Tanganyika, India, and Australia; and a rainfall atlas from Brazil. The review focuses on content organization, cartographic techniques, compilation backgrounds, and scholarly value, with particular praise for the collaborative model and cartographic excellence of the Atlas of Denmark. The article aims to provide geographers with a systematic overview and evaluation of these regional atlases for academic reference.
From the Physical Collection
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