Gazetteers

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A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory.

Place Names in India

Marcus F C Martin, a geographer devised a simple way to understand the old English spellings for Indian places. “For example, FATEHPUR (‘City of Victory’) is a fairly common placename and by the mid-19th century it could be spelled in at least seven ways: FUTTIHPOOR, FUTIHPORE, FUTTAPORE, FUTTEHPOOR, FUTTIPOUR, FUTTYPOOR, FUTTYPORE etc. Marcus saw that the consonants were fairly accurate and could be reduced to a short code: here ‘FTP’ or, if you prefer 4 characters, ‘FTPR’. Then

a.. treat soft ‘c’, ‘ch’ and ‘chh’ as being the same;
b.. treat hard ‘c’, ‘k’ and ‘q’ also as the same; and
c.. treat double consonants as single (‘ck’ as ‘k’, ‘tt’ as ‘t’ etc);
d.. Ignore vowels, except at the beginning of a name, when they should be replaced by a wildcard, such as a dash (-).

Marcus was apparently delighted to find, using this principle, that OOMRAWUTTEE was modern AMRAOTI (both names will code to ‘-MRT’). He published a pamphlet which is long since out of print, with coded tables for the 3,900 Post Offices that existed in India in 1877, when they were renamed in standardised form and continued until independence.

The principle is quite easy to remember and helps enormously when looking up placenames in atlases and gazetteers."[1]

Imperial Gazetteer of India

The Imperial Gazetteer of India was created by Sir William Wilson Hunter in 1881.

The third edition, published between 1909 and 1931, is available online, at the Digital South Asia Library, consisting of 24 volumes of text, and 1 volume of maps. It was first published, due to the efforts of Sir William Wilson Hunter, in 9 volumes in 1881 with a second edition of 14 volumes in 1885–1887.

Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series

In 1908/1909 the Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series was published in twenty five volumes, all of which are available online, either as pdf downloads, Digital Library of India, or Archive.org.
Afghanistan and Nepal; Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Baluchistan; Baroda; Bengal Vol. I - Bengal Vol. II; Berar; Bombay Presidency Vol.I - Bombay Presidency Vol. II; Burma Vol. I - Burma Vol. II; Central India; Central Provinces Eastern Bengal And Assam; Hyderabad State; Kashmir and Jammu; Madras Vol. I - Madras Vol. II; Mysore and Coorg; North-West Frontier Province; Punjab Vol. I - Punjab Vol. II; Rajputana; United Provinces of Agra and Oudh Vol. I - United Provinces of Agra and Oudh Vol. II.

In addition, Afghanistan and Nepal Imperial Gazetteer of India is available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, located under both Books, Afghanistan, and Books, Nepal. Scroll down to 1908.
Restricted access: Viewers in North America and some other countries may be able to access the Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series on Google Books or the Hathi Trust Digital Library

Other gazetteers

India

General

Regional

  • Assam District Gazetteers. Published 1905-1928, Volumes 1-10 by B.C. Allen, 1905-06; Volume 11 written anonymously, 1928. Supplementary volumes published c 1915.
There is a download available as a pdf file from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset catalogued as 1905 Assam District Gazetteers Vols 1 To 10, located under Books, Indian Subcontinent, 1905.
The following are mainly pdf downloads, Digital Library of India: Cachar Vol. 1 1905; Sylhet Vol. 2 1905, Sylhet Supplement 1915; Supplement to Goalpara 1914; Kamrup Vol. 4 1905; Darrang Vol. 5 1905, Darrang Supplement 1915; Nowgong Vol. 6 1903; Sibsagar Vol. 7 1906, Sibsagar Supplement 1915; Lakhimpur Vol. 8 1905, Lakhimpur Supplement 1916; Naga Hills And Manipur Vol. 9 1905; The Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills and the Lushai Hills Vol.10 1906 Archive.org., Volume10 Supplement 1915. British Library EAP file (Tiff images, may require a plug-in); Vol.11 The Sadiya and Balipara Frontier Tract ? 1928.
Bogra by J. N. Gupta 1910; Chittagong by L S S O'Malley 1908. Also available as a British Library EAP file (Tiff images, may require a plug-in); Chittagong Hill Tracts by R Hutchinson 1909; Dacca by B C Allen 1912 Archive.org.; Dinajpur by F W Strong 1912; Jalpaiguri by John F Gruning ICS 1911; Noakhali by JE Webster 1911 Archive.org.; Rangpur by J A Vas 1911; Tippera by J E Webster 1910
Zhob District Vol. I; Loralai District Vol. II- 2nd file; Sibi District Vol. III by Major A McConaghey IA 1907 Archive.org; Bolan And Chagai Vol. IV and IV A; Quetta-Pishin District Vol.V; Sarawan, Kachhi And Jhalawan Vol. VI; Makran Vol. VII; Kharan Vol. VIIA; Las Bela Vol.VIII
Volume 9 is an Index to Volumes 1-8, but does not appear to be generally available online. Viewers in some countries, probably including North America, may be able to access volumes on the Google Books or Hathi Trust websites, including Volume 9
  • Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers, published 1917-1933. Earlier editions were published as Bengal District Gazetteers. Mainly pdf downloads, Digital Library of India.
Champaran; Cuttack; Hazaribagh by E Lister 1918 Archive.org; Monghyr; Palamau; Puri; Ranchi; Sambalpur
Central Provinces District Gazetteers: Chhattisgarh Feudatory States 1909 Archive.org (Volume 10)
Central Provinces District Gazetteers: Raipur District Volume A Descriptive 1909 Archive.org (Volume 18)
The Digital Library of India has a number of Central Provinces District Gazetteers including Jubbulpore District Vol A 1909 and Nagpur District, Vol A 1908 as pdf downloads.
Gazetteers of Central Provinces and Berar. Digital reprints by Maharashtra State Gazetteers Department, of some individual Districts, including Nagpur (archived webpage). Transcriptions: All include District in the title: Akola 1910 (Berar) - Another version Akola akola.nic.in; Amraoti (Berar) amravati.nic.in; Bhandara; Chanda; Durg reprint of Volume A 1910 and Volumes B statistical tables from 1891-1926. Pdf download. durg.gov.in; Nagpur nagpur.nic.in; Wardha
Gazetteer Of Kashmir And Ladak 1890 . Full title: Gazetteer of Kashmír and Ladak : together with routes in the territories of the Maharaja of Jamu and Kashmir compiled (for political and military reference) under the direction of the Quarter Master General in India in the Intelligence Branch 1890. Pdf download, Digital Library of India.
Manual of Coorg : a Gazetteer of the natural features of the country and the social and political condition of its inhabitants ; (with a map and four illustrations) by G Richter 1870 Staatsbibliothek Berlin
Mysore and Coorg : A gazetteer compiled for the government of India by Lewis Rice Archive.org
Mysore: a Gazetteer compiled for Government Revised Edition
Mysore Gazetteer edited by C. Hayavadana Rao published 1927-1930 in 5 volumes (Volume 2 is in 4 parts) (total 8). Volume 1, Descriptive; Volume 2, Historical (in 4 Parts); Volume 3, Economic; Volume 4, Administrative; Volume 5, Gazetteer; is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. One volume is available on Archive.org Mysore Gazetteer Volume 2 Part 4:Historical, Modern Period c 1930
  • North-West Frontier Province District Gazetteer series. For earlier editions, see Punjab District Gazetteers. Hazara District 1907; Peshawar District 1931. Pdf downloads, Digital Library of India
  • Gazetteer of the Countries Adjacent to India on the Northwest by Edward Thornton (1844). Includes Sind, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the Punjab.
Volume I- Karachi District, Pdf download 1919 ; Volume II- Hyderabad District, Pdf download 1927 , Volume III -Sukkur District, Pdf download 1919 , Pdf download 1928; Volume IV- Larkana District, Pdf download 1927; Volume V- Nawabshah District, Pdf download 1920, Pdf download 1926; Volume VI-Thar and Parkar District Pdf download 1919. (Not available online: B Volume VII Upper Sind Frontier District, but it is available at the British Library IOR/V/27/63/110).

Burma

Akyab District Vol A 1917; Bhamo District Vol A 1912; Lower Chindwin District Upper Burma 1912; Upper Chindwin District Vol A 1913; Henzada District Vol A 1915; Insein District Vol A 1914; Kyaukse District Vol A 1925; Mergui District Vol A1912; Pegu District Vol A 1917; Ruby Mines District Vol A 1915; Salween District Vol A 1910; Sandoway District Vol A 1912; Shwebo District Vol A 1929; Syriam District Vol A 1914; Thaton District Vol A 1931; Thayetmyo District Vol A 1911; Toungoo District Vol A 1914;
Burma Gazetteer: Lower Chindwin District, Upper Burma 1912 Ebook Hong Kong University Library. Note: if the navigation tabs at the top of the webpage are not visible, decrease the size of the page.

Afghanistan

Ceylon

Volume 1, A-K 1896, Volume 2, L-Z 1898

Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Entries from A Handbook of Mesopotamia by Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division 1917

Nepal

  • Refer Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series above

Persian Gulf, Oman And Central Arabia

  • Central Asia Part IV: A contribution towards the better knowledge of the topography, ethnology, resources, & history of Persia complied (for political and military reference) by C.M. MacGregor. 1871 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Central Asia Part Iv Pdf download, Digital Library of India.
  • Gazetteer Of The Persian Gulf, Oman And Central Arabia by J G Lorimer, published 1908 to 1915. Volume I, Historical consists of Part I being the 'Arabian' portion of the History and Part II being the 'Persian' section of the History. Both Parts of Volume I, Historical, have the same extensive index, covering all Parts.
    • Four out of six volumes of a reprint edition are available to read online at Hathi Trust Digital Library. The volumes are Volume I: Historical: Part I (in two parts) and Volume II: Geographical and Statistical (in two parts)
    • The Qatar Digital Library contains copies of the original editions held at the British Library. Note: these webpages may be very slow to load at times
    • Three volumes of the Gazetteer Of The Persian Gulf, Oman And Central Arabia by J G Lorimer, Indian Civil Service, are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website, being Parts I and II of Volume 1, Historical, published 1915 and the Geographical section of Volume II, Geographical and Statistical Gazetteer, published 1908.
      • Part I Contents computer pages 12-137. Text commences cp 138. Part II Contents computer pages 10-133. Text commences cp 134. Appendix "Published books and articles" cp 1210. Volume II Geographical and Statistical Gazetteer. There is no Index. Introduction pages i-iii are missing. The text is cp 8-2047
    • Volume I, Part III of a reprint edition is available on the National Library of Australia Digital Collections-Maps Catalogue entry. It contains two maps (including the map of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia) and genealogical trees.

External links

References

  1. Smith, Max Place Name Rootsweb India Mailing List 1 December 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2014