2132) Did You Know Series (59): i) Pune's Zero Milestone: ii) The Great Trigonometric Survey and the Great Arc; iii) Nain Singh Rawat, a legendary Surveyor; iv) George Everest, after whom the highest Peak in the World is named:

2132) Did You Know Series (59): i) Pune's Zero Milestone: ii) The Great Trigonometric Survey and the Great Arc; iii) Nain Singh Rawat, a legendary Surveyor; iv) George Everest, after whom the highest Peak in the World is named:

Links to the "Survey of India" related posts:

1) Survey of India: 250th Anniversary Celebrations: Two Commemorative Postage stamps brought out by India Post on 22.06.2017

i & ii) Pune's Zero Milestone outside the Pune GPO:

We had become acquainted with Pune's Zero milestone outside the GPO during the Pune Heritage Walks, a few years ago, in which we travelled to several parts of Pune, rediscovering the Heritage of this historical city of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Peshwas and the Freedom Fighters who led the Independence Movement from the front.

Every time we visit the State Bank of India Main Branch, where we draw our Pensions from, we get to discover a new dimension of the city and the history of India.

Today, just outside the GPO we came across the Zero Milestone mentioned in colourful Bold Letters, as against our previous visit during the Heritage Walk, when a  tea stall vendor had positioned his tea cart just in front of  the milestone and was selling tea to everyone visiting the milestone. We suggested that he should charge "five-star" rates as he was selling tea at a prominent place.

We noticed that the tea vendor  had been shooed away from the Zero milestone by the Pune Municipal Corporation, and an information board had been installed which gave the following detailed description as follows:

The Zero Milestone sign outside Pune GPO together with a symbol of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India

"THE HISTORY BEHIND ZERO MILE STONE and THE GREAT TRIGONOMETRIC SURVEY OF INDIA:

Pune's Zero Milestone, the point that marks the exact geographical location of the city was installed in 1872-73, during British rule to measure distances from one place to another. The British rulers had installed 80 such Zero stones at GPO's (Government Post Office) across India after the completion of "The Great Trigonometric Survey of India".

The Survey begun in 1800, was the longest measurement of the earth's surface which has ever been attempted. This 1600 miles of inch-perfect survey took nearly fifty to sixty years, cost more lives than contemporary wars, and involved equations more complex than any in the pre-computer age. India's longitude and latitude, altitude of places, topography, rivers and cities were mapped in the process. It has been said that along with geographical survey nearly 200 astronomical observations were taken to calculate the altitude of places. The whole survey required 9230 complex mathematical equations. Lieutenant Colonel William Lambton conceived the idea and George Everest completed it. Lambton's initial survey was to measure the length of a degree of an arc of the meridian so as to establish the shape of the earth. He called the experiment as "The Great Indian Arc" and the survey was named as "The Great Trigonometric Survey of India".

Indians like Radhanath Sikdar and Nain Singh Rawat gave valuable contribution to complete the survey. Through hills and jungle, flood and fever, an intrepid band of Indian surveyors carried the survey from the southern tip of the Indian sub-continent up into the frozen wastes of the Himalayas. Malaria wiped out whole survey parties, tigers and scorpions took their toll. Yet the results were commensurate. The geography of India was defined in the process. The survey also resulted in the first accurate measurements of the Himalayas, an achievement which was acknowledged by the naming of the world's highest mountain in honour of Everest. More important still, the survey significantly advanced our knowledge of the exact shape of our planet.

Pune Municipal Corporation pays gratitude to the men behind "The Great Trigonometric Survey" and dedicate "Pune's Zero Mile Stone" project to the men 'who died while mapping the geography on India as we know it today".

"Excerpts on 'The Great Trigonometric Survey" are taken from the book "The Great Arc" by John Keay".

The above sign board is titled "The shape of the earth is an oblate spheroid". On the lower periphery is inscribed - "Basic principle of determining size of the Earth. In the centre is given a diagram and equation for determining the size of the Earth.

This Sign Board is titled - "The exact height of Mount Everest is 29029 Ft." On the lower periphery is inscribed - "Basic principle of determining height of mountains". In the centre is a diagram an equation for measuring the height.

This Sign Board gives a Map of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India - 1800-1871

A Surveyer's instrument for measurement. The image of a nameless laborer stanps behind it

One stone set in the pavement pays tribute to the selfless work and courage of the men who were at the forefront the Trigonometric Survey - 

"Know...

That on the summit whither thou art bound

A geographic Labourer pitched his tent,

With books supplied and instruments of art,

To measure height and distance, lonely task,

Week after week pursued!"

              - William Wordsworth (1818)

iii) This plaque pays a tribute to the selfless work done by NAIN SINGH RAWAT (1830-1882):

" Nain Singh Rawat worked as a spy in the course of the Trigonometric survey and mapped the Tibetan Region which was not part of the British territory.

Nain Singh was trained to maintain a precisely measured pace which included covering one mile in 2000 steps. Nain Singh thus travelled 3160000 paces equalling 2542.8 kilometres. The exhausting journey had taken a toll on his health impairing his vision. In Dehradun, Nain Singh's route survey's were collated together and slowly accurate maps were prepared.

On June 27, 2004 an Indian postage stamp featuring Nain Singh was issued commemorating his role in the Great Trigonometric Survey".

iv) GEORGE EVEREST (1790-1866):

The plaque reads:

"After William Lambton, between 1818 to 1843, George Everest, a British geodesist and surveyor, worked on the trigonometric survey of India as superintendent and surveyor general. During his term, Everest introduced the most accurate surveying instruments resulting in a highly precise geographical map of the country. In the course of the project, Everest completed the measurement of the meridian arc of 11.5 degrees from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari. Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, which has been called Peak XV was renamed in 1865 in his honour".

This stone in the pavement honours the memory of the surveyors, both Indian and British who passed away while mapping the country:

It reads -

"Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set - Biblical Proverbs 22:28

In the loving memory of the surveyors who sacrificed their life while mapping India as we know her today".

Statues of some Indian labourers were placed along the pavement, probably in a symbolic tribute to the countless, nameless, labourers who had worked on the Trigonometric Survey. For so me strange reason, these have all been defaced - limbs torn away, faces disfigured etc. So I have not included images of these statues as they present a gory picture.

The pavement/footpath on which the descriptive plaques of the "Great Trigonometric Survey" are installed.

This stone reads -

"He scans the skies,

reading some off-far-off star

by which he plots

meridians and makes his maps,

stitching a new-found world into a patch work quilt,

a net of metes and bounds,

so lands may know their own

and live in peace."

                      - Don W. Thomson

This aptly sums up the work of Surveyors who tread into unknown lands and map them for others that follow.