MAHSA

The MAHSA project is documenting endangered archaeology and cultural heritage of the Indus River Basin and surrounding areas.

MAHSA is funded by Arcadia - a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

11/08/2023

Some of the finds from our recent research trip to the British Library. It was a relief sometimes to take a break from the booklets of the Survey of India to look at what was produced beyond the 1 inch to 1 mile maps of the SoI
Included in that are the revenue maps. This one, depicting area in Gujerat in 1867, was 4x the size of most maps we deal with and was also translated in Marathi. The other map, full of black and white contours is a combination of revenue maps of the then North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
What both maps highlight are the variety maps produced at the time but also the lack of communication between the departments of Revenue and Survey.

31/07/2023

You get all the maps for this . We are making steady progress in covering the Indus Region in historic maps from the Survey of India.
When you spend so much time looking at them, the little idiosyncrasies start to stand out. Details about the landscape, the water condition and even sometimes about the local market...and that's on top of temples, shrines, fort and, of course, mounds.
Wondering what we'll find next...

27/07/2023

Not all maps we come across are the usual Survey of India 1 inch to 1 miles.
This very special map was commissioned by Hungarian-British archaeologist, Aurel Stein. The map follows his archaeological explorations at the border of Baluchistan and into Iran. 'Ancient' sites are clearly marked... and so is the name of the Indian Surveyor Muhammad Ayub Khan! We wonder if some digging (pun intended) might reveal a little more Mr Khan's background?
Will look forward to falling into some more rabbit holes!

24/07/2023

This features our new recruit, Veneshree Vidyarthi, and our two interns, Jaskirit Gill and Ethan White.
They have wildly different regions of interest, from Goa to Canterbury, but there is a little something for everyone in the map room.
Ethan found a wonderful medieval map of Canterbury the size of a postcard while Vaneshree and I spotted shipwrecks off the coast of Goa. All this and more at the map room .

21/07/2023

And done! Thank you to everyone who help us run the event and all those who came along!
We met so many amazing people at . Including some talented map makers and feature finders! The kids were spending their first day of freedom learning about the maps and heritage of South Asia. We drew in a few of the adults in as well!
It was a busy few hours and hopefully a fun few hours too!
We hope to see you all again soon...
Our next post we'll be giving a special shout out to Shapla Koli, our lovely storyteller!

14/07/2023

This week we give a very warm welcome to our new Research Assistant, Vaneshree Vidyarthi! With a background in the paleolithic archaeology of India and recent work with the she is sure to be a perfect fit for our team!
Best of luck in this new role and we hope you enjoy working with us.

25/05/2023

It has been a bittersweet day at the
as we say goodbye to our wonderful colleague,
Maria Suarez Moreno. She leaves us with a Spanish bull called Mario but really that is no replacement.
Maria began her work with us tracing hydrology in Telebgana for the project before we brought her into the MAHSA fold completely. Moving deftly from historic maps to TanDEMX. She is leaving us for the job of her dreams and we wish her lots of love and best of luck in the new post!

17/05/2023

It was a beautiful morning in London and we decided to spend it at the library. From health care to photos of indian surveyors and from theodolites to watercolour maps, there are a lot of stories we hope to tell!

https://arcg.is/1bbv0m2
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16/05/2023

We have today because the post didn't load yesterday!
As rivers shift, so do the settlements around them.
This is a map featuring the a section of the Indus River and the Khalabat township in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the space of 100yrs the river has forced Khalabat and other towns to completely move. It would be interesting to find out what factors led to this shift, natural river movement, human interaction, climate change etc.
A reminder that these historical maps are an important source of environmental information as well as archaeological.

28/04/2023

Here at the
we also celebrate and in . When we're not in the field we're behind the screen battling , and spreadsheets!
If you would like to learn how we do what we do please see some of our workshops and tutorials on our YouTube page:
https://youtube.com/

19/04/2023

Work hard, play hard! Today, some of the MAHSA team talked databases alongside a truly international group at the MAEASaM office. These databases form the backbone of our projects but are HARD WORK.
Luckily, we had an amazing iftari to look forward to. With Ramadan soon coming to an end, it has been especially wonderful to share these moments with our team and loved ones.
A big Ramadan mubarak to all our Muslim friends and colleagues and a bigger Eid mubarak for this weekend!

Wonderful food and hospitality at

18/04/2023

Here we have a lineup of South Asian heritage icons for ! Sitting at the crossroads of civilisations, it's easy to underestimate not only how big the Indian Subcontinent is but also the number of languages, cultures and kinds of heritage there is to be protected and celebrated.
1. Harappan Dancing Girl
2. Priest King of Mohenjodaro
3. Site of Hampi, Karnataka
4. Takht-i-bahi, Khyber Pakhtankhwa
5. Ellora caves, Maharashtra
6. Badshahi Masjid, Punjab

Address

McDonald Institute For Archaeological Research, University Of Cambridge
Cambridge
CB23ER

Website

https://www.mahsa.arch.cam.ac.uk/

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