Sketch map of the region from Kolkata (Calcutta), the Ganges delta and Bangladesh, north to Bhutan, and stretching east to China and northern Myanmar (Burma).



This map was published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society to illustrate a proposal by General Sir Arthur Cotton, a British army officer and irrigation expert, to connect India and China by linking the Brahmaputra River with the Yangtze, either by road or by canal. His proposed line is marked in red.



Cotton began his career with the Ordnance Survey in 1820, but was soon appointed for service in India. He dedicated his life to the water systems, dams, and navigable canals in British India, and even after he retired in 1860 was often consulted on proposed projects.



Original colour. [IC1751]