This map was published by Stanfords, a London publishing house, in 1859. The map details the territorial policy of the Indian subcontinent, according to information provided by the British East India Company.

The map was published one year after the establishment of the British Raj, and includes a table in the lower right-hand corner detailing all the British Empire's acquisitions in the territory between 1661, when Portugal ceded Bombay to the British Empire, and the last annexations in 1856.

The use of colours on the map is not random, but corresponds to the system of government of each of the entities within British India. The more than 500 princely states, which were ruled by an Indian ruler under a system of indirect government, are shown in yellow. Pink, on the other hand, shows the territory that was directly governed by the British Empire. Other colours show colonies that, in 1859, still belonged to other European powers, such as brown for Goa (Portugal) or blue for Pondicherry (France). Finally, green shows the independent states, such as Nepal and Bhutan.

The lower right-hand corner also shows a map of Southeast Asia, where the British Empire's possessions stretched along the coast to the island of Sumatra. In addition, the map also includes three small boxes to show the great distances of the territory from each of the three main cities: Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.

Sources

• Stanford's Map of India – David Rumsey