‘Great Theodolite,’ a 500-kg device, has a tryst with history. Two centuries after it was used to carry out the mapping of present-day India and beyond, it has come to Hyderabad as an exhibit at a stall in the Survey of India for the Geospatial World Forum conference.
The device was part of an exhaustive survey undertaken by British surveyor William Lambton. The survey began in 1802 and ended four decades later on the foothills of the Himalayas. “The device was captured by the French when it was being shipped from Britain to the Indian subcontinent. It was released after they were told that it was a scientific equipment,” said an official of the Survey of India, about the journey of Theodolite. “The device was taken for surveying even the territories that were not under the direct control of the British empire.”
The erstwhile Nizam territory, which includes present-day Telangana, holds a special significance. The device, imported at a cost of £650, was brought around 1820 to the Nizam-ruled region. “Mr. Lambton chose the hilltops to survey the area and stayed on for a couple of years,” the officials said.
However, two tragic incidents happened soon after the survey team left the region to move further upwards. In 1823, Mr. Lambton died near Nagpur and in 1825, the device was severely damaged near Bidar. The work was carried forward by George Everest, a member of Lambton’s team, after whom Mt. Everest is named. The device is now part of the museum at the Survey of India headquarters in Dehradun.
