Evolution of Cartographic Aggression by India: a Study of Limpiadhura to Lipulek
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The Geographical Journal of Nepal Vol. 13: 47-68, 2020 Doi: http://doi.org/10.3126/gjn.v13i0.28151 Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Evolution of cartographic aggression by India: A study of Limpiadhura to Lipulek Jagat K. Bhusal Professional Hydrologist (PEng) and Ex-Chairman of ETFC. Email: [email protected] Received: 8 November 2019; Accepted: 22 January 2020; Published: March 2020 Abstract Nepal is a sovereign country since its history and has never been colonized. In course of time, once a greater Nepal shrunk to present territory after its defeat in the Anglo- Nepal War (1814–15) and since the signing of the border treaty (Between the East India Company and the Raja of Nepal) which is known as the Sugauli Treaty of 1816. The defeat fixed the river Kali as the border in the west and the Mechi in the east on the hilly regions whereas there are border pillars (Jange Pillars) on the southern plains. The territorial issue between Nepal and India on the north-west border, especially up to the source of the Kali river is reviewed in this paper. Interpretations of the relevant documents and correspondences, reviewed papers, articles in periodicals and newspapers, and historical maps are critically made with reference to the recent freely available google maps and political maps published by Nepal and India. British-India after the Sugauli treaty and also India after the independence realized the importance of the Gunji-Kuti area, Lipulek pass and Kalapani and made the unilateral cartographic manipulation on the North-west border of Nepal. It is found that the borderline swinging over the century clearly indicated that the encroachment of about 400 sq. km land of Nepal contravened the spirit of the Sugauli Treaty. Keywords: Sugauli treaty, Kalapani, Fictitious border, Phantom location, Cartographic manipulation, Background The publication of its political map by India in November 2019 that shows the Nepalese land in the far western part of the country, Limpiadhura, Lipulek, and Kalapani, as its territory has once again brought back to the boundary encroachment of Nepal in the area 47 Jagat K. Bhusal / Evolution of cartographic aggression by India: A study of... Vol. 13: 47-68, 2020 east of the Kali (Mahakali River/Sarada River), the boundary between the two countries as per the Treaty of Sugauli-1816, by the southern neighbor since the time of British India into fore. The ongoing territorial issue between Nepal and India involving some 400 sq. km sovereign land of Nepal on the north-west border, especially the source of the Mahakali river, in fact, dates back to the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between the East India Company of Great Britain and the Raja of Nepal. It may be added that India's recently (2019) published its new political map showing the said amount of Nepali land within her territory when her government had, time and again, admitted that the upper reaches of Kali are disputed (Bhandari, 2015; Dhungel & Pun, 2014; JWG, 1998; Rajan, 2000; Risal, 1999; Dhungel, 1999). This paper is digging out the cartographic aggression of India focused on the issues related to the encroachment on the North-West border of Nepal. Nepal: Location from the border perspective Nepal falls over the Himalayan region which was formed about 75 million years ago when the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate. Nepal lies almost completely within the collision zone (Ali & Aitchison, 2005). It is a landlocked country located between India and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. It is located between 26°22' to 30°27' North latitudes and 80°04' to 88°12' East longitudes, and extends about 800 kilometers East-West and 150 to 250 kilometers North-South with an area of 147,181 sq. km (Figure 1). Figure 1: Nepal and location of disputed (encroached) area (Map by Gurung, 2019). 48 Jagat K. Bhusal / Evolution of cartographic aggression by India: A study of... Vol. 13: 47-68, 2020 In the latter half of the 18th century Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler (1768-1775) of the Kingdom of Gorkha, formed a unified country of Nepal by conquering several independent states (Sodari, 2020). His successors extended its territory up to Kangra to the west including the Kumaon and Garhwal and up to Testa, Sikkim in the east (Regmi, 1958; Manandhar, 1983). In India, the East-India British Company while expanding its territory felt the necessity of routes to Tibet as well as of the forest resources of Nepal and so declared the war with Nepal. (kullabs.com/classes/subjects/units/lessons/ notes/note-detail/693-). When the war between the two countries was going on, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st marquess of Hastings (2nd Lord Moire), the Governor General of India had sent a secret letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company, London on June 1, 1815, suggesting the Kali River to be the eastern boundary of East India with Nepal (Cox, 1824). The defeat of Nepal in the war (1814–15) with the British, Nepal was compelled to sign ‘The Treaty of Sugauli in 1816’ which shrunk Nepal’s territory to the current shape. Article 5 of the Sugauli Treaty between the East India Company and Nepal states that, 'the Rajah of Nepal renounces for himself, his heirs, and successors, all claim to or connexion with the countries lying to the west of the River Kali and engages never to have any concern with those countries or the inhabitants thereof' (Bhandari, pp. 282-300). But later on, Nepal was able to get back some of her southern plain lands in two phases, i.e. a first return of the eastern Tarai on 11 December 1816, and second return of four districts of Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, and Kanchanpur of Western Tarai on November 1, 1860 (Paudyal, 2013). The British Government signed a treaty of friendship in 1923. Nepal established diplomatic relations with would-be independent India on 17 June 1947 and a friendship treaty in 1950 with Independent India. Nepal established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China on 1 August 1955 and signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1960. Nepal joined the United Nations on 14 December 1955 (Acharya, 2013). It stands as a buffer state between China and India. Borderline-1 by Sugauli treaty of 1816 The map published by the East India Company after the Treaty of Sugauli on January 2, 1816, is the medium-scale map (Figure 2) that showed the pictorial interpretation of the secret letter of Lord Moira in 1815 (Cox, 1824). 49 Jagat K. Bhusal / Evolution of cartographic aggression by India: A study of... Vol. 13: 47-68, 2020 The secret letter states that, 'the eastern boundary will be the Kali, which rises in the snowy mountains, and pursues nearly a direct southerly course to the plains, where it assumes the name of the Gogra'. ‘The Kali forms a well-defined boundary from the snowy mountains to the plains, and though narrow, it is deep and rapid. The snowy range inclining towards the south reaches its extreme point in the direction where it touches the eastern confines of Kumaon. Hence this is the shortest, and consequently the most defensible line of frontier.’ The mapping technology during that time was not as advanced as of today, so the demarcation of the location of the source of the uppermost river reaches of the main Kali river is shown inside the overshadowing area of snow and glaciers in the map. Figure 2: Kali river as the international Figure 3: The uppermost reach of Kali river borderline between British-India and Nepal as the western borderline between British- India and Nepal (https://pahar.in/indian- (www.davidrumsey.com) subcontinent-pre-1899) The western border river 'Kali' (Article 5 of Sugauli treaty, 1816), is now called as Mahakali in Nepal and Sarada in India. The map of 1819 (Figure 3) had clearly demarcated the headstream course of Kali as “Kalee R” to the river mentioned by the Sugauli Treaty. The river name was given on the base of the traditional name and information provided by the local residents. The map of 1819 and other maps published 50 Jagat K. Bhusal / Evolution of cartographic aggression by India: A study of... Vol. 13: 47-68, 2020 in 1827, 1834, 1835, 1837 1846, 1848, 1850 and 1856 had marked the Kali to the river coming from Limpiadhura which had followed the main river principle as well. In addition, another supporting document to the maps was the letter of John Adams as described in the subsequent chapters. Data and methodology The paper is prepared on the basis of historical facts, published documents, correspondences and several maps since 1815 (Bhandari, 2015; Baral, 2007, Shrestha, 2003; Manandhar, 1996). Relevant papers and articles published in the peer- reviewed journals (Manandhar & Koirala, 2001; Dhungel & Pun, 2014), periodicals and newspapers (Bhusal, 1996) are also reviewed. Reviewed documents also include treaties and books as well. Copies of authentic maps from 1816 onwards, the political boundary map published by the Survey of India and the administrative boundary of Nepal published by the Survey Department of Nepal were analyzed. Cartography includes the map making process and a map not properly designed is called the cartographic failure (Robinson, 1953). Fictitious or fake entries on relevant historical maps are analytically interpreted. Interpretation of maps is also made with reference to the recent freely available Google maps (https://www.google.com/earth/versions/), which helped to clarify the confusion arising in interpreting large scale maps. Copies of original correspondences have been taken as authentic views of concerned authorities. In addition, the river science principle developed by John Playfair in 1802; R E Horton in 1945, AN Strahler in 1964 and Bhusal in 1996 (Bhusal, 1996; 1998) was also considered to define the source of the main river in question, i.e.