Cartography Module
Navigate the spatial diffusion of Brahmic scripts with multi-spectral map layers. Examine pilgrimage corridors, maritime trade winds, and inscription clusters that chart the script diaspora from South Asia to Southeast Asia and the Himalayas.
The atlas synthesizes archaeological surveys, maritime chronicles, and monastic itineraries. Each layer can be filtered by century, script family, and religious affiliation to reveal intertwined routes of cultural exchange.
High-resolution basemaps integrate bathymetric data to highlight how tides and seasonal currents guided Pallava inscriptions into island Southeast Asia. Inland, caravanserai inventories chart the spread of Nagari scripts along Himalayan passes.
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Visualize the seasonal currents that ferried scripts between the Coromandel Coast and the Malay Archipelago. Includes directional vectors and annotated port cities.
Data: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
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Map of Buddhist monastic circuits linking Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Pagan, and Lhasa, annotated with script transformations triggered by monastic transmissions.
Data: Buddhist Heritage Trail GIS Repository
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Choropleth overlay showing the extent of key dynasties and the scripts they institutionalized, from Maurya inscriptions to Khmer royal decrees.
Data: Digital South Asian Cartographic Archive
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Heatmap of inscription discoveries with filters for script type, medium (stone, metal, palm-leaf), and linguistic register.
Data: Epigraphia Indica & EFEO Archive
Each corridor insight pairs geo-temporal context with annotated script samples discovered along the way. ArcGIS story maps provide step-by-step explorations, ideal for classroom storytelling or public outreach.
Chronicles the spread of Pallava grantha through emporia like Kaveripattinam and Palembang, highlighting bilingual Tamil-Malay inscriptions.
Follows itinerant monks transporting Pali canon manuscripts and the emergence of Burmese round script forms tailored to palm-leaf manuscripts.
Tracks caravan routes through Kashmir and Mustang culminating in Tibetan script standardization under the Yarlung dynasty.
Adjust the timeline slider to animate route intensity and overlay climate data. Markers reveal port cities, monasteries, and caravan halts with embedded glyph galleries.
Current focus: 800 CE – rise of Sailendra and Pagan polities.
Static and time-enabled GeoJSON files for ingestion into GIS tools.
High-resolution tileset with bathymetric and topographic detail for web embedding.
ArcGIS and Flourish templates with narrative scaffolding for public exhibits.