Online Accessibility of Gazetteers: How do the States Fare
"Imagine a day in London, say around late 19th century! A Scottish (the elite English would not want to go to the scorching-hot India) is deputed for India, tasked with the charge to run a district double the size of London. He has never been there, hardly seen pictures from there and carries only a foggy idea of the place he is now the ‘ruler’ of. They tell him he would be the Deputy Commissioner of a district. Becoming the Deputy Commissioner in India was perhaps the culmination of his life’s efforts, having been educated at the Haileybury College (earlier called East India College) to secure good score in the Indian Civil Services exam."
Ruling a Country 20 Times Larger: The British and the idea of ‘Gazetteers’
"Imagine a day in London, say around late 19th century! A Scottish (the elite English would not want to go to the scorching-hot India) is deputed for India, tasked with the charge to run a district double the size of London. He has never been there, hardly seen pictures from there and carries only a foggy idea of the place he is now the ‘ruler’ of. They tell him he would be the Deputy Commissioner of a district. Becoming the Deputy Commissioner in India was perhaps the culmination of his life’s efforts, having been educated at the Haileybury College (earlier called East India College) to secure good score in the Indian Civil Services exam."