District, village, field and household
Reading land and population records
Follow a census report, settlement guide, map guide and gazetteer through their recorded purposes and limits.
6 entries · 12 min reading, calculated from article text
Use your browser’s print command for a copy of this reading list.
Your reading goal
Keep the title leaf, administrative boundaries, edition, field reference and material actually inspected in the research note.
- 01Collections · 2 min read
Colonial census reports: check the volume before comparing the numbers
Use a Punjab and Delhi report to check authorship, publication dates, changing boundaries and the difference between a table volume and a colonial interpretation.
- 02Journal · 2 min read
How do census categories shape the history they describe?
Census tables preserve answers through a classification system. Punjab’s 1881 religion returns and a modern British example show why questions, coding rules and changing self-description matter.
- 03Collections · 2 min read
Settlement reports and land records: follow the district, edition and purpose
Locate historical Punjab settlement reports and use a Rohtak example to distinguish the printed report, village record and limited administrative genealogy.
- 04Collections · 2 min read
Revenue maps and cadastral records: identify the map and its companion register
Distinguish a boundary sketch, field map, register and modern GIS transformation. Follow exact historical records without treating an old map as current title evidence.
- 05Collections · 2 min read
Punjab district gazetteers: how to read an official description critically
Identify a district, date, volume and part before using a gazetteer, then test its administrative categories rather than carrying them into the present.
- 06Journal · 2 min read
Why do colonial gazetteers need critical reading?
Read Gujranwala’s prefaces alongside Glover’s Lahore study to distinguish copied detail, changing evidence and an administrator’s judgement.
A question to carry with you
Choose one claim from your reading. Identify its source and locator. What does that source directly establish, and what would need a second source?