journal of asian network for gis-based historical studies...

Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies Vol.1 (Nov. 2013)

Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies

Vol. 1 (Nov. 2013)

Presidential Address ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1

Mamoru SHIBAYAMA

Introduction of the Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Asia or ANGIS (Asia) ------------------------------- 2

Progress in Historical GIS in Japan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

Hiroshi KAWAGUCH I

Past, Present and Future of Historical GIS in Academia Sinica ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7

I- Chun FAN, Hsiung-Ming LIAO, Ta-Chien CHAN, Ling-Fang CHANG

Transformation of South Indian Local Society in the Late Pre-colonial Period ----------------------------------------------- 12

Tsukasa MIZUSHIMA

Historical GIS Studies in Japan: Scholarship and Internet Dissemination of the Rapid Survey Maps ------------------- 17

David S. SPRAGUE, Nobusuke IWASAKI

GIS as a Tool for Researching the Socioeconomic History of Modern Egypt ----------------------------------------------- 22

Hiroshi KATO, Hiroomi TSUMURA, Erina IWASAKI

How did the Nomads Act during the 1916 Revolt in Russian Turkistan? --------------------------------------------------------- 33

Akira UEDA

Coast Line Expansion and Social Dynamics. The Comal Estuary 1850s - 2010s ------------------------------------------- 45

Pujo SEMEDI

A Preliminary Study on how G.I.S. Know-How Can Spatially Rep-resent the Distribution of

Nineteenth Century Illegal Gambling Apprehensions in the Province of Manila ---------------------------------------- 51

Marco Stefan B. LAGMAN

A Geographical Computerization of Nankai Megathrust Earthquakes' Tsunami Monuments and the

Recent Application of GIS in Japanese Ancient Historical and Archaeological Studies ------------------------------- 61

Yoichi Seino, Masakazu Matsushita, Tomokatsu Uozu

Activities of ANGIS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65

Guidelines for Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies (JANGIS) ------------------------------------ 67

Editorial Note -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68

Hiroshi KATO

i


ⓒ2013 Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies 1

Presidential Address

MAMORU SHIBAYAMA

In recent years GIS (Geographical Information System/Science)-based historical studies or “Historical GIS” comes into

limelight in historical studies. As GIS allows us to understand historical processes from the aspects of space and time, it will

change the conventional historical researches and lead to new paradigm.

The Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies (ANGIS) was founded in December, 2012, in order to develop the

historical GIS in Asian studies. The ANGIS is a network for all academics interested in historical GIS on Asia. It serves as an

umbrella network composed of various research groups or institutions (hereafter “units”) in the same field and works to

promote historical GIS on Asia by exchanging ideas, techniques, or sources among the members of units.

The ANGIS at this moment plans to perform the following activities.

(1) ANGIS organizes an annual international conference.

(2) ANGIS organizes an editorial committee to publish E-Journal annually.

(3) Other activities may be proposed by the units or members at the annual general meeting to be held concurrently at the

annual international conference.

The ANGIS is now in her primitive stage, but will try her best to develop activities with the collaboration among her

members. And, I do hope the ANGIS becomes a jumping board to deepen our understanding of the Asian past through GIS.

October 30, 2013



The Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Asia

or ANGIS (Asia)

1. The Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Asia, (hereafter “ANGIS (Asia)”) is a network for all

academics interested in GIS-based historical studies on Asia. It serves as an umbrella network composed of

various research groups or institutions (hereafter “units”) in the same field.

2. ANGIS (Asia) was founded in December, 2012, to serve the needs of units or members wishing to promote

GIS-based historical studies on Asia by exchanging ideas, techniques, or sources.

3. ANGIS (Asia) organizes an annual international conference.

4. ANGIS (Asia) organizes an editorial committee to publish E-Journal annually.

5. Other activities may be proposed by the units or members at the annual general meeting of ANGIS (Asia) to be

held during the annual international conference

ANGIS office is born by the office-bearers of ANGIS (JAPAN), the national unit of the ANGIS in Japan for two years

till the end of November 2014. Next office-bearers will be decided at the annual general meeting in 2014 and run for

two years.

Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies Vol.1 (Nov. 2013) 3-6


Progress in Historical GIS in Japan

HIROSHI KAWAGUCHI

Tezukayama University

Abstract: Research works with historical GIS (HGIS) have well started since the beginning of the 21st century in Japan. His-

torical GIS will play a key role to integrate the results of individual research in the humanities and social sciences, including

historical geography. HGIS researchers must undertake following four important tasks. To propose a new framework for better

understandings of the region, the local history, and the lives of people in the past based on the discoveries with HGIS. To collect,

dispatch, and distribute relevant results from research works with HGIS. To develop a four-dimensional HGIS architecture with

longitude, latitude, elevation, and time axis, in order to fulfill spatio-temporal analysis. To construct a digital-historical gazetteer

with cross-reference functions between the names of places and their longitude/latitude, as well as an inter-local calendar conver-

sion system.

Keywords: four-dimensional HGIS architecture, digital-historical gazetteer, inter-local calendar conversion system, spatio-

temporal analysis, historical geography

1. Introduction

Geographical Information System (GIS) has made remarkable

progress since the 1980s. It is now developing interdisciplinary

studies and this trend implies terra incognita in the so-called

Geographical Information Sciences (GISc). During the 20th

century many Japanese historical geographers doubted that GIS

would enable them to make important discoveries, but a few of

them tried to analyze historical materials under serious con-

straints using conventional types of GIS software that did not

take into account temporal axis. This paper reviews major

achievements of Historical Geographical Information System

(HGIS) research in Japan.

It is possible to combine historical materials such as hand-

written documents, old maps, fieldwork results, statistics, ar-

chaeological artifacts, etc. with spatio-temporal information.

However, it is very difficult to pinpoint the latitude, longitude

and time of a given historical event. It is also necessary to con-

struct a data mining methodology to facilitate the discovery of

new data from historical materials using GIS. In order to over-

come these two obstacles, cross collaboration across narrow

fields of study is important.

2. Academic Organization and Publication

Papers carrying GIS in the titles were first introduced at the

11th International Conference of Historical Geographers

(ICHG), in 2001 (Figure 1). At the 14th conference hosted by

Kyoto University in 2009 (the first meeting held in Asia), 9 per

cent of the sessions dealt with digital humanities and historical

GIS, while 5 per cent of the total number of papers included GIS

in the titles. As of the beginning of the 21st century, ICHG reg-

istered a substantial increase of research works with GIS.

In order to speed up the progress of historical GIS, the Asia-

Pacific countries support the GIS Center of the Academia

Sinica, the Institute of Chinese Historical Geography at Fudan

University, and the Center for Geographic Analysis of the Insti-

tute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University. Their

excellent products National Digital Archives Program

(NDAP) in Taiwan and China Historical Geographic Infor-

mation System (CHGIS) developed with Fudan University and

Harvard University are available on the Internet. The School

of Information at the University of California, Berkeley and the

Academia Sinica Computer Center in Taipei co-organized the

Electronic Culture Atlas Initiative (ECAI) and the Pacific

Neighborhood Consortium (PNC) to foster digital technology,

especially historical GIS.

Figure 1 Papers presented at the International Conference of

Historical Geographers.

In Japan, GIS research institutes and academic societies were

established since the 1990s: the Center for Spatial Information

Science (CSIS) at the University of Tokyo (1998) and the Center

for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS) at Kyoto University (2006),

approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science

and Technology as Joint Usage Research Centers; the Geo-

graphic Information System Association of Japan (GISA) in

1992 and, in 2002, the Japan-Vietnam Geo-Informatics Consor-

tium set up the International Conference on Geo-Informatics for

Spatial- Infrastructure Development in Earth & Allied Sciences,

GIS- IDEAS. The Asian Network for GIS-based Historical

Studies (Japan), ANGIS (JAPAN), has been established in De-

cember 2012. Since the year 2000, symposiums related to his-

torical GIS have been held almost every year (Kawaguchi

2009).

The increasing number of papers on ICHG, the establishment

of new institutes and academic societies, as well as the fre-

quency of symposiums, show that historical GIS is highly val-

ued by computer scientists and specialists in the humanities,

social sciences and historical geography. Encouraged by this

positive trend, in 2005 Historical Geography prepared a special

State of the Fields



issue on historical GIS and several books were published in

English (Knowles 2002; Gregory and Ell 2007; Knowles 2008,

etc.). In Japan, books on historical GIS started to appear from

the beginning of this century (Kaneda et al. 2001; Okabe 2006;

Uno 2006; Yano et al. 2007; Shibayama et al. 2008; Yano et al.

2011; Shibayama 2012; Japan Council for Historical GIS Re-

search 2012; Yoshigoshi and Katahira 2012, etc.).

3. Four Tasks on HGIS

In order to reconstruct the lives of people in the past using

GIS as a methodological tool, historical GIS researchers must

undertake four important and urgent tasks (Kawaguchi 2009):

1. To propose a new framework for better understandings

of the region, the local history, and the lives of people in

the past, based on the discoveries with HGIS.

2. To collect, dispatch, and distribute relevant results from

research works with HGIS.

3. To develop a four-dimensional HGIS architecture with

longitude, latitude, elevation, and time axis, in order to

fulfill spatio-temporal analysis.

4. To construct a digital-historical gazetteer with cross-

reference functions between the names of places and

their longitude/latitude, as well as an inter-local

calendar conversion system.

These four tasks were already identified in the last decade of the

20th century, in the light of the rapid development of storage

capacity and functions in computers and the Internet.

1. The aim of historical geographers is to find out how people

organized their daily living space, and they collect their research

results in “real world”, “imagined world”, and “abstract world”

as defined by H. C. Prince (Prince 1971). Methodical descrip-

tions of the research process to obtain results can help create a

new framework to better understand the region, local history and

lives of people, and to develop information systems, including

HGIS. This new information system for historical geography

will allow: (i) to reduce data processing, (ii) to ensure data pro-

cessing reliability, (iii) to preserve the historical materials in

digital form, (iv) to share the data and data analysis methods

with other researchers. It can also help researchers to systema-

tize the methodology to visualize the spatio-temporal changes of

landscape, environment and regional structures, and to carry out

quantitative analysis to discover the underlying rules of living

space.

“Real world” carries case studies of landscape reconstruction

from historical maps, old photographs, satellite images, etc.

(Ogata 2000; Hirai 2009, 2012; Yano et al. 2011; Nishimura and

Kitamoto 2012; Yoshigoshi and Katahira 2012). Mamoru Shi-

bayama reconstructed urban transformation in Hanoi and pro-

posed a new Area Informatics methodology in his book (Shiba-

yama 2012). The historical geography database of the Nara Ba-

sin project is developing a system to reconstruct the ancient

landscape (Ideta 2012). Also the natural environment was re-

constructed in Nara and Hanoi (Kawasumi 2012; Yonezawa

2009). The distribution of population and domestic migration

were analyzed with HGIS (Arai and Koike 2003; Kawaguchi

2009; Takahashi and Nakagawa 2010; Nagata 2012; Kato and

Kawaguchi 2012).

In “imagined world”, Akihiro Tsukamoto analyses the spa-

tio-temporal changes in places of scenic interest in Kyoto with

guidebooks and pictorial maps dating back to the 17th-19th

centuries (Tsukamoto 2006, 2009, 2012). The next step will be

to try to understand the mentality of the people in the past

through the appearance and disappearance of notable places

reflected in the presentation and distortions in old maps.

In “abstract world”, several attempts were made to find out

the underlying rules of regional structures. Tsunetoshi Mizogu-

chi discovered the core-periphery structure around the Nagoya

castle-town in the 18th and 19th centuries, which was proposed

by G. W. Skinner (Mizoguchi 2012). Kenji Ishizaki analyzed the

spatial pattern of the central places in the Nara Basin in the 19th

century (Ishizaki 2012).

2. In addition to the growth of HGIS research itself, it is also

important to develop a complete system to store, open and share

scientific information with HGIS. In a context of strong compe-

tition among the different media, researchers have to face a real

challenge to make the result of their research work look appeal-

ing to the international academic community. Web HGIS has

potential to become a more powerful and multiform medium

than printed books or journals. There are many efforts to con-

struct virtual museums, digital archives, and e-learning systems

with Virtual Reality (VR), Computer Graphics (CG), and HGIS.

New technologies such as Semantic Web construct ontology in

the World Wide Web, and Linked Data connects many kinds of

data with Semantic Web. Some HGIS projects may follow the

steps of NDAP in Taiwan, which will transform its digital ar-

chive into an e-learning system. In Japan, the Virtual Kyoto

Project at Ritsumeikan University promotes attractive touristic

places in Kyoto (Yano et al. 2007).(1)

3. Scientists in the humanities and social sciences should bear

in mind GIS architecture when they use or construct HGIS, as it

influences the way to process, combine and share information of

historical materials. Before ESRI released ArcGIS 10 in 2010, it

was difficult to analyze and visualize spatio-temporal transition

with conventional GIS software. Only TimeMap, developed by

Ian Johnson, could visualize spatio-temporal changes with the

time bar function. In the last decade, computer experts in Japan

started to develop outstanding next generation four-dimensional

GIS architecture: Reki-Show Authoring Tool, by Masato

Hanashima (Hanashima 2005); GLOBALBASE architecture, by

Hirohisa Mori (Fujita and Mori 2012)(2) ; HuTime/HuMap, with

the collaboration of Shoichiro Hara and Tatsuki Sekino (Kubo

2007; Kubo et al. 2010; Hara and Sekino 2012).(3)

4. The digital-historical gazetteer and the inter-local historical

calendar conversion system are essential resources for HGIS to

shorten the process of drawing digital maps from historical ma-

terials. The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names Online and

the Alexandria Digital Library Project Gazetteer Development

are the leading digital gazetteers in the world. However, there is

no cross-sectional gazetteer for countries that use Chinese char-

acters. In Japan, some geocoding services are provided through

the Internet. CSIS at the University of Tokyo offers a Geocoding

service for CSV formatted files on WWW.(4) Kenji Tani pro-



duced Geocoding and Mapping.(5) Yuji Murayama constructed

Gyousei Kukaku Hen’sen WebGIS and provides administrative

boundary data since 1889.(6) Ikuo Oketani released the Japanese

Historical Gazetteer Database with Dainihon Chimei Jisho

(Gazetteer of Imperial Japan), Dai-Nihon Jiin Meikan (List of

Buddhist temples in Japan), and old 1:50,000 maps (Oketani

2012). The Gaiho-Zu Digital Archive Project will construct a

digital gazetteer with old maps of neighbor countries, made by

the former Japanese Imperial Army (Yamamoto and Kobayashi

2012). Mitsuru Aida provides an inter calendar conversion sys-

tem for Japanese, Chinese and Western local-historical calendars

(Aida 2007). These useful contributions can support HGIS pro-

jects worldwide if we standardize the metadata of the digital

gazetteer and calendar, develop the cross-sectional retrieval

system, and set up a portal to access each system.

4. Conclusion

This condensed review shows that in Japan HGIS research on

the four tasks mentioned above has well started in the first dec-

ade of the new millennium. As they are complementary and

supplement each other, it is necessary to foster collaboration

across specific fields of study and to systematize research

methodology by sharing specific research topics, discussing the

definition of the themes, finding ways to solve the problems,

and consolidating the results in a single complete system. HGIS

has potential to become a groundbreaking method for holistic

evaluation, offering a new framework for better understandings

of the regions, the local history, and the lives of people in the

past. It will also help overcome the divisions among the differ-

ent narrow fields of study in the humanities and social sciences,

including historical geography.

Notes (1) It is possible to access the products of Virtual Kyoto Pro-

ject in following site.

http://www.geo.lt.ritsumei.ac.jp/webgis/ritscoe.html (last

accessed 13 April 2013).

(2) It is possible to download the recent version of GLOBAL-

BASE from the following site.

http://www.globalbase.org/ (last accessed 13 April 2013).

(3) It is possible to download the recent version of HuTime/

HuMap from the following site. http://www.h-GIS.org

(last accessed 13 April 2013).

(4) It is possible to use Geocoding service from the following

site. http://newspat.csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/geocode/ (last ac-

cessed 13 April 2013).

(5) It is possible to use Geocoding and Mapping service from

the following site. http://ktgis.net/gcode/ (last accessed 13

April 2013).

(6) The administrative boundary data since 1889 are provided

from the following site.

http://giswin.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp/teacher/murayama/boundar

y/ (last accessed 13 April 2013).

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http://ktgis.net/gcode/





Past, Present and Future of Historical GIS in Academia Sinica

I-CHUN FAN† * HSIUNG-MING LIAO† TA-CHIEN CHAN† LING-FANG CHANG†

† Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica

* Center for GIS, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica

Abstract: Since 1989, the Center for Geographic Information Science in Academia Sinica has committed itself to pursuing the

advancement of spatio-temporal technological integration. The focus is on the implementation of contemporary GIS technologies

in research in the humanities and social sciences, beginning with the construction and study of historic geographic data. The

Academia Sinica and National Science Council funded the construction of two spatio-temporal platforms, namely Chinese Civi-

lization in Time and Space, and Taiwan History and Culture in Time and Space, which cover the evolution of the social and nat-

ural environments in China and Taiwan respectively. For sustainability of the platforms, the Center continues its work on the

collection and digitization of various data domestically and overseas.

This paper shares our experience on constructing historical spatio-temporal data platforms and the collection and digital ar-

chiving of historical maps in retrospect, as well as future aspirations. Digital Humanities can be achieved through the develop-

ment of geographic information systems, combining researchers’ expertise in the humanities with the data as research material

and topics. The ultimate aim is to integrate interdisciplinary studies of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Keywords: History GIS, digital archiving, humanities GIS, interdisciplinary integration

1. Introduction

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with their ability and

potential for spatial data integration and analysis being the most

distinguishing feature, have developed swiftly in various fields

(M.F. Goodchild 2009). Through the remarkable breakthrough

of spatial technology and the abundance and diversity of geo-

graphic information, GIS can be applied in academic research,

producing professional analyses with spatial and temporal di-

mensions (M.F. Goodchild and D.G. Janelle 2010). Recently, the

applications in history- and humanities-related research have

been increasing, and have attracted attention in these fields (H. J.

Kim 2009). In addition, GIS can also be utilized in daily life

applications, including the monitoring of air quality (T. Elbir, N.

Mangir et al. 2010), community participation and construction

(C. Rinner and M. Bird 2009, G. Brown and D. Weber 2013),

traffic control (Z. Z. Yang, Y. L. Jiang et al. 2009) and so on.

The main feature of GIS is its integrating capability, which pro-

vides a platform to fuse different types of spatio-temporal at-

tribute data. However, there are many challenges needing to be

solved, such as the complex schema of the spatio-temporal da-

tabase, the information retrieval and geo-tagging of large image

data, and the geo-reference of the various GIS data.

Therefore, the team of the Center for Geographic Information

Science initiated a project to integrate spatio-temporal data by

collecting and digitizing heaps of historical maps and aerial

photos in 1989, and then completed the construction of two

spatio-temporal platforms, namely Chinese Civilization in Time

and Space (CCTS) (Center for GIS in Academic Sinica 2003),

and Taiwan History and Culture in Time and Space (THCTS) in

2003 (Center for GIS Academic Sinica 2003). An intelligent

interactive platform of GIS resources for the public is our ulti-

mate goal. Currently, the center continues working on the com-

pleteness and diversity of the GIS data by collecting and digit-

izing historical maps and images of Taiwan and Mainland Chi-

na.

2. Sharing Experience of Constructing Histori-

cal GIS

2.1 Historical GIS Platforms

The difference between CCTS and THCTS is that CCTS

mainly covers the maps of Mainland China, and THCTS covers

those of Taiwan. There was an academic need for such systems,

especially for historical studies of China and Taiwan. The char-

acteristics of such systems were innovative at the time, since

prior to the 1990s, historical GIS mainly focused on thematic

maps, instead of incorporating time scales along with individual

themes. With the development of these two systems, the center

has successfully generated cross-disciplinary studies.

These systems include basic spatial images, WebGIS inte-

grated application, and thematic characteristics. Image data on

CCTS include maps from ancient China through the Qing dyn-

asty, and contain base maps supplemented with various types of

historical maps and remote sensing images that cover over two

thousand years of Chinese history. THCTS covers the historical

development of Taiwan, and includes images from the seven-

teenth century to the post-1945 period. Base maps are con-

structed using the Taiwan Bao Maps (the Historical Administra-

tion Atlas of Taiwan, HAAT), published in 1904, and the topo-

graphical map published in 1920. The scale of the HAAT is

1:20,000 and the scale of the 1920 topographic map is 1:25,000.

Furthermore, those base maps are supplemented with contem-

porary topographic maps, photos, and remote sensing images.

Once the data collection has been completed and stored in the

databases, users can access it through the systems. Figure 1

shows the structure of the system. It consists of two main serv-

ers, namely a Web server and Map server. The users only need

to enter their queries on their browsers then the Web server re-

trieves the data from the Map server. The Map server can then

access three various types of databases, including featured maps

with point indications, geographic images and polygonal data.

The Map server then sends the data back to the user through the

Web server. For textual data, users can retrieve it either directly,

or through the Web server (see Figure 1).

State of the Fields



Figure 1 System Structure of Historical GIS: Web Server

provided the content of web service which dealt with the client’s

requests. Map Server was responsible for processing the feature

data and converted both the vector and raster data into the image

format for the clients.

2.2 Main Features of the Systems

There are three main features of the systems. First, we recon-

struct historical maps of China and Taiwan using the WebGIS

application, focusing on historical and environmental transitions.

The users only need Web browsers to query the maps or images

of interest. Through WebGIS, users can access, save, integrate,

process, analyze and display geographically related data without

the need for any commercial shareware. With the internet,

WebGIS can not only display spatial data, but also allow layer

analysis, queries, statistical processing, integration of images

and multi-media, etc. There are fewer requirements for general

users and it is also more cost efficient. Remote accessing of data

also diminishes the gap between users and technology.

Secondly, every map in THTCS has spatial data and detailed

metadata including the editors, references, time, illustration

techniques, measuring methods, and the proportional scale. Tra-

ditional paper-based maps are scattered in different places, and

analysis of these maps requires a considerable amount of time

and effort. With the contemporary GIS technology integrating

and digitizing maps with various illustration techniques, map-

ping becomes a useful tool for comparing the different maps in

different time periods. For example, the Taiwan Atlas of the

Qianlong reign presents the political and military domain during

the Qing Dynasty, ranging from current Henchun Peninsula (the

southern region of Taiwan) to Keelung Port and Heping Island

(northern region of Taiwan). It also covers the eastern moun-

tainous regions, but the eastern coast regions including Yilan,

Hualian, Taidong, and Pingdong counties are not covered. Alt-

hough these maps contain indications of water bodies and

mountains, these geographic features have not been measured

by modern technologies. In terms of coordinates, distances and

scales, these maps are considerably less accurate. However, the

intricacy and the realistic portrayal of the spatial information

makes them valuable historical sources. The GIS platforms that

use such maps and implement modern surveying and geocoding

techniques prove to play an important role in academic research

and integrating different processes of cartography. Spatial base

maps and specialized spatial databases are the integration of a

dynamic cultural production, and this integration is the core of

the value of these historical and cultural Taiwan map systems.

Thirdly, the entire system design features scalability and inte-

gration: it can integrate various types of spatial and temporal

data and can be applied with a plethora of geographical orienta-

tions, producing, reproducing and displaying knowledge con-

tent.

2.3 Collection and Digital Archiving of Image Data

In order to enrich the GIS platforms, the center continuously

collects and digitizes documents and maps of China and Taiwan

domestically and overseas. The results to date have been fruitful.

To make data retrieval and application more friendly to users,

the team has constructed databases for maps and remote sensing

images from many resources including the Cadastral Survey

Archive for the Ministry of Interior, Forestry Bureau of the

Council of Agriculture, Water Resources Agency of the Ministry

of Economic Affairs, Library of Congress (USA), National Ar-

chives and Records Administration (USA), Archive for the In-

stitute of Modern History (AS), Aerial Survey Office, Green

Energy and Environmental Technologies Department of the

Industrial Technology Research Institute, Aerial Photos of the

Ministry of National Defense, etc.

Various aspects of historic images can be reconstructed using

these collected data and consequently be used as sources for

academic research. Taking the image data collected by the US

Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), for instance,

the archive mainly comprises historical records of the US Air

Force. Within the archive, there are aerial photos of Taiwan

before and after air raids late in World War II, and it includes

detailed mission reports. Figure 2 shows Taipei city and the

Governor’s Office House after a bombardment. Figure 3 shows

the dense smoke after the bombing of Hsinchu airport, and Fig-

ure 4 shows the shell craters left around the vicinity after the

bombing. On 15 July, 2009, in a construction site of the Mass

Rapid Transit (MRT) in the Taipei Xinyi line on Hangzhou

South Road, an alleged blind shell of the 1945 air raid was

found. Fortunately, no injury was caused and the bomb was

successfully defused. For historians in the field of modern Tai-

wanese history, these materials provide solid evidence for the

research on military maneuvers between the US and Japan near

the end of World War II, and the impact on the infrastructure and

society of Taiwan. At the same time, intelligence on Taiwan’s

military collected by the US includes valuable resources that

contain information on the humanities and physical environ-

ments that also set the basis for research on Taiwan’s history.

In terms of digitization, both the scanner and the camera can

be used to deal with each type of map. A high resolution camera

is used for images that are bound together, with sizes too large

for the scanner, those that are seriously damaged, or those col-



lected from overseas (Figure 5). For decently preserved or

non-mounted photos, drum or sheet-feed scanners can be used

for scanning. Once the data have been scanned, a data retrieval

system is then constructed to enable query and application for

general users.

Figure 2 Dense smoke emitted after the attack on the Gover-

nor’s Office Building during an air raid on May 31, 1945.

Figure 3 Bombing of Hsinchu Airport by US Military.

Figure 4 Craters created by the bombing of Hsinchu Airport.

Once these historical platforms are set up, it is important to

ensure the sustainability of the incipient results, and this can be

done through increasing the diversity of the databases them-

selves. In order to do this, the center has digitized maps collect-

ed from domestic and overseas sources. In addition to digitizing

historical maps, there is also the geocoding and digitization of

maps that show historical boundaries and other theme maps. In

recent years, these have also been implemented in the research

on humanities and social sciences. Historic demographic transi-

tion, analysis of spatial concepts of ancient maps (Figure 6),

analysis of ship wreckage sites (Figure 7), etc., are just a few

examples. The center promotes and expands the horizon of hu-

manities GIS through the collection of these different types of

attribute data, so as to allow a wide range of applications.

Figure 5 Digitization using high-resolution camera.

Figure 6 Exploration of Spatial Perceptions in Ancient Maps:

The left figure was the old Taiwan map in Qing dynasty. The

right table calculated the spatial accuracy between the counties

on the map and their real locations.



Figure 7 Spatial Analysis of Wreckage Sites: According to the

historical evidences of wreckage sites, hotspot analysis was

applied for elucidating the spatial distribution of underwater

archaeological sites.

Since technology progresses quite rapidly, the center realized

the urgent need to upgrade the platform, following the pace of

the advancement of software functionality. With the new gener-

ation of WebGIS technology, vector data was built into multiple

map tiles and provided the web services for enhancing service’s

efficiency and the convenience of value-added services. Previ-

ously, the platform allowed users to load, search, and overlay

the different layers and other basic display functions, but the

layers need to be transferred through entity data in order to con-

struct images, edit and perform value-added analysis to map

layers in advance. This process leads to many drawbacks, such

as the lack of uniformity of maps, repeated reproduction of

maps, and difficulty in data renewal. The center developed a

platform for sharing geographic images in ArcGIS (commercial

software) and QGIS OpenLayer Plugin (open source) for the

purpose of increasing public accessibility (Figure 8). The pur-

pose of this platform is to replace data with service. One single

party is in charge of maintaining and sharing maps accumulated

from various research projects. Figure 9 shows the application

of the OpenLayers Plugin technique for loading images onto

QGIS. Users can then use QGIS to digitize and add layers and

perform value-added analysis.

Figure 8 System Structure of Data Sharing Platform: The

structure was mainly served for raster images.

Figure 9 Add Map by Openlayers Plugin: With the Openlay-

ers plugin in QGIS, the users could display different formats of

public available layers such as vector data, satellite images and

the Historical Administration Atlas of Taiwan.

3. Future Prospects

The center has been focusing on the collection and digitizing

of historical maps and the construction of historical GIS plat-

forms. Recently the center has begun integrating knowledge in

different domains of the humanities for application and data

analysis. In terms of platforms, the center has developed a da-

ta-sharing plat-form of these maps in order to increase public

accessibility. Future goals for the center include the following:

1. Increase public accessibility through expansion and pro-

motion of data-sharing platform, and integrate data images

from various studies for sharing.

2. Fortify and enhance application and analysis of maps and

archived data. The quality of the data may vary depending

on its period, for instance, and because data from each

discipline have their own unique characteristics, accuracy

of each attribute of the data may also vary. This then leads

to a discussion of the attributes and representativeness of

the data, analysis of the concept of maps, or geocoding of

maps, etc.

3. Achieve integration of knowledge on technology in the

humanities, including the history, philosophy, linguistics,

literature, fine arts, archaeology, and music of various

cultures. Create and enliven knowledge through the dis-

covery of new research materials and topics.

4. Integrate various disciplines, as although there are ample

quantitative data analysis and research methods in the nat-

ural sciences and economics disciplines, these can be im-

plemented in the humanities and social sciences, too.

At the core of the projects for the construction of the systems

initiated by the center is the hope of integration of interdiscipli-

nary studies. Previously, each map had its respective functions,

but through these systems, layers of different maps can be inte-

grated and provide an al-ternate perspective for researchers in

various disciplines. By taking advantage of the advancement of



technology, these systems have been, are, and will continue to

be the hub for achieving interdisciplinary research and humani-

ties GIS.

References [1] Brown, G. and Weber, D. 2013. “Using public participation GIS

(PPGIS) on the Geoweb to monitor tourism development prefer-

ences.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 21(2), pp. 192-211.

[2] Center for GIS Academic Sinica. 2003. “Taiwan History and Cul-

ture in Time and Space (THCTS).” 2013 (http://thcts.sinica.edu.tw).

[3] Center for GIS in Academic Sinica. 2003. “Chinese Culture in Time

and Space (CCTS).” 2013 (http://ccts.sinica.edu.tw/).

[4] Elbir, T., Mangir, N., Kara, M., Simsir, S., Eren, T., and Ozdemir, S.

2010. “Development of a GIS-based decision support system for

urban air quality management in the city of Istanbul.” Atmospheric

Environment 44(4), pp. 441-454.

[5] Goodchild, M. F. 2009. “Geographic information systems and sci-

ence: today and tomorrow.” Annals of GIS 15(1), pp. 3-9.

[6] Goodchild, M. F. and Janelle, D. G. 2010. “Toward critical spatial

thinking in the social sciences and humanities.” GeoJournal 75(1),

pp. 3-13.

[7] Kim, H. J. 2009. “Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History.” Social

Science Computer Review 27(3), pp. 452-453.

[8] Rinner, C. and Bird, M. 2009. “Evaluating community engagement

through argumentation maps-a public participation GIS case study.”

Environment and Planning B-Planning & Design 36(4), pp. 588-

601.

[9] Yang, Z. Z., Jiang, Y. L. and Chen, Y. 2009. “Developing a road

traffic control system with GIS.” Proceedings of the Institution of

Civil Engineers-Transport 162(4), pp. 189-194.

http://thcts.sinica.edu.tw/

http://ccts.sinica.edu.tw/



Transformation of South Indian Local Society in the Late

Pre-colonial Period

TSUKASA MIZUSHIMA The University of Tokyo

Abstract: This paper is to clarify the conspicuous features of transformation of south Indian local society in the late pre-colonial

period and to present a new interpretation of changes that south India experienced in the transient years from pre-colonial to

colonial period.

An analysis of one of the earliest sets of village accounts in the 1770s indicates a system in which people were assigned some

specific roles in the local society and some proportional shares in the whole local produce were attached to the respective roles.

The system, which was called mirasi system, integrated the society by incorporating the state, military chiefs, and religious au-

thorities in the upper strata of the society in addition to those in the lower strata. A similar system was observed in most regions

in India in the early modern period.

However, the economic development during the period, accelerated by the increasing textile trade and by the entries of Euro-

pean trading powers critically shook the pre-existed production system as well as societal unit. The colonial land system later

introduced accelerated the process further till the society was broken into pieces.

Keywords: South India, local society, mirasi system, textile trade, societal unit

This paper is to clarify the conspicuous features of transfor-

mation of south Indian local society in the late pre-colonial pe-

riod and to present a new interpretation of changes that south

India experienced in the transient years from pre-colonial to

colonial period.

An analysis of one of the earliest sets of village accounts, the

Barnard Report prepared in the 1770s (hereafter BR1770s),

indicates a system where the production cycle was maintained

through the distribution of shares called mirasi.(1) People were

assigned some specific roles in the local society, and specific

proportional shares in the whole produce were attached to the

respective roles. Local societies as well as people living there

were reproduced by this system. The system was called mirasi

system by the early British colonial officers posted in south

India.

The social structure of South India in late the pre-colonial

period can be summarized as indicated by Fig. 1. The mirasi

system integrated the society by incorporating administrative

(state), military (poligars), and religious authorities (temples,

Hindu, Muslim and other religious leaders) at the upper strata of

the society as well as those living in the local society at the

lower strata. For instances, poligars (military chiefs) and tem-

ples were among the major recipients of shares in a number of

villages as indicated in Figs. 2 - 4. It may be added that a similar

system was found in several other regions in India in the early

modern period, too.(2)

An investigation into the same accounts and into another

historical source on village landholders around the end of the

18th century(3), however, discloses two exceptional features.

First was the absence of those in trade and textile industry

among the recipient of shares and second was the emergence of

village leaders out of the village landholders. We will examine

them next.

Interestingly no traders or weavers were found among the

recipients of shares in the BR1770s. The fact indicates that they

sought opportunities not in the mirasi system but in the brisk

textile trade and rural-urban grain trade during the period. Eco-

nomic development and changes accelerated by the entries of

European trading powers into the textile trade and by the grow-

ing consumption market in the colonial port towns were defi-

nitely more attractive to them than the mirasi system type of

production system that basically functioned to maintain the

reproduction of local society in non-market economy. In other

words a change destructive to the mirasi system was growing

outside the mirasi system during the period.

Figure 1 Social Structure and Mirasi System in the Late Pre-

colonial South India.

Figure 2 Number of Villages where Poligars (military chiefs)

held Shares in the Jagir.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from “Amount of Poligars’

Income in Chingleput - Marah and Ready Money Collection-,”

Article

60 55

50

40

of

Poligars

30 24 24

22

20 15

13 11

10 6

0 1 1 1

0

1 2 3 4 5 10 20 50 100 132 148 388

Number of Villages where Poligars held shares



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Permanent Settlement Records, vol.26: Statement of the Privi-

leges of Poligar, in a Letter from Mr. Greenway, 30.10.1801.

5,333 mirasidars (village landholders) nearly 90 percent had

shares in less than one village. However, there were totally 248

mirasidars who had shares in more than 6 villages.

Table 1 Aggregated Shares of Landholders in the Jagir.

(One village = One share)

Figure 3 Villages under the Jurisdiction of respective Poligars

in Ponneri (BR1770s).

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from “Account of the Privileges

enjoyed by Poligars of the Jagir for Fusly 1202,” Permanent

Settlement Records, vol. 44.

Pagoda Name

<その他の値すべて>

Pagoda23ForGIS.PAGODA

<Null>

F ALVAR PAGODA

# ATCHESWERASWAMY PAGODA

" AUDEKASAVA SWAMY PAGODA

k BAUSHIACARER PAGODA

!( CAPAULESWARER PAGODA

$+ CAREYAMONICASWAMY PAGODA

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from “Abstract State of the

Number of Meerassee Shares and of Meerassee Holders in the

Several Districts of the Jagheer in Fusly 1207 shewing also the

Quantity of Meerassee unclaimed & occupied by Pyacarries” (Board‘s Collections, F/4/112, Nos. 2115-16, Miscellaneous

_ CARY KISTNASWAMY PAGODA

#* CAUMATCHYAMAH PAGODA

R CODUNDA RAMASWAMY PAGODA

S CUNDASWAMY PAGODA

D MAROONDOO ESHWARER PAGODA

l NARSINGA PERMALL PAGODA

7 NEETEYACULEYANA SWAMY PAGO

_ PAULESHVERASWAMY PAGODA

● PAULIA PUNDARUM

Accounts, Statistical Tables etc. accompanying Lionel Place’s

Report on the Company’s Jaghire, vols.1-2, Madras Revenue, 2

March 1803, draft 73/1802-03, E/4/890).

Table 2 Number of Villages where Mirasidars held Shares.

Number of E PRESENNA VENCATESWARASWAMY

W SOMESHEWERA PAGODA

Ø STALASYANA SWAMY PAGODA

å TALESINGER PAGODA

TEROOVAMOOR TEYAGARAJASWAM

Number of Villages Mirasidars

% Cumulative %

1 4,278 80.2% 80.2%

2 495 9.3% 89.5%

3 168 3.2% 92.6%

4 96 1.8% 94.4%

5 57 1.1% 95.5%

") VADAGERY ESHWARER PAGODA

# VARADARAJASWAMI PAGODA

k VEERARAGAVASWAMY PAGODA

6-9 126 2.4% 97.8%

10-19 80 1.5% 99.3%

20-29 20 0.4% 99.7%

30-39 4 0.1% 99.8%

40-49 5 0.1% 99.9%

ôóõ VEJIA VERDARAJASWAMY PAGOD 50-59 2 0.0% 99.9%

Ú VENGADESHWARASWAMY PAGODA

YACAMBRESHWERASWAMY PAGODA

Figure 4 Distribution of Shares held by Major Temples in the

Jagir.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from “Statement of the Privi-

leges of Pagoda,” Permanent Settlement Records, vol. 23, 1801.

As to the second or the emergence of village leaders out of

the village landholders, an examination of the same source on

the village landholders discovers an existence of a certain num-

ber of landholders who held shares in several villages in contrast

to many others who held shares in just one or two villages. Table

1 indicates the aggregated shares of respective village landhold-

ers. Whereas the majority of the landholders had less than one

share (i.e. less than one village), there were some who had more

than one in the aggregate. Table 2 indicates the number of vil-

lages in which the respective landholders held shares. Out of

60-69 1 0.0% 99.9%

70-75 1 0.0% 100.0%

TOTAL 5,333

Note: The column encircled indicates those having shares in

more than 6 villages.

Source: Same as Table 1.

To investigate the spatial base of these 248 mirasidars or vil-

lage landholders, Fig. 5 are prepared (248 mirasidars are alpha-

betically arranged in the map). It is to be noted that the original

source or the Place Report listed totally 9,499 village landhold-

ers. There can be, however, many cases of people having same

name. If they are clubbed together by assembling those having

same name, the total number comes to 5,333. Tables 1 and 2

were prepared by following this procedure. There could be,

however, many cases for the same name belonging to different

people. Due to these conditions, the circles added to Fig.5 as-

sume that if the villages whose shares were held by village

N

W

S

Share (one village = 1) Number of Mirasidars Cumulative % 0.0 - 0.1 2,062 39% 0.1 - 0.2 1,026 58% 0.2 - 0.3 640 70% 0.3 - 0.4 296 75% 0.4 - 0.5 395 83% 0.5 - 0.6 86 84% 0.6 - 0.7 82 86% 0.7 - 0.8 62 87% 0.8 - 0.9 42 88% 0.9 - 1 267 93% 1 - 2 190 97% 2 - 3 55 98% 3 - 4 22 98% 4 - 5 18 98% 5 - 6 7 98% 6 - 7 1 98% 7 - 8 4 99% 8 - 9 2 99% 9 - 10 2 99%

10 2 99% 11 1 99% 12 2 99%

N.A. 69 100% Total 5,333 100%



凡例 Taluk Boundary

MP06.ALAGAPAH_M

MP06.ALAGU_SING

MP06.ANDIAPAH

MP06.ANDIAPAH_M

MP06.ANNA_MUDAL

MP06.ANNARAM_AI

MP06.ANNASAM_AI

MP06.ANNAV_AIYA

MP06.ANNAVIAH

MP06.ANUDARAPAH

MP06.ANUNT_ACHA

MP06.APPACUTTI_

MP06.APPAH_MUDA

MP06.APPAJEE_MU

MP06.APPAL_ACHA

MP06.APPAN_AIYA

MP06.APPAV_AIYA

MP06.APPAV_AI_1

MP06.APPAVIAH

MP06.APPIAH

MP06.ARMUGA_MUD

MP06.ARNACHELLA

MP06.ARNACHEL_1

MP06.AYAH_MUDAL

MP06.AYAV_AIYAN

4A


MP06.BUNGARU_RA

MP06.CHELLAPAH_

MP06.CHENGLEROY

MP06.CHEYALA_MU

MP06.CHINGLEROY

MP06.CHINNATAMB

MP06.CHINNATA_1

MP06.CHITTUMBRA

MP06.CHIYALA_MU

MP06.CHOLAPAH_M

MP06.CUNDAPAH

MP06.CUNDAPAH_M

MP06.CUNDAPAH_R

MP06.CUNDAPEN

MP06.CUPAN_AIYA

MP06.CUPANA_MUD

MP06.CUPIAH

MP06.DURMAROY_M

MP06.ESWARA_PAG

MP06.GOVINDIAH

MP06.GURUVA_RAU

MP06.IYAH_MUDAL

4B



MP06.NAGAPAH_MU

MP06.NAINAPAH_M

MP06.NAINATTA_M

MP06.NAMASEVOY_

MP06.NARAIN

MP06.NARAIN_MUD

MP06.NARAIN_NAI

MP06.NARAIN_RAU

MP06.NARAIN_RED

MP06.NARANIAH

MP06.NARASIAH

MP06.NARN_AIYAN

MP06.NARNIAH

MP06.NARRAIN_RE

MP06.NARSIAH

MP06.NAT_IEEAP_

MP06.NAT_LETCHA

MP06.NAT_PARSAR

MP06.NAT_PASSAR

MP06.NAT_RAGAVA

MP06.NAT_SURAPI

MP06.NULLA_MUTE

MP06.NULLATAMBI

MP06.PAPU_REDDI MP06.PARASARAMA

MP06.PERMAH_MUD

MP06.PERMAL

MP06.PERMAL_MUD

MP06.PERMAL_NAI

MP06.PERMAL_PAG

MP06.PERMAL_RED

MP06.PONNAPAH_M

MP06.PUTCHAPAH_

MP06.RAGAV_ACHA

MP06.RAGAV_AIYA

MP06.RAGUNAD_AC

MP06.RAM_AIYANG

MP06.RAMA_NAICK

MP06.RAMA_REDDI

MP06.RAMAKRISHN

MP06.RAMALINGA_

MP06.RAMANAPAH_

MP06.RAMANUJ_AI

MP06.RAMASAMIAH

MP06.RAMIAH

MP06.RASAPAH_MU

MP06.ROYAL_AIYA

MP06.ROYALIAH

MP06.RUNG_AIYAN

MP06.RUNGAPAH_N

MP06.RUNGIAH

4F

凡例

Taluk Boundary

MP06.SABAPUTTI_

MP06.SADASEVA_M

MP06.SAM_AIYANG

MP06.SAMAIAH

MP06.SAMBIAH

MP06.SAMI

MP06.SAMI_AIYAN

MP06.SAMI_MUDAL

MP06.SAMI_MUTTI

MP06.SAMI_NAICK

MP06.SAMI_NAI_1

MP06.SAMI_PILLA

MP06.SAMI_REDDI

MP06.SAMI_SHAST

MP06.SAMIAH

MP06.SARAVANA_M

MP06.SASHIAH

MP06.SEERAM_AIY

MP06.SEETARAMIA

MP06.SHASH_AIYA

MP06.SHASHADRI_

MP06.SHASHIAH

MP06.SING_AIYAN

MP06.SINGAR_ACH

MP06.SRINIVAS_A

MP06.SRINIVAS_1

MP06.SRINIVASA_

MP06.SRINIVASAR

MP06.SRINIVAS_2

MP06.SRINIVASIA

MP06.SUBBA_BUTT

MP06.SUBBA_ROW

MP06.SUBBAROY_M

MP06.SUBBIAH

MP06.SUBRAMANIA

MP06.SUBRAMANY_

4G

Taluk Boundary

MP06.TANAPAH

MP06.TANAPAH_MU

MP06.TANAPAH_NA

MP06.TANDAVAROY

MP06.TANDAVAR_1

MP06.TAT_AIYANG

MP06.TREVENGADA

MP06.TRIMAL_ACH

MP06.TRIVALUR_A

MP06.TRIVENGADA

MP06.TRIVENGADU

4H

landholders with same name were located in close proximity,

they belonged to a single person. These encircles indicate that

there emerged village leaders out of the ordinary mirasidars or

village landholders in many parts of the area.

Figure 5 Distribution of Villages by Village Leaders.

Notes: Only the 248 landholders or mirasidars having shares in

more than six villages are included in the figures and villages

where the respective landholders had shares are marked with

same color.

Source: Same as Table 1.

Another interesting feature of the period was the linkage be-

tween the emergence of the village leaders and the development

of market economy. Fig. 6 shows the distribution of a number of

trading community, sellers, and shops in the Jagir. Apparently

the period observed a highly developed commercialization.

Figure 6 Distribution of Chettiyars (Trader Caste), Sellers,

and Shops in the Jagir.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from BR1770s and ZS1801 (the

Permanent Settlement Records, vols.20-22: Statement of Za-

mindaris, in a Letter from Mr. Greenway, October 30, 1801).

The commercialization of the period was closely related with

the development of textile trade. The Jagir had a number of

weaving villages where a considerable number of weavers made

a living as is indicated by the distribution of weavers and looms

in Fig. 7. A comparison of the distribution of shops and looms in

Fig. 8 clearly indicates that the commercialization of the period

was deeply related with the textile industry of the period.

Chettiyars Sellers Shops

BR1770s BR1770s ZS1801

凡例

Taluk Boundary

MP06.VADAMALAPA

MP06.VADANT_ACH

MP06.VALAPAH_MU

MP06.VALAYUDA_M

MP06.VALAYUDA_P

MP06.VALAYUDEN

MP06.VEERA_MUDA

MP06.VEERA_REDD

MP06.VEERABADRA

MP06.VEERADAM_A

MP06.VEERAPAH_M

MP06.VEERAPAH_N

MP06.VEERAPERMA

MP06.VEERAPER_1

MP06.VEERARAGAV

MP06.VEERARAG_1

MP06.VEERASAMAI

MP06.VEERASAMI_

MP06.VEERASAMI1

MP06.VENAYAKA_M

4I

凡例

Taluk Boundary

MP06.VENATEETAH

MP06.VENAYAKA_M

MP06.VENKAJIAH

MP06.VENKAMA_NA

MP06.VENKAT_ACH

MP06.VENKATA_NA

MP06.VENKATA_RA

MP06.VENKATA_RE

MP06.VENKATA_RO

MP06.VENKATACHE

MP06.VENKATAC_1

MP06.VENKATAC_2

MP06.VENKATAC_3

MP06.VENKATAC_4

MP06.VENKATAC_5

MP06.VENKATAC_6

MP06.VENKATAC_7

MP06.VENKATAKRI

MP06.VENKATAK_1

MP06.VENKATAK_2

MP06.VENKATANAR

MP06.VENKATAN_1

MP06.VENKATARAG

MP06.VENKATARAM

MP06.VENKATAR_1

MP06.VENKATAR_2

MP06.VENKATAR_3

MP06.VENKATAR_4

MP06.VENKATAR_5

MP06.VENKATAROY

MP06.VENKATAS_A

MP06.VENKATASA_

MP06.VENKATASA1

MP06.VENKATASAH

MP06.VENKATASAM

MP06.VENKATASHI

MP06.VENKATASUB

MP06.VENKATAVER

MP06.VERD_AIYAN

MP06.VERDAPAH_M

MP06.VERDAPAH_N

MP06.VERDIAH

MP06.VURD_AIYAN

MP06.YELLAPAH_M 4J MP06.VYDENADA_M

凡例

Taluk Boundary

MP06.KALAPAH_MU

MP06.KOLUNDA_MU

MP06.KOMARAPAH_

MP06.KOMARAPAH1

MP06.KONDAMA_NA

MP06.KONDAPAH_M

MP06.KONDAPAH_R

MP06.KONDIAH

MP06.KRISHN_AIY

MP06.KRISHNA

MP06.KRISHNA_MU

MP06.KRISHNA_RE

MP06.KRISHNAM_A

MP06.KRISHNAMA_

MP06.KRISHNIAH

MP06.LINGAH_RED

4C

凡例

Taluk Boundary

MP06.MAHADAVIAH

MP06.MARAPAH_MU

MP06.MILAPAH_MU

MP06.MOTTAY

MP06.MUNIAN

MP06.MUNIAPAH_M

MP06.MUNNAPAH_M

MP06.MURGAPAH_M

MP06.MURTIAPAH_

MP06.MURTIAPPAH

MP06.MURUGAPAH_

MP06.MUSELY_NAI

MP06.MUTIA_MUDA

MP06.MUTIAH

MP06.MUTIAH_MUD

MP06.MUTIAPAH_M

MP06.MUTTA_PILL

MP06.MUTTAPAH_M

MP06.MUTTU

MP06.MUTTU_MUDA

MP06.MUTTU_NAIC

MP06.MUTTU_REDD

MP06.MUTTUKRISH

4D



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BR1770s

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ZS1801

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Mirasidars, Village Leaders

Local Society, Village

Raiyat Land Lot

Table 3 Transactions of Landholdership in Ponneri Villages.

Source Village

Location Code

(1971 Census) Description of Transaction

Figure 7 Distribution of Weavers and Looms in the Jagir.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from BR1770s and ZS1801 (the

Permanent Settlement Records, vols.20-22: Statement of Za-

mindaris, in a Letter from Mr. Greenway, October 30, 1801).

BRPO098 ASANPOODOOR PO165A NIYOGEE BRAMINS RESIDING AT TUTTAMUNJA [PO100A], GENTOO BRAMINS THEIR RESIDENCE UNKNOWN, PUROOTAH VELLALER RESIDING AT MADRAS

BRPO268 CHINNAMULLAVOIL PO037A KAVARAI LANDHOLDERS OF CODEPULLOM [PO016A], KAVARAI COOPPE CHETTI WHO PURCHASED LANDHOLDERSHIP

BRPO264 CODYPULLUM PO016A KAVARAIS WHO PURCHASED LANDHOLDERSHIP

BRPO014 COOMMUNGALUM PO115B ANCIENT LANDHOLDERS PALLI FROM WHOM CHETTIS PURCHASED THE LANDHOLDERSHIP & FROM THE CHETTIS TULIVA

VELLALER PURCHASED THUS CHANGEABLE SHARES 5 FIXED

BRPO252 CUNACUMBACUM PO145A GENTOO BRAMIN, VISHNU BRAMINS, SHARE 30, RAKEAPA MUDALI PURCHASED THE LANDHOLDERSHIP, SHARE 2

BRPO058 CUNCAVULLYPORAM PO148A SADIAPPA MUDALI LANDHOLDER OF MADRAS

BRPO160 ENNOOR PO044A LANDHOLDER. RESIDES AT POOLIDAVACUM [PO045B] & AUTTYPADE [PO043A], KONDAIKATTI VELLALER LANDHOLDER. & COWKEEPER WHO PURCHASED LANDHOLDERSHIP: KONDAIKATTI VELLALER 6, KONDAIKATTI VELLALER PURCHASED

FROM ABOVE LANDHOLDERS. 5, COWKEEPER PURCHASED FROM ABOVE LANDHOLDERS.1

BRPO018 KISTNAPORUM PO115A ANCIENT LANDHOLDERS ARE PALLI FROM WHOM THE CHETTIS PURCHASED THE LANDHOLDERSHIP & FROM WHOM BOUGHT

TULIVA VELLALER WHO ARE LANDHOLDERS NOW BRPO266 MAHAFOOSE CAWN PO035A NABOB MAHAFOOSE CAWN PURCHASED LANDHOLDERSHIP FROM CONDIGHETTY VELLALER LANDHOLDER

PETTA

BRPO154 NAITHVOIL Unidentified THIS VILLAGE IS GIVEN AS SHOTRUM TO PONNARY NARAIN PILLAY AT 200 PAGODAS. KONDAIKATTI VELLALER,

NUNDA GOPAULER WHO BOUGHT LANDHOLDERSHIP

BRPO270 PARYMULLAVOIL PO213A GENTOO BRAMIN LANDHOLDERS OF UNKNOWN PLACE, ANOTHER GENTOO BRAMIN RESIDING AT GARACANXXX [xxx] & RUNGAPUTY PUNDIT STUL MOJUMDAR RESIDING AT PONARY [PO115C], VENGAMRAJAH NIYOGEE RESIDING AT

AROOMUNDA [PO017A] (WHO PURCHASED LANDHOLDERSHIP).

BRPO068 PERINJARY PO075A TULIVA VELLALER RESIDING AT MADRAS

BRPO128 POOLIDARVACUM PO045B KONDAIKATTI VELLALARS 3, COWKEEPERS BOUGHT SHARE 1

BRPO302 SOORAPADE PO029A KONDAIKATTI VELLALER LANDHOLDERS. FROM WHOM PURCHASED THE LANDHOLDERSHIP BY LUCHUMAJEE PUNDIT OF

PONARY [PO115C]

BRPO254 TIROOPAROO PO143K GENTOO BRAMINS OF CUNASUMPACUM [PO145A]. ARSOOR[PO183A] VENCATACHEL MODALY PURCHASED PART OF LAND & HAS TAKEN FOR MORTGAGE THE OTHER PART OF LAND FROM GENTOO BRAHMIN LANDHOLDERS OF TIROOPAROO

[PO143K].

BRPO122 TOTTACAUD PO052A KONDAIKATTI VELLALA OF NUTHVOIL[PO051A] WHO MORTGAGED THEIR VILLAGE TO NUNDA GOPAULER. BRPO124

VOILOOR PO091C GENTOO BRAMIN OF VOILOOR [PO091D] 1, TUTAVAJEE BRAMIN AT VALLOOR [PO042I] 1, NIYOGEE BRAMIN AT

MADRAS 1, VISHNU BRAMIN AT MENJOOR [PO050C] 1, NUMBY & SIVA BRAMIN AT MADRAS 1, KANAKAPILLAI 1

BRPO040 WOPPALUM PO152C 1. KANAMAULA VENCATEN'S SHARE PURCHASED BY ANDEAPPEAN WHO RESIDING AT COODVARY [XX], 1. RAHAVIAH

HAVE ONE XX RESIDING AT CHENNACAVANUM [PO157A], 2. SOORIYA SOLA & C. RESIDING AT COOMMUNGALUM

[PO115B]

BRPO034 MUTTERAVADE PO159A HEAD LANDHOLDERS: TUMBAN, KURIAN, NYNAN OF MADRAS

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from BR1770s.

D

D D

Figure 8 Distribution of Shops and Looms in the Jagir. Source:

Prepared by Mizushima from the Permanent Settlement

Records, vols.20-22: Statement of Zamindaris, in a Letter from

Mr. Greenway, October 30, 1801.

Economic development, accelerated both by the increasing

textile trade and by the entries of European trading powers, and

the village landholders’ involvement in it must have produced

not only their economic autonomy from the mirasi system but

also their political autonomy from the local society as well as

the state during the period.

Development of market economy invaded gradually many of

the key role-players in the mirasi system. Table 3 indicates the

cases of transaction of mirasidars’ right through sales or mort-

gages in Ponneri area recorded in BR1770s. A good number of

transactions by Chettis (traders), Kavarais (textile traders), and

by those living in Madras were observed. In other words there

occurred cases of outsiders of local society, mostly those en-

gaged in trade, entering into localities through market transac-

tions of landholdership. Similar interesting cases were observed

in the transactions of military chieftainship. As indicated in Fig.

9, the military chieftainship of the central part of Ponneri area

was acquired by those in non-military occupations and by a

person living in Madras, a place too far to do anything military.

Figure 9 Distribution of Military Chieftains’ Jurisdiction in

Ponneri Area.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from BR1770s.

These evidences clearly indicate that with frequent transac-

tions of the rights to the shares and with the increasing disjunc-

tion of rights from the roles in the production system, the mirasi

system that had maintained the reproduction of local societies in

south India for centuries and the societal unity of local society

came to the brisk of collapse in the late pre-colonial period.

Figure 10 Eradication of Intermediaries by the

Raiyatwari System.

Raiyatwari System



After the years of war among the Indian, British and other

European powers, the English East India Company established

their control and started colonial rule. The colonial land system

introduced later in the early nineteenth century, especially the

Raiyatwari System, further accelerated the process that had been

occurring in the late pre-colonial period. By eradicating the

intermediaries such as village leaders and local chieftains be-

tween the state and a peasant and the same such as local society

and village between the state and land lot, the colonial govern-

ment established the direct rule over the locality (see Fig. 10).

Actually what was done was to divide a locality and village into

hundreds or thousands of land lots as indicated by Fig. 11.

Collections, F/4/112, Nos. 2115-16, Miscellaneous Ac-

counts, Statistical Tables etc. accompanying Lionel Place’s

Report on the Company's Jaghire, vols.1-2, Madras Reve-

nue, 2 March 1803, draft 73/1802-03, E/4/890).

References [1] Mizushima, Tsukasa. 1996. “The Mirasi System and Local Society

in Pre-Colonial South India.” In Robb, P. et.al. (eds.), Local Agrar-

ian Societies in Colonial India: Japanese Perspectives. London:

Curzon Press, pp. 77-145.

[2] Mizushima, Tsukasa. 2002. “From Mirasidar to Pattadar: South

India in the Late Nineteenth Century, Land, politics and Trade in

South Asia, 18th-20th Centuries.” Indian Economic and Social

History Review, 39 (2&3), pp. 259-284.

[3] Marshall, P. J. (ed.). 2003. The Eighteenth Century in Indian Histo-

ry: Evolution or Revolution? New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

[4] Alavi, Seema (ed.). 2002. The Eighteenth Century in India. New

Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Figure 11 Division of Land Lots in a Village in South India.

Source: Prepared by Mizushima from a Field Notebook of RM

Village.

Lastly I’d like to refer to the implication of this paper in the

historiography of India. A few decades ago a debate called “the

eighteenth century problem” was raised. In the debate the main

argument centred whether the period between the eighteenth and

nineteenth century can be characterised as “continuity” or

“break”. As has been discussed in this paper, the late pre-

colonial period observed highly developed commercialisa-

tion which critically shook the pre-existed production system as

well as societal unit. The colonial land system introduced later

in the period accelerated the process further till the society was

to be broken into pieces in the decades to come. The investiga-

tion done here, therefore, implies that the transformation during

the period can be characterised as initially as “continuity” but as

“break” later in the 19th century.

Notes (1) Mirasi is originally an Arabic word meaning anything

inheritable.

(2) H. Kotani, M. Mita, and T. Mizushima. 2008. “Indian

History from Medieval to Modern Periods: An Alternative

to the Land-System-Centred Perspective.” International

Journal of South Asian Studies vol. 1, pp. 31-49.

(3) “Abstract State of the Number of Meerassee Shares and

of Meerassee Holders in the Several Districts of the

Jagheer in Fusly 1207 shewing also the Quantity of

Meerassee unclaimed & occupied by Pyacarries” (Board‘s



Historical GIS Studies in Japan: Scholarship and Internet

Dissemination of the Rapid Survey Maps

DAVID S. SPRAGUE† NOBUSUKE IWASAKI†

† National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences

Abstract: GIS analysis applied to historical issues has progressed rapidly in Japan. Progress has been rapid not only in scholar-

ship, but also the dissemination of historical geographic data over the Internet in forms that are useful to both scholars and the

public. This paper summarizes recent GIS applications in and about Japan, then focuses on research and internet dissemination

based on the Rapid Survey Maps, or Jinsoku Sokuzu, the first extensive map series surveyed by modern cartographic methods in

Japan. Providing detailed land use information about most of the Kanto Plain containing the capital city of Tokyo in the 1880s,

the Rapid Survey Maps have led to a great deal of research on Japanese environmental history. The entire maps series can now be

viewed through WebGIS on the Internet as a seamless, georeferenced image in the Historical Agro-Environment Browsing Sys-

tem (HABS). In both GIS and image formats, these maps have been applied to the analysis of land use change, the spatial struc-

ture of land uses, and comparisons with even earlier maps and pictorial depictions of early modern Japanese landscapes. In addi-

tion, the broad public has been finding many new applications for the Rapid Survey Maps through the HABS system.

Keywords: Japan, rural landscape, Rapid Survey Maps, Jinsoku Sokuzu, WebGIS

1. Introduction

A broad array of historical material associated with location

are available for analysis by geographical information systems

(GIS), leading to the development of historical GIS as a subfield

in several fields of scholarship. Historical GIS applied to Japan

already has a long history itself but has expanded rapidly as

more scholars have become motivated to apply GIS to their

research topics in history, archaeology, and the humanities.

Researchers of Japan have available to them a large amount

of historical geographical information. The long histories of

human occupation, agriculture, trade, and urbanization, accom-

panied by ever expanding government administration, has pro-

duced a rich heritage of geographically based records, in the

form of maps, cadasters, demographic records, archaeological

sites, and much more (Mizoguchi, 1996; Yonemoto, 2003). Spa-

tially accurate material accumulated even more rapidly with the

introduction of modern cartography to Japan after the Meiji

Restoration of 1868, when a new government adopted many

new technological innovations as part of their development pro-

gram to modernize Japan.

A comprehensive review of historical GIS in Japan is beyond

the capacity of this paper. The research on the historical geog-

raphy of Japan has been reviewed repeatedly (Kinda, 1997,

2010; Mizoguchi, 1996; Senda, 1982; Yonemoto, 2003). In this

paper, as part of the inauguration of the Asian Network for

GIS-based Historical Studies (ANGIS), we review selected ex-

amples of historical GIS research in and about Japan. We point

out a few early applications of historical GIS in recognition of

their significance, then briefly introduce historical geography

available on-line via the Internet with the intent of directing

researchers new to Japanese historical GIS towards sources and

data that may allow them to quickly familiarize themselves with

recent research. Then we focus on recent GIS analyses and

WebGIS applications developed by the authors using the Rapid

Survey Maps, or Jinsoku Sokuzu, the first modern topographic

maps surveyed in Japan (Figure 1).

Figure 1 A Rapid Survey Map depicting the village of Ushiku

in southern Ibaraki Prefecture in the northern Kanto Plain. Each

map depicts an area of 4 km x 5 km.

2. Historical GIS In and About Japan: Scholar-

ship and Internet Dissemination

2.1 Historical GIS in Japan

Japanese geographers recognized early that GIS would make

possible hitherto difficult analyses. One landmark study of the

environmental history of Japan was carried out by Y. Himiyama

and his colleagues (Himiyama et al., 1995). They read into ma-

chine-readable form the land use of Japan from the 1/50,000

topographic maps of multiple time periods, and collated land use

changes for all of Japan in a 2-km grid. Their work was pub-

lished as an atlas making available the maps and statistics that is

Article



still unequalled today as a national scale environmental time-

series analysis of this time-depth. Another relatively early GIS

application to Japan was by Siebert (2000) who visualized the

development of Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region in a

GIS database covering shoreline and river changes, adminis-

trative boundaries, population, and rail network expansion.

Historical GIS continues to expand rapidly in Japan. For in-

stance, in a recent volume a group of geographers and historians

collected papers from a conference on GIS hosted by the Infor-

mation Processing Society of Japan and the Human Geograph-

ical Society of Japan (Japan Council for Historical GIS, 2012).

The papers cover a wide range of topics, from technical issues

concerning historical GIS architectures, map databases, or digi-

tal place name databases, to in-depth analyses of population

movements, environmental change, and historical landscapes.

These advances in scholarship are certainly one of the most

notable achievements of GIS for geographers and historians.

However, one of the greatest achievements of GIS in recent

years has been the efforts to make available to a broad audience

the basic data on historical geography relevant to both scholars

and the public. Needless to say, the key technologies that have

made this possible are the twin technological advances of soft-

ware making GIS available on relatively inexpensive personal

computers, and of Internet tools to allow a global audience to

view or manipulate geographical data. Japanese geographers

have been very active in placing their data onto the Internet. The

Spatial Information Science Division of Tsukuba University has

placed on the Internet their database of historical Japanese ad-

ministrative boundaries, and population statistics from the

1880’s to the 1930’s (Vista and Murayama, 2008;

http://giswin.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp/teacher/murayama/datalist.htm).

The Virtual Kyoto project by Ritsumeikan University not only

provides data on the city of Kyoto at various historical periods,

but also 3-D renditions of the streets and even festivals of Kyoto

to allow viewers to see what the social life of the city may have

actually looked like in the past from street-level viewpoints

(Nakaya et al., 2010; http://www.geo.lt.ritsumei.ac.jp/).

Figure 2 Large rural grasslands in 1881 as depicted in the

Rapid Survey Maps of the villages of Ushiku and Okami (now

Ushiku City) in southern Ibaraki Prefecture.

2.2 The Rapid Survey Maps

The historical GIS project by the authors is centered on the

scholarship and WebGIS dissemination over the Internet of the

Rapid Survey Maps, or Jinsoku Sokuzu. Created in the 1880’s to

cover most of the Kanto Plain surrounding Tokyo, the Rapid

Survey Maps are the first map series completely covering a

large geographical area surveyed by modern methods in Japan.

Drawn at 1/20,000 scale using plain table surveying, the maps

are accurate enough for direct comparisons with modern maps.

Color coded for major land uses, the maps provide very detailed

information on the Japanese landscape of that time.

The Rapid Survey Maps have been a boon to historical schol-

arship in Japan since the publication of the complete set in 1991

(Jinsoku Sokuzu Reprinting Committee, 1991). A large number

of studies based on them using various types of GIS have been

published on land use history. Geographers and ecologists have

used Rapid Survey Maps to study the rural woodlands (Inui,

1992; Shirai, 2002), grasslands (Ogura, 1996; Sakiyama and

Itoga, 1994; Sprague, 2003), land use history (Tsunekawa and

Bessho, 2003; Ichikawa et al., 2006; Iwasaki and Sprague, 2005;

Seguchi et al., 2007), or the effect of past land use on present

day vegetation (Koyanagi et al., 2009).

A crucial point that makes the Rapid Survey Maps valuable

for time-series GIS analysis is that it depicts the Japanese rural

landscape just before it started to be transformed by agricultural

and economic modernization. Many important land uses were

lost soon after the Rapid Survey Maps were surveyed and do not

appear in subsequent maps. Another important characteristic of

the Rapid Survey Maps is that most of the land use boundaries

are drawn with lines depicting roads and paths, allowing the

land use shown on the maps to be analyzed by a variety of GIS

techniques.

These characteristics enabled Sprague and Iwasaki (2010) to

map major changes in land use between 5 periods starting with

the Rapid Survey Maps for a study site in southern Ibaraki Pre-

fecture in northern Kanto. In particular, previous scholars had

pointed out the existence of large rural grasslands in the north-

ern Kanto Plain (Sakiyama and Itoga 1994; Koyanagi et al.

2009). The analysis found that the large rural grasslands depict-

ed in the Rapid Survey Maps in 1881 (Figure 2), were mostly

gone by the time of the subsequent topographic maps issued in

the 1910s. Historical records show that many of the grasslands

were handed over to new farmers who turned them into fields

and woodlands.

In addition, Sprague (2013) quantified how land use in this

the same study site had been distributed across the landscape,

the grasslands in particular. The study used buffer analysis to

show how villages and fields were arrayed along river valleys

close to rice paddies, while woodlands were distributed

throughout the uplands. Most importantly, the large rural grass-

lands were concentrated far away from villages, down the mid-

dle of the plateau, where the ridge line would be if the plateau

was not so flat (Figure 3). One reason for this distribution may

have been the fact that the grasslands were a commons utilized

by multiple villages.

http://giswin.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp/teacher/murayama/datalist.htm)

http://www.geo.lt.ritsumei.ac.jp/)



Distribution from rice paddies

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

Distribution across

the plateau

16

14

12

Distribution 10 from villages

8

6

4

2

0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Distance

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Distance

70

60

50

40

30

20

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

the study area still existed 120 after the Rapid Survey Maps had

been surveyed.

2.3 The Rapid Survey Maps on the Internet

As part of our historical GIS project we created a complete

image database of the Rapid Survey Maps (Iwasaki et al., 2009).

The original reason for creating the image database was our

desire to view several sheets of Rapid Survey Maps as a single

seamless image. We had sometimes glued together paper copies

of the maps to make a large map, but with over 900 map sheets

as a whole, preparing a grand view of the Rapid Survey Maps

survey area was a laborious task using paper copies and glue.

Scanned images of the Rapid Survey Maps could be merged in a

GIS, and by continuing the scanning, the entire Rapid Survey

Maps set was joined into a single image, thus allowing us to

view a larger area at once.

Furthermore, we presented the entire image database to the

internet by Web GIS under the name of the Historical Agro-

Environment Browsing System (HABS, Iwasaki et al., 2009).

HABS can be accessed by most recent web browsers at

http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp. The site lets the viewer browse freely

through the Kanto Plain of the 1880’s, while comparing the

maps to present day features overlaid on the image, and pro-

vides a link to view the maps on GoogleEarth.

The main objective of HABS is to bring the Rapid Survey

Maps to a broad public audience. The Rapid Survey Maps have

been in press for nearly twenty years but may have remained

appreciated only among scholars and map aficionados with ac-

cess to them in their print form. With the presentation of the

entire map set by WebGIS, the applications of the Rapid Survey

Maps are now as diverse as the Internet audience.

10

0

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

Proportional zone

Figure 3 The distribution of rural grasslands from villages,

rice paddies, and across the plateau, as depicted in the Rapid

Survey Maps of Ushiku and Okami villages (now Ushiku City)

in 1881 (modified from Sprague, 2013).

The spatial accuracy of the Rapid Survey Maps is a back-

ground issue that sometimes need to be addressed. The Rapid

Survey Maps had been surveyed precisely enough to depict even

small features, but the maps are slightly distorted so that spatial

adjustment may be necessary for fine-grain analysis. Sprague et

al. (2007) measured the persistence of the rice paddies between

the 1880s and the 1980s for a study are in southern Ibaraki Pre-

fecture. A simple overlay between the rice paddies is sufficient

for a rough measure of rice paddy persistence. However, we

were particularly concerned about the persistence of narrow,

branching rice paddies. Some narrow branch rice paddies in the

Rapid Survey Maps were slightly misplaced so that some

branches did not always overlap with corresponding paddies in a

modern map. For these slightly distorted paddies, rubber sheet-

ing of branch tips allowed a more accurate assessment of rice

paddy persistence. We found that about 72% of rice paddies in

Figure 4 The top page of the Historical Agro-Environment

Browsing System (HABS).

Accessible at http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp

Perc

ent of gra

ssla

nd

Pe

rcen

t o

f g

rassla

nd

P

erc

en

t o

f zon

e

Cu

mula

tive

pe

rce

nt

Cu

mula

tive p

erc

ent

http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp/



Figure 5 Changes in the course of the Kinu River in Shimotsuma City, Ibaraki Prefecture, seen between a Rapid Survey Map (left)

and aerial photographs (right) taken in 2008 (Digital Japan Basic Maps, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan), as shown in the

comparison images in the HABS.

For scholars, the advantage of HABS, as already stated, is the

ability to view a continuous version of the Rapid Survey Maps.

Fujita et al. (2010) took advantage of this characteristic to use

HABS to confirm the content of even earlier illustrations of

Japanese landscapes. The Shimousa Meisho-zue is a pictorial

atlas of famous places in the province of Shimousa, now part of

northern Chiba Prefecture. Published in the Late Edo Period, it

is a guide book describing famous scenery using birds-eye view

illustrations. The accuracy of these illustrations are difficult to

assess, since few contemporaneous maps remain of the locations

described. However, a comparison with HABS allowed Fujita et

al. (2010) to identify many locations by recreating the birds-eye

scenery in the Shimousa Meisho-zue with 3-D renditions of

HABS images draped over a digital elevation model.

For the public, the great convenience of HABS has led to a

large audience curious to see the condition of the land in the

1880’s of the land where they live and work today. HABS pro-

vides the means for an Internet user to directly compare past and

present maps in the Kanto Plain, where enormous changes in

land use and land form have taken place over the last 130 years

(Figure 5). HABS has been taken up in newspaper articles and

television shows. One reason for this is that the presentation of

HABS has coincided with popular publications on the geo-

graphical history of Tokyo and its surroundings. Another reason

is the curiosity of the public about the location of their residence.

Public interest in the landform of residential areas seems to have

grown especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

3. Discussion

Historical GIS is producing new developments in both schol-

arly and popular applications for mapping and data dissemina-

tion. These trends are evident for the Rapid Survey Maps as well.

Academic applications of the Rapid Survey Maps take ad-

vantage of precision GIS analysis for detailed time-series analy-

sis. At the same time, HABS provides broad-based visual appre-

ciation of the Rapid Survey Maps, to satisfy the demands of

both scholarship and the diverse interests of the public. Iwasaki

et al (2009) explains the important role that HABS can play in

aiding policy makers or NGOs for planning the preservation of

rural landscapes and biodiversity, as well preparing for disaster

mitigation.

Even as scholarship with historical GIS continues to advance,

it is also providing the foundation to make history and GIS rel-

evant for the public at large. The public interest in all manner of

information presented on the Internet is helping to bring greater

attention to historical geography, leading to new opportunities

for historical GIS as well that scholars can take advantage of to

promote the public understanding of geography.

References [1] Fujita, N., Iwasaki, N., and Sprague, D. S. 2010. “Restoration and

Evaluation of Satoyama/Shrine Forest Landscape Analyzed with

HABS (the Historical Agro-Environment Browsing System) and

Shimousa Meishou Zue by GIS.” Landscape Research 73(5), pp.

589-594.

[2] Himiyama Y., Arai, T., Ota, I., Kubo, S., Tamura, T., Nogami, M.,



Murayama, Y., and Yorifuji, T. 1995. Atorasu: Nihon-retto no

Kankyo Henka (Atlas: Environmental Change in Modern Japan).

Tokyo: Asakura-shoten.

[3] Ichikawa, K., Okubo, N., Okubo, S., and Takeuchi, K. 2006. “Tran-

sition of the Satoyama Landscape in the Urban Fringe of the Tokyo

Metropolitan Area from 1880 to 2001.” Landscape and Urban

Planning 78, pp. 398–410.

[4] Inui, T. 1992. Kanto Heiya no Heichirin (The Plains Woodlands of

the Kanto Plain). Tokyo: Kokon-Shoin.

[5] Iwasaki, N., and Sprague, D. 2005. “A Study of the Land Use His-

tory in the Japanese Macaque Habitat Expansion Area of the Boso

Peninsula, Japan.” Journal of Rural Planning Association 24, pp.

1-6.

[6] Iwasaki, N., Sprague, D. S., Koyanagi, T., Furuhashi, T., and

Yamamoto, S. 2009. “Development of the Historical Agro-

Environment Browsing System constructed by FOSS4G.” Theory

and Applications of GIS 17(1), pp. 83-92. (in Japanese)

[7] Jinsoku Sokuzu Reprinting Committee. 1991. Meiji Zenki Sokuryo

2-Manbun-1 Furansu-shiki Saishoku Chizu (Early Meiji survey

one-twenty thousandth French style colored maps). Tokyo: Kinoku-

niya. (in Japanese)

[8] Japan Council for Historical GIS (ed.). 2012. Historical GIS Per-

spectives in Japan. Tokyo: Bensei Shuppan. (in Japanese)

[9] Kinda, A. 1997. “Some Traditions and Methodologies of Japanese

Historical Geography.” Journal of Historical Geography 23(1), pp.

62–75.

[10] Kinda, A. (ed.). 2010. A Landscape History of Japan. Kyoto:

Kyoto University Press.

[11] Koyanagi T., Kusumoto, Y., Yamamoto, S., Okubo, S., and

Takeuchi, T. 2009. “Historical Impacts on Linear Habitats: The

Present Distribution of Grassland Species in Forest-Edge Vegeta-

tion.” Biological Conservation 142, pp. 1674-1684.

[12] Mizoguchi, T. 1996. “Studies in the Historical Geography of

Japan, 1988-1995.” Geographical Review of Japan Series B 69, pp.

21–41.

[13] Nakaya T, Yano, K., Isoda, Y., Kawasumi, T., Takase, Y., Kiri-

mura, T., Tsukamoto, A., Matsumoto, A., Seto, T., and Iizuka, T.

2010. “Virtual Kyoto Project: Digital Diorama of the Past, Present,

and Future of the Historical City of Kyoto.” In Ishida, T. (ed.). Lec-

ture Notes in Computer Science. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, pp.

173–187.

[14] Ogura, J. 1996. Shokusei Kara Yomu Nihonjin no Kurashi (Japa-

nese Livelihoods As Seen From Vegetation). Tokyo: Ouzankaku. (in

Japanese)

[15] Sakiyama, N., and Itoga, R. 1994. “On the Change of Grasslands

Into Pine Forests in the Inashiki Upland.” Tsukubano Kankyo

Kenkyu (Environmental Research Tsukuba) 15, pp. 29-44. (in Japa-

nese)

[16] Seguchi, R., Brown, R. D., and Takeuchi, K. 2007. “Land Use

Change From Traditional To Modern Eras: Saitama Prefecture, Ja-

pan.” In Hong, S-K., Nakagoshi, N., Fu, B., and Morimoto, Y. (eds.).

Landscape Ecological Applications in Man-Influenced Areas. Dor-

drecht: Springer, pp. 113-128.

[17] Senda, M. 1982. “Progress in Japanese historical geography.”

Journal of Historical Geography 8, pp. 170–181.

[18] Shimizu, E., and Fuse, T. 2006. “A Method for Visualizing the

Landscapes of Old-Time Cities Using GIS.” In Okabe, A. (ed.).

GIS-Based Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Baton

Rouge: CRC Press, pp. 265-278.

[19] Shirai, Y. 2002. “Firewood and Charcoal Production and Land

Use in the Western Shimosa Upland during the Second Decade of

the Meiji Era: An Analysis of the Concise Chart and Scouting Re-

port.” Rekishi Chirigaku (Historical Geography) 44, pp. 1-21. (in

Japanese)

[20] Siebert, L. 2000. “Using GIS to Document, Visualize, and Inter-

pret Tokyo's Spatial History.” Social Science History 24, pp. 537-

574.

[21] Sprague, D. S. 2003. “Function and Spatial Structure of Grass-

lands in the Kanto Plain: Did Plains Grasslands Exist?” Sochi-gaku

Kenkyu (Grassland Science) 48, pp. 532-536. (in Japanese)

[22] Sprague, D. S. 2013. “Land-use configuration under traditional

agriculture in the Kanto Plain, Japan: a historical GIS analysis.” In-

ternational Journal of Geographical Information Science 27, pp.

68-91.

[23] Sprague, D. S., Goto, T., and Moriyama, H. 2000. “GIS Analysis

Using the Rapid Survey Map of Traditional Agricultural Land Use

in the Early Meiji Era.” Landscape Research 63, pp. 771-774. (in

Japanese)

[24] Sprague, D. S., Iwasaki, N., and Takahashi, S. 2007. “Measuring

Rice Paddy Persistence Spanning a Century with Japan's Oldest

Topographic Maps: Georeferencing the Rapid Survey Maps for GIS

analysis.” International Journal of Geographical Information Sci-

ence 21, pp. 83-95.

[25] Tsunekawa, A., and Bessho, T. 2003. “Satoyama Landscape Tran-

sition in the Kanto Area.” In Takeuchi, K., Brown, R. D., Washitani,

I., Tsunekawa, A., and Yokohari, M. (eds.). Satoyama: The Tradi-

tional Rural Landscape of Japan. Tokyo: Springer, pp. 51-60.

[26] Vista, B. M., and Murayama, Y. (2008). “Internet GIS for Histor-

ical Regional Statistics.” Tsukuba Geoenvironmental Sciences 4, pp.

21–24.

[27] Watanabe, H., Murayama, Y., and Fujita, K. 2008. “Development

of ‘Historical Regional Statistics’ and Utilization of the Data: Fo-

cusing on Japanese Modern Era.” Journal of Geography 117(2), pp.

370-386. (in Japanese)

[28] Yonemoto, Y. 2003. Mapping Early Modern Japan: Space, Place,

and Culture in the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868). Berkeley: Uni-

versity of California Press.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by Japan Society

for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant Number

25292213.



GIS as a Tool for Researching the Socioeconomic

History of Modern Egypt

HIROSHI KATO† HIROOMI TSUMURA* ERINA IWASAKI#

† Hitotsubashi University * Doshisha University # Sophia University

Abstract: Modern Egypt has a wealth of available statistical data and geographic information for the study of its socioeconomic

history. This paper aims to analyze the transformation of its agrarian society against the background of the transition from natural

to artificial irrigation, using GIS as a tool to link the statistical data with geographical information. The main focus was on the

trend in the changing number of rural settlements and their geographical distribution; the geographical distribution of the two

types of rural settlements over time － old traditional villages (qarya) and the new hamlets (‘izba) .The following two are the

main results. First is the two distinct patterns of settlement formation in relation to the transition of the irrigation system in mod-

ern Egypt. Almost all of the old villages were built in premodern times on the elevated lands with the natural irrigation system;

the new hamlets were constructed on the cultivated lands called basins or on the newly developed lands in the outer border re-

gions of the Delta with the artificial irrigation system. Second is the changes in settlement patterns in response to the transition

from natural to artificial irrigation. This is clarified by focusing on the relationships between environmental characteristics such

as water flow lines, location of the settlements, insolation, and local topography.

Keywords: Egypt, irrigation, village, quantitative assessment, landscape, GIS

1. Introduction

Almost all of the Middle Eastern states have artificial bound-

aries because they were established after the First World War by

the European Great Powers seeking to further their own interests.

This historical legacy is a major factor in the underdevelopment

of nation-states in the region. Egypt, however, is one of the few

exceptions among Middle Eastern states in that it has historical

boundaries and traditions that have helped to instill a mature

‘national’ consciousness in the population. The formation of the

Egyptian nation began with the ‘Egyptians’—that is, the com-

munities that developed along the Nile River—and only then did

the process move on to the political formation of the Egyptian

state.

Against the background of the transition from natural to arti-

ficial irrigation, this paper discusses the socioeconomic back-

ground to the formation of the Egyptian state, focusing on the

changes in village locations and their distribution in Lower

Egypt by using GIS to link statistical data and geographic in-

formation.

2. General trends in population and number of

settlements in modern Egypt

2.1 Two turning points in the socioeconomic history of

Egypt in modern times from the viewpoint of source materi-

al

It is well known that Japan built a modern state with remark-

able speed following the Meiji Restoration of 1868. However,

one of the other early efforts by a non-Western country to estab-

lish a modern, independent state was made by Egypt. Napole-

on’s Expedition to Egypt in 1798 was the starting point for

Egypt’s modernization and westernization, and it produced as a

scholarly gift, the famous Description de l’Égypte, which con-

tains a wealth of statistical and geographic data and information.

The French occupation of Egypt ended in 1801 after only

three years. Subsequently, Muhammad Ali (reign 1805–1848)

came to the throne and an attempt was made to establish a mod-

ern state in Egypt under the rule of this enlightened absolute

monarch. He instituted an economic policy that was externally

protectionist and internally monopolistic. The state expropriated

the profits from the agricultural sector in order to establish state-

run industrial sectors and a modern military. The expansion

of Egyptian state power was remarkable, and its military

strength surpassed that of the Ottoman Empire in the First and

Second Egyptian–Ottoman Wars (1831–33, 1839–41).

However, the prevailing international politics of the early 19th

century would not permit a new power to emerge, and the Eu-

ropean powers exerted pressure on Egypt, including the use of

armed force, to force it to accede to the London Treaty of 1840.

The treaty recognized the family of Muhammad Ali as heredi-

tary viceroys of Egypt—a position that the family retained until

the 1952 revolution, in which the king was deposed in a coup by

pan-Arab nationalist army officers—in exchange for Egypt re-

linquishing all of her conquered territories besides the Sudan.

Muhammad Ali’s attempts to build a modern state thus met

with failure. However, the agricultural wealth supported by the

waters of the Nile remained abundant. This availability of re-

sources encouraged a renewed attempt to construct a modern

state, this time within a free trade regime. This second attempt

was led by Muhammad Ali’s successors, Said (reign 1854–

1863) and in particular Ismail (reign 1868–1879).

Unfortunately, the bill for the construction of a modern state

was enormous. During the reign of Muhammad Ali, the nation

incurred no foreign debts. In 1862, Egypt borrowed from abroad

for the first time. The debt quickly accumulated, and in 1876,

only 14 years after the first loan, Egypt found herself bankrupt

and was placed under international supervision by the Western

powers.

In 1881, the deepening intrusions of the Western powers into

Egypt’s domestic politics triggered the country’s first nationalist

movement. Called the Orabi Revolution, after the military of-

ficer who led it, the movement collapsed the following year,

when British soldiers landed in Alexandria. Egypt was thereafter

placed under British military occupation, leading to the devel-

Article



opment of what was in fact a colonial administration. It is from

this time that statistics were first systematically compiled in

crease in the birth rate: the former rapidly decreased after the

revolution in 1952, while the latter decreased only in the 1990s.

13,000

Population

Villages/towns

11,000

9,000

7,000

5,000

devoted to the gathering and compilation of economic, social,

and other statistics for the management of the State.(1)

Furthermore, at the same time, the production of maps of

10,000,000

0

3,000

1,000

Egypt using scientific ordnance survey techniques began as part

of the agricultural land survey project conducted between 1892

and 1907, which was the first time since French scholars had

produced the maps of Egypt on Napoleon’s Expedition to Egypt.

Subsequently, maps containing specific information on, for ex-

ample, irrigation and transportation came to be produced.

In summary, the socioeconomic history of modern Egypt has

two turning points from the viewpoint of source materials. The

first turning point is Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798,

which produced the Description de l’Égypte and was the starting

point of modern sciences in Egypt. The second is the British

military occupation of Egypt in 1882, which initiated the sys-

tematic collection of statistical data and geographic information

under British colonial rule.

Therefore, the socioeconomic history of Egypt from the early

19th century to the present can be divided into the following two

eras. The most recent of the two is from the early 20th century to

the beginning of the 21st century: rich documentary material is

available for this period, from which we can glean information

about Egyptian settlement and land use patterns as well as ge-

ography. A geographic information system (GIS), which is a tool

to link statistical data with geographic information, is useful for

the analysis of such rich source materials. The previous era was

from the early 19th century to the 20th century, for which little

geographic information and few statistical data are available.

However, in such a context, GIS can be used as an efficient tool

to link the available source materials and analyze their interrela-

tions in order to develop new research fields and hypotheses.

2.2 Trends in the population and the number of settlements

in modern Egypt

Before examining the specific changes in the number of vil-

lages and their distribution patterns over time, we will give an

overview of the general trends in population growth and the

number of settlements (towns and villages) in modern Egypt.

Figure 1 shows the population trends for the period 1800–2006.

It is clear that the beginning of the 20th century was the turning

point in the population trend, and that the population also dras-

tically increased after the Second World War.

Figure 2 shows the trends in birth and mortality rates in Egypt,

and illustrates why the rapid increase in population occurred

after the Second World War. From a demographic viewpoint, the

overall population trend in modern Egypt is explained by the

long lag between the decrease in the mortality rate and the de-

Figure 1 Population and number of settlements (towns and

villages) in Egypt, 1800–2006.

Note:The population before 1882 was estimated by Hirofumi

Tanada, Waseda University.

Sources: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

(CAPMAS) 1976 Population & Housing Census Volume 1. To-

tal Republic ref. no. 93-15111-1980, Cairo, 1980. Statistical

Yearbook 2005, Cairo, 2006. http://www.capmas.gov.eg. Popu-

lation census 1882, 1897, 1907, 1917, 1927, 1937, 1947; Statis-

tical Yearbook 2008.

50

45

40

35

30

25

Birth rate 20 Mortality rate

15

10

5

0

Figure 2 Birth and mortality rates, 1897–2006.

Sources: As in Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a sharp contrast between the rapid growth in

the population and the slow growth in the number of settlements.

Here, settlements are meant by smallest administrative units

(villages and towns). Except for the census periods from 1907 to

1937, the number of settlements grew slowly: for example, from

3,634 in 1882 to 4,052 in 1947, and to 4,160 in 1960. The num-

ber of settlements remained relatively stable even in the latter

half of the 20th century, when the demographic explosion oc-

curred. The number of settlements in Lower and Upper Egypt

was 4,590 in 2006.

The decrease in the number of settlements from the end of the

19th century to the beginning of the 20th century could be ex-

plained by the regulations prohibiting the construction of ‘new

hamlets’ (called ‘izba) and unifying some existing settlements

processes that increased markedly during this period in order to

facilitate better management in rural areas. By contrast, the slow

increase in settlements in the 20th century is explained by the

absorption of the growing population primarily into the Nile

Egypt. 80,000,000 The first census was conducted in 1882, the year in which 70,000,000

Egypt came under British military occupation. This was in fact a 60,000,000 preparatory step for the first true population census, which was 50,000,000 conducted in 1897. Thereafter, the census was repeated at 40,000,000

10-year intervals, in 1907, 1917, 1927, 1937, and 1947. In tan- 30,000,000 dem with the execution of population censuses, attention was 20,000,000

Po

pu

lati

on

Nu

mb

er of villages

％

http://www.capmas.gov.eg/



Basin, mainly through rural–urban migration to Cairo between

1940 and 1970, and by the expansion of existing small and me-

dium cities and villages from 1980 to the present day (instead of

the creation of new ones).

3. Social transformation of rural Egypt in mod-

ern times

3.1 Transformation of the landscape in rural Egypt in

modern times

To show the usefulness of GIS as a tool for researching the

socioeconomic history of modern Egypt, three periods are cho-

sen for comparison: (1) the beginning of the 19th century, when

the French army occupied Egypt; (2) the beginning of the 20th

century, when British colonial rule in Egypt was at its zenith;

and (3) the beginning of the 21st century, the present day. We

aim to use GIS to link statistical data with geographic infor-

mation, and the purpose of the comparisons among the three

time periods is to clarify the changes in the number of settle-

ments and in their distribution patterns against the background

of the transition from natural to artificial irrigation.

Before the 19th century, the geographical location of a settle-

ment in Egypt was determined by one simple condition: it re-

quired an elevated location (hill) that remained above water

when the Nile flooded, which occurred regularly once a year. As

a result, Egyptian villages have existed in the same places for a

long time. In addition, the villages took an agglomerated form,

and their sizes increased over time. Thus, Egyptian villages,

which were naturally formed agglomerations, also came to

function as administrative units.

The transition to an artificial system of irrigation in the 19th

century resulted in a significant change in the layout of the

Egyptian countryside The banks that had previously surrounded

the cultivated lands (basins) to protect them from floodwater

were destroyed and these lands were subsequently converted

into small units of land for cultivation. The same rate of land tax

was imposed on these new cultivated areas. Moreover, hamlets

began to be constructed on the cultivated lands since these were

no longer flooded by the Nile. In addition, hamlets appeared

especially on the lands that were reclaimed after the 19th century

in the area bordering the desert, where large farms for commer-

cial crops had developed.

Thus, many new hamlets were born. The traditional old vil-

lages were called qarya (Figure 3); new hamlets were called

‘izba (Figure 4). Hamlets tended to be constructed as agglomer-

ations attached to the old ‘mother villages’. The number of

hamlets increased rapidly with the demographic expansion, and

rendered the landscape of the Egyptian countryside drastically

different from that before the 19th century.

Figure 3 Qarya in Gharbiya Governorate at the beginning of

the 20th century.

Source: Lozach, MM.J. et G. Hug, L’Habitat Rural en Égypte, la

Société Royale de Géographie D’ Égypte, Cairo, 1930, Pl. I.

Figure 4 ‘Izba in Gharbiya Governorate at the beginning of

the 20th century.

Source: Lozach et Hug 1930 : Pl. IV.

3.2 Settlements in the 20th century

Figure 5 indicates the locations where new settlements were

established in Lower Egypt between 1882 and 2006 based on

censuses. Black dots represent the old settlements that existed in

1907; the columns represent the change in the number of set-

tlements between 1882 and 2006. Old settlements were mainly

located in the central Delta areas between the two Nile branches;

a typical example is Menufiya Governorate. Many new settle-

ments, on the other hand, were built on the outer edges of the

Delta, such as in Buheira and Sharqiya Governorates after 1927.

Figure 5 Location of old settlements that existed in 1907 and

change in the number of settlements between 1882-2006 by

governorate.

Source: CAPMAS Population Census 1882-2006.



Note: (1) Settlements here, as mentioned before, refer to the

administrative units, that are villages (qarya) in rural area and

towns (shiyakha) in urban area. Villages and towns are the

smallest units in Egyptian administration. (2) Black dots repre-

sent the villages and towns in the 1907 census. Their locations

were identified using the list of administrative units (qarya and

shiyakha) of 2006 census. The locations of 70% of the villages

and towns were identified, but some of them were not, due to

the change in the names or administrative boundaries.

Figure 6 shows the location of ‘izba (hamlets) in 1907. The

red dots represent settlements without ‘izba, which are located

in the central Delta area between the two Nile branches, such as

in Menufiya Governorate. By contrast, settlements with many

‘izba are distributed in the outer Delta governorates, such as

Buheira and Sharqiya.

Figure 6 ‘Izba distribution in 1907.

Source: Nizāra al-Māliya 1909.

The outer edges of Delta where new settlements were built

housed a high concentration of nomads (referred to as ‘urbān in

the census) (Figure 7). Nomads played an important role as a

subsidiary army to the regular army in the Egyptian state and as

merchants in Egyptian society in modern times, although their

role has been underestimated in the study of the modern history

of Egypt. Nomads had for many years enjoyed the privilege of

being exempt from the military draft, to which all other Egyp-

tians were subject. This privilege was nullified under the pretext

that it was a ‘racial’ (‘unsur) privilege, and nomads were finally

incorporated as ‘Egyptians’ in 1956, when all laws and regula-

tions that differentiated between the Bedouin and other Egyp-

tians were abolished.(2) The situation peculiar to nomads in

modern Egypt is reflected in the fact that they were distin-

guished from other Egyptians and registered as the distinct cat-

egory of ‘nomads’ in Egyptian censuses before their incorpora-

tion as ‘Egyptians’ in 1956.

Figure 7 shows the locations of settlements inhabited by no-

mads. Black dots represent settlements that housed more than 50

nomads. Some of the settlements had more than 3,000 or even

10,000 nomads. Settlements with a high population of nomads

tended to be located in the outer Delta governorates, such as

Buheira and Sharqiya. Interestingly, however, nomads also in-

habited areas inside the Delta, where it was not uncommon to

find settlements with 50 or so nomads.

Figure 7 Distribution of settled nomads in 1907.

Source: Nizāra al-Māliya 1909.

3.3 Two types of Egyptian village qarya and ‘izba

As mentioned earlier, there are two types of settlements: ‘old’

and ‘new’ that are called village (qarya) and hamlet (‘izba) re-

spectively. These two categories of settlement are distinct not

only in the history of their formation but also in their landscape

and the lifestyle of their inhabitants. Figure 8 shows the year of

construction of houses in Abu Senita, Menufiya Governorate, a

typical old settlement in the central Delta area. In 2006, its pop-

ulation was 4,468.

Abu Senita is an agglomerated old village that does not have

any adjoining hamlets (‘izba). Most of the old houses are locat-

ed in the village districts (hāra or nāhiya). The cemetery and

holy mausoleum are located within the residential area of the

village. In addition, the residential areas of the village, original-

ly situated at the crossroads of canals or roads, have expanded

along roads outside the village districts.

Figure 9 shows the year of construction of houses in Sidi

Oqba, in Buheira Governorate in the outer Delta area. It is a

typical new settlement composed of many hamlets (‘izba), with

a population of 20,429 in 2006. Sidi Oqba is composed of 52

hamlets (‘izba). The map in Figure 9 shows Izbat Sidi Oqba, the

biggest hamlet in Sidi Oqba.

The oldest house in Izbat Sidi Oqba was built in 1940; most

of the houses are new. The cemetery and holy mausoleum are

located far from the settlement. Old houses are located along the

main canal, and new houses have been built on agricultural land

far from the main canal.



Figure 8 Year of construction year of houses in Abu Senita.

Source: Household survey data (2005).

Figure 9 Year of construction of houses in Sidi Oqba.

Source: Household survey data (2005).

4. Environmental assessment of Nile Delta set-

tlements and their variation over time

4.1 Compiling the basic environmental data of the Nile

Delta

As we have discussed qualitatively up to this point, the ex-

pansion of rural society onto the very large area of wetlands in

the lower areas of the Nile Basin advanced dramatically with the

introduction of the innovative technology of artificial irrigation.

From a more detailed, micro viewpoint, with this advanced

technology and with land reclamation, the style of habitation

and land utilization in the villages changed from the traditional,

‘old village’ style that had been predominant in the early period

of expansion. As a result, a new type of settlement was created

that differed from the traditional pattern retained in the old vil-

lages. Therefore, when assessing the evolving Egyptian residen-

tial environment in terms of changes in spatial phenomena

through time, an important aspect is to consider such changes in

the patterns of settlement (such as village locations and layouts),

not only from the micro perspective of changes in individual

villages, but also from the macro perspective of settlement

trends across the whole Nile Delta.

In this section, we aim to discuss this ‘form’ by means of a

variety of spatiotemporal data. A comparison of the historical

details of different irrigation methodologies will be the first step

toward quantitatively understanding how changes occurred in

the residential environment and land usage. Therefore, in this

project, the first step was to compile basic topographical and

environmental data for the Nile Delta area for use in GIS(3),

which is a method used in spatiotemporal informatics.

We collected Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data

and extracted topographical information for the Nile Delta area

only. The SRTM used interferometric synthetic aperture radar,

and was deployed on the STS-90 mission(4) of the Space Shuttle

Endeavour. The collected data from this mission were used to

create a digital elevation model (DEM) of the Earth’s surface. In

this study, after downloading the freely available SRTM-3(5) data

from the FTP server, we generated a DEM for the Nile Delta by

sorting the data in the target area by latitude and longitude.(6)

Then, after converting these data to a DEM, the impact of noise

and missing values in the SRTM data was minimized by calcu-

lating spatial autocorrelation values; this was done by scanning

a 55 kernel (Figure 10).

Figure 10 SRTM data and topography shadow-map.

(colored by elevation)

Although, under normal circumstances, satellite data that

provide environmental information at a higher resolution should

be used, in this study we acquired LANDSAT-T(7) and LAND-

SAT-ETM data, given that the original topographical data had

SRTM-3 resolution. When deficiencies were found in the freely

available data, we acquired affordable commercially archived

LANDSAT data (Figure 11).

We conducted fieldwork in the Nile Delta area, carrying out a

simple topographical survey by photographing the landscape.

We conducted a vegetation survey of the cultivated areas

twice—in March and September 2012—to obtain topographical

and environmental ground truth data. More details regarding the

investigation are given in later papers; however, the ground truth

data described above form the basis of this paper. Additionally,

we mapped the spot where a drilling investigation was carried

out as part of the acquisition of ground truth data. In the future,

we plan to encode not only the surface information, but also the

geological information for GIS analysis.



Figure 11 LANDSAT satellite data (compound True-Color).

4.2 Environmental assessment using the basic environmen-

tal data

Environmental assessment was carried out with the following

GIS modules from the DEM and LANDSAT. In addition, we

used IDRISI, developed by Clark Labs, as GIS software, and the

analysis utilized modules in IDRISI for analysis.

ELEVATION Generally, the elevation values that appear

in the DEM correspond to heights above sea level; how-

ever, in the case of SRTM, GSIGEO model

WGS84/EGM96 values are used. Therefore, technically,

the elevation is different from the actual height above sea

level in Egypt. In this study, we developed an application

that converts SRTM values to the actual heights above sea

level used locally in Egypt for the DEM construction

(Figure 12).

ASPECT In IDRISI, a module that determines the direc-

tion of the land’s slope at each pixel, called ASPECT, was

used; this calculates the direction of the slope based on the

difference between the absolute elevation values for adja-

cent pixels. This study also used this module to determine

the direction of the land’s slope for each pixel (Figure 13).

SLOPE In IDRISI, a module that determines the gradient

for each pixel, called SLOPE, was used; this calculates the

gradient based on the difference between the absolute ele-

vation values for adjacent pixels. This study also used this

module to determine the gradient for each pixel (Figure

14).

HILLSHADE In IDRISI, a module that determines the

insolation on each pixel, called HILLSHADE, was used.

The calculation was based on the direction of the land’s

slope and on the sun’s position (direction and angular

height) relative to each pixel. It is necessary to average

these values over all four seasons, since the model requires

a specific input value for the position of the sun relative to

the pixel, which of course varies through the day and year.

Thus, we averaged the values calculated for the sun’s rela-

tive position at every minute of every day over a whole

year to calculate the standard insolation on each pixel. Av-

erage annual insolation thus became quantitatively com-

parable between pixels (Figure 15).

Runoff modeling and distance To understand differences

between natural and artificial irrigation—the principal ob-

jective of this study—it is necessary to calculate the direc-

tion in which water would flow naturally over the land

(that is, to model the so-called natural state), and then in-

vestigate whether there is a relationship between these

flow patterns and the spatial distribution of settlements

and arable lands. In this study, we extracted the number of

catchment accumulation pixels and expressed falling

overboard line setting the threshold on that extracted using

the runoff-modeling module in IDRISI. Then, we con-

ducted buffer processing from this line and compiled data

indicating the horizontal distance from that process. (Fig-

ure 16).

Evaluation of the shoreline and distance Ordinary damp

ground can be made cultivable by developing artificial ir-

rigation; this process is spatially related to the historical

process of the reclamation of lagoons or large brackish

waters extending along the Nile Delta coast. This fact is

confirmed by the phenomenon of settlements clustering in

the coastal area over time. In this study, the shoreline is

evaluated using LANDSAT data, similarly to the afore-

mentioned distance from the falling overboard line: we

assessed the present coastline by overlaying with DEM,

and produced data indicating the horizontal distance using

the buffer-processing function of GIS (Figure 17).

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) The

majority of the presently cultivated and reclaimed land

was once—at least in the early modern period—lagoon or

damp ground. Soil conditions for such areas are worse in

the alluvial fan of the Nile Delta, which has also experi-

enced damage from salt. We expect corresponding differ-

ences in the ability of the soil to nourish plants. For this

reason, we created NDVI data using Band3 (visible red re-

flectance) and Band4 (near-infrared reflectance)(8) in the

LANDSAT data set (Figure 18).

The environmental data described above allowed us to

stabilize the layer structure of the GIS data set as raster

data with the same kind of resolution as with each SRTM

resolution. We then linked this to the database that rec-

orded the locations of rural communities and cultivated

land areas, which we entered in GIS form.

Figure 12 DEM from height above the sea level.



Figure 13 ASPECT distribution map.

Figure 14 SLOPE distribution map.

Figure 15 HILLSHADE distribution map.

Figure 16 Run-off Modeling and distance.

Figure 17 An evaluation of the shoreline and distance.

Figure 18 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

(NDVI).



4.3 Basic data on residential areas and the estimation of

historical data

In principle, it is impossible to simulate accurately the envi-

ronment in the Nile Delta in the early modern or later modern

periods because of the unavoidability of using the present to-

pography and environmental information when trying to obtain

information that has the same precision for the whole Delta.

Although it is possible to gather historical environmental data at

low spatial resolution (as well as better-resolved data, but on

environmental characteristics that are of little interest), spatially

resolved historical environmental data that would be appropriate

for GIS analysis are unavailable at present.

Nevertheless, by using census data and documentary records,

it was possible to map to a certain level of accuracy the residen-

tial areas and cultivated lands of modern times: what we now

call ‘rural society’. In this paper, we aim to clarify the sequence

of changes from the historical to the present conditions by

means of digital data. We therefore created maps of the distribu-

tion of villages(9) for three periods: (1) the 1800s, when the

French army occupied Egypt; (2) the 1900s, using the census

data compiled when the British colonized Egypt; and (3) the

2000s. These three maps are shown in Figures 19–21.

Figure 19 Distribution map of villages in the 1800s.



Moreover, since it is necessary to compile detailed data on

land ownership and harvest times of cultivated land, in this

analysis, we created Voronoi territories(10) as the ‘catchment

areas’(11) of target residential areas, based on the maps of the

distribution of villages; we then extracted the total territory for

each village, comprising the village itself and a catchment area

calculated by extending a buffer zone 3km beyond the village

perimeter. However, the spatial extent of villages, the year of

their establishment, relationships between inhabitants, and oc-

cupations are not known accurately. We chose a plausible range

of values for these parameters, thus creating a reasonable hypo-

thetical setting.

4.4 Extraction of environmental data and principal com-

ponent analysis (PCA) to link with the database

We configured the database to match the spatial environmen-

tal data tithe maps of the distribution of villages for each period.

For each village, in each period, we extracted the values of the

corresponding environmental parameters for its total area, in-

cluding the catchment area, from the datasets. For the environ-

mental parameters, we used the average values (that is, we av-

eraged the values of each environmental parameter over all pix-

els in the catchment area) and standard deviations (to evaluate

the internal variation).(12)

Each of the seven environmental parameters is stored as an

average and standard deviation; therefore, the environmental

conditions in each village and its catchment area are described

by a data set of 14 variables. These could be interpreted sepa-

rately; however, we attempted the dimensional contraction of

variables by PCA .As the variables were all expressed in differ-

ent units of measurement, and had different standard deviations,

it was necessary firstly to normalize the values.(13) Next, the

normalized values were evaluated by PCA and cluster analysis

using R statistical analysis software (version 2.15.2).

We now summarize our findings from PCA.

First, when we inspect the characteristic vector for the first

principal component for data from the 1800s (Figure 22), the

variable ‘hs.mean’ (the HILLSHADE mean) is found to explain

a significant amount of the variance; however, in each individu-

al principal component, this variance is not meaningful in the

1900s compared with the 1800s or 2000s. It is likely that



‘hs.mean’ captures the correlation between increased farm pro-

duce and the general abundance of vegetation in a given year. In

this sense, when considering the transition between conditions

of natural irrigation and completely artificial irrigation, which is

the main purpose of this report, we can perceive the tendency

for villages to spread into areas that enjoy increased agricultural

yields.

‘hs.mean’ was not heavily weighted in the major characteris-

tic vectors for the 1900s data; from the diagram, we can see that

its weight is negligible in both Comp.1 and Comp.2.This may

capture the process whereby villages and their catchment areas

came to spread onto land with bad soil conditions (e.g., because

of salt damage) along the coast, during the transition from natu-

ral irrigation to artificial irrigation. ‘Seadis.mean’ is heavily

weighted in Comp.2 for the 1900s data. This may indicate that

villages did not spread along the Rosetta tributary of the Nile, or

other mid-range tributaries. It suggests rather that villages

spread out in a fan shape, with the edge of the Delta as the outer

edge of the fan and the Nile headwaters as the tip. Another

noteworthy feature is the significant weight of the variable for

the land’s slope and for its standard deviation, ‘Sl.mean’ and

‘Sl.stdev’, respectively, in Comp.1.This shows the aspect not

only for a flat field, but also for the lowland, which remained

difficult to cultivate, as it had experienced only a small increase

in elevation at this stage. Moreover, we should note the connec-

tion with irrigation suggested by the weight of ‘Rivdis.stdev’ in

the characteristic vectors. This variable shows a strong correla-

tion with the distribution of villages in Comp.2 in the 1800s data.

The variable ‘Rivdis’is not strongly weighted in this principal

component for the 1900s and 2000s data; however, we can in-

terpret this as reflecting the trend of growing independence of

settlement patterns from geographical constraints. When farmers

switched from natural irrigation to artificial irrigation by adopt-

ing technological innovations, the natural topographical variable

‘Rivdis’ became less important. Therefore, this may show that

the issue of water supply was solved by artificial irrigation.

When we plot the coordinates of each village in the space

defined by the first and second principal components (Figure

23), we see that the distribution becomes far more diffuse over

time (spreading out from a tight cluster in the 1800s). Further-

more, there are three mutually distinct classes of village in the

1800s (that is, three types are distinguishable in the space de-

fined by the principal components); however, it is difficult to

visually discern either this clustering or how it evolves over

time.

Accordingly, we performed a cluster analysis using principal

components (on the village distributions in this abstract space).

In this analysis, we set threshold of 1800 about dissimilarity

distance (Figure 24). It can be seen that in the first period (the

1800s), there are three types of villages; there are five in the

second period (the 1900s); and eight in the third period (the

present day). These findings indicate that settlements have

clearly adapted to a variety of poor environmental conditions.

They also indicate that there are trends in the data that cannot be

explained solely by random processes such as the chaotic ex-

pansion of villages and cultivated land. Of course, as this is a

cluster analysis, not a causal one, we cannot understand these

findings in evolutionary terms; i.e., we cannot state that ‘a’ arose

because of ‘A’. The way of thinking of such a form was uncer-

tain only in at least plot, but it may be understood as having

measurable validity with the use of GIS.

Figure 22 Characteristic vector plot

(top panel, 1800s; middle panel, 1900s; bottom panel, 2000s).



Figure 23 The principal component score distribution of each

village Plot

(top panel: 1800s, middle panel: 1900s, bottom panel: 2000s).

Figure 24 Cluster analysis of principal component score

(top panel: 1800s, middle panel: 1900s, bottom panel: 2000s).

5. Concluding Remarks

Modern Egypt has a wealth of available statistical data and

geographic information for the study of its socioeconomic his-

tory. This paper aimed to analyze the transformation of its

agrarian society against the background of the transition from

natural to artificial irrigation in modern times, using GIS as a

tool to link statistical data with geographic information. The

main focus was on the trend in the changing number of villages

and their geographical distribution.

The paper divided the analysis into two parts. Section 3 ex-

amined the geographical distribution of the two types of villages

over time: old villages (‘qarya) and the new hamlets (‘izba). The

results clarified the two distinct patterns of village formation in

relation to the transition of the irrigation system in modern

Egypt. Almost all of the old villages were built in premodern

times on the elevated lands with the natural irrigation system;

the new villages were constructed on the cultivated lands called

basins or on the newly developed lands in the outer border re-

gions of the Delta with the artificial irrigation system.

Section 4 attempted to quantitatively evaluate the changes in

settlement patterns in response to the transition from natural to

artificial irrigation, by focusing on the relationships between

environmental characteristics such as water flow lines, location

of the villages, insolation, and local topography. Section 4 did

not use the specific census data for the population and number

of households in individual villages, nor the data on occupations

and the exact area of cultivated land, which were used in section



3. Nevertheless, we believe the quantitative methodology

adopted here has provided some useful insights.

There are still many challenges for future research; however,

it is obvious that it will at least be possible to qualitatively sub-

divide the trends identified herein into a collection of more spe-

cific patterns, for example, based on the characteristics of indi-

vidual villages. There will also be a significant future role for

spatiotemporal information in studying the environment and

civilization of Egypt, and especially patterns of human settle-

ment and land use in rural society. Continued deep study will be

required to refine this approach further.

Notes (1) One such case was 1897, when the general population

census was accompanied by the collection of other statis-

tics. Statistics on social and economic aspects of village

life were also collected at the time of the 1907 census; for

example, Nizāra al-Māliya, Ihsā’ īya ‘umūmī ’an

muhāfazāt wa al-mud īr īyāt al-qutr al-misrī [The general

statistics of Egypt by administration units] (Cairo, 1909),

published by the Ministry of Finance. This contains the

following statistical information at village level: number

of ‘izba, population, number of houses, number of nomads,

amount of tax paid on lands and palm trees (LE/year), area

of privately owned land (feddan), number of hauds, area of

taxed land (feddan), number of taxpayers, maximum

amount of tax (millime), area of islands (feddan), number

of palm trees, and number of springs and wells in oases.

(2) Hiroshi Kato, ‘The Bedouin in Egyptian National Identity:

Minority or Vagabond?’, Usuki Akira (ed.) State For-

mation and Ethnic Relations in the Middle East, JCAS

Symposium Series 5, The Japan Center for Area Studies

(JCAS), National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 2001, p.

184

(3) In this paper, GIS stands for Geographic Information Sys-

tem, a computer application that integrates general spatial

information with an attribute database. GIS is also the ab-

breviation for Geographic Information Science, meaning

here spatiotemporal informatics; GIS also stands for Geo-

graphic Information Service, which is an applied domain

beyond the study of just software and applications.

(4) SRTM was part of the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission

launched in 2000 by NASA.

(5) This is mesh data with a resolution of 3 arc seconds (about

90m); SRTM-30 (about 900 m) and SRTM-1 (about 30m)

are also available. Currently, the highest-resolution, pub-

licly available data that can be used for DEM in the Nile

Delta are SRTM-3.

(6) In addition, one downloads SRTM information as raw data,

in a file with the specific extension ‘.hgt’. Free software is

used to convert it to a DEM. In this study, we

used‘HGT2TIFF’,which was developed by Doshisha Uni-

versity. Typically, one would use an application such as

3DEM. In addition, most GIS software includes an appli-

cation or function for converting raw satellite data to DEM

format.

(7) This is a multiwavelength, earth optical observation satel-

lite. It is equipped with high-precision sensorswith30 m

resolution; the system is called TM (Thematic Mapper)

after LANDSAT4 (1984).

(8) We extracted the NDVI by means of the conventional

image operation: (near infrared + red) / (near infrared –

red).

(9) The distribution maps in particular are inexact. Some rea-

sons for this are the challenge of obtaining good-quality

data for the 1800s and the difficulty of matching past set-

tlements with current place names, as the names may have

changed significantly. However, the chances of introduc-

ing a major discrepancy are low as long as the researcher

is conscious of these uncertainties and exercises caution.

(10) These are referred to as Thiessen polygons. This is a spa-

tial interpolation method based on the perpendicular bi-

sectors of pairs of points; individual points are arranged in

each territory.

(11) We understand this as the range within which a village has

access to resources exclusively from the local environment.

Therefore, having set the Voronoi territory (10), we set the

catchment area perimeter at a distance of 3 km from the

village; i.e., approximately one hour of travel at a walking

pace.

(12) Each environmental parameter value in each defined vil-

lage territory is found quantitatively by averaging the val-

ues for each data layer for each pixel in the assigned area

(the village and its catchment area). For instance, in the

case of A village: it is in the 5-pixel range, its area is

40,500 m2 (90 m 90 m 5pixels), and its environmental

attributes are stored in the database: e.g., average elevation,

average gradient, and the corresponding standard devia-

tions. We used the sample standard deviations, which pre-

supposes that villages and catchment areas have ‘definite’

borders. However, village borders were poorly defined in

quite a few cases, and we can assume that predictive ad-

aptation is necessary especially in the case of old villages.

In this paper, we used it, attaching importance to proce-

dural reproducibility.

(13) We adopted the method of subtracting the sample value

from the sample standard deviation, and then dividing the

standard deviation value for average 0, and standard devi-

ation value 1.



How did the Nomads Act during the 1916

Revolt in Russian Turkistan?

AKIRA UEDA

Graduate student, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo. JSPS Research

Abstract: This study applies the Geographic Information System (GIS) to the historical studies of the 1916 revolt in Central

Asia and specifically investigates the role of the nomads in this revolt. This historical GIS research compares nomads in Fergha-

na, Samarkand and Semirechie provinces to examine the relationship between the socio-economic situation and the uprisings and

particularly analyzes agriculture and Russian migration in nomadic area. This study shows that the Russian policy regarding the

nomads was implemented without principle. Although some nomads could secure profits, most lost their land or water. The so-

cio-economic conditions of the nomads were forcefully changed, and they participated in the 1916 revolt. Though the specific

cause of the revolt was determined by various factors, this study suggests there may be correlations between the colonial eco-

nomic policy of the Russian Empire and the course of the revolt.

Keywords: Turkistan, The 1916 revolt, nomadism, agriculture, irrigation

1. Introduction

This study applies the Geographic Information System (GIS)

to historical studies of Central Asia. It uses the 1916 revolt in

Turkistan as an example, and specifically investigates the role of

the nomads in this revolt. Although the relationship between

Russian colonial policy and the revolt of the nomads is im-

portant, few historical documents are available on the subject.

Nevertheless, research using GIS can clarify more detailed rela-

tionships.

This study compares four geographic areas to examine the

relationship between the socio-economic situation and the up-

risings among the nomadic societies in Turkistan. Nomads had

lived in the region for a long time, and Russian peasants began

migrating to nomadic areas mainly after the 19th century. As

previous studies show, Russian migration and land expropriation

from nomads were important causes of the revolt of the nomads.

However, the course of events leading to the 1916 revolt varied

according to geographical area.

Section II provides a general introduction and the develop-

ments of the revolts. In sections III and IV, this study primarily

examines the nomads in Ferghana Province, the Hungry Steppe,

and the Tair-Sheikh Steppe(1) from a fact finding level, but it

only refers to Semirechie as it has been investigated in previous

studies.

Figure 1 Russian Turkistan.

Article



The nomads of Turkistan

With the annexation of the Khanate of Kokand in 1876, Rus-

sia completed its conquest of Central Asia. Russian Central Asia

was generally divided into a northern steppe area and a southern

oasis area. In the northern area, most natives were of nomadic

descent and lived not only in the Steppe provinces but also in

Turkistan. In particular, they occupied the foothills and deserts

of Turkistan. The historical term “nomads” (кочевник), as it

appeared under Russian rule, referred to a category in the coun-

try’s taxation system.(2) It did not usually imply that the people

categorized under this label followed a nomadic lifestyle.

Therefore, in this study, the term “nomads” generally refers to

the administrative group categorized by the Russian authorities.

Figure 2 shows the characteristics of Russian Central Asia.

Most stockbreeders, who were primarily nomads, lived in the

Steppe provinces; however, some lived in Turkistan, especially

in the Semirechie, Syr-Darya, northern part of Zakaspi, and

western part of Samarkand Province. Figure 2 also illustrates the

difference in population density between the Steppe provinces

and Turkistan. In other words, agriculture facilitated higher

population density. The concentrated population in the Ferghana

Valley was a notable example of this tendency.(3)

Regarding the ethnicity of nomads, in Ferghana Province and

the southern part of Semirechie Province, most nomads were

Kyrgyz, while Kazakh nomads occupied the Hungry Steppe, the

Tair-Sheikh Steppe, and the northern part of Semirechie Prov-

ince.

2. The 1916 revolt

The edict on June 25, 1916, which ordered native males of

Turkistan and other areas to work behind the rear of Russia’s

forces fighting in World War I, provoked massive rebellions in

Russian Central Asia. The scale and spread of the 1916 revolt

were unprecedented.

Soviet researchers have argued that the 1916 revolt was an

anti-imperial and anti-feudal mass movement; however, in some

areas, reactionaries agitated the masses and provoked them to

attack Russian immigrants and officials (Tursunov 1962: 234-

235). On the other hand, American researcher R. A. Pierce

indicates that most natives regarded the Russians as interlopers

(Pierce 1960: 295-296). Japanese researchers Nishiyama and

Nishijima examined the differences in Russian policy in the

settled and nomadic areas (Nishiyama 1990: 65-106, Nishijima

1994: 24-43).

In Turkistan, the Russian authorities created almost all funds

for the land for Russian peasants by sacrificing nomadic pasture

lands. In other words, Russian land policies primarily affected

nomadic society, and the Russian influence on Central Asian

society can be examined by analyzing the revolt of the nomads

in Turkistan. However, previous studies of the nomads’ revolt in

Turkistan, such as that conducted by Nishiyama Katsunori

(1990), only examine Semirechie, where most natives, as in the

Steppe provinces, were nomadic Kazakh and Kyrgyz. In Semi-

rechie, a violent civil war broke out between Russian immi-

grants and Kazakh/Kyrgyz nomads. Before the revolt, Russian

authorities strongly encouraged the migration of Russian peas-

ants and expropriation of the nomads’ land on a massive scale

(Nishiyama 1989: 42-43, 48-49). After the revolt, Governor

General A. N. Kuropatkin recognized that land expropriation

from the nomads in Semirechie Province intensified the revolt

(Galuzo 1929: 51, 65).

Figure 2 Population of Russian Central Asia in 1897.

Source: PVP (1899-1905).



Previous research concerning the nomadic areas in Turkistan

where the settled and nomadic groups lived closely, such as

Ferghana and the Hungry Steppe, is incomplete. Therefore, this

study analyzes Ferghana Province, the Hungry Steppe, and the

Tair-Sheikh Steppe, and posits that a number of the processes

behind the revolt derived from socio-economic differences,

particularly in terms of contradictions in societies and social

unrest under Russian rule.

The course of the revolt

The first uprising began on July 4 in the city of Xojant in

Samarkand Province and involved urban settled people. Upris-

ings rapidly spread to other areas in Samarkand and Ferghana

provinces. On July 13, unrest broke out in Jizzakh, and 83 Rus-

sians were killed by rebels. In Semirechie Province, where Rus-

sian settlers had expropriated the land of native Kyrgyz nomads

on a massive scale, uprisings commenced on August 6 and rap-

idly spread throughout the province. Many died, including 2,222

settlers who were killed by the rebels. Russian troops ended the

revolt in Semirechie Province in early September. However, the

revolt spread to the northern Steppe provinces. In Turgai Prov-

ince, Kazakh leader Amangeldy Imanov organized the rebels

and laid siege to the city of Turgai. He stopped the revolt only

after the Russian February Revolution (Zenkovsky 1967: 133-

136).

Nishijima (1994: 31-34) noted that the various uprisings

across Turkistan had common traits. For example, mass protests

against making labor-related lists and conflicts between the

native county officials and the masses were common. However,

the revolts in each area of Turkistan had local characteristics.

In the cases of Ferghana Province, the Hungry Steppe, and

the Tair-Sheikh Steppe, the behavior of the nomads can be de-

scribed as follows:

In settled areas in Ferghana Province, the Uzbek, Sart, Tajik,

and settled Kyrgyz people rebelled by attacking native officials.

The uprisings were suppressed by the Russian army in Septem-

ber (IKSSR 2 1986: 337-338, Vosstanie 1932: 62). In nomadic

areas, too, rebels attacked native officials (Usenbaev 1997: 67-

68, 73-75, 78, Vosstanie 1960: 338-339). Uprisings in the

mountain area continued into late October. Many rebels escaped

with their livestock to the interior of the Tian Shan mountain

range, Semirechie Province, or Xinjiang in China (Usenbaev

1997: 67-68, 73-75, 78, Vosstanie 1960: 338-339).

The southern part of the Hungry Steppe lies in Jizzakh County.

In the revolt in Jizzakh County, more than 80 Russians were

killed (Vosstanie 1932: 31). The rebels in Jizzakh were primarily

the settled Muslim population; the nomads in the Hungry Steppe

did not participate in the revolt, in spite of an appeal by the re-

bels in Jizzakh.(4) Because of tensions among the nomads in the

Hungry Steppe, the Russian chief of police visited the nomadic

area in order to assuage them. During his visit, a violent uprising

occurred in Jizzakh County; thus, he returned to Jizzakh across

the Hungry Steppe escorted by 30 Kyrgyz men (Vosstanie 1960:

117-119).

The Tair-Sheikh Steppe was a part of Kattakurgan County.

Here, rebels consisted of both nomads and members of the set-

tled Muslim population. In the village of Mitan in the Tair-

Sheikh Steppe, 3,000−4,000 people gathered and prevented the

county chief from receiving a message from the chief of

police (Vosstanie 1932: 23-25).

In Ferghana Province, the rebels attacked native government

officials who had requisitioned materials and labor. Although

there were violent uprisings in neighboring areas, uprisings did

not occur in the Hungry Steppe. The Tair-Sheikh Steppe, how-

ever, saw a mass protest movement against Russian authorities.

The following sections reconstruct the socio-economic condi-

tions of the nomads in each area and demonstrate the relation-

ship between the uprisings and the socio-economic situations

3. Ferghana

Information regarding the nomads’ uprising in Ferghana

Province is limited. Although a comprehensive Soviet study

about the 1916 revolt was published in 1962, it did not mention

the uprising of the nomads in Ferghana Province (Tursunov

1962). Later, K. Usenbaev published several books containing

information about the uprisings of the Kyrgyz nomads in Fer-

ghana Province by not only consulting historical documents but

also analyzing oral sources (Usenbaev 1997).

As for the socio-economic change under the Russian rule in

Ferghana Province, the population of Kyrgyz nomads doubled,

increasing from 72,000 in 1889 to 158,000 in 1914 (SOF za

1889: 47 SOF za 1914: pri. 2.).(5) During the same period, the

total population in Ferghana Province also doubled, from ap-

proximately 950,000 in 1890 to 2,200,000 in 1914 (Hedin 1978:

198, SOF za 1914: pri. 2.).(6)

This chapter proposes to look at the economic causes behind

this population increase and reexamines the effect of the revolt

on nomadic society. In other words, this chapter analyses the

effect of the revolt as the collapse of the economic system

formed under Russian rule.

Russian authorities encouraged native farmers in Turkistan to

cultivate cotton for the benefit of the country’s textile industry.

Thus, various measures were adopted in Turkistan. First, a tax

preference for cotton cultivation was enacted and the Russian

National Bank organized credit cooperatives to provide financial

support to cotton farmers. The Russian authorities improved the

variety of cotton and hastened the popularization of American

cotton (upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Central Asia.

Furthermore, the strict policy on imported cotton aided the or-

ganization of cotton monoculture in Turkistan. In 1878, the duty

on imported cotton was 0.4 rubles per pud (16.38 kg), but in

1900, that rose to 4.15 rubles per pud. By 1913, Turkistan pro-

duced four-fifths of the cotton in the entire Russian empire, and

Ferghana Province produced three-fourths of the cotton in Tur-

kistan (Aziatskaia Rossiia 2 1914: 275-298).

The GIS analysis of agriculture (Figure 3) indicates that the

cotton monoculture in Ferghana Province occupied the central

area of the province, irrigated by canals from rivers such as the

Syr-Darya, Sokh, and Isfara. The irrigation system in the Fer-

ghana Valley was expanded during the time of the Khanate of

Kokand. On the other hand, at the base of the mountains and

foothills, wheat cultivation was common. Here, the only usable



water resources were restricted to small streams in narrow val-

leys and rainfall. In the climate of Central Asia, cotton and rice

can be cultivated only on irrigated farmland, while wheat may

be grown on rain-fed farmland. The base of the mountains and

foothills are suitable for rain-fed cultivation because the rainfall

in this area is greater than in the Ferghana Valley. For example,

in the city of Osh (about 1,000 m above sea level), annual pre-

cipitation was 333 mm.(7) Osh was situated in a transitional area

between the nomads and the settled Muslim population. The

cities in the Ferghana Valley generally had lower annual precip-

itation; for example, in Namangan (476 m) annual precipitation

was only 182 mm; in the city of Ferghana (580 m), it was 171

mm;(8) and in Andijan (491 m), it was 210mm.(9) In general,

annual precipitation in the Ferghana Valley was about 200 mm

or less. In contrast, at the base of the mountains and foothills,

annual precipitation exceeded 300 mm.

Other information can be inferred from the GIS map (Figure

3). For example, large rice fields were located in the eastern part

of the valley. Compared with cotton, the rice fields were located

on higher farmland. Comparing Figure 3 (agriculture map) and

Figure 4 (ethnicity map), the GIS analysis suggests that settled

Muslim groups such as the Uzbeks, Sarts, and Kipchaks en-

gaged in cotton monoculture.

Figure 3 Amount of crop farming (wheat, cotton, and rice) in Ferghana Province from 1890-1904.(10)

Source: MSOF А (1897), MSOF М (1899), MSOF N (1910), MSOF O (1910), and MSOF К (1912).

Figure 4 Population and ethnicity in Ferghana Province in 1908.

Source: SNMF (1909).(11)



Figure 4 shows the characteristics of ethnicity distribution.

The Uzbek nation currently includes former Uzbek, Sart, and

Kipchak people. These ethnicities and others were distinguished

from each other in the period of the Russian empire. The Soviet

Union divided the former Ferghana Province into separate na-

tional republics in 1924. After that, Uzbek, Sart, Kipchak and

other ethnicities living in the Ferghana Valley were considered

as a single Uzbek nation. The former Uzbek, Sart, and Kip-

chak people each had their own arrival histories in the Ferghana

Valley. First, in the Ferghana Valley, the Sart descended from

Turkic people who did not yet follow tribalism. The Uzbek and

Kipchak were Turkic nomadic tribes that came from the north-

ern steppe to the Ferghana Valley. In the early 18th century, an

Uzbek group created the Khanate of Kokand in the Ferghana

Valley; the Kipchak had already arrived in the Ferghana Valley

in the 17th century. The GIS map shows that the Sart were the

overwhelming majority in the Ferghana Valley. The Uzbek were

concentrated in districts (волость) in the southern valley near

the cities of Kokand and Skobelev (currently the city of Fer-

ghana). The Kipchak were concentrated in the northeast districts

in the valley along the upper stream of the Syr-Darya River, near

the city of Namangan.

In the Ferghana Valley, the progress of cotton monoculture

meant that the proportion of those self-sufficient in grain de-

clined yearly while the price of grain rose rapidly (SOF za 1905:

30). According to records maintained by the authorities of

Andijan County, the price of wheat was 0.23 ruble per pud

(16.38 kg) in 1889, but it rose to 0.52 ruble per pud in 1892 and

1.23 ruble per pud in 1893 (MSOF А 1897: 41-42). In

1905–1906, the Kyrgyz uprising occurred in Andijan County

because of famine, and many merchants’ shops were destroyed

(Usenbaev et al. 1973: 96). Generally, the cotton farmers were

able to buy expensive imported grain because of their high in-

come from cotton cultivation (SOF za 1906: 19, SOF za 1910:

20).

Regarding the agriculture by nomads, how they engaged in

agriculture in spite of moving from one place to another is im-

portant. Sowing in the spring was key for the coexistence of

nomadism and agriculture, as figures 5 and 6 illustrate. In the

spring, nomads sowed seeds in their winter quarters before

leaving with their livestock. In the summer, they pastured their

livestock in mountain or desert pasturelands. In autumn, they

returned to their winter quarters and harvested the crops, pri-

marily wheat and barley (MKZ OSK 1915: 158-159).

Under Russian rule, nomads found difficulty in obtaining

grain from the market owing to a rapid rise in price. They ex-

panded grain farming to secure the supply of food. However,

irrigation water was limited; as a result, irrigation percentages in

the farming by nomads declined, and they primarily engaged in

rain-fed cultivation (Ueda 2013: 119-120). In addition, the ex-

pansion of farming caused land disputes among the Kyrgyz

(MKZ A 1913: 39).

In Ferghana Province, there were close economic links be-

tween the nomads and the settled Muslim population. The no-

mads sold livestock at the market (bazaar), were paid to pasture

settled people’s livestock, and engaged in transportation. Some

of them worked on settled people’s farmland as seasonal labor

(MKZ A 1913: 62, 78, MKZ OSK 1915: 169-172). These con-

nections protected the nomads from the famine that occurred as

a result of unstable crop yields from rain-fed cultivation (MKZ

A 1913: 60, MKZ N 1913: 54). The GIS analysis reconstructs

Figure 5 Ferghana Province in 1904.

Source: SOF za 1904: 16−17.

Figure 6 Samarkand Province in 1904.

Source: OS (1905: pri. 3−4).



the band of rain-fed cultivation (the yellow band in Figure 7)

undertaken by the nomads living near areas irrigated by the

settled Muslim population. To the north of this yellow band, the

Kyrgyz nomads cultivated crops such as wheat and millet on

their farmland, which was irrigated by mountain streams (the

blue arc in the upper portion of Figure 7). This agricultural situ-

ation was similar to that of the neighboring Semirechie Prov-

ince.(12) On the other hand, to the south of the band of rain-fed

cultivation, cotton and rice fields spread in the Ferghana Valley

(the blue ellipse in the figure). These farmlands were irrigated

with a canal irrigation system. This suggests that the nomads’

unstable, rain-fed cultivation was supported by their economic

link with the settled Muslim population. Furthermore, their live-

stock numbers also declined under Russian rule, from 710,000

in 1891 to 570,000 in 1914 (SOF za 1914: 47, SOF za 1891: 14).

The nomads in Ferghana Province expanded rain-fed cultivation

in the field of agriculture, but reduced the total amount of their

livestock in the field of nomadism. The center of economy for

the nomads in Ferghana Province had gradually shifted away

from livestock to grain cultivation.

Figure 7 Percentage of irrigated farming by nomads and settled Muslim population in northern Ferghana Province.

Sources: MKZ A (1913: 176, 188), MKZ N (1913: 148), MKZ OSK (1915: 200).



Table 1 Ferghana population.

1914 1917 Changes from 1914 to 1917

Rural population 1,588,663 1,504,451 −84,212 −5.3%

Rural Kyrgyz population 261,878 235,474 −26,404 −10.1%

Sources: SOF za 1914 and SNF (1924).

Figure 8 Ferghana population.

There were some Russian immigrant settlements, with a col-

lective population of about 15,000, located on the fringe of the

province in which the Kyrgyz lived. Many of the immigrants

settled illegally from 1902 to 1911, when the authorities prohib-

ited more Russian immigrants from settling (SOF za 1914:

11−21, SOF za 1907: 10-13, Nishiyama 1989: 41, Komatsu

1986: 598−604).(13) Russian authorities did not expropriate the

nomads’ land to provide land to illegal settlers.

This study examines the degree of the effects of the 1916

revolt using a GIS analysis. Thus, the following GIS analysis

reconstructed the changes in population from 1914 to 1917.(14)

As the map and table show, the Kyrgyz population, who lived

primarily in the mountain areas, decreased by more than 10%.

Even though historical sources rarely mention the nomads’ re-

volt, the GIS analysis clarifies that the population decline of

these nomads was significantly more drastic than that of other

ethnic groups in Ferghana Province during the revolt. The pop-

ulation decrease in the foothill area, excluding Osh County

where the 1917 census could not be conducted, was noticeable.

How did this population decline in the foothill area occur, espe-

cially regarding Kyrgyz nomads?

As mentioned in Chapter 2, the revolt by Kyrgyz nomads in

the foothill area of Ferghana Province was more prolonged than

that in the Valley. In the suppression of the revolt, some Kyrgyz

were killed by the Russian army and some of them starved to

death during World War I.

Kyrgyz men on a conscription labor list escaped with their

livestock into the Tian Shan mountain range or the Pamir. At

that time, some of the settlements in these areas were not known

by the Russian authorities. The groups of escaped Kyrgyz at-

tacked native officials including county heads and robbed them

of their livestock. The leaders of the escaped rebels were poor

people, such as Tarasbai Alybaev, who organized the rebels in

the Saroi mountain area before they were suppressed by the

Russian army (Usenbaev 1997: 67-68, 73-75, 78).

Kyrgyz refugees crossed not only the border of a province but

also a national boundary. A report from August 11 stated that

10,000−20,000 Kyrgyz escaped from Ferghana Province to

Semirechie Province (Vosstanie 1960: 338-339). Some Kyrgyz

escaped into Chinese Xinjiang, and they only returned after the

Russian Revolution. During the escape, many children, elderly

people, and women were killed and robbed by bandits and Chi-

nese border guards. Kyrgyz refugees also faced difficulties in

Xinjiang and some children were sold. Other groups of Kyrgyz



escaped into Afghanistan (Budianskii 2007: 52-60).

At the same time, the economic situation of the Kyrgyz in

Ferghana Province was difficult. After the outbreak of World

War I, Central Asian natives suffered from increased taxes, ex-

propriation of materials and rapid price rises. Especially, Fer-

ghana Province suffered from food shortages, because this re-

gion had exported cotton to the center of the Russian Empire

and imported grains from other areas (Nishijima 1994: 28). Un-

seasonable weather in the spring of 1916 and locusts caused

cotton and grain crop failures. 1916 was called “the year of

hunger (Qakhatchilik)” (IUSSR 1 1956: 375, 377).

The economic situation for natives in Ferghana Province in-

cluding Kyrgyz nomads deteriorated until the outbreak of the

revolt of 1916. Before the outbreak of the revolt, some Kyrgyz

of Namangan County had already started to escape into the steep

Tian Shan mountain range to avoid paying heavy taxes. They

robbed the rich of their livestock and escaped into the mountain

area in early 1916 (IKSSR 2: 336).

This chapter suggests that the negative influences of the re-

volt on the nomadic society were larger than that on the settled

Muslim population. Two major factors caused this situation.

First, the revolt in the nomadic area was more prolonged than

that in the settled area. In the valley, the revolt by the settled

Muslim population was suppressed by the Russian army in a

week. In the foothill area, on the contrary, the revolt of the no-

mads continued from July to October of 1916. A lot of nomads

suffered from hunger and fled into Chinese Xinjiang during the

prolonged revolt. The second factor was the unstable economic

situation of the nomads. The interdependence of nomads and the

settled Muslim population made it possible for nomads to ex-

pand their rain-fed grain cultivation. World War I ruined the

whole economic network of the Russian empire, including the

economic interdependence of nomads and the settled Muslim

population in Ferghana Province. The collapse of the cotton

economy in the valley had a direct effect on the unstable grain

supply of nomads.

Moreover, the 1916 revolt began as a protest movement

against the edict ordering a labor draft. This is one of the key

reasons the nomads in Ferghana Province did not attack Russian

settlements that were mainly illegal immigrants and involved a

tense relationship with the authorities, but attacked native offi-

cials directly engaged in the exploitation of the native popula-

tion during World War I.(15)

4. The Hungry Steppe and Tair-Sheikh Steppe

This study also analyzes two steppe areas in Samarkand

Province. Russian settlements were built in both steppes, but

their influences on the nomad societies were extremely different.

In these steppes, the nomads were Kazakhs.

4.1 The Hungry Steppe (Jizzakh County)

Two primary questions arise regarding socio-economic

change in the Hungry Steppe: why did the nomads in the Hun-

gry Steppe not participate in the revolt in Jizzakh and how did

the Russian authorities treat them before the revolt?

The development of the Hungry Steppe was one of the most

important issues in Russian economic policy for Central Asia.

Although the construction of the canal by the first Governor

General, Kaufman (1872-1879), was unsuccessful, Grand Duke

Nicholas Constantinovich resumed irrigation work and permit-

ted migration by Russians in 1885 (Bartol’d 1927: 151-156).

The Grand Duke wanted his irrigation work to be used by both

Russians and Muslims (Peterson 2011: 152). However, the au-

thorities of the Russian Empire planned to expand cotton culti-

vation by Russian immigrants (Bartol’d 1927: 153-154). In 1898,

control of the Emperor Nicholas I Canal was transferred from

the Grand Duke to state authorities; furthermore, in 1914, the

Russian Empire declared that only Christian settlements would

be permitted in the Hungry Steppe (Peterson 2011: 163-164).

However, probably under the influence of the Grand Duke, Rus-

sian authorities permitted nomads to use irrigation water from

the Emperor Nicholas I Canal. This is because the water from

old canals, which the nomads previously used, stopped flowing

because of the construction of the Emperor Nicholas I Canal

(MGS 1914: 45). In 1911, nomads had approximately 960 ha of

cultivated land irrigated by the Emperor Nicholas I Canal. It

amounted to 7 percent of all irrigated land and 62 percent of

irrigated land cultivated by Central Asian natives in the Emperor

Nicholas I Canal system area (Karavaev 1914: 53-54, 89-91). It

is noteworthy that Russian authorities considered the vested

rights of the nomads when the Emperor Nicholas I Canal was

constructed. Nomads in this area (the Savat district) cultivated

black gram (маш, vignamungo: 31%), wheat (26%), millet

(18%), barley (13%), cotton (5%), and other crops on irrigated

farmland. In addition, they cultivated cotton on the flood plain

of the Syr-Darya River (MGS 1914: 47).

The GIS analysis of the Hungry Steppe (Figures 9 and 10)

shows that nomadic groups using water from the Emperor

Nicholas I Canal primarily engaged in irrigated farming (MGS

1914: pri. 12-15). In Figures 9 and 10, the indigo blue area was

fully irrigated, while the white area contained barely any irri-

gated farmland. These maps indicate that most well-irrigated

areas were located along the banks of the Syr-Darya River,

while many inland areas did not have any irrigated land. The

proportion of irrigation in nomads’ land irrigated from the Em-

peror Nicholas I Canal was higher than those of other nomadic

group’s land in the central area of the Hungry Steppe and not

less than those of the neighboring nomads’ land irrigated by the

Syr-Darya River and local canals. This analysis also suggests

that the Russian settlements were established near the old, irri-

gated land of the nomads, which had been irrigated by the Syr-

Darya River and existing canals. In October 1913, a new

irrigation project was announced. In January 1914, the nomads

presented a petition to the authorities demanding the distribution

of irrigated land to them in compensation for their land on

which new irrigation construction was planned (TsGARUz, ф.

И-18, oп. 1, eд. 7385, л. 25a-б.). In spite of the precedent set by

the Emperor Nicholas I Canal, some officials opposed this peti-

tion, citing a related law (TsGARUz, ф. И-18, oп. 1, eд. 7385, л.

5a-б.).



Figure 9 Proportion of irrigation for the nomads in the Hungry Steppe.

Source: MGS (1914: pri. 12-15).

Figure 10 Emperor Nicholas I Canal.

4.2 The Tair-Sheikh Steppe (Kattakurgan County)

Another important question concerns how the Russian au-

thorities treated the nomads on the Tair-Sheikh Steppe before

the revolt. Here, the nomads participated in protest movements

in the 1916 revolt.

In 1898, on the Tair-Sheikh Steppe, a Russian settlement

named “Fedorovskoi” was constructed. This settlement deprived

the nomads of water from the canals. The southern part of the

steppe was irrigated by three branch canals; one of them, Begliar,

had used most of the water that flowed in the Russian settlement.

The native nomads could use water from the other two canals,

but the canals functioned only one day a week. Therefore, water

to irrigate native nomads’ farmland was scarce.

Thus, the construction of the Russian settlement forced the

nomads to engage in rain-fed cultivation and change the types of



crops they grew. Before the arrival of the Russians, the nomads

mostly cultivated durra (sorghum, Indian millet) and millet un-

der irrigation. After the arrival of the Russians, the nomads were

forced to convert to the cultivation of wheat and barley on rain-

fed farmland. The spring rainfall in this steppe occurs be-

tween early March and late April. By late May, the nomads

sowed the wheat and barley seeds on the rain-fed farmland. The

cultivation of durra and millet ceased because of the arrival of

the Russians. Moreover, the nomads also reduced their cotton

cultivation under irrigation.

The nomads of the Tair-Sheikh Steppe had almost become

peasants by 1913. Of them, 88% engaged in agriculture, and

87% of their income came from agriculture. Thus, the change of

agriculture significantly influenced the life of the nomads.

Some land disputes regarding rain-fed cultivation occurred

between people in the Tair-Sheikh Steppe and the neighboring

regions. The people from neighboring villages claimed their

right to the land on which the nomads of the Tair-Sheikh Steppe

were engaging in rain-fed cultivation (TsGARUz, ф. И-18, oп. 1,

eд. 7171, л. 3-4.). In contrast to the case of the Hungry Steppe,

the Russian settlement policy on the Tair-Sheikh Steppe disre-

garded the vested rights of the nomads.

In 1915, in Mitan Village on the Tair-Sheikh Steppe, people

refused to work on the irrigation-related labor. They claimed to

not be afraid of being arrested (Kovalev 1971: 107). Thus, the

nomad resistance had begun in the Tair-Sheikh Steppe before

the 1916 revolt.

As this section shows, the authorities’ policies concerning the

nomads varied between the two steppes in Samarkand Province

after the arrival of the Russians. This difference likely influ-

enced the nomads’ attitudes toward Russian authorities during

the 1916 revolt.

5. Conclusions

This study’s historical research using GIS indicates relation-

ships between the Russian settlement policy in Turkistan and the

revolt of the nomads. The results of the study are shown in a

comparative table below.

In all four geographic areas, Russian peasants settled in no-

madic areas, but their influence on nomadic society varied in

scale and characteristics. First, in Ferghana Province, some of

the nomads’ land was expropriated by Russian authorities and

given to Russian settlers. It is noteworthy that the number of

illegal immigrants was larger than that of legal immigrants, and

land expropriation was undertaken only for legal immigrants.

Thus, many of the immigrants did not participate in land expro-

priation from the nomads. The distance between immigrants and

the authorities was larger than in other areas. The Kyrgyz no-

mads were forced into their lifestyle because of the cotton

monoculture introduced by the settled Muslim population, who

were strongly encouraged to do so by Russian authorities. The

nomads were forced to expand their rain-fed cultivation to ob-

tain food. Nomad rebels in 1916 did not attack the Russian

peasants but the native officials who cooperated with Russian

authorities to expropriate labor from the Central Asian natives.

Second, in the Hungry Steppe, the nomads were adequately

compensated for the Russian immigration. The nomads received

sufficient water resources and maintained their irrigated agri-

culture. The nomads in the Hungry Steppe did not participate in

the 1916 revolt in spite of the fierce revolt in Jizzakh.

Third, in the Tair-Sheikh Steppe, the Russian settlement poli-

cy deprived the nomads of the water resources they previously

utilized. Even before 1916, the nomads were opposed to the

authorities regarding the recruitment of irrigation-related labor.

Finally, in Semirechie Province, the number of Russian im-

migrants that settled in the nomadic area was the largest. Here,

Russian immigrants primarily engaged in rain-fed cultivation.

The nomads’ pastureland was taken for Russian immigrants,

while the nomads continued their irrigated farming. The collu-

sion between the authorities’ expropriation of land and the Rus-

sian peasants’ immigration was clearer here. The nomads fought

against the Russian immigrants and army in 1916, and several

nomads and Russian peasants were killed in the revolt.

The Russian policy regarding the nomads was implemented

without principle. Although some nomads could secure profits,

most lost their land or water. The socio-economic conditions of

the nomads were forcefully changed, and they participated in the

1916 revolt. Although the specific cause of the revolt was de-

termined by various factors, such as rumors and individual

leadership, this study suggests there may be correlations be-

tween the colonial economic policy of the Russian Empire for

handling the nomads and the course of the revolt.

In addition, this study indicated the usefulness of historical

GIS. For instance, although historical documents barely mention

the revolt of the nomads in Ferghana Province, the GIS analysis

of the population change elaborates the scale of damage to the

nomadic society in the 1916 revolt. In the field of agriculture,

GIS shows clearly the interdependence between the settled

Muslim population’s economy and rain-fed cultivation by no-

mads. The relationship between Russian irrigation construction

and a local canal used by the nomads in the Hungry Steppe is

also shown by GIS analysis. This relationship was disregarded

by certain previous studies.(16)

Area Socio-economic situations The rebellions of 1916 Russian

settlements deprivations of

land and water Changes in agriculture

during the Russian rule Revolts Targets of rebels

Ferghana ○ ○ in rain-fed cultivation ○ Native officials Hungry Steppe ○ - No change - - Tair-Sheikh Steppe ○ ○ in rain-fed cultivation ○ Native/Russian Officials Semirechie ◎ ◎ No change ◎ Immigrants

Figure 11 Results.



Notes (1) A steppe is a large area of flat grassland with few trees,

generally located in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Eu-

rope. By the 20th century, nomads were living in the steppe

ecological zone. They acclimated themselves to limited

water resources and biomass in the Central Eurasian

Steppe. Generally, the northern half of Central Asia is

known as the Steppe region or the Steppe provinces, and

was an administrative district of the Russian Empire.

However, a steppe ecological zone is also located in

southern Central Asia (Turkistan). For example, the Hun-

gry and Tair-Sheikh Steppes belonged to Samarkand and

Tashkent provinces in Turkistan.

(2) In Turkistan, natives primarily paid two taxes. The set-

tled Muslim population paid a land tax that was based on

agricultural income. Nomads paid a tent tax in proportion

to the number of households. The authorities surveyed the

farmland of the settled Muslim population and observed

the prices of agricultural products to determine the land

tax on agricultural income.

(3) Regrettably, this paper could not refer to the 1897 census

of Semipalatinsk Province.

(4) The Hungry Steppe is located in northern part of Jizzakh

County, western part of Xojant County, and southern part

of Tashkent Province (Vosstanie 1960: 156-158).

(5) For this study, the 1889 population was estimated from the

amount of tax on houses and tents.

(6) Sergei Abashin pointed out that the statistics of Central

Asian demography compiled by the Russian Empire had

serious faults. The topic of the demography of Ferghana

Province is directly related to this paper’s argument.

Abashin suggested that the population of Ferghana Prov-

ince from the 1870s to 1897 might be larger than official

statistics. For example, one book published in 1891 sug-

gests that the population of the province might be a mil-

lion or more, as opposed to official data that put the total

at about 800,000. An annual report of Ferghana Province

in 1890 also noted that the population of the province

would be no less than 1.5 million (Abashin 2012: 131-

133.). I want to restudy this problem in another paper. The

natural population increase of the province under Russian

rule was at least probable, but its actual scale is not

clear at present.

(7) SKSA Ar (1927: 3). This amount of precipitation was the

average of 13 years up to 1927.

(8) SKSA Is (1927: 6). These amounts of precipitation were

the average of 25 years up to 1927.

(9) SKSA Ar (1927: 3). This amount of precipitation was the

average of 13 years up to 1927.

(10) This paper uses elevation data created by the Ferghana

Project in the Islamic Area Studies Project. Cf., Komatsu,

Goto (2004).

In Ferghana Province, land surveying to determine land

tax on agricultural income was conducted in Andijan

County from 1890 to 1893 (MSOF А 1897: 31), in Mar-

giran County from 1894 to 1896 (MSOF М 1899: 2), in

Kokand County from 1899 to 1902 (MSOF К 1912: 15), in

Osh County from 1903 to 1904 (MSOF O 1910: 2), and in

Namangan County from 1897 to 1899 (MSOF N 1910: 2).

(11) As Komatsu, Goto 2009 and Abashin 2012 pointed out,

this source only listed the predominant ethnicity of villag-

es (Komatsu, Goto 2009: 103, Abashin 2012: 143). Nev-

ertheless, this source contains important data about ethnic-

ity distribution in Ferghana Province because of its de-

tailed data sets on village level. In Figure 4, the data were

subtotaled to a district (волость) level.

(12) The Russian peasants primarily engaged in rain-fed culti-

vation in Semirechie Province, while the nomads contin-

ued with irrigated farming. (Ueda 2013: 115).

(13) After 1913, the Russian authorities restarted legal migra-

tion (SOF za 1913: 11−24). Some land disputes between

Russian settlers or authorities and the Kyrgyz nomads oc-

curred before the 1916 revolt (Usenbaev etc. 1973: 93-96,

138-139).

(14) These data do not include information from Osh County

due to the lack of census data from 1917. The 1914 census

counted both rural and urban populations, whereas the

1917 census counted only the rural population. Therefore,

Table 1 compares the rural populations in 1914 and 1917.

In Osh County, the Kyrgyz constituted the majority. If the

data from Osh County were available, a decrease in the

Kyrgyz population would be more noteworthy.

(15) To be precise, conflicts between the native population and

native officials in country offices were common under

Russian rule. When an election of a county chief was held,

disturbances often occurred, because county chiefs could

arbitrarily use their power at the time of tax collection, etc.

(Zima 1959: 67, 71-72).

(16) For example, Igambedyev 1965: 22-23.

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Acknowledgement This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid

for JSPS Fellows.



Coast Line Expansion and Social Dynamics.

The Comal Estuary 1850s - 2010s(1)

PUJO SEMEDI

Dept. of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Gadjah Mada University

Abstract: Examination of topographical maps and satellite imagery of Comal River estuary, from 1853 until present reveals that

the area has undergone continuous land expansion as a result of heavy siltation from upstream. We hypothesize that the top soil

lost in the hill range due to erosion has increased the land area in the estuary. This study places the increase in land area in the

Comal River estuary in the context of socio-economic dynamics in the surrounding area; with the growth of sugarcane industry

in the lowlands and expansion of coffee fields and human habitation to the hill range of Central Java during the second half of the

19th century, the establishment of irrigation networks in the first half of the 20th century, and efforts at forest rehabilitation from

the 1930s to the present. Questions about the appropriation of the new lands in the Comal estuary need to be raised, too. Does the

emergence of new land areas provide an opportunity for landless farmers to escape from their proletarian status? If so, how does

this process evolve?

Keywords: land expansion, social distribution, Java

1. Introduction

The use of GIS in ethnography is still in its infancy. Anthro-

pologists are quite familiar with maps, topographical or else, but

so far maps have been utilized mainly as auxiliaries to give

more realistic descriptions of the geospatial context of their

research subject, rather than as data subjected to analysis itself.

While by nature anthropologists are sensitive to social structure

and cultural variation, they are less sensitive to geospatial dis-

tribution and dynamics, since these matters are thought to be the

domain of geographers. An argument I would like to put forward

here is that geospatial information can be—and should be—

subjected to ethnographic analysis since it contains a lot of

socio-cultural and political-economic data, or to put it in other

words, a great amount of ethnographic data are kept in maps.

Landscapes as represented in maps are related to or result from

certain social constructs; different features in maps of similar

place from different times most likely indicate different social

constructs.

In our research on Comal sub-district, Central Java, Indonesia

we have used a set of topographical and cadastral maps from

1850s to the present. Visual information collected during a rapid

ground check observation clearly shows that in the last hundred

and fifty years, the estuary of the Comal River has been ex-

panding significantly as a result of erosion in the head water

area and along the river basin, which in turn related to expan-

sion and intensification of land use, mainly for agriculture. Who

cultivates the new lands around the Comal estuary? How is the

new land distributed among cultivators? Has the presence of

new lands provided a way for landless farmers in the area to

escape from their landlessness? Or is the newly emergent land

appropriated immediately by the land holding class? If that is

the case, what are the mechanisms of appropriation? In this

paper, the increase in land around the Comal estuary the Comal

estuary will be placed in the context of agro-ecosystem dynam-

ics in the surrounding area to find out which elements lead to

the growth, as well as to identify the consequences that the in-

crease in land brings to socio-economic life of farmers in the

area. This paper argue that access to land among farmers is not

merely matter of land availability and pro small-holding farmers

governmental policies (Eshleman and Hunt, 1991: 25). Escaping

landlessness requires a certain level of socio-economic

capability (Shresta, 1989: 373). Land may be available,

goverment policies may be pro small-holding farmers, but the

farmers need to have capability to retain the ownership, against

their own drive to earn short term revenue, and against land

accummulation by richer kin and neighbours.

2. The Comal River system in the 1850s

The central part of the North Serayu Range that stretches west

to east like the spine of Java Island is the headwater of the Co-

mal River. Fed by several tributaries in the hill range, the river

snakes down to the lowlands and enter Java Sea, at a length of

50 kilometers. Nowadays almost the entire area along the river,

on the right and left-hand side, is heavily cultivated. There are

fishponds in the estuary, wet paddy fields in the lowlands, and

dry farmlands for cassava and maize with miniscule strips of

pine forest in the hills. Some secondary rain forest can still be

found around the sources of the river in the highest part of the

hill range, 500 - 1000 meters above sea level, but the forest is

not healthy due to small-scale, ceaseless tree stealing. Together

with other river systems all over Java, in the 1910s this river

system was subjected to thorough engineering in order to in-

crease the river’s role in irrigation and to control annual flood-

ing. Two large dams, the Mejagong dam in the uphill area of

Moga sub-district (25 kilometers upstream) and the Sukawati

dam (15 kilometers upstream) in the foothill area of Bodeh sub-

district were installed to provide technical irrigation for 28.974

hectares of rice / sugar cane fields (Ditjen Sumberdaya Air,

2010). The lower part of the river, from Comal Town to the

estuary was straightened to maintain fast water flow and protect

the area from flooding.

The earliest reliable geospatial information on the Comal

estuary the Comal estuary is a topographical map from 1857

(Versteeg, 1857), which was drawn based on a survey conducted

in the 1840s, immediately after the Java War. As a means of

orientation, the map is quite accurate, but the coordinate is

poorly set. The map tell us that by the mid-1850s, the estuary of

Article



the Comal River had formed a vast cape as a result of sedimen-

tation—that the coast line on the left and right side of the estu-

ary had grown seaward. Toponime indicates that in the past, the

coast line in the Comal area formed a more or less straight line

roughly between Asemdojong and Kalipraoe (lit. Boat River)

villages, which sometime in the past must have been located on

the shore as there was no river nearby. By the time the mapping

survey was carried out, the villages were already located 4 kil-

ometers inland (red line in Fig. 1 the Comal estuary 1870s). By

the 1900s, on the right-hand side of the estuary, a 2.000 x 700

meters wide lagoon had formed north of Limbangan hamlet, as a

result of the difference in the speed of sedimentation between

the Comal River and the smaller Ketapang River (US Army,

1943).

I do not have yet the opportunity to check archive of Pema-

lang, but comparison with other area might help. The Pekalon-

gan River, of equal length with Comal River and with its origins

in same hill range, some 30 kilometer east of Comal, experi-

enced rapid expansion be-tween the 1750s and 1850s too. At the

time it was established in 1753, Fort Berschemer (Fort Defend-

er) of Pekalongan town was located right on the estuary of Pek-

alongan river. A century later, it was located some three kilome-

ters inland (van Schaik, 1986: 55). It appears safe to assume that

the Pekalongan and the Comal River underwent the same pro-

cess.

The expansion of the estuary took place mainly because of

erosion in the head water and river basin areas. Between the

1750s and 1850s, the ecosystem of Pekalongan—Pemalang

underwent severe exploitation. The cultivation of coffee, which

commenced in 1710s, expanded to many areas at the cost of

natural forest (Nagtegaal, 1996: 155; Palte, 1989: 47). In an

effort to earn more revenue, the Dutch East India Company, the

real power holder along the north coast of Java, leased Simbang,

Ulujami, Sragi and Kalang districts to a Chinese captain from

Semarang (Wilsen and Havenga, 1870). These particuliere

gronden, private lands were mostly converted into farmlands to

produce rice, sugar-cane and other cash crops. Meanwhile, out-

side the private lands, farmers worked hard to fulfill their sub-

sistence needs and to produce annual deliveries from the Pek-

alongan regency to the Dutch East-Indian Company, VOC. Prior

to the 1780s, these consisted of 350 koyang rice, 6 pikul (360

kg) indigo cake and 8 pikul (420 kg) cotton thread. By that pe-

riod, the teak forest beyond the farmlands was subjected to in-

tense logging. The regent of Pekalongan, for example, demand-

ed an annual in natura tax in form of 480 teak logs—aside of

500 rix dollar—from Kalang farmers who lived in the forest

area.(2) So heavy was the exploitation that by 1805, Governor

General Herman Daendels ordered a logging ban to avoid fur-

ther deforestation and to replant the destroyed forest with new

teak wood seedlings (Kumar, 1997: 323).

Unfortunately, in the first half of the 19th century, the refor-

estation program in Comal area went side by side with further

expansion and intensification of farming, and most dangerously,

with an increasing demand for fuel wood for sugar processing.

The 1870 map clearly shows the pattern of agricultural activities

along Comal River from the headwater down to the lowlands.

The lowlands between Comal Town at the foot of hill range up

to Karang Brai hamlet some 15 kilometers south were fully

converted into rice fields—in intercrop mode with sugarcane. In

the hill slopes, new hamlets emerged on the right and left hand

side of the Comal River. The production of sugar demanded

large, continuous supplies of fuel wood, and reports from

neighboring sub-districts tell how forest coverage between Tegal

and Pekalongan shrunk at a frightening speed. The expansion of

coffee cultivation in the hill area since the 1810s, the establish-

ment of the Comal sugar factory in the 1820s and the introduc-

tion of the Cultivation System in the 1830s all put heavy pres-

sure on the ecosystem, which manifested in a high rate of silta-

tion (van Schaik, 1986: 55).

Rough calculation on the 1857 map suggests that Pesantren

hamlet was 4,6 km away from the estuary tip. Less than two

decades later, as indicated by the 1870 map, the distance had

grown to 6 km (Wilsen and Havenga, 1870). By 1870s, too, the

2 km wide Ketapang Lagoon had almost totally disappeared and

turned into land. An inaccuracy of coordinates in both maps

makes this estimation somewhat risky, but from the above, we

can nevertheless conclude that between 1840s and 1860s, the

coast line around the Comal estuary had roughly expanded be-

tween 1.5 to 2 kilometers seaward.

Figure 1 The Comal estuary 1870s. Source:

Kaart van der Residentie Tagal 1870.

The introduction of the 1870 Agrarian Law, which was followed

by the lease of large tracts of secondary forest and “waste lands”

to private companies for plantations increased the ecological

burden in the Comal area. In 1875, the coffee plantations of Kali

Lanang, Semugih and Moga were opened in the hills. In the

meantime, the lowlands between Comal and the foothills were

already cultivated by the Comal sugar factory. Along the coast-

line, at least three coconut plantations were opened, Pesantren

(160 hectares), Kedung Pedati (80 hectares) and McKenzie (40

hectares). Pesantren Plantation was owned by the Dutch com-

pany Moluksche Handelsvennootscap, Kedung Pedati was

owned by the Chinese enterpreneur Ong Liang Swie and

McKenzie was owned by a Scott-Dutch planter named Willem

Otto McKenzie (De Bussy, 1927). The direct ecological effect of



this development was an increase in the size of the deforested

area and more intensive topsoil hoeing, which both led to a

worsening rate of erosion.

Figure 2 Willem Otto McKenzie ca.1960.

3. Comal estuary in the 1900s

The heavy ecological cost of agricultural intensification in

Comal came in the form of unstable water flows. By late 1890s,

floods and drought became a fact of everyday life among the

inhabitants of Comal. Every rainy season, the lowlands were

inundated, while during the dry season, farmers faced difficul-

ties to irrigate fields. To protect Comal Town and its surround-

ing area from flooding in the 1910s, the Comal River was

straightened from a point north of the town to the estuary. As a

result, the estuary was moved some thousand meters to the east.

An accurate topographical map of the Comal estuary published

in 1913 clearly shows that Pesantren Plantation was opened on

new lands on the eastern side of the Comal estuary, between the

river and the coastline. Upon the project's completion, Pesantren

Plantation was located on the west side of the river, and the

process of siltation continued. As time passed by, mud trans-

ported by the river accumulated in the estuary and expanded the

coastline to the north and east. In a way, this pattern is reflected

in the gradual expansion of the Pesantren Plantation area. The

plantation acquired its first parcel of leased lands in 1886. As

lands expanded the plantation applied for second parcel, which

was granted in 1908 and once again, when the land expanded

further, the third parcel in 1921 (De Bussy, 1927: 365).

An overlay of the 1920s map with a Google earth satellite

image from the 1990s indicates that in the course of the 20th

century, the expansion had created 2.000 hectares of new land

on the left and right hand side of Comal River, and the expan-

sion is still going on. Rough calculation suggests an expansion

rate of 20 hectares /annum. The absence of equivalent data from

the 19th century makes it difficult to estimate the difference in

the rate of expansion in the 19th and 20th century, respectively.

However, considering pressure on ecosystems along the Comal

River as indicated by population figures and land use changes, a

faster rate of expansion of the coastline in the 20th century,

compared to the 19th century, can be expected. This pattern is

quite common among big river estuaries whose main headwaters

are located deep in the uphill area of Java.

Figure 3 The Comal estuary 1910s.

Members of the older generation in Pesantren village still

remember how, in the 1950s, just after the Independence War, a

spot north of Pesantren Plantation that from 1970s on, became

Sidomulyo hamlet, was still part of the sea. Slowly but obvi-

ously, the coastline expanded north-east and formed a swampy

area covered by mangroves. To the villagers’ awe, the fastest

rate of expansion occurred in 1984 immediately after the big

flood that broke Sukowati dam and swept Comal town bridge.

Accurate data on the size of the new land area created by the

flood is not available, but to the villagers’ observation, it was

around 200 hectares.

Figure 4 The Comal estuary 1900s-2000s.



The area within blue coast line was the Comal estuary until

1900s, based on the US Army map from 1943 (from a Dutch

Army map dated to 1922, data for which was probably collected

in the 1890s). The area blocked in yellow shows the new lands

that emerged in the course of the 20th century (based on a

Google Earth image).

4. The issue of—new—landownership

In a heavily populated area such as Comal, it never takes long

for new lands to become an object of human claim. For two

centuries, social and population pressure on farmlands have

constantly been heavy. As decades pass by, the number of land-

less farmers tends to grow steadily. Again, data from Comal

sub-district and Pemalang regency have not been consulted, but

from nearby sub-district of Ulujami we know that by 1870s

around 15 % of the population were landless. The emergence of

a landless class is of course not only related to population den-

sity, but also to the political-economic structure, since farmlands

as the crucial means of production in agrarian societies are al-

ways subjected to competition—and normally the ownership is

concentrated in the hands of the powerful (Knight, 1993: 4).

In the 1870s, the newly emerged lands east of the old bed of

the Comal River were soon appropriated by a plantation com-

pany that enjoyed the support of the colonial government (de

Bussy, 1927). Had the colonial government remained in power,

very likely the new land that emerged after the 1910s river re-

habilitation project would have fallen into the hands of large

plantation company, too. But this was not the case. In the 1930s,

the world economy went into depression, and plantation compa-

nies in Java were hit by heavy blows. Many plantations and

sugar factories went bankrupt or reduced their production level

(van Schaik, 1996: 66; Semedi, 2001: 101). After the depression,

Asia entered the Pacific War and the colonial regime and their

plantation business kept going downhill. In spite of costly ef-

forts that the Dutch and their business lobby had launched in

1945-1950, the colonial regime fell into oblivion.

After 1950, the post-colonial regime was not in favor of large

plantation companies, and the plantation lands fell to local,

lower level land accumulator—the famous Javanese landholding

farmers, sikep (Hüsken, 1996: 235). By the late 1950s, the new

land around the Comal River estuary was already encroached

upon by farmers, the landless and the land-holding alike. Each

started with a different motivation and ended up with different

results. The landless were motivated by the wish to escape their

landlessness and saw the new land as an easy opportunity to

make the wish come true. The landholders were motivated by

the wish to protect their family wealth from erosion due to in-

heritance, and they did so by laying their hands over wider

farmlands.

The poor farmers were soon to face disappointment. Socially

new, emerging land was recognized as a free land for anybody

to claim. However, claiming land and making it productive are

not the same. Claiming newly emerged land was almost costless.

After placing wooden stakes to set the borders, a farmer could

plant the land with anything he wished and then ask for land

ownership acknowledgement from the village head. However,

turning the land into productive farmland was so expensive that

poor farmers were brought down to their knees. In the meantime,

population growth in the area—from 84.000 in 1904 to 251.000

in 1988—had made competition over farmlands stiffer than ever

(Kano, 2001: 213). Gradually, the land claimed by the poor

dwindled in size as it was sold to rich land-holding farmers

piece by piece.

In the early 1960s the government utilized the new land east

and north of Pesantren Plantation as a settlement area for Inde-

pendence War veterans —Corp Tjadangan Nasional, CTN. The

family of each independence war veteran got housing land and a

piece of farmland, but they did not stay long. They were city

dwellers and not really ready to live as peasant. Besides, the

land they were provided with was not suitable for agriculture as

it was partly submerged in brackish water. One by one they left

the settlement, but not before they sold the house and “farm-

lands” to local farmers. Easy to guess, between two groups of

local farmers—the landless and the landholding—it was the land

holding who had the greater opportunity to buy the ex-

independence fighters' lands, and they were usually success in

doing so. A group of brackish water fishpond owners from

Brebes district came to the new lands in the early 1970s, not

long after the hamlet was officially named Sidomulyo. Using

money they brought from their village of origin they bought

land, piece by piece, from local farmers and converted it into

fishponds. Gradually the hamlet grew bigger and was filled

mainly by migrants from Brebes.

In the mid-1980s a newly formed private company from Pek-

alongan bought around 150 hectares of the new land from local

farmers for intensive shrimp aquaculture. It was the time of the

shrimp culture frenzy in Indonesia, when profit margin from

shrimp culture was so lavish that almost everybody with access

to capital invested in the business. Large sums of money were

injected to convert the dry land on the verge of the tide line into

shrimp ponds. Brackish river water was circulated into the

ponds with help of diesel-powered pumps, and in order to

maintain the shrimps’ appetite—so that they would grow

fast—powerful lamps were installed to keep the area bright at

night. Unfortunately for the company, and for other shrimp

farmers, within 4 years shrimp cultivation along the north coast

of Java was struck by continuous harvest failure, as the envi-

ronment could not carry the ecological burden of intensive

shrimp culture any more. When the businesses went bankrupt,

the fish ponds were abandoned and rented out to local farmers.

In the hands of small-holding farmers, the fishponds were uti-

lized to raise milkfish in extensive mode. The return was low,

but the investment was not high, either, and moreover the pro-

duction was stable, So the revenue was sufficiently high for the

business to be attractive.

Observations from a small block of new land, Block 003,

Sidomulyo hamlet, may illustrate the dynamics of ownership

among the farmers.



Figure 5 Land ownership Block 003.

Notes:

- The black-striped area are fishponds belonging to longtime

residents of Pesantren Village.

- The red-striped area are fishponds belonging to newly-arrived

inhabitants of Pesantren or farmers from other villages.

- The ownership of the blank areas is unclear.

The scale of the cadastral map of the new land of Block 003 of

Pesantren Village presented above is not fixed due to page

adjustment, and the map is not properly coordinated, either.

Ground checking shows that the site is located on the northern

side of Rabin river, 6048’07” S, 109030”57” E on the south

corner, 6047”52” S, 109030”27” E on the northwest corner and

6047”34”S, 109030”36”E on the northeast corner. This block of

approximately 36 hectares' width is officially divided into 18

parcels of lands. At the time of land registration in the early

1990s each parcel was registered under the name of one owner,

but trading and inheritance has led to fragmentation. Each parcel

was split into smaller pieces, which are now listed under the

names of 79 owners. Ten out of 18 original land parcels with a

total size of 15.9 hectares (the red-striped parcels) to people

with a short history of land ownership in Pesantren Village,

dating back to the 1960s; 8 parcels with a total area of 20

hectares belonged to people with a land ownership history

dating back to the early 1900s. Those with a short history of

land ownership were mostly fish pond farmers from Brebes or

farmers from other villages, while those with land ownership

history were from land holding family in Pesantren Village.

Indeed many landless farmers were engaged in the opening of

the swampy new land on the estuary, but without proper support

of cash to run milkfish farming they soon lost their land either to

the landholding families or to fish farmers from Brebes. If they

are still around in the estuary now, for the most part they are

employed as hired farmhands rather than as pond owners. There

was also process of land transfer between fish farmers from

Brebes and local land holding families. Probably motivated by

their status as migrants, fish farmers from Brebes tended to be

more successful in running their fish cultivation, compared to

local fish pond owners. As time passed by they managed to

increase their pond size through buying, and as a result, new

land around the Comal estuary the Comal estuary no longer

belongs to small farmers.

5. Conclusion

I would like to draw two conclusions, firstly on the use of

GIS in historical ethnography such as this project and the sec-

ondly is on the new land around the Comal estuary the Comal

estuary. Even with limited knowledge of, and experience in the

use of GIS, its application has been very productive for our

research. Our research team have been collecting social-

economic data that cover a long timespan, from 1906 to

2012, and I did a GPS ground check. Time constraints have

prevented me from including the data in this paper, which po-

tentially will lead us into a more detailed discussion. In spite of

the limitation, the use of GIS in this paper has opened a path for

me to become engaged in a more challenging academic exercise

sensitive to social and geospatial dynamics across time. For the

second, by subjecting data contained in maps of the Comal es-

tuary area to analysis, we can see how intensification of land use

in the headwater area has created vast areas of new land in the

estuary. Lack of accurate maps prevents us from specifying the

actual size of the new areas in the 18th-19th centuries, but better

topographical maps and satellite images in the 20th century

inform us that in the course of the century the land has expanded

by at least 2.000 hectares.

Although new land in the Comal estuary is open to anybody

and technically its emergence opens an opportunity for landless

farmers to escape from their landlesness, the political-economic

setting of the 19th century prevented farmers from owning it.

Large part of the land were appropriated by private plantation

companies, thanks to the political support of the colonial regime.

The post-colonial regime put the interest of smallholding farm-

ers before that of big companies and in effect provided access to

the farmers for possessing the land. Yet this policy is not enough

to provide an exit from landlessness for the lowest strata in Co-

mal farming communities. Escaping landlessness not only re-

quires access to land, but also economic ability to retain it and

keep it productive. New land in the estuary was opened by

landless farmers but they had no ability to keep it productive

and retain the ownership. They reported their new land to the

village administration to obtain official acknowledgment, but

soon they lost their land title to somebody else with better fi-

nancial capability through selling. Thus, the availability of land

does not automatically reduce the landless population in a

community. In the old colonial days it was government policy

that worked against landless farmers effort to own lands, while

currently it is market forces.



Notes (1) This paper is a result of Comal II Research Project, 2012,

a collaboration between CSEAS, University of Kyoto,

Dept. of Anthropology, Gadjah Mada University and Dept.

of Anthropology, Amsterdam university led by Professor

Kosuke Mizuno, Professor Hiroyoshi Kano and Mr Yako

Kozano. I owe them a sincere thanks for the opportunity to

participate in the project.

(2) Kalang was a community of Javanese who specialized

themselves in carpentry, boat building and handicraft.

Although the spoke shared same language with other

Javanese they were looked down as a group with their

ancient religion, closed economic guild and mobile life

style (Wieringa, 1998). In the course of the 19th and 20th

centuries the community gradually mixed with their

neighbours, and the only living group can be found in the

sub-district of Kotagede, Yogyakarta.

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Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and fiscal years 2013-2015).



A Preliminary Study on how G.I.S. Know-How Can Spatially Repre-

sent the Distribution of Nineteenth Century Illegal Gambling Appre-

hensions in the Province of Manila

MARCO STEFAN B. LAGMAN

Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of the Philippines-Diliman

Abstract: Considering the wealth of historical data available on the Philippines, the traditional approach of archival research

has long been used to generate historical knowledge. However, this knowledge could be even broadened and further deepened

through the use of modern technological tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The use of GIS could potentially

provide a more visual, spatial, and nuanced means of understanding and analyzing archival information.

This paper aims to explore this combination of conventional documentary research with GIS tools. The Juegos Prohibidos

(Prohibited Games) police reports on illegal gambling cases, specifically on Monte and Panguingue, were given visual represen-

tation through maps in order to gain a better understanding of illegal card gambling behavior of the inhabitants of the Province of

Manila who were arrested from the 1880s to the 1890s.

The use of mapping technology provides a richer and deeper understanding of Filipino behavior during the last years of Span-

ish colonial rule. Not only can the use of this technology contribute to the fields of history and geography in the Philippines, it

can also promote the feasibility of utilizing GIS know-how in order to maximize other information gathered from archival rec-

ords pertaining to the Philippines.

Keywords: gambling, historical geography, Juegos Prohibidos, nineteenth century Manila

1. Introduction

Gambling as an activity was said to have been observed in the

Philippines well before the arrival of western colonizers. By the

late nineteenth century, games that involved betting with money

involved had become a regular source of entertainment among

the country’s inhabitants (Le Roy 1905; Bowring 1963; Fernan-

dez 1990; Bankoff 1991; Mallat 2012). Although certain forms

of gambling allowed the state to collect a significant amount of

revenue (Bankoff 1991), Spanish authorities nonetheless regu-

lated some forms of gambling while deciding to ban others.

With respect to card games, panguingue, a version of rummy

that used Spanish cards or Baraja Espanol (Ledesma 2011) that

was said to be popular with both older individuals and women

(Mallat 2012), was allowed in certain places and times (Fernan-

dez 1990). On the other hand, monte, a fast-playing Spanish

card game (Mallat 2012) wherein a player had to bet on either

two top or two bottom cards that have been dealt face up (Lara

2008), was considered an illegal activity irrespective of context

(Mallat 2012). While panguingue and monte still had its share of

enthusiasts until the late 1900s (Lara 2008, Ledesma 2011,

Szanton 1972), these games are no longer popular in contempo-

rary Philippine society.

As part of their program to curb illegal gambling, the Spanish

government assigned its police forces, particularly their crack

guardia civil units to implement their laws against illicit gaming

and to arrest those who violated such policies. The activities of

these units in their areas of jurisdiction such as the Province of

Manila led to successful raids against panguingue and monte

players which were reflected in the police reports written down

and submitted by such personnel called Juegos Prohibidos (pro-

hibited games) during the waning years of colonial rule in the

1800s. These documents, which usually followed a certain for-

mat with respect to the details they provided, have proven useful

in recreating particular facets of Philippine social life in the last

decades of Spanish rule as can be observed in the landmark

work of Bankoff (1996) on criminal activity in Filipino society

under colonial rule in the 1800s.

This paper argues, however, that the temporal, demographic,

and geographic data found within the Juegos Prohibidos can be

an even richer source of spatial insights and analyses if these

archival documents were used hand-in-hand with Geographic

Information System (GIS) techniques. As such, it is the re-

searcher’s hope that this paper can demonstrate that the use of

such tools on archival data that can be geographically located

with a fair amount accuracy can further maximize the usefulness

of archival sources and thus encourage other historians and ge-

ographers interested in Philippine history to employ GIS as a

common and preferred tool in future historico-geographical

studies.

2. Methodology: From Nineteenth Century Po-

lice Report to GIS-Derived Map

The process of transforming Juegos Prohibidos Monte and

Panguingue arrests into points in various maps with different

features or symbols required the following: a) the creation of a

database containing geographic and demographic information of

each recorded arrest, b) the plotting of these aforementioned

cases as specific geographic points in a map, and c) the genera-

tion of base and thematic maps grounded on characteristics

contained in the said database.

The generation of a database for roughly 195 identified gam-

bling arrests and their easy manipulation required the tabulation

of the following information on an MS Excel spreadsheet:

A) Town/district where the specific apprehension occurred;

B) Present-day name of the aforementioned town or district;

C) Specific barrio (village) or street where the gamblers

were caught;

D) Year and month when the said incident occurred;

Article



E) Number of players and number of males and females in

the apprehended group;

F) Ethnicity of those who were arrested (indio, chino mixed,

chino, Spanish)

G) Social status of those who were arrested (low, medium,

high)

H) Place where the arrest occurred (house, boat, farmland,

empty lot, bamboo grove, wilderness)

I) Time of apprehension (daytime, nighttime)

J) Escapees (Yes/No)

K) Amount of money confiscated

L) Specific archival source

It is clear that the different classifications and sub-

classifications of the aforementioned information will lead to

the generation of thematic maps containing consistent specific

points with different symbols and colors representing differ-

ent descriptions. Of particular importance are those that pertain

to the specific locations of the arrests. It was observed that,

surprisingly, majority of the names and absolute locations of the

towns and barrios have remained stable, with only their classi-

fications changing from village to the barangay, the current

smallest Philippine political unit, while those villages located

near the borders of two towns may sometimes have become a

component of a present-day nearby city in Metro Manila. This

contention was verified through the location of these specific

places through Google Earth and through other readily available

written documentary evidence (Mallat 2012; U.S. Adjutant

General’s Office 1898; Sanger, Gannett and Olmstead 1905). As

for the streets that were identified, some throughways now have

new names that were still identified in Google Earth, while oth-

ers could no longer be determined. Roughly sixty (60) areas and

streets that could no longer be ascertained had to be removed

from the database due to their lack of specific locations.

Given the limits imposed by the Spanish colonial police re-

ports, it was decided that any spatial or map analysis can only be

done at the regional level. This scale of analysis also took into

consideration the geographic extent of all recorded cases, spe-

cifically the location of the farthest points. The highest level of

precision attained in the research was at the street level, but

majority of identified sites exist today as present-day barangays.

Centroids were employed to plot all points in order to address

gaps in precision, while the difficulties presented by the over-

lapping of multiple cases in a single point was dealt with by

randomly offsetting succeeding points in order to differentiate

them vis-à-vis other cases.

Because there is a paucity of maps representing the Province

of Manila, especially ones that have a clear two-dimensional

coordinate system, and given the relative stability of the loca-

tions identified in the reports until present times, Google Earth

was used in plotting all identifiable points. While this same

procedure could have been done using a gazetteer in ArcGIS, a

commonly used integrated package of geographic information

science software applications (ESRI 2004), there was no availa-

ble data that would have made the latter program useable.

Clearly the procedure employed in plotting the points was

rather lenient. Such an approach was unavoidable due to certain

constraints and considerations. For one, the usefulness of his-

torical data greatly depends on what was recorded, and therefore,

its accuracy and precision is limited by whatever information is

available. The study intends to produce maps that can be utilized

for visual spatial analysis of gambling behavior during the latter

Spanish period in the Province of Manila. As such the mapping

process was more for illustrative than statistical purposes and

did not require a very high level of accuracy and precision.

Moreover, place names have remained fairly stable over time, as

a good number of nominal locations still exist to this day. The

only difference is that, due to improvements in geospatial tech-

nologies and the demands of modern day policymaking and

planning, boundaries are more or less clearly delineated, where-

as in the past, naming and locating places was more arbitrary

and their boundaries were not yet clearly established. Other

places that did not retain their old names were only renamed. It

can also be argued that all other spatial characteristics (extent,

length, location, boundaries, and neighboring localities) have

most likely remained intact. Proof of this is that the current

boundaries of Metro Manila approximate that of the late nine-

teenth century Province of Manila minus two towns – Montal-

ban and San Mateo.

As mentioned earlier, there were several cases in the initial

database that lacked or had insufficient spatial information and

thus could not be plotted in a map. Sufficiency was also decided

given the abovementioned considerations. Useable geographic

data led to the generation of place marks that were grouped into

a single place folder and exported as a Keyhole Markup Lan-

guage (KML) file, which is a type of file format employed to

present geographic information in browsers such as Google

Earth or Google Maps (Google Developers: KML Tutorial no

date). This KML file was then imported into ArcGIS using the

conversion function included in the ArcToolbox (“KML to Lay-

er”), an ArcGIS software that allows for geographic processing

functions such as data management, data conversion and ge-

ocoding (ESRI 2004).

The imported KML had a field containing identification (ID),

which are numbers stored as text, for each point. Another col-

umn containing numerical information was created and calcu-

lated from the ID field to create an identical field as a back-up to

ensure that the database can be joined. The Excel spreadsheet

containing the initial database was also further processed to fix

bugs encountered when joining the table with the spatial data.

This processing activity included the following:

o Removal of spaces in field headers

o Re-encoding of numbers stored as text

o Spell checks and rundown for typographical errors

o Re-classification of data (e.g. generalization)

o Re-expression of string information containing numerical

data into mathematically-operable format (done specifi-

cally for the column indicating amount of different types

of coin money involved)

A join between the working (bug-free) database and the result-

ant layer was then made after which maps were then created by



setting proper symbols for each map.

The base and thematic maps all underwent Adobe Photoshop

for aesthetic purposes, and this was accomplished through the

following steps:

1. Base Map. To achieve the ‘old map’ effect, a stained

paper texture was imported as a background layer. Its

color balance was adjusted to achieve the desired effect.

A simple map was overlaid, and the polygon depicting

the landmass was removed, leaving the white area de-

picting Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. The opacity of

these white polygons was subdued. The resulting effect

was achieved - it now seems like the landmass was

drawn over a light colored paper.

a. Since the map was exported in A4 size with no

margins, the map had to be resized to fit within

the borders.

b. Fonts used were High Tower Text and a variant

of the Garamond family. Font spacing was

slightly increased for titles and headers.

2. Thematic maps. Other themes were exported from

ArcGIS in JPEG format, and imported in Photoshop as a

smart layer. The layers were rasterized and its white

spaces were removed either by manually deleting white

spaces using quick selection (magic wand) or by apply-

ing a blend mode that removes white from the layer

(multiply). Note that the themes were exported with a

line feature depicting present-day boundaries of LGUs

for reference in resizing. In this procedure, the lower left

corner of the new layer is anchored on the lower left

corner of the base map. Afterwards, the new layer is

resized from the upper right corner and down, carefully

maintaining the aspect ratio of the layer being resized

(holding down the Shift key). The resized layer is then

adjusted further, referring to the LGU boundaries to en-

sure that the points overlay, distortions are entirely

avoided and warping/offsets is minimized.

a. The legends were exported in the same manner –

A4 sized JPEG files containing the legend of

each map were also imported in Photoshop and

resized in exactly the same manner as the maps

so as to maintain their scale. Extra care was tak-

en in creating a legend for proportionally sym-

bolized maps.

b. Upon completion of each map, these were

grouped and turned off whenever a new map was

created. This left a separable base map where

more layers could be added later.

3. The Maps and their Analyses

3.1 The location of gambling incidents

Figure 1 Province of Manila base map.

The Province of Manila (Provincia de Manila), which was

formally established in the latter part of the 1850s, was com-

posed of practically the same towns that made up the former

Province of Tondo (Lemps, 2000). With the exception of the

towns of Montalban and San Mateo on its northeastern portions,

the said province approximates the land area and the location of

present-day Metro Manila. It had a land area of 264 square miles

or 684 square kilometers and was composed of 23 towns (pueb-

los) and one city, the Ciudad de Manila, which was also consid-

ered as its administrative and economic center. From Manila

City, the northernmost and easternmost towns, Caloocan and

Marikina, respectively, were approximately 7 miles away, while

Muntinlupa, the farthest town south of the capital, was 21 miles

away (Adjutant General’s Office 1898). Manila City was

clearly the most populous settlement, but there were also heavy

concentrations of people in nearby towns of Navotas and Tam-

bobong (Malabon) along the north as well as along the eastern

towns of the province Pasig, Marikina, Taguig (Sanger, Gannett,

& Olmstead 1905).

Even by simply observing the database that was developed

for this study, it is clear that Manila Province was the site of

many illegal gambling apprehensions. Yet the development of a

map indicating the distribution of these arrests all over the area

(See Figure 2.) yields quite a few insights that are easier to ar-

rive at using spatial tools. For one, while monte and panguingue

arrests tend to concentrate in Manila City and then spill over

towards neighboring towns along its northern (Navotas and

Malabon) and southern (Pineda, Malibay, Parañaque) portions,

there is also a distinct concentration of abbreviated gambling



activities along the province’s eastern towns, especially the con-

tiguous Makati, Pasig, Taguig, and Pateros pueblos, all of which,

with the exception of Makati, do not share any borders with

Manila.

Also, while panguingue activities seem to be greater in num-

ber compared to monte apprehensions, there seems to be no

clear pattern with respect to the distribution of these arrests.

Thus, it implies that similar to what has been argued in several

accounts, gambling activity during the nineteenth century Phil-

ippines was quite widespread.

Figure 2 Distribution of monte and panguingue gambling

arrests, Manila Province.

The high intensity of illicit gambling in Manila City, as

shown in Figure 2, merits attention, and mapping at a smaller

scale may be able to demonstrate which specific portions of the

capital these activities occurred. According to Lemps (2000), in

the nineteenth century, Manila City was named La Ciudad y Sus

Arrabales, which in English means “The Capital and its Sur-

rounding Areas” (See Figure 3.). Here, the capital refers to In-

tramuros, or the walled city of Manila while the surrounding

areas outside of the walls (Extramuros) referred to the eleven

nearby communities that bordered the capital (Adjutant Gen-

eral’s Office 1898; Lemps, 2000). Figure 4 below clearly

demonstrates how majority of gambling activities successfully

interrupted by the colonial police forces were situated in the

Binondo area, a known commercial area filled with businesses

owned by Chinese and half-Chinese merchants, which include,

among others, gambling houses (Mallat 2012).

Figure 3 Map showing the component communities of Manila

City.

Figure 4 Distribution of Gambling Apprehensions, Ciudad de

Manila.

3.2 Urban-rural distribution of monte and panguingue

There are different means of classifying specific geographic

entities as being predominantly urban or rural entities. From an

economic perspective, it has become standard practice in the

Philippines to classify places where the main types of employ-

ment is non-agricultural (i.e., manufacturing, services) as urban

areas (Serote 2009). While Spanish police reports on gambling

seem to be inconsistent regarding the occupations of those ar-



rested for illegal gaming, studies by Bankoff (1996) and Lag-

man (n.p.) in both Manila City and the Province of Manila sug-

gest that majority of those arrested were likely to have labor-

intensive, service sector-based occupations.

The urbanity and rural nature of a specific area can also be

determined through the existence of infrastructure that is usually

associated with urban areas such as the existence of streets or

street plan, a commercial area, and other community-based fa-

cilities. As late as the 1970s, one of the criteria for determining

if a barangay or village could be considered an urban area was if

it had a clear street pattern (National Statistical Coordination

Board 2003), a feature that can easily be discerned in the colo-

nial police reports that were studied. On the other hand, Filipi-

nos do consider places that are called barrios or sitios as com-

munities or components of provinces that are more rural in na-

ture. Fortunately, the documents from the Juegos Prohibidos do

provide details with respect to the location of apprehensions, as

to whether they occurred in areas along streets or in barrios or

sitios. If these terms, especially the existence of streets, would

be used as markers of the urban or rural character of crime

scenes, it could then be argued that most gambling incidents in

Manila Province, with the exception of those that happened in

the Ciudad de Manila, were likely to have occurred in more

rural than urban settings (See Figure 5.).

Figure 5 Gambling incidents in urban and rural areas.

3.3 Hiding places

Foreign accounts about the Philippines in the 1800s make

mention of the gambling places that Filipinos used to hide their

illicit gaming. Mallat (2012) and Bankoff (1991) narrate how

those who gamble would usually utilize structures such as

houses to evade authorities, and the spatial representation of the

precise place where inhabitants of the localities of Manila Prov-

ince gambled supports such contentions. All in all, almost 80%

of apprehensions actually led to the police arresting people who

were into illegal card games inside houses and other structures.

Nonetheless, it is important to point out how there were still

instances where Filipinos, especially those of lower class origins,

employed farms, open lots, bamboo groves and even portions of

sitio despoblados or wilderness areas to hide from the long arm

of the law (Lagman n.p.).

The information on the map below (See Figure 6.) indicates

that, while there were very few cases of people using the natural

environment as a site of their card gaming, the area covering

Pineda, which makes up part of present-day Pasay, and the town

of San Pedro de Makati, had wilderness areas or woodlands

where illicit gambling was played out. In relation this, it is im-

portant to note that these two places, which are now heavily

urbanized, were considered as rough country and part of the

province’s backwoods. Pineda back then was considered a vil-

lage (despite its nearness to the capital) where betel nut, an ag-

ricultural crop, grew abundantly. The dense growth of these

crops made it a very rural area where brigands could hide from

the government. San Pedro de Makati, on the other hand, was

said to be a place that was conducive for convalescents (Mallat

2012; 108, 112).

Figure 6 Gambling incidents by place of arrest.

It can be observed that areas classified as wilderness places

where gamblers were caught were all located outside of Ciudad

de Manila, with three of five (60%) of despoblado cases occur-

ring just outside the provincial center, and two wilderness inci-

dents happening along the eastern and western fringes of Manila

Province. In addition, gambling incidents where the exact nature

of the place could not be determined tended to concentrate in

peripheral areas such as the eastern towns of Pateros and Pasig

and the southern pueblo of Las Piñas.



3.4 More a daytime than a nocturnal activity

In his landmark work Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms

of Peasant Resistance, Scott (1985) argued that throughout his-

tory, the resistance of marginalized groups against the more

dominant sectors of society, such as the more privileged classes

and the state, rarely came in the form of direct confrontation and

rebellion and instead manifested itself in more indirect forms

that denied the latter of the ability to make claims on them. In

essence, evading the police and violating laws against certain

forms of gambling through uncoordinated means and done by

individuals whom the authorities would have difficulty identi-

fying, such as those who do their illicit activities within struc-

tures, are examples of a weapon of the weak.

Common sense would dictate that doing activities in the cover

of darkness, especially in the outdoors, would be a reasonable

form of resistance and evasion by those who still want to gam-

ble despite mandated restrictions. According to a previous qual-

itative study (Lagman n.p.) of monte and panguingue arrests by

the colonial police yielded several examples of gambling sus-

pects who also employed the nighttime darkness to play their

favorite games. But a more quantitative and spatial analysis of

police report data demonstrates that those who got caught play-

ing in the evening belonged to the minority, as most abbreviated

gambling sessions were held during the day (at least 60% of

all recorded cases). This was especially true for Manila City

where majority of the card game sessions that were raided by

the agents of the state happened in houses and other permanent

structures. The eastern towns Pateros and Pasig again seemed to

have been the recipient of several night-time raids by the colo-

nial police. The same observations can be made for the nearby

pueblo of Makati (See Figure 7.).

Figure 7 Daytime and nighttime distribution of gambling

arrests.

3.5 Escape: An act of last resort

Police authorities would usually catch their targets while they

were immersed in their illegal card games. For the most part,

apprehended parties would cooperate with the police and would

not resist arrest. Again, it can be determined through a spatial

representation that majority of those who were caught gambling

in Manila City did not resist arrest, and the same can be ob-

served in the northern towns of Navotas and Malabon (See Fig-

ure 8.). But the farther the apprehensions were from the epicen-

ter of apprehensions along Manila’s Binondo District, the pro-

portion of gamblers escaping from the authorities seemed to

increase. This becomes noticeable especially in the towns east

and south of Manila’s southern edge such as the former pueblo

of Pandacan, Pineda, and Malibay (present-day Pasay), Las

Piñas and the Pasig-Pateros-Taguig region.

Figure 8 Illicit gaming escapes and apprehension incidents.

3.6 Small groups and predominantly working class

Le Roy (1905), in his account of the Philippines, mentioned

the penchant of Filipinos to gamble. But what separates his nar-

rations from other western visitors of the nineteenth and turn of

the century Philippines such as Mallat (2012) and Bowring

(1963) is that he made known his opinion that more well-to-do

members of Philippine society were able to avoid getting caught

by the police as they did their gambling within the safety of

their stone-made homes. Bankoff (1996) also mentioned that the

typical prisoner in the Philippines in the 1800s, regardless of the

transgression committed, was usually male, poor and illiterate

and held a job that paid in coin, the preferred betting item in

gambling sessions.

Philippine society during the Spanish period was highly strat-



ified as people were legally categorized based on their race or

racial mix, and titles (i.e., Don) were used by people to denote

individual status (Larkin 1972). For this study, Spaniards, peo-

ple of Caucasian heritage and members of the native elite were

classified as members of the upper class, the more enterprising

ethnic Chinese, who paid more taxes than the members of the

local population (Mallat 2012) were categorized as individuals

of middle status, while untitled natives or plain indios belonged

to the low status category. Figure 9 below clearly indicates that

most successful apprehensions led to the arrest of ordinary Fili-

pinos as they accounted for a vast majority of arrests in almost

all the towns that were included in the study. Very few Spaniards

and members of the local elite were caught by the authorities,

and those who were arrested resided primarily in Manila, espe-

cially in an area called Sampaloc, the northeastern end of the

city, with isolated cases in Marikina and Taguig. The ethnic

Chinese, on the other hand, were primarily arrested in Binondo,

a known prosperous area during the late 1800s (Agoncillo 1990)

until today; and even during the late 1950s, was recorded by

Philippine government as having a very high number of Chinese

residents (Amyot 1973). It should be noted, however, that there

were a few recorded cases in current-day southeastern Manila,

Makati and San Felipe Nery (modern-day Mandaluyong). Over-

all, it can be observed that successful raids by the police led to

the arrest of relatively small groups of gamblers, which ranged

from one person to sixteen individuals, with 60% of apprehen-

sions netting not more than five players (See Figure 10.).

Figure 9 Number of participants per gambling incident and

their social status.

Figure 10 Number of apprehended players per police raid.

3.7 Gambling as more of a male than a female preoccupa-

tion

The database illustrates that gambling was predominantly a

male activity. Overall, 53% of all arrests involved at least one

female player, but it was only in the game of panguingue that

there was a higher rate of female involvement at 65% of all

cases. Nonetheless, only in 37% of all panguingue police reports

were the number of arrested women more than or equal to the

number of accosted males. The map below represents that ma-

jority of cases involved more males than females for the most

part. Nonetheless, converting the information into map form

allows one to realize that there are still certain portions of the

province where there were relatively a higher proportion of

women card players who were apprehended. This included parts

of present-day southeastern Manila and the then Pandacan town

(now part of Manila City), the Pineda (Pasay) area, the southern

towns of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa, as well as the contiguous

area comprising the eastern part of Makati, Pateros and Pasig

(See Figure 11.).



Figure 11 Gambling incidents by sex.

3.8 Gambling with relatively small stakes

Whether the players were male or female, native or of foreign

descent, it is also worth determining the amounts of money in-

volved in these activities, and how the range of amounts were

distributed in the province. One way to learn if the money used

in betting was of a small or large amount during that time is to

compare these monies with the wages commonly received by

the people within the same period. Fortunately, the Philippine

Census of 1903 provides us with a means of comparing confis-

cated gambling money with people’s wages during the late

1890s. People who did menial labor in Manila and other urban

areas would have daily wages that ranged from around P.20 to

P.75 per day. A seamstress and a laundryman would only receive

P.20 for a hard day’s work, a daily laborer usually received P.37,

while a carpenter was a little bit better off as he, on the average,

would receive P.62 a day form his employer. On the other hand,

a tailor could command a daily rate of P. 75 and a clerk would

receive a monthly pay of P25 (Sanger, Gannett & Olmstead

1905). It should be noted that almost half (47%) of all police

raids against panguingue and monte gamblers never exceeded

one P1. If an average gambling session involved around five to

six players, then most sessions had individuals who, on the av-

erage, brought coins that never exceeded the money that an

ordinary person would earn in a day. As such, the amounts being

gambled by individuals would ordinarily be quite modest. It is

clear in the map below (See Figure 12.) that small gambling

money being betted in sessions was fairly scattered all over the

Province of Manila. What is also quite clear is that it is in the

Manila City area, particularly in the District of Binondo, where

amounts of P10 or more were wagered the most.

Figure 12 Distribution of amounts of money wagered in gam-

bling sessions that were abbreviated.

3.9 Gambling in the midst of a revolution

Basic texts in Philippine history would note that it was also

during the latter part of the 1800s that Filipinos were led by a

group called the Katipunan, whose members were predomi-

nantly from the towns of Manila Province and nearby areas

(Guerrero 1998). The first battles between the Filipino revolu-

tionaries and the Spanish colonial forces began in San Juan del

Monte, one of the towns of Manila Province. The said incident

led to the declaration of martial law in eight provinces in the

island of Luzon, including the Province of Manila, and this was

soon followed by continuous fighting between the two groups in

portions of Manila Province and in other areas where such a

state of emergency was declared (Quirino 1978; Guerrero 1998).

Despite being in the midst of great social upheaval and un-

certainty, inhabitants of the province could still not stop them-

selves from gambling (See Figure 13.). Roughly 13% of all

police reports that were examined involved incidents that oc-

curred from August 1896, the month the revolution started, up to

1897, a period wherein fighting between the Filipinos and the

Spanish colonial forces was still on going. Apparently, trends

during war-time mirrored that of more tranquil periods as the

Chinese still actively gambled in Manila’s Binondo District and

ordinary Filipinos still in different parts of Manila Province.

What should be noted, however, is that the relative size of the

groups that did gamble during the outbreak of the Philippine

Revolution was relatively larger than the usual five player group

size during peace time.



Figure 13 Distribution of gambling incidents during the initial

phase of the Philippine Revolution.

4. Recommendations and future directions

Historical research using archival data on nineteenth century

Philippines has been very effective in reconstructing aspects of

the lives of people during that period that may likely be ne-

glected (Bankoff 1996). While such type of conventional re-

search usually focuses on the socioeconomic aspects of nine-

teenth century Philippine life, modern tools provided by Geo-

graphic Information Science can help researchers maximize the

usefulness of their sources by adding a spatial component to

their analysis and understanding of the past. Through the geo-

graphic information provided by this paper on the distribution

and nature of illicit gambling activities of the inhabitants of the

Province of Manila, it is hoped that other archival researchers

would warm up to the possibility of incorporating GIS tools as

part of their menu of aids in their studies, especially in using

sources that can be geographically located with a fair amount of

accuracy.

The Juegos Prohibidos is by no means the only archival

source in the Philippine National Archives that can yield data

that can be spatially represented. From the past experiences of

this researcher, other materials such as urban real estate taxes

(Fincas Urbana), business permits (Contribucion Industrial),

land sales and transactions from notarial bundles (Protocolos),

and even fish corral permit lists (Pesquerias) are only some of

the bundle types on the Philippine National Archives in Manila

that are readily available to historico-geographical researchers

who are interested in employing GIS tools in their studies.

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[35] Tingin, Neil Eneri and Lagman, Marco Stefan B. <Number of

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[36] Tingin, Neil Eneri and Lagman, Marco Stefan B. <Number of

apprehended players per police raid>. Scale 1:300,000. Quezon

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amounts of money wagered in gambling sessions that were abbrevi-

ated>. Scale 1:300,000. Quezon City, Philippines: Neil Eneri Tingin,

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gambling incidents during the initial phase of the Philippine Revo-

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Tingin, September 2012. Using ArcView GIS. Version 10. Redlands,

CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 1992-2010.

Acknowledgment The author wishes to acknowledge Mr. Neil

Eneri Tingin for his invaluable assistance in the production of

all maps used in this paper.

http://downloads.esri.com/support/documentation/ao_/698What_is_

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/409996/man-who-went-wakes-



http://gadm.org/download

http://www.openstreetmap.org/



A Geographical Computerization of Nankai Megathrust

Earthquakes’ Tsunami Monuments and the Recent Application of

GIS in Japanese Ancient Historical and Archaeological Studies

YOICHI SEINO†

MASAKAZU MATSUSHITA*

TOMOKATSU UOZU#

† Kyoto University * University of KinDAI Himeji # Research Institute of History, Otemae University

Abstract: The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami made us acutely aware that the history of the Japanese archipelago has

been one of recurring disaster. There are many stone monuments to commemorate the misery of disaster all over Japan, instances

of what has become known as “disaster heritage.” This project concentrates on surveying monuments related to the Nankai

megathrust earthquake in Wakayama Prefecture. Our report shows the fieldwork methods and advantages of using compact digi-

tal still cameras or smartphones with a geotagging function and an electric compass. We also consider the advantages of geo-

graphical computerization data and its future potential. Recently, geotagging data is more easily and inexpensively available, so

even untrained historians can use digital equipment. When the photographs are geotagged, we can apply the data widely, using,

for example, a GIS (Geographical Information System). The geotagged data are also meaningful for archives. This paper demon-

strates how the relationship between the tsunami monuments and their altitude can be computed via a DEM (Digital Elevation

Model). In addition, we discuss the recent application of GIS in the study of Japanese ancient history and archaeology and how to

apply GIS in future studies.

Keywords: disaster heritage, stone monuments, GPS/GIS, fieldwork, digital still camera, geotagged photos, Japanese ancient

history and archaeology

1. Introduction

The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, led us to

recognize the concept of “disaster heritage,” that is, the materi-

alized memories of disaster, such as the stone monuments estab-

lished in the tsunami area. Case studies for the preservation of

disaster heritage sites are planned and put into practice in tight

collaboration with local municipalities in the coastal areas of

Iwate Prefecture, which were most heavily damaged by the tsu-

nami.

Cultural heritage can act as an initiative for the reconstruction

of local communities. Historians, archaeologists, folklorists, and

cultural resource managers are responsible for calling attention

to the remarkable number of natural disasters that have hit Japan

in the past, through which humans have nevertheless persisted.

Therefore, research on “disaster heritage” is needed to combine

the psychological facet with the memory of disaster. “Disaster

heritage studies” includes systematizing the methods of conser-

vation, risk management, and education regarding the heritage

sites that are endangered by disaster.

Actually, many stone monuments not only commemorate the

misery of disaster all over Japan but also are established to pre-

serve the disaster memories by a settlement’s or a similar local

community’s people. So we consider that the stone monuments

are suited to analyze the positional information by computer.

This project concentrates on surveying monuments related to

the Nankai megathrust earthquake in Wakayama Prefecture as

the first example of “disaster heritage.” The Wakayama Prefec-

ture is the area expected to suffer the most damage from the

Nankai megathrust earthquake, but the stone monuments in this

prefecture are not surveyed comprehensively yet.(1) The stone

monuments in the Kochi Prefecture or the Tokushima prefecture

are already surveyed (Kimura et al. 2002, Tokushima Prefectural

Government 2008-2010,) nevertheless these prefectures are also

the area expected to suffer from this earthquake. In this paper,

we introduce an easier way than what has previously existed for

untrained researchers to record the information gathered from

general surveys by GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

In addition, we introduce a simple analysis with this geograph-

ical information.

We also discuss the recent application of GIS (Geographical

Information System) in the study of Japanese ancient history

and archaeology and show its potential for future studies.

2. General Survey and How to Geotag the Data

As mentioned above, we will first consider the current distri-

bution of stone monuments in Wakayama Prefecture. We col-

lected the stone monuments positions from the distribution map

of the cultural heritages in this survey area or inquired of the

local government officers before the fieldwork and we inquired

of local habitants where the stone monuments are after entering

the survey area.

Figure 1 A digital compact still camera with GPS function.

Research in Progress



Both speed and accuracy are necessary elements in fieldwork.

However, we were not able to simply record the information

without the use of paper now. The information recorded on pa-

per is analog data, so it is not applied in various ways or con-

nected to other geographical or temporal information. GPS

technology is the simplest way to record time and geographical

position with the fieldwork data, but until recently it has not

been easy for untrained users to master this technology. Recently,

GPS technology has been integrated into digital still cameras,

especially compact and low-priced models, and even

smartphones, making it easily accessible even to laymen users

(Fig.1). When users take photographs with this type of camera,

they can also record the geographical position data and the time

taken in Exif (Exchangeable image file format: a metadata for-

mat for digital photographs). This geographical information is

called a “geotag” and the action of recording it is called

“geotagging.” If the geographical position data is attached to

the photographs, it can be used in multiple ways.

Figure 2 The geographic position information and direction of

shooting.

For the fieldwork in this study, we selected and used a com-

pact digital still camera with a GPS receiver and electromagnet-

ic compass so we were able to quickly record a lot of stone

monuments over a large geographical area. The photographs

taken by this type of compact digital still camera have positional

information and the direction of shooting stored in Exif (Fig.2).

Simply taking a photograph of the research object releases us

from the work of keeping a paper analog. Of course, the geo-

graphical position is not the true position of the stone monu-

ments but the location of the photographer.(2) However, the ac-

curacy of the GPS receiver built into the compact digital still

camera is plus-or-minus 5m on average at the most and depends

on the circumstances around the positioning area, so this geo-

graphical position is not a problem unless the photographer was

standing far away from the object. Accounting for this potential

discrepancy, the GPS function is effective in macroscopically

acquiring the distribution of objects.

3. Use Cases of Geotagged Photography

If we can obtain such information from the photographs, we

can use, manage, display, and analyze it on a GIS. For example,

if we have photographs with the geographic coordinate points,

we can import these photographs into Google Earth and instant-

ly display where the photographs were taken (Fig.3). This func-

tion is useful for checking the photographs immediately after the

survey. It is also advantageous in managing and archiving sur-

vey records.

In addition, this information is then available for analyzing

the relationship of the stone monuments’ horizontal and vertical

positions. We imported the photographs into a GIS and plotted

the stone monuments on the DEM (Digital Elevation Model)

provided by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. We

can see the relationship between the location of stone monu-

ments and altitude by virtual elevation tints (Fig.4). This is one

way in which geotagged photographs and their geographical

information are useful for fieldwork. Of course, we have to pay

attention that we are able to get only the current terrain data but

we are able to use them for the reference to consider the rela-

tionship between the stone monuments and the geographical

features.

Figure 3 Displaying the photographs on Google Earth.

Figure 4 Displaying the photographs’ locations on a DEM.

The blue-to-red gradation indicates the elevation from 1 to 10m

[This map is partially made from the Fundamental Geospatial

Data (elevation) provided by Geospatial Information Authority

of Japan.]



4. The situation of GIS in the study of Japanese

ancient history and archaeology in Japan

4.1 In the study of Japanese ancient history

In this paper, we define Japanese ancient history as research

based on historical documents focusing on the ancient era (7th

century to 11th century.) In Japan, researchers of Japanese an-

cient history have not tended to adopt GIS for their research.

There have been certain numerical methods for Japanese ancient

historical studies, especially in socioeconomic history, such as

the comprehensive numerical studies by Goichi Sawada (Sawa-

da 1927,) the studies about family registers or the Keicho by

Toshio Kishi (Kishi 1973) or the studies of the economics of

ancient temples by Rizo Takeuchi (Takeuchi 1932, 1934). Such

studies have usually used historical documents like Shosoin

Monjo (documents of the Shosoin Treasure Repository) and

their analyses have been mathematical. Otherwise, studies about

historical geography have normally focused on maps as images

and the research style has been qualitative.

The construction of the text database for historical documents

was very popular in Japan for about 20 years (Nakano 1994).

However, Japanese historians often use these databases only for

searching text. They usually use the computer for writing papers,

searching text, or viewing images of historical documents, but

not for numerical analysis or text mining.

Figure 5 Least-cost pathways analysis in Hitachi-no-Kuni,

ancient Japan (from Seino 2012 presentation).

The reason for this has to do with the methodological style in

conducting Japanese history. There are as many documents,

maps and chorographies in Japan as western world such as the

documents in the old church. There are also aerial photographs

in Japan. These include many materials from the ancient period.

The orthodox style of Japanese history is to collect and arrange

such materials by analog or other traditional methods. Historians

have ever thought spatially about the historical issues but they

have tended to visualize their ideas by hand. One of the reasons

for this was the previous limitation of technology. Under such

circumstances, the comprehension of these materials would take

an enormous amount of time. In addition, Japanese historians

have little time to be trained to use the computer for numerical

analysis so they tend to maintain the style that is familiar to

them.

On the other hand, GIS is usually a hypothesis-testing method

but Japanese history does not emphasize this method because

information about the ancient period did not remain entirely

intact and therefore does not have a homogeneity and con-

sistency conducive to GIS technology. Therefore, it is necessary

to compensate for the missing information and this has been the

mainstream method in historical research.

4.2 In the study of archaeology

In this paper, we define archaeology as the historical research

based on archaeological sites, features, and artifacts. The appli-

cation of GIS is mainly very popular in archaeological studies of

the prehistoric age in Japan, even though the lack of information

about human behavior is approximately the same as in other

areas. However, GIS technology is very popular in the archae-

ology studies of foreign countries. One reason for this tendency

is that the field of archaeology in foreign countries is usually

categorized as not only part of the humanities or literature but

also the natural sciences such as anthropology, and the interac-

tion between archeologists and other scientists is more common

than it is Japan. Consequently, the adoption of the computer or

the numerical method has been more popular in other countries.

It was, however, introduced to Japan, particularly in the area of

prehistoric studies. There were many interchanges between for-

eign countries and Japan in relation to prehistoric studies be-

cause of this common methodology. On the other hand, archae-

ological studies about foreign countries have not only been lim-

ited by a lack of information, but also by the location of the

researchers. International projects consist of many researchers

who usually live in their own countries. GIS is also used as a

communication tool between them. However, in the study of the

Japanese ancient period, there are many materials available, so

researchers combine and compare the archaeological and his-

torical information and are able to understand the environment

in the ancient period. Otherwise, they are not able to apply the

GIS because of the huge amount of materials. For a few exam-

ples, we can consider the works of Izumi Niiro (Niiro 2002:

381-384) who is an archaeologist of the ancient period.

As another example, there are studies by Katsunori Imazu in

which a GIS was used for Japanese ancient history (Imazu 2006:

5-15, etc.). He uses GIS or the numerical method in an effort to

understand the local area and its demographical environment in

ancient times. His ability to program is rare among Japanese

historians.

The application of GIS in Japanese archaeology is as popular

as viewshed analysis (Uno 2006: 165-180), but recently, the

least-cost pathways analysis has become more popular (Kondo

et al. 2010: 158-165). Yoichi Seino tries to uncover the ancient

local administrative policies in Ritsuryo State (Seino et al. 2010:

159-164, 2011: 37-42, 2012: 25-26, Fig.5).(3) His studies are

characterized by the application of FOSS4G (Free and Open

Source Software for Geospatial). FOSS4G has a powerful anal-

ysis capability and has many advantages for students and free-

lance researchers. Maintaining transparency and traceability of



the algorithm is not only important in scientific studies, but also

in education. Furthermore, most FLOSS (Free/Libre Open

Source Software) supports the standard format and interopera-

bility, so it will avoid vendor lock-in and maintain the sustaina-

bility of data.

To encourage the use of GIS in various studies, we organized

the “Archaeo-GIS Workshop” for young researchers, beginning

in 2007, and are teaching each other through this forum (Kondo

et al. 2012: 334-342). It is very difficult to learn these tech-

niques by oneself, so having a community of researchers and

experts available to one other is very important.

5. Conclusion and Future Tasks

Currently, we can obtain geographic position information

easily and at a very low cost. Geographic information is not only

useful for managing survey records, but also for analysis. These

technologies used to require expert techniques and knowledge

but this is no longer the case. We should actively adopt such

technologies and use them to obtain accurate and rich infor-

mation in the field. These techniques are also useful in analyz-

ing emergencies, such as natural disasters.

In the study of ancient Japanese history, the application of

GIS is an effective but uncommon method, so the purpose of

this project is to encourage its use in future studies. The infre-

quency of GIS application is due to the fact that Japanese an-

cient historians are unfamiliar with using the computer as a tool

for analysis. Their education in handling digital information is

necessary. This work is difficult but important for widespread

application of GIS in future studies.

Notes (1) Of course, there are some reports about the distribution of

stone monuments in the Wakayama Prefecture until now.

For example, some chronicles of local government in the

Wakayama Prefecture, by Tokutaro Hatori (Hatori 1980)

or by Yoshinobu Tsuji (Tsuji 1981).

(2) We can only realize the position of stone monuments as is.

If we were able to know that the position of the stone

monuments are moved from their original place, we rec-

orded that information.

(3) In this analysis, he use the current terrain DEM, and the

r.walk module in GRASS GIS. He eliminated the water

area from the DEM referenced the current water area data

and calculated the least-cost pathways. For more details

about the calculation of this module, refer to the refer-

ences.

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[4] Kondo, Yasuhisa and Seino, Yoichi. 2010. “GPS/GIS-aided walking

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Hiroshi. 2012. “A Union of Dispersed Knowledge and People:

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Romanowska, I., Wu, Z., Xu, P., and Verhagen, P. (eds.). Revive the

Past. Proceedings of the 39th Conference on Computer Applications

and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Beijing, 12-16 April

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mura, Shozo (岡村庄造). 2002. 南海地震の碑を訪ねて. Kochi:

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[8] Niiro, Izumi (新納泉). 2002. “GIS で復元する郷里制と集落: 若

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[9] Sawada, Goichi (澤田吾一). 1927. 奈良朝時代民政経済の数的研究. Tokyo: Fuzanbo (冨山房).

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コスト分析.” 人文科学とコンピュータシンポジウム論文集「デジタル・アーカイブ」再考-いま改めて問う記録・保存・

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tribution in the Ancient Japanese History.” JADH 2012 Conference

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pp.25-26.

[13] Takeuchi, Rizo (竹内理三). 1932. 奈良朝時代に於ける寺院経済の研究. Tokyo: Ookayamashoten (大岡山書店).

[14] Takeuchi, Rizo (竹内理三). 1934. 日本上代寺院經濟史の研究.

Tokyo: Ookayamashoten (大岡山書店).

[15] Tokushima Prefectural Government. 2008-2010. “南海地震を知

る～徳島県の地震・津波碑～.” 徳島県防災・危機管理情報安心とくしま.

http://anshin.pref.tokushima.jp/bunya/tunamihi/more.html

(last accessed September 30, 2013).

[16] Tsuji, Yoshinobu (都司嘉宣). 1981. “紀伊半島地震津波史料.”

防災科学技術研究所研究資料 60, pp. i-392.

[17] Uno, Takao (宇野隆夫). 2006. “眺望の日本列島史.” In Uno, T.

(ed.), 実践考古学 GIS. Tokyo: NTT Shuppan (NTT 出版), pp.

165-180.

Acknowledgment This study was aided in part by a grant

from the JR-West Relief Foundation and the TOYOTA Founda-

tion. We also would like to thank the collaborators, Shuji Ki-

mura (Community Outreach Center, Graduate School of Hu-

manities, Kobe University) and Masaaki Maeda (Wakayama

Prefectural Museum), for their contributions to this paper.

http://anshin.pref.tokushima.jp/bunya/tunamihi/more.html



Activities of ANGIS

ANGIS, newly founded in June 2012, organized 1st ANGIS Conference on December 1-2, 2012 at the University of Tokyo in collab-

oration with a research project titled “Long-term Trends of India Villages” sponsored by the Japan Society of Promotion of Sciences

(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research S21221010: http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~india-s/eHP/index_e.html) and the TINDAS

(http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~tindas/), both headed by Prof. MIZUSHIMA, Tsukasa. The program of the 1st ANGIS Conference was

as follows.

Conference Program

The First International Conference of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies (ANGIS) Date: 1st-2nd, December 2012

Venue: The University of Tokyo

December 1, 2012 (Saturday)

13:30 Registration

Opening Session

14:00 Opening Address SHIBAYAMA Mamoru 14:10 Keynote Address MIZUSHIMA Tsukasa

Session 1 GIS Studies in Asia

15:00-15:30 Activities in Japan (MATSUBARA Kosuke, SEINO Yoichi, KAWAGUCHI Hiroshi, SPRAGUE David, MI-

ZUSHIMA Tsukasa)

15:30-15:45 Break

15:45-16:15 Activities in Taiwan (FAN I-Chun, LIAO Hsiung-Ming)

16:15-16:45 Activities in Philippines (LAGMAN Marco, MARTINEZ Ma. Simeona)

16:45-17:15 Activities in Thailand (LERTLUM Surat, NATAPINTU Surapol)

17:15-17:45 Activities in Indonesia (YUWONO Pujo Semedi Hargo)

17:45-18:15 Annual General Meeting (MIZUSHIMA Tsukasa)

18:15 Ending First Day

18:30-20:30 Reception

December 2, 2012 (Sunday)

Session 2 Information Infrastructure for ANGIS (Chair: SHIMADA Ryuto)

9:30-9:55 Application of Databases and Resource-sharing Systems (HARA Sho’ichiro)

9:55-10:20 Application of Spatiotemporal Information (SEKINO Tatsuki)

10:20-10:45 An Attempt at the Geographical Computerization about Nankai Megathrust Earthquakes’ Tsuna mi Monuments

(SEINO Yoichi)

10:45 Break

11:10-11:35 Urban Planning History of Middle Eastern cities viewed in Multi-layered Basemap System -Toward War Dam-

age Reconstruction (MATSUBARA Kosuke)

11:35-12:00 GIS as a Tool for the Research on the Egyptian Socio-economic History in Modern Times (KATO Hiroshi &

Others)

12:00-13:00 Lunch

Session 3 Case Studies in Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Philippines (Chair: SHIMADA Ryuto)

13:00-13:25 An Approach to Build a Digital Gazetteer of the Rural Villages in Northeast Thailand (NAGATA Yoshikatsu)

13:25-13:50 Transformation of South Indian Society in the Colonial Period: A GIS-based Study of Land Records (MI

ZUSHIMA Tsukasa)

13:50-14:15 Russian Policy on Nomads in Turkistan and Revolt in 1916 (UEDA Akira)

http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~india-s/eHP/index_e.html

http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~tindas/



14:15-14:40 Coast Line Expansion and Social Dynamics. Comal Estuary 1850s - 2010s (YUWONO Pujo Semedi Hargo)

14:40-14:50 Break

14:50-15:15 Urban Development in Jakarta, Indonesia 1930-2010: GIS-based Time-line Analysis of Regional Characteris-

tics of Built Environment using the Old Map and Population Census (MIMURA Yutaka)

15:15-15:40 A Preliminary Study on How G.I.S. Know-How Can Spatially Represent the Distribution of Nineteenth Cen-

tury Illegal Gambling in the Province of Manila (LAGMAN Marco & MARTINEZ Ma. Simeona)

15:40-16:05 Past, Present and Future of Historical GIS Development

16:05-16:15 Break

Session 4 East-West Corridor - Discovering Living Ancient Roads -Suvarnabhumi Project on GIS-Based Historical

and Interdisciplinary Studies (Chair: SHIMADA Ryuto)

16:15-16:40 In Search of East-West Corridor towards New Horizons on GIS-Based Informatics (SHIBAYAMA Mamoru)

16:40-17:05 Exploring East-West Corridor through Ancient Communication Routes: New Paradigm in GIS-Based Cultural

Studies (LERTLUM Surat)

17:05-17:30 The Study on Natural Resources Utilizing for Cultural Development in Ancient Time: The Study on Distribu-

tion of Archaeometallurgical Sites from East to West of Thailand (NATAPINTU Surapol)

17:30-17:55 Potential of Geographical Information Sciences in Prehistory: Case Studies from Paleolithic Archaeology

(KONDO Yasuhisa)

17:55 Closing MIZUSHIMA Tsukasa

Besides the Conference, ANGIS participated in a seminar on GIS Approaches planned and organized by Drs. Liao, Hsiung-Ming and

Fan, I-Chun of Academia Sinica in March 2013. Both Drs. Liao and Fan are ANGIS core members.



Guidelines for Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies (JANGIS)

1. Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies (JANGIS) is a peer reviewed annual international journal.

2. All submissions should be sent by e-mail to: [email protected] in Microsoft Word and PDF. For the time being JANGIS

will be published annually.

3. All material should be written in English.

4. The length of an article should be around 10,000 words including footnotes and references. Abstract around 200 words should be

submitted along with the full paper.

5. The text should be typed single-spaced in 9 point type in Times New Roman.

6. Tables should be digital in EXCEL file and inserted within the main text. Figures (maps, photos, etc.) should be submitted in EMF

or JPEG file and be inserted within the main text. Tables and Figures should be numbered consecutively in the following way.

Table 1. Table 2….

Fig. 1. Fig.2….

7. The title of Table should be above the Table. The title of Figure should be below the Figure. Notes and Sources should be written

below Table or Figure.

8. Sources of references or quotations should be indicated in the text as follows: (Stein 1984: 185).

9. Footnotes, if any, should be numbered consecutively.

10. Reference List in alphabetical order should be attached at the end of the text.

Example (Titles in Italics):

Stein, B. 1984.Agrarian System of India, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mizushima, Tsukasa. 2008. "Ecology and Society", International Journal of Economic History, 14(5), pp. 34-56.

Utsunomiya, F. 2012. "Chinese Migrants in Kobe", in Mayama, S. (ed.), Migration in Asia, Tokyo: Tokyo University Press, pp.

78-101.

11. Sections should be numbered as follows.

1.

1-1.

1-2.

2.

2-1.

2-2….

12. All the Author should provide the following information.

Name

Affiliation

13. Papers should be submitted by the end of April, 2013.

E-mail

mailto:[email protected]



Editorial Note

JANGIS, exploring a new research field, has now sailed to sea. Its destination is the link between time-series information with space

through GIS. We editors welcome ambitious contributors interested in interdisciplinary studies by using GIS. We also expect com-

ments and suggestions to polish JANGIS to enrich the understandings of our past.

Editor-in-chief

Hiroshi Kato October 30, 2013