Colonial states invented historical maps fabricating ancient territorial identities.

Evidence

Hence the appearance, late in the nineteenth century especially, of ‘historical maps,’ designed to demonstrate, in the new cartographic discourse, the antiquity of specific, tightly bounded territorial units. Through chronologically arranged sequences of such maps, a sort of political–biographical narrative of the realm came into being, sometimes with vast historical depth. In turn, this narrative was adopted, if often adapted, by the nation-states which, in the twentieth century, became the colonial states’ legatees. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 663

Categorization

• XREF: The retrojection of an invented ‘ancient’ territorial biography is the cartographic cousin of how nationalist and civilizational narratives (including in Islamophobia discourse) fabricate continuous ancient identities to legitimize present claims. — connects to: Colonial cartography created nations whose borders match neither history nor language. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 507; Maps can precede and shape territorial reality rather than merely reflect it. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 660; Map and census mutually constitute each other to bound identities territorially. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 662 (+4 more)

Related

• Colonial cartography created nations whose borders match neither history nor language. (similarity 0.85)
• Maps can precede and shape territorial reality rather than merely reflect it. (similarity 0.84)
• Colonial management required objectifying territories through maps and data-gathering surveys. (similarity 0.83)
• Map and census mutually constitute each other to bound identities territorially. (similarity 0.82)
• Colonial map coloring evolved into a detachable logo-map that fueled national identity. (similarity 0.81)
• The map can create a national community where none previously existed (similarity 0.79)
• Colonial archaeology gave postcolonial states an inherited depth of field. (similarity 0.79)
• Nationalists fought for territories they had only seen on schoolroom maps (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• A non-European empire also engaged in colonial cartography #expands (0.80)