iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"...Just then, we met the landowner, who was busy ploughing his field and he offered us a tractor ride to the site. After a bumpy ride through the mist, we finally reached our location, where numerous archaeological remains made the journey truly worthwhile.” - Dr Anisha Singh, BHU

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Getting to site with style 🚜 “A foggy winter morning in Ludhiana (Punjab) India, on our way to an archaeological location. Walking through the fields was quite difficult with the crop remains..."

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

We all need a break during a busy day in the field 🥱 How does our field specialist Babar spend his well earned rest I hear you ask? By keeping up to speed with MAHSA's social media! You too can kick back like an archaeologist by following us on all our platforms: linktr.ee/mahsaproject

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Dr Samia for Scale 📏 When you don’t have a scale during survey, you have to think on your feet – literally! 📷 Afifa Khan, near Phulra, Cholistan

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This means that the selection of a map and projection is not a neutral choice – it’s a decision that is filled with purpose and values. For the Correct the Map resolution, this comes down to the “cognitive justice and memorial reparation” of adopting a “fair map”.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It’s important to note that each map was created for a specific purpose, and any given projection will make some sort of compromise when it comes to the size and shape of a landmass. Representing an imperfect globe in two dimensions always requires distortion.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Enter the Equal Earth projection, invented to accurately show the relative sizes of the planet’s landmasses. The continents retain their scale, but their shapes are more distorted. You can compare the two projections in our second image, with the Mercator shown in green and Equal Earth in red.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Originally created to facilitate maritime navigation in the 16th century, the Mercator projection greatly distorts landmasses towards the poles, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. his has led to criticism that Mercator maps misrepresents the significance of countries closer to the equator.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The Power of Projection 🌍 Last Friday the UN General Assembly voted to adopt a new world map. Proposed by Togo and the African Union, the “Correct the Map” resolution succeeded in replacing the historic Mercator projection with a map that more accurately represents the true size of continents.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

One side is inscribed: “This sword of the Prince called Dara Shokuh Takes care of a thousand enemies at one go.” Dara Shikoh was heir apparent of the famed Emperor Shah Jahan, but was usurped in a succession war by his brother, Aurangzeb. The sword’s inscription did not work as intended ☹

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

⚔️ Arming an (almost) Emperor 17th century Lahore was the beating heart of the Mughal Empire’s arms industry, exemplified by the ornate sword of Dara Shikoh (1615-1659). Made from rippled wootz steel and ornamented with gold, this bedazzled blade was an unmistakeable symbol of status.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Try it for yourself with the MAHSA database: databasemahsa.org/en/search Click on a blue map tile, open the report, and scroll down to see if your map has a IIIF URL, which will take you to the high resolution scan.

databasemahsa.org

MAHSA - Search

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

You can then use applications like Google Earth to see how your town has changed over time. Modern satellite imagery of Amritsar shows the significant extent of urban expansion in the last century. But the city’s past persists in the present, illustrated by the perimeter of the old city walls.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The city was significantly smaller when it was surveyed in 1911-12, but its iconic heritage sites are easy to see, such as the Golden Temple, Ram Bagh, and Gobindgarh Fort. There are countless features to find marked on the map, like temples, mosques, cemeteries, and colonial infrastructure.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Do you live in north-west India or northern Pakistan? If so, you may be able to explore the history of your home town with our Survey of India map repository! Take, for example, the bustling city of Amritsar in Punjab, India.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"By the end of the day, the heat is slowly escaping the car and a cool breeze comes in as we witness the red sun setting over the salt range. Our advice would be to forget your pride and pick up a UV proof umbrella, have a way of keeping cold drinks nearby and top up on the SPF." - Afifa Khan

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"But because of this heat we got to experience the best of Pakistani road life and hospitality. When these bedraggled, sweat-stained travellers would wander around the back end of nowhere the nearest villagers and locals would be quick to give us shade, chai or a cool drink."

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

“With numerous heatwaves in the UK and Pakistan, the MAHSA field team have been battling non-stop heat this year. In the last survey it was our greatest adversary. The heat was everywhere. In our bodies, our minds, our breaths and our water bottles."

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Uncovering the secrets of South Asia’s historical maps 🤫 For decades the colonial Survey of India documented rich heritage landscapes, hidden within their detailed maps. Buildings, mounds, cemeteries, and other archaeological sites were recorded by South Asian surveyors – almost always uncredited.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

It has been suggested that the relief is a conversion of the Trojan Cycle narrative into a Buddhist Jataka tale about a past life of the Buddha. In any case, it seems unlikely that Matt Damon is hiding inside the horse.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Resisting the allure to interpret the relief in a classical context, Professor Peter Stewart argues that the panel must be understood in a purely Buddhist context, as a sculpture intended for a religious monument like a stupa.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The iconic Trojan horse is accompanied by male figures in Graeco-Roman attire, illustrating the lingering fusion of Greek and local Gandharan culture following Alexander the Great’s conquest centuries before.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

A Gandharan Odyssey? 🐎 Today’s unsubtle pop-culture crossover takes us to ancient Gandhara and the Peshawar Valley, Pakistan. This schist panel (c. 2nd century CE) was potentially found on a well near the village of Hund and adopts the classical imagery of the Trojan War.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Mapping Mania 🗺️ One of MAHSA’s main outputs is georeferencing historical Survey of India maps. And as of July, we’ve reached over four-million square kilometres of georeferencing coverage in South Asia.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

And the plot thickens. Other seals show real bulls from the region with both horns visible. And three-dimensional terracotta figurines appear to show the same unicorn with the single horn. We probably won’t know for certain until the Indus script is deciphered. Which side of the debate are you on?

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Is it a unicorn? Is it a bull? Archaeologists have been puzzling this question for decades. A bovine body and horse-like head have made it tricky to find a definite answer. Not forgetting of course, the single curved horn, which may also be a pair of horns in profile.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Stamp seals are some of the most well-known Indus Valley artefacts, and they likely functioned as administrative tools – perhaps recording transactions or marking ownership. But they also hint at religious or ritual practices, illustrated by the “offering stand” beneath the unicorn’s head.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The Mystery of the Indus Unicorn 🦄 Meet the enigmatic one-horned creature of the Indus Valley Civilisation, a recurring image found on stamp seals recovered from archaeological sites. This steatite example dates to c. 2500-2000 BCE and was found at the iconic Mohenjo-daro site in Pakistan.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The movement and philosophy of ‘Satyagraha’ (truth persistence) was central to the struggle for Indian independence, and this commitment to nonviolent direct action has inspired countless campaigns around the world.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Upon reaching the coast, Gandhi harvested salt from the mud and encouraged his followers to do the same, sparking widespread outbreaks of mass civil disobedience across colonial India & Pakistan.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Their numbers swelled into the tens of thousands along the way as they went village to village, gaining new marchers from every caste and creed. The international press were kept in the loop from the beginning, and helped immortalise the journey worldwide.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

In March 1930, Gandhi and 78 companions started their long March across Gujarat, from Ahmedabad to the coastal village of Dandi where they planned to illegally collect salt.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The British had strictly regulated the salt industry since the arrival of the East India Company, prohibiting (and even criminalising) production and sale by Indian citizens. Gandhi thus recognised the symbolic and unifying power of salt to galvanise popular resistance against colonial control.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

From Salt to Sovereignty 🧂✊ This week we remember the courageous resistance to imperial rule embodied by the Salt March of 1930. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, this iconic act of civil disobedience aimed to break the British salt monopoly on a very public stage.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

In just over a century, the mound has become increasingly encroached upon by urban expansion. And the appearance of modern structures illustrates the risks faced by these sites. By mapping the mound's development over time, we can ensure that the site is not lost to future generations.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

As we reach the modern satellite imagery from 2025, the city has expanded significantly and has now absorbed the site. We can also see that buildings have been constructed on top.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

In the second image, we jump to spy imagery taken in 1975. The city has expanded a little, and the field boundaries show intensifying agriculture in the region.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Our first image is a Survey of India map from 1915, showing the mound at the outskirts of the settlement.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

One mound, one hundred years ⌛ Sitting in the southwest of Sirsa, Haryana, you can easily spot a large archaeological mound. While we don’t know much about the site, our documentation work enables us to chart its relationship with the growing city as it starts to surround it.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🗺️ Map: Punjab (No. 44 N 13) (1913) cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-MAPS... 📷 Jahangiri era Kos Minar on the outskirts of Lahore, Muhammad Imran Saeed www.flickr.com/photos/meema...

cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk

Survey of India Maps : Punjab

Jullundur & Ludhiana Districts & Patiala State. Ludhiana city in NE area with a Kos Minar to the E of the city. Another Kos

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

While these sites are protected monuments, many have fallen into neglect and disrepair. The examples on this map have now been absorbed into the urban sprawl of Ludhiana, making them tricky to locate without the old map.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The milestones were created as navigational aids and waystations to facilitate travel across the empire. They were also critical to communication, as horses and riders could be distributed across the Kos Minars to rapidly relay messages.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Kos Minars are medieval milestones of varying forms (usually brick pillars) constructed along royal road networks stretching from Afghanistan to Bengal. Many of the surviving Minars are attributed to the rule of the third Mughal Emperor, Akbar (1556-1605).

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Examining this 1913 map of Ludhiana, we can see a series of structures distributed along a line, heading southeast of the city. Identified in gothic script as ‘Kos Minars’, these sites chart a long-abandoned road from the Mughal Empire.

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Pillars of Punjab 🕌🛕👑 Old Survey of India maps reveal many forgotten monuments of bygone eras. Plenty remain standing today but have melded into the background of everyday life in South Asia. Enter the Kos Minar!

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Learn how to georeference historical maps with MAHSA & MAEASaM ▶️🗺️ Want to work with old maps for yourself? Our latest GIS workshop will teach you how! 🔗 Watch now: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

"...Despite worries of snakes and steep drops, we went up and down without a hitch recording a temple, talab and fortress walls. The whole fort was built on a small peak on the salt range and looks like something from a fantasy film, especially in the early hours of the morning." ✍️ Afifa Khan

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Surveying in the shadow of Kussak Fort, Chakwal, Pakistan 🏰 Follow the MAHSA field team as they document this impressive site, once controlled by the Janjua Rajputs from the 11th century. “This was us finishing our records in the shade after hiking up Kussak Fort in the morning..."

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MAHSA Project @mahsa-project.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A deep learning model works a bit like a human brain. It consists of a network of digital neurons that fire a signal if certain conditions are met. It will look at a location and ask itself if it senses the pattern that it’s looking for.

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