Lords of all they surveyed? The Royal Engineers, surveying, mapping and development in South Africa's Eastern Cape

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Periodical article

Title:	Lords of all they surveyed? The Royal Engineers, surveying, mapping and development in South Africa's Eastern Cape
Author:	Webb, Denver A.
Year:	2013
Periodical:	African historical review (ISSN 1753-2531)
Volume:	45
Issue:	1
Pages:	22-45
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	South Africa The Cape
Subjects:	fortifications physical planning colonial history military history
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17532523.2013.796130
Abstract:	The history of South Africa's Eastern Cape continues to attract considerable attention. Recent scholarship suggests that the Royal Engineers, as one of the executive arms of imperial colonization, played a significant role in the colonization and development of the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. This article seeks to contribute to the discussion by examining the importance of surveying and mapping in underpinning and extending the colonial State in what is now the Eastern Cape. It attempts to disentangle and assess the impact of the activities of the Royal Engineers and other military officers. It briefly examines African responses to surveying and the construction of fortifications; and attempts to unravel the respective roles of imperial and colonial agencies in surveying, mapping, and construction of fortifications and establishment of towns. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]