Gorgeous is an understatement. The color palette used for the different hydrological territories really makes the river systems pop without being overwhelming.
What if South Asian borders were not the results of a hasted, botched work made by an Englishman in the 1940’s but instead harmoniously based on… watersheds?
After makingone for France, I wanted to tackle another region I'm passionate about!
As you read this, millions of people live under democracies, oligarchies, autocracies, theocracies, and for some, even an idiocracy, so why not invent a new term for this water-based form of governance?
🧭💧
I'm taking some liberties here: the word is a neologism coined for my map, but the word have "Thalassocracy" does exist : it is a state whose power is based mainly on domination of the sea, so why not extend the idea to rivers, lakes and streams?
That's what this map shows!
In these new countries, whose borders are based on river catchments and water is at the heart of planning and leads the way for our thinking, actions, how we approach geography and how we get around.
Today, much of South Asia is under severe water stress. Conflicts over this vital resource are becoming increasingly acute–driven by dams, melting glaciers, heat waves, and rising meat consumption–while millions still lack access to water. Organising states around watersheds, following natural boundaries, could allow for a more peaceful, sustainable, and equitable distribution of water.
Issues are now thought out and reflected upon within these hydrological territories, from upstream to downstream, from the sky to the Earth and vice versa, and no longer from a national capital disconnected from the rest of the country. Water tribunals allow the efficient treatment of water related issues and they seat in a different city than the capital to promote a dencentralisation approach of power.
☔ 🌀💬
This governance strives to preserve water as a natural, economic and cultural common good, going so far as to grant waters - lakes, rivers, wetlands and streams - a legal personality to defend and maintain them, in line with the vision defended by many experts of the field today
🌱 🦦 🌱
As for the creation of the new names, as usual I had a great time, mixing ancient sanskrit and vernacular names (found in current hydronomy) with natural features... The map is never finished, if you have suggestions to improve it (be it names or something else) I'm open to change since I'm not native to the region, it would make sense to take South Asian voices into account.
And for fellow map lovers, here's my website, for more maps, photographs... (not smartphone friendly) better on a big screen!
If I may say, your French map is very tame in comparison, being limited to only France. Surely a hydrocracy would have been established along the Rhine? :)
Yeah it's another scale aha. Rivers of South Asia are so mighty and they carried entire civilizations. Rivers of Europe were important for trade and today industry / energy but that's about it. We get enough rain with enough regularity to grow food without building complex system of irrigation canals and all
Merging the Ganga delta with the entire region of Gangapatha felt weird because on one hand there’s a mangrove region heavily forested, with marshes etc and on the other hand, an alluvial plains with mountains in the north.
So I thoughts let’s make Sondorban an independent state. This delta region with tributaries and distributaries is so complex anyway, I wasn’t sure how to approach this!
Yeah there are maybe some idiosyncracy resulting from that concept aha. I guess merging the Delta with the main river course would make more sense, I'll do that
The Godavari-Krishna contrast is interesting for sure. Most of the major Telugu cities are in the Krishna basin, and the area around the Krishna river has been the richest part of coastal Andhra for some time, and the most culturally dominant, with "standard" Telugu being based on the Krishna-Guntur dialect and being the prestige dialect of the language.
I really enjoyed this video by Claudia Ayuso that explores the concept of bioregions and how to construct maps that divide landmasses in this way. Fascinating!
I didnt want to use names from existing states but instead use names based on physical geography. here, the Malabar coast, since the region is exactly this : a coastal region, along the Malabar
An original map on my repost and karma farm sub?!??!!?!? Preposterous.
I know I know… I’ll see myself out
Hopefully it doesn’t get deleted
Post it on imaginary maps. It will surely get deleted here.
I did! it's a great sub.
Gorgeous and interesting map.
thanks so much
Gorgeous is an understatement. The color palette used for the different hydrological territories really makes the river systems pop without being overwhelming.
lol that map's a mess. all those river basins and borders... hydro-hegemony fr
Isn't that the point of the map? or do you mean the rivers and catchment areas are wrong?
What if South Asian borders were not the results of a hasted, botched work made by an Englishman in the 1940’s but instead harmoniously based on… watersheds?
After making one for France, I wanted to tackle another region I'm passionate about!
As you read this, millions of people live under democracies, oligarchies, autocracies, theocracies, and for some, even an idiocracy, so why not invent a new term for this water-based form of governance?
🧭💧
I'm taking some liberties here: the word is a neologism coined for my map, but the word have "Thalassocracy" does exist : it is a state whose power is based mainly on domination of the sea, so why not extend the idea to rivers, lakes and streams?
That's what this map shows!
In these new countries, whose borders are based on river catchments and water is at the heart of planning and leads the way for our thinking, actions, how we approach geography and how we get around.
Today, much of South Asia is under severe water stress. Conflicts over this vital resource are becoming increasingly acute–driven by dams, melting glaciers, heat waves, and rising meat consumption–while millions still lack access to water. Organising states around watersheds, following natural boundaries, could allow for a more peaceful, sustainable, and equitable distribution of water.
Issues are now thought out and reflected upon within these hydrological territories, from upstream to downstream, from the sky to the Earth and vice versa, and no longer from a national capital disconnected from the rest of the country. Water tribunals allow the efficient treatment of water related issues and they seat in a different city than the capital to promote a dencentralisation approach of power.
☔ 🌀💬
This governance strives to preserve water as a natural, economic and cultural common good, going so far as to grant waters - lakes, rivers, wetlands and streams - a legal personality to defend and maintain them, in line with the vision defended by many experts of the field today
🌱 🦦 🌱
As for the creation of the new names, as usual I had a great time, mixing ancient sanskrit and vernacular names (found in current hydronomy) with natural features... The map is never finished, if you have suggestions to improve it (be it names or something else) I'm open to change since I'm not native to the region, it would make sense to take South Asian voices into account.
And for fellow map lovers, here's my website, for more maps, photographs... (not smartphone friendly) better on a big screen!
If I may say, your French map is very tame in comparison, being limited to only France. Surely a hydrocracy would have been established along the Rhine? :)
Yeah it's another scale aha. Rivers of South Asia are so mighty and they carried entire civilizations. Rivers of Europe were important for trade and today industry / energy but that's about it. We get enough rain with enough regularity to grow food without building complex system of irrigation canals and all
Crazy that you can still make out Kerala on this.
Not really. Almost all of Kerala lies on the windward side of the Western Ghats, so it would be quite obvious.
Where does Gangapatha drain? It seems to traverse Purvanadi Brahmaputra and Kolkata on its way to the Bay of Bengal
That’s a fair question…
Merging the Ganga delta with the entire region of Gangapatha felt weird because on one hand there’s a mangrove region heavily forested, with marshes etc and on the other hand, an alluvial plains with mountains in the north.
So I thoughts let’s make Sondorban an independent state. This delta region with tributaries and distributaries is so complex anyway, I wasn’t sure how to approach this!
I guess it would be
very interesting though I think that narrow little land for the main tract of the Ayeyarwaddy within the delta seems very precarious lol
Yeah there are maybe some idiosyncracy resulting from that concept aha. I guess merging the Delta with the main river course would make more sense, I'll do that
Really interesting map to say the least,Thank you op
Thanks!
TIL, Nagpur is the biggest city in the Godavari basin.
The Godavari-Krishna contrast is interesting for sure. Most of the major Telugu cities are in the Krishna basin, and the area around the Krishna river has been the richest part of coastal Andhra for some time, and the most culturally dominant, with "standard" Telugu being based on the Krishna-Guntur dialect and being the prestige dialect of the language.
Interestingly Sapta-Sindhu is almost the same as the borders of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh.
I really enjoyed this video by Claudia Ayuso that explores the concept of bioregions and how to construct maps that divide landmasses in this way. Fascinating!
https://youtu.be/KT7qAqP3050?si=cO7OnIWPeuUNx2YM
will give it a watch, i love this topic. thanks!
I like the idea of organizing regions on an ecological basis.
Why malabar for kerala?
I didnt want to use names from existing states but instead use names based on physical geography. here, the Malabar coast, since the region is exactly this : a coastal region, along the Malabar
just for future reference its spelled puducherry