14/03/2026
An evening of history, maps, and fascinating discoveries. ๐บ๏ธโจ
The Viraasat Lecture by Samira Sheikh, held in collaboration with Navrachana University, was a captivating exploration of how people from Gujarat understood and mapped their world long before modern cartography.
Welcoming their distinguished alumna back to campus, Navrachana proudly hosted Dr. Sheikh, whose engaging narration brought centuries-old maps to life. Drawing from her extensive research, she shared remarkable insights into historic maps of Gujarat โ including the rare 17th-century map preserved at the Baroda Museum & Picture Gallery.
The lecture revealed how maps of that era were far more than simple tools for directions. They recorded landscapes rich with flora and fauna, wildlife, settlements, infrastructure, and religious sites, alongside trade routes, riverways, and travel paths โ offering a vivid picture of how people once understood their environment and navigated the world.
Blending rich scholarship with captivating storytelling, she held the audience completely engrossed, revealing how sailors, merchants, monks, scholars, and the rulers of Gujarat once understood, imagined, and mapped their place in the wider world.
