1893 Karte der Bevölkerungsdichte von Britisch-Indien

3 things stick out for me which are different from today-

1. Very low density in Western Punjab and Sindh compared to today. 1893 was around the time when the British government was just starting to construct the “Canal Colonies” in the lower Indus basin to bring the vast arid interfluvial tracts under the plough, which had hitherto been dominated by semi-nomadic pastoralists .They would end up building among the world’s largest system of Canals and Dams in the Indus Basin.
2. Low density in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam compared to present times. Here the cause is the same- the establishment of plantations ,especially tea plantations drove massive amounts of immigrants from what is today Jharkhand, W. Bengal, and Bangladesh into the Brahmaputra valley.
3. Higher density in coastal Maharashtra south of Mumbai ,compared to inland cities on the other side of the ghats like Nashik or Pune. I actually don’t know the reason for it but my guess is that it is combination of population growth inland as well as migration from the Konkani communities around Raigad and Ratnagiri towards Mumbai.

Interesting to see that Delhi and Lahore had a lower population density than Amritsar. How things change.

Surprised that southern coastal Andhra is not as populated as the rest of the East coast.