It was edited and largely authored by Joseph E. Schwartzberg, professor emeritus of South Asian Studies at the University of Minnesota.

The initial assembly of the Atlas began in 1964 with many authors, historians, cartographers and researchers contributing over a fourteen-year period.

Although many consider the atlas to be the ultimate resource for students and scholars alike, the authors stress that "it is intended to supplement existing histories of South Asia...not to be used in place of them."

In 1992, Schwartzberg and a new team of historians released a slightly updated second edition titled Second Impression, with Additional Material and published by Oxford University Press.

In 1980 the American Historical Association bestowed the Watumull Prize on the Atlas.