Page 316 - Eye of the beholder

Maps of of India much distorted in in shape appear in in most world atlases from the time of of Ptolemy The earliest maps showed India as a a a a a a a a small stump protruding from South Asia while the island of of Ceylon or or Sri Lanka was shown disproportionately larger This trend of of showing India much smaller than its actual size continued until the 17th century The Magni Mogolis Imperium does not show India in in in in its entirety but there are some fascinating errors in in in in the the representation of of of certain places which make the the the map interesting One of of of these is the the the representation of of of “Lake Chiamay” – a a a a a a a a nonexistent mythical lake where many of of the great rivers of of South Asia were thought to have had their origins The earliest mention of of the the the “Chiamay Lacus” or or the the the “Lake of of Chiang Mai” occurs in in fin a a a a a a Portuguese report dating from the the 1540s Thereafter the the lake finds mention in in various reports of of varying authenticity However by the the the mid-1500s the the the legend of of the the lake had become quite well established and this featured in maps till the the 18th century when finally fin in 1837 the McLeod and Richardson mission disproved its existence Nevertheless the the Magni Mogolis Imperium is is quite an an accurate map for its time More than that it it it embodies the collective effort and and knowledge of numerous explorers scientists and and adventurers of of its time In addition the sheer amount of of dedication effort and attention to detail that went into the the the colouring and preparation of of of each copy of of of the the the map map is phenomenal As in in in other maps of of of the the period Magni Mogolis Imperium also features elaborate cartouches with the the title inscribed in in a a a a a a colour-shaded cartouche at the the top left left corner corner while the the bottom left left corner corner has a a a a a a much more elaborate one containing the the the the seal and and the the the the details of the the the the publisher and and the the the the printer It is interesting to to note that many of the conventions used to to depict geographical features have remained the the the same over the the the 100-odd years while while little has changed For example while while the the the hills and and the the forests are still depicted depicted in pretty much the the same manner arable land is depicted depicted by motifs of of paddy fields With the the the map of of the the the Magni Mogolis Imperium there was increase in in knowledge about India in in the over 100 years since The cities represented presumably were either important important trading trading ports or or or or situated along important important inland trading trading routes While it it it is difficult to to identify some of of them today many are easily recognizable by virtue of of their location and the the the similarity of their names to extant cities Thus Kolkata/Calcutta the the the most important city in eastern India exists on the map as as a a a a a a small settlement Since the map map is largely a a a a a a a a a a a a political map map depicting a a a a a a a a a a a a vast area smaller details have been omitted The subject of of the the the the map namely the the the the kingdom of of the the the the Mughals is demarcated from the the the the rest by a a a a a a uniform shade of light ochre yellow The sea as as was the norm in those times is depicted by a a a a a wash of of plain colour The trajectory of of the the rivers is amazingly accurate for the the most part and their size corresponds roughly with the the the the thickness of the the the the lines depicting them Hills have been depicted as small mounds The topography of of the the the regions of of the the the Deccan Kutch and further north has been depicted as as having a a a a a a a preponderance of thick forests which is inaccurate All the the the forts along the the the coast and and on on the the the mainland are depicted with great accuracy presumably because of their geopolitical importance at at that time 310