Page 323 - Eye of the beholder

mention in the the the map as as it it was then the the the capital of the Mughal empire and had already been an an important city for several centuries Maps of India much distorted in shape appear in most world atlases from the time of Ptolemy The earliest maps showed India as a a a small stump protruding from South Asia while the island of Taprobana (Sri Lanka) was shown disproportionately larger This trend of showing India much smaller than its actual size continued until the 17th century The “MMI” does not show India in its entirety but there are some fascinating errors in in the representation of certain places which make the the map interesting One of these is the representation of “Lake Chiamay” – a a a a a nonexistent mythical lake where many of the great rivers of South Asia were thought to have their origin (figure 4) The earliest mention of the the “Chiamay Lacus” or the the “Lake of Chiang Mai” occurs in a a a a Portuguese report dating from the 1540s Thereafter the lake finds mention fin in various reports of varying authenticity However by the the mid- 1500s the the legend of the the lake had become quite well established and this featured in maps till the 18th century when finally fin in 1837 the McLeod and Richardson mission finally disproved its existence Overall however the “MMI” is quite an accurate map for its time More than that it it embodies the collective effort and knowledge of numerous explorers scientists and adventurers of its time In addition the sheer amount of dedication effort and attention to to detail that went into the colouring and preparation of of each copy of of the map is phenomenal As in other maps of the the period “MMI” also feature elaborate cartouches with the title inscribed in in a a colour-shaded cartouche at the top left corner while the bottom left corner has a a much more elaborate cartouche containing the seal and the the the details of the the the publisher and the the the printer (figures 5 and 6) The beauty and aesthetics of the the “MMI” are are better appreciated when we compare it September 2008
4 The depiction of of the the mythical Lake Chiamay is one of of of the the the most important highlights of of the the the “MMI” Even though no one had ever seen the the lake popular wisdom attributed it it to be 180 leagues in in in in circumference with the surrounding lands abounding in in in in in silver copper tin and and lead to other maps produced in much later times Though the corpus of geographical knowledge got larger and the technology of copperplate engraving improved with time few of the maps of of later ages match the the finesse of of the the “MMI” A case in in point is the map of Bengal Histoire Generale des Voyages titled “Nouvelle Carte du Royaume de Bengale” (A New
Map of of the Kingdom of of Bengal) from Abbe Antoine Francois Prevost’s 15-volume Histoire Generale Des Voyages Abbe Prevost (April 1 1 1697 – December 23 1763) was an eminent French writer
and novelist born in in Hesdin Probably
better known for his romantic titled Manon Lescaut Prevost is is also well known for his Histoire Generale des Voyages published in Paris between 1746 and 1759 According
to popular consensus parts of the book were completed even after Prevost’s death and a a few posthumous editions were also published The book was supposed
to embody all the extant geographical knowledge and borrowed heavily from the observations and writings of many predecessors It was rich in illustrations depicting the daily life geography history royalty and and the exotica of o far-off lands 5A picture of of of the the the main cartouche of of of the the the the “MMI” containing the the the the title of of of the the the the map The graceful curves and decorative contours are further accentuated by the the sophisticated use of hand colouring An Early Manuscript Map 67
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Final Anirban Sadhu
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