1760 Plan De Bombay Et de Ses Environs
By: Jacques Nicolas Belin
Date: 1760 (Published) Paris
Dimensions: 7.75 x 10.25 inches (20 cm x 26 cm)
This finely executed miniature map depicts Bombay and its environs in the mid-eighteenth century. The compass rose orients the map to the west. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Bombay had begun to develop into a major trade center to which craftsmen of every sort imaginable were thronging. Many came from different regions of India itself, but the city was also a magnet to peoples from afar as Madagascar. In 1770 the Mazagaon docks were built, and soon the British occupied much of the territory. It’s difficult to conceive that the city represented here has grown to become the ninth most highly and densely populated urban area on the planet, with an estimated 18.4 million living in the city and its environs. The city shows few details, but some topographical features are noted. A number of the other islands in the immediate area are included, and shoals off the coast of the island serve to warn seagoing vessels of these shallow areas. A decorative cartouche embellishes the map in the lower right quadrant, inside which is included a distance scale in both French and English forms of measurement. Condition: This map is in A condition with a fold line through the body of the map which is slightly darker than the paper.
Inventory #19646
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