1752 Antique Map of Bombay And Its Environs By Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
A 1752 antique map of Bombay and its environs by Jacques-Nicholas Bellin. Although the map looks amusing today but at the time it was the best maps could offer on Bombay (Mumbai). The French cartographer Jacques-Nicholas Bellin who drew this map was no less a name to reckon with at that time.
The map depicts the islands of Bombay as it was in the 1700s, including Salsette, Bombay Island, the Isle of Jesuits, the mainland of Canara Coast. It shows the Bombay Fort, the southern tip now now known as Colaba, Cayman, Sion, Mayen (Mahim), Bandura (Bandra), Mazagoen (Mazgaon) and Trombay.
Butcher and Elephanta islands are also marked. Along with Panvel Creek at the mainland, depth soundings around Bombay Harbour and references to shoals and anchorage. Despite Bombay becoming a seat of power in the west coast, oddly enough only a few maps of the region from the 1700s to probably the early 1800s seemed to have survived. This Jacques Bellin map seems to be a rare exception.
Did you know – the presence of numbers and navigational pointers showing water bodies suggests that this also was a nautical map drawn to benefit seafarers.
Past posts – Rural Life In India Watercolour Painting By N. Mukherjee., Madras Harbour From The Lighthouse, 1900 Photo., Grand Hotel At Chowringee Road Calcutta, 1908 Postcard., Sketch of Crawford Market In 19th Century Bombay, 1874 Print.
