Kochi, Kerala

A pair of detailed plans of Cochin, depicting the city before and after it was conquered by the Dutch, ending 160 years of Portuguese rule.

The fascinating map sheet features two different plans of Cochin (Kochi). The larger plan depicts the city as it appeared at the end of the period of Portuguese hegemony. The smaller plan (below) was used by the minister and ethnographer Phillip Baldaeus to depict the Dutch plans for altering the city following their seizure of Cochin in 1663.

Cochin was one of the most important trading and cultural centers in all of India. It became the nucleus of the Indian spice trade, following the destruction, due to flooding, of the nearby port of Muziris (near modern Kodungallur) in 1341.

While the Raja of Cochin continued to exercise nominal authority, from the beginning of the 16th Century Cochin was controlled by the Portuguese. During this era, as shown on the plan, the city’s walls expanded to take up the entire tip of the peninsula, featuring many urban blocks occupied by trading rooms, warehouses, ecclesiastical institutions and grand residences.

On January 8, 1663, Dutch Admiral Rijckloff van Goens captured Cochin. As shown on the smaller plan below, the Dutch decided to extensively remodel Cochin, condensing the urban area and surrounding it with more robust fortifications in line with the latest standards of engineering.