Space-Time And Place: The Culture of Indian Maps

This exhibition presents the multiple cultural perspectives towards representing the ordered world in the Indian sub-continent. The evolution from early cosmological representations of the ‘World of Mortals’, to pictographic depictions of ritual landscapes and sacred pilgrimage sites, through to the evolution of cartography is testament of the diverse, competing and global interests and influences – religious, economic and political - which have contributed to the perception of ‘India’ as we understand it today. 

The exhibition features a rich variety of sources - painted and printed Indian maps produced in the sub-continent and a variety of nations, including original manuscript representations. These date from the late fifteenth century until the early nineteenth century and each of them speaks to broader themes. The journey commences with Jain and Hindu cosmological representations, through to painted hangings depicting sacred rivers and pilgrimage sites and ultimately to the transition of cartographic depictions of the ancient European conception of the subcontinent. The exhibition continues with the first vaguely accurate maps of India done in the wake of Vasco Da Gama’s arrival in 1498, documents the evolution of map making as part of the military contestation for supremacy by various European powers, and ultimately the cartographic consolidation of India through the map makers of the British Raj.

The cosmological depictions represent the mortal world according to Jain philosophy. In Jain texts the universe is divided into three worlds – the upper occupied by the gods, the middle by mortals and the lower belonging to the damned. The most significant is the middle world, manushya-loka (world of the mortals), where liberation from the chain of rebirth is possible and where the Jinas (of saints and devotees) are born. Paintings of the phenomenal world therefore have remained popular in the jain tradition and survive from the fourteenth century through to the present day. 

The world of mortals is abstracted as a diagram of concentric circles. The blue circles and narrow streamer like (often symmetrical configurations) that traverse these represent water whilst the buff in-between areas represent land masses. The central circle is of particular significance as it depicts Jambudvipa (the island of the wood apple trees) which includes the Indian sub-continent with the cosmic Mount Meru at its the very centre. The inner-continent is encircled by two oceans and two further continents; the outer most landmass ends amorphously with a chain of mountains and shrines with sages or Jinas at the four quarters. This is why such depictions are often called adhaidvipa pata or paintings of the two-and-a half continents.

Lokapurusa or cosmic man, a popular theme in late Jain paintings, although its origins are evident from the fourteenth century. This example is a striking and beautiful painting, characteristic of the north Rajasthan region centred around Bikaner State, and is possibly a late 19th century rendition of an earlier 17th century version.

The cosmological scheme of the adhaidvipa – world of the mortals – is 'superimposed' on the human body in an attempt to homologize the microcosm with the microcosm. The human body symbolism is sub-divided into the adhaloka (lower world), madhyaloka (middle world), and, urdhvaloka (upper world) each of which is represented differently. The depiction overall is thus acts as cosmic representation - both a picture for the worship of the mandala of the world of the mortals and the enormous body form of Lord Mahavira – the twenty fourth Jina, which also embodies the three worlds.

The evil lower world is represented by seven horizontal registers of various colors depicting various carnal acts.

The middle world, with the point of origin at Mount Meru and the concentric world of mortals, incorporating all humanity, flora and fauna, is placed over the navel of the cosmic man; the origin myths of man and universe being aligned very literally.

The upper world of the gods, in its orderly formulation of courtly tiers, is located on the torso of the cosmic man.

The iconography, stylization and chromatic palette of this painting draws from illustrations in contemporaneous manuscripts such as the Samgrahanisutra.

This pilgrimage route map depicts the river Ganga and one of its chief headwaters, the Alakananda, as seen by the devout pilgrim making a pilgrimage from Haridwar, where the Ganga debouches into the plain, as far as the shrine at Badrinath in the Garhwal Himalayas. It is read from left to right.

Most of the action is assumed to be, or subsumed into, the right bank of the river, i.e. the upper part of the scroll. In keeping with such route maps, things depicted on the left bank of the river are depicted upside down. The scroll is plentifully supplied with inscriptions, naming sacred places, villages, mountains and trees. Although it is difficult to date such items, it seems clear that this is a uniquely important religious document that deserves a great deal of further study.

The path is conspicuously painted yellow all the way along the scroll and we see travellers and pilgrims following it up and down mountainsides and over the bridges across the rivers. Many are on foot and equipped with staves, while the wealthy are carried in hill doolies or jampans, while two men carry women in panniers on their backs.

The river and its tributaries are depicted in brilliant blue and white basket patterns, while the hillsides and mountains are in shades of mauve and brown (white for the highest mountains) set off by the brilliant depiction of the various trees in traditional Rajasthani style and by the numerous shrines.

This map depicts the pilgrimage circuit at the sacred Jain site of Satrunjaya (modern town of Palitana in Gujarat).

Depicted here is a panoramic view of the key shrines, the pilgrimage route and details of significant features and episodes along the devotees' path. They thus often served as surrogates for those – often aged or infirm devotees - who were unable to visit the sites. Their display on festivals and special occasions, viewed by large congregations of priests and devotees, provided the same merit as having visited the site.

Another variation of Satrunjaya Pata.

The painters of the three patas depict the pilgrimage route from the point of view of the devotee’s experience rather than a topographic expression of the actual site; despite this, these examples show strong geomorphic coherances. Earlier examples (Pal, 1994) are often even more diagrammatic with a propensity towards creating abstract cosmological patterns drawn from the Jaina texts and related cosmic symbolism; topographic accuracy was clearly of no significance.

In all these patas, the pilgrimage can be seen to begin at the bottom of the hill in the lower foreground. Pilgrims arrive on foot, horseback, carts drawn by elephants or horses, or palanquins and commence their journey to the top of the hill by foot, flowing the winding path up and paying respects to the various shrines or features enroute. They then encounter a fork in the path allowing for two alternatives - to either proceed to the left to the older complex of Adinatha, or to the right hand side, to the new complexes. The pilgrimage circumabulatin draws to a close when the pilgrims return to their starting point along a route depicted on the right hand side of the patas.

This map depicts the pilgrimage landscape of Vraj, the district around Mathura on the banks of the River Yamuna, and includes the sacred sites associated with Krishna’s boyhood and the discovery of the Shrinathji image. It shows the route for the religious procession or Vraj Yatra which pilgrims undertake each year lasting several weeks. Commencing from Mathura, the birth place of Krishna, devotees move in a clockwise direction around the city. After visiting the villages of Mahavana and Gokul they re-cross the Yamuna and return to Mathura and the spot of Krishna’s victory over the evil king Kansa. Devotees should ideally visit thirty-six groves on their pilgrimage, and in temples of the Vallabha sect, Vallabhacharya’s and Vitthalnathji’s circumambulations of Vraj are commemorated by the Vraj Yatra pichhvai.

Seen here are instances of Lord Krishna’s play with the young women, the gopis.

Depicts specific episodes, shrines and places in Krishna’s life.

Depictions of temples, palaces, and towns & cities are a significant theme in Indian paintings and map makings.

Here we see the Shrinathji temple complex at Nathdwara. Composed from a series of courtyards (including various shrines, palaces and service rooms) within a bastioned boundary wall and with one main gate at the heart of the town, the complex follows the architectural tradition of a large Rajasthani mansion or haveli, rather than a traditional North Indian Hindu temple. It is hence often referred to as the Nathdwara Haveli by devotees.

The haveli plan was a popular subject for both paintings and pichhvais, particularly in demand by visiting pilgrims to take back as mementos of their visit and did not otherwise serve any particular religious purpose.

The Haveli plan is like most such plans, depicts the occurrence of the Annakuta Festival, the day after Diwali, which is the most important festival for the Vallabha sect.Various courtyards are in use. Whilst mounds of food are presented to Shrinathji and the sat swarupas in the inner sanctum or Nijmandir (depicted with its characteristic tiled roof and orange and yellow flags), devotees and cows crowd in the Govardhana Chowk where the image of Navanitapriyaji presides over Govardhana puja. Devotees flock towards the White Court or Dholi Patiya to gain access to the inner shrines. Unlike most other haveli plans, the depiction of the haveli and its associated townscape is shown in a wider pilgrimage landscape setting of the Vraj country, amidst holy streams, shrines, villages and palace complexes.

Early example of pilgrimage souvenirs painted by the hereditary citrakaras or painters associated with the great temple of Jagannath at Puri in Orissa in eastern India.

Jagannatha is ‘Lord of the World,’ a form of Krishna worshipped at the famous shrine at Puri together with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. All three of the images are more stumps, but those of Jagannatha and Balabhadra also have projections functioning as arms. The cult is an example of the characteristic ability of Hinduism to absorb popular local or even tribal cults into the mainstream.

The present great temple at Puri was built by Anantavarman Chodagangadeva in the twelfth century to house these images that on account of the exigencies of the rituals to which they are subjected are regularly repainted and renewed by hereditary castes of painters, who are also responsible for painting the anavasara patas or painted representations placed in the shrine when the main divinities are taken out.

Sankhalavi pata is a layout that envisages the sacred area of Puri being in the shape of Visnu’s conch or sankha with the temple at its heart, here with its head to the north and its tip to the south. The layout of the conch is variable in all these examples.

In the centre of the pata are (left to right) the images of Balabhadra, Subhadra and Jagannatha as housed within the vimana of the great temple at Puri, whose chief mandapa or jaganmohan as it is called in Orissa together with the temple sikara (tower) behind are shown schematically.The two temple towers to the left represent the other two sacred chambers of the temple, here positioned at right angles rather than axially as they are in fact, i.e. the natamandira and the bhogamandira with Garuda on his column and the worshipping Raja of Puri (responsible for the administration of the temple). The images’ faces are depicted as painted on their actual iconic forms, but here they are given limbs – four arms each in the case of the two male divinities, and two for Subhadra – Balabhadra and Subhadra are dancing while Jagannatha is seated cross-legged on a throne.

Within the rectangular enclosure wall of the temple are depicted many of the different shrines and their divinities that make up the surroundings of the massive complex In addition to various images of Krishna either as Jagannatha or in more human form, and to other aspects of Visnu, there are temples to Siva with sivalingas, Ganesa and many goddesses. On the left the standing lay figure in adoration is the ‘Raja of Puri’ who is the hereditary guardian of the shrine.

Activities in the vast kitchens that feed the gods and the pilgrims – servants carry bhoga the ritual offerings up the steps to the temple & the scenes of priests performing arati (circling the images with a ritual flame while ringing a bell) with piles of sweetmeats offered as bhoga,

Synergy of traditional concepts and modern mapping. A key feature in these maps is the overriding attempts is to explicitly situate key sites and landmarks within a measurable paradigm, yet, express the theological importance of these sites within their textual or liturgical traditions. Also, provide a rich testimony of cross-cultural interpretation and exchange.

An early 18th Century Japanese map of the World, focusing on the continent of ‘Jambudvīpa’ and centered on the heart of Buddhist cosmology, Lake Manasarovar, Tibet, where Buddha was conceived.

While the map showcases the entire world as known to Zuda Rokashi, it depicts various geographic details in a manner radically different from their true geographic scale. The map was intended to emphasize the importance of regions that were traditionally central to Buddhism, such as India and China, at the expense of Europe, Africa and the Americas, which appear as small islands along the periphery.

The traditional Buddhist perspective of the world focuses on the metaphysical continent of Jambudvīpa. In the center of the continent is the mythical Lake Anavatapta, which represents the actual Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. It marks the center of the Buddhist universe, as the location where Queen Maya conceived Buddha. Lake Manasarovar and its waters are also revered by Hindus and Jains. Flowing from the lake are four great sacred rivers of the Indian Subcontinent: the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Indus, and the Sutlej.

This map depicts the course of the rivers Ganges and Ghaghara, representing a synergy of Indian and European sources and a bridge between Indian Pilgrimage mapping and European Enlightenment era cartography.

Toponyms and annotations are seen here in both French and Persian.

The historical cartography of India charts a progressive quest for the accurate physical depiction of the subcontinent and many of its various regions. However, this journey was not linear, as it was channeled by the particular priorities, limitations, experiences and cultural biases of the mapmakers, who were invariably not native to India. Many maps fundamentally reflect a Europeans’ view of India, and not necessarily India as it truly existed. That being said, much of the cartography made by Europeans heavily relied on the knowledge and support offered by Indians, making it a medium of cultural exchange. 

During the 16th Century, Portugal had a virtual monopoly on the European interaction with India. However, from the early 1600s, new powers arrived in India, and the maps of the British, Dutch, French, Danes and Belgians speak to their endeavours and their complex interactions with various Indian players. This is followed by maps depicting the contest for imperial dominance over India, fought between France and Britain, backed by their respective Indian allies. With British dominance across the sub-continent came the use of scientific methods to create accurate general maps of India, which could be used as devices of military and juridical power, supporting the creation of ‘The Raj’. This impressive cartography established an estimable intellectual endowment, however, the people of India would have to wait until their nation’s independence in 1947 to assume their ownership of this legacy.

India and the Silk Road, being three sheets from an exceptionally rare gargantuan 12-sheet wall map of Asia, made by the Venetian master Giovanni Francesco Camocio. Featured the western three-quarters of the Indian Subcontinent, extending about as far east as modern day Odisha and Bihar.

Observing the coastlines of India, from the west to the east, one will notice the common contemporary European misconception that the ‘Indu F.’ (Indus River) is shown to erroneously to flow through ‘Guzarate’ (Gujarat) and into the Gulf of Khambat. That being said, a number of ports on the west coast of India are labeled, approximately in their correct locations, including: Diu, ‘Cambaia’ (Cambay / Khambhat), Surat, ‘Caul’ (Chaul), Goa (the capital of Portuguese India), ‘Mangalor’ (Mangalore), ‘Cananor’ (Kannur), ‘Calecut’ (Khozikode), ‘Cochin’ (Kochi) and ‘Tranocore’ (Thiruvananthapuram).

Beyond ‘Capo Comari’ (Cape Comorin / Kanyakumari), can be found ‘Puduchiera’ (Puducherry), and ‘Malipur’ (Mylapore, now a part of Chennai) accompanied by the annotation ‘Qui é si corpo de San Thomaso apostole’ (‘Here is the body of St. Thomas the Apostle’). St. Thomas, often referred to as “Doubting Thomas”, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and travelled to India in 52 AD in order to spread the gospel. He spent many years in Kerala before moving on to the Coromandel Coast, where he died at Mylapore in 72 AD.

A mid-18th Century manuscript map of Mahé, a small enclave that from 1724 to 1954 was France’s only base along the west coast of India.

A prominent feature of the map is Mahé’s elaborate defensive system, as devised in 1740 by the brilliant military engineer Louis de la Roche Paradis. It was anchored by Fort Mahé (Black column A), located in the center of the town, while the three forts perched on highlands in the interior, Fort Dauphin (Black B), Fort Condé (Black C) and Fort St. Georges (Black D), guard the landward approaches. A comprehensive series of redoubts and batteries completed the defensive system.

An 18th Century map, commissioned by the Flemish-Austrian Ostend Company, depicting the European factories along Bengal’s Hooghly River, could be described as politically shambolic, commercially profitable and very short-lived.

Depicts the lower course of the Hooghly River, the epicentre of European activity in Bengal, taken from a westward perspective. In the right-center of the map, located just inland of the left bank of the river, is ‘Bankebasar’ (Banquibazar, today the site of Ichapore), the Ostend Company’s commercial base, and nearby ‘Hitsiapour’ (Hydisiapore), home of the ‘Loge Flamande’ (the Flemish habitation). Across the river is “Chandernagar factorie Françoise” (the French base of Chandernagore, today known as Chandannagar), while just above is ‘Sinsura factorie Holland’ (the Dutch factory of Chinsura). Further down river is ‘Coullicatta factorie Anglaise’, referring to Calcutta, established by the English in 1690.

Theatres of Wars in the Carnatic and Coromandal coast during 18th century & the territory of Mysore, ruled by Hyder Ali, coloured in a red-pink wash.

Based on a manuscript by the French military engineer Jean Bourcet, the map features all cities, villages, forts, major temples, roads, rivers and territorial boundaries in exacting detail. Every major battle site is marked with the symbol of crossed swords, including the date and names of the relevant French commanders.
The panels along the sides and lower part of the map contain 19 cartographic vignettes of key locations of military importance in the region. These are based on a series of manuscript maps made in 1777 and 1778 by Louis Marc-Antoine de Valory and Louis François Grégoire Lafitte du Brassier, French officers who were separately engaged in reconnaissance and espionage missions in various parts of Southern India.

6 cartographic vignettes features St.George fort, Madras; Arcot Fort of Nawab Carnatic; Chinglepet, English; Karunguzhi of Nawab of Carnatic; Poonamallee & Wandiwash or Vandarvasi Fort.

A Plan of Bombay Harbour, principally Illustrative of the Entrance Constructed from measured Bases, and a Series of Angles, taken in 1803 & 4.

The fort and town of Bombay occupy the southern tip of the island.

Depicts the fort of Vasota (also called Vyaghragad, meaning ‘tiger), located high in Western Ghats, to the east of Satara.

Plan of the Hill Fort of Sattara.

Plan of Bangalore grants a magnificent impression of a sizable Indian city prior to it being influenced by European urban models.
The large pettah in the upper centre is encircled by an elaborate system of walls and takes on an overall ovoid shape common to many such Indian cities. Within are dense and uneven blocks divided by narrow streets, a labyrinth which was ideal to confuse potential invaders who dared to storm the city.

The palace-fort complex projects off of the main pettah to the south.

The authoritative original manuscript plan for strengthening Surat Castle, prepared shortly after the EIC gained sovereign control of the fortress, marking the first official step towards the creation of the ‘Company Raj’.
The Castle itself occupies the upper center of the plan, and the “Explanation of the Figures” identifies 64 key sites within the fort and in the surrounding city. The different fazes of the improvements to the castle, both completed and planned, are distinguished through colour coding. Additionally, the plan lends an usually detailed perspective on the medieval centre of a major Indian port city.

Surat Castle, a monumental 16th Century edifice, rests along the banks of the Tapti River in the heart of the city, and was impressively built with walls 40 feet high and 13 feet thick, with the masonry bound together by iron strips and molten lead.

Bombay (Mumbai), the city and its vicinity from an easterly perspective, depicts the English colony as it appeared around 1680, following a period of explosive economic and population growth, which brought Bombay to prominence for the first time.

Bombay Towne & Castle marks the nucleus of the colony, being the residence of the EIC governor. ‘Mazagoem’ (Mazagaon Fort) represents a fortification that existed from 1680 to 1690, built to guard the northern approaches to the city. Intended to be a working sea chart, the harbour features copious nautical information, including bathymetric soundings, the locations of hazards and fishing stakes.

Manuscript map of Bombay Fort, then the epicenter of government and military affairs in Western India.

Map depicts the massive complex of Bombay Fort as it appeared during the 1830s. The fort was located along the harbour, immediately to the to the south of the city of Bombay and was surrounded by heavy walls, breastworks and moats. It housed the nucleus of the ‘Company Raj’ in Western India, as all of the operations of the civil government, military and the revenue financial systems of the East India Company’s Presidency of Bombay were headquartered there – making it the densest concentration of power on the subcontinent.

Kanpur and environs:
Kanpur was an insignificant village until the beginning of the 19th Century. In 1801, the area was ceded to the EIC by the Nawab of Oudh. The British soon proceeded to make Kanpur their largest army base in the region and the city (in the centre of the map) developed and prospered, while the massive ‘Cantonment’ of barracks, parade grounds and arsenals of the EIC Army makes up almost the entire right half of the map. Kanpur developed a major transport hub, being linked to the Grand Trunk Road, which ran down the Yamuna and Ganges valleys, by 1846 and the Ganges Canal by 1853.

The main city, largely populated by Indian residents, is comprised of a dense warren of urban blocks. The great arteries of the East Indian Railway and the Grand Trunk Road run to the south of the city, while a rail spur runs along its southeast side. The massive reserve, to the east and southeast of the city, represents the Cantonment, essentially a massive base for the British East India Company Army, hosting numerous barracks, ordnance storehouses, and the Brigade Parade Grounds.