DESCRIPTION: Scare Dutch chart of the Tapti River and Surat, India. This fine antique chart shows Surat then partially surrounded by a wall and the Casteel Suratta or Surat Castle (built 1546). The author provides numerous depth soundings and great detail on sandbanks in the Tapti River. Such rich detail suggests the source of information on the chart had a significant amount of experience in the area.
From contemporaneous accounts we know that Suratte was a key trading center.
"At one end of the City of Suratte upon the very banks of the river called Tapty you see a very fair castle with four large towers of free-stone with a broad ditch always full of water…there are here three great factories, to wit: of the French, English and Dutch East India Companies, each of which are distinguished by their banners of their respective nations which are to be seen on the tops of their houses."
"But when any European ships arrive at this port, the Persians, Indians, Armenians, and Turks, plant their tents or booths in such numbers, as to give it the resemblance of a very handsome fair." (Rennefort, Crull, Dellon. A Voyage to the East Indies… 1698. Google Books. Online)
From François Valentyn's Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien (Old and New East India), part V : Beschryving van Coromandel, Pegu, Arrakan, Bengale, Mocha, Persien, Malakka, Sumatra, Ceylon. François Valentijn (1666-1727) was a missionary who worked at Amboina from during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. With numerous rhumb lines and two compass roses topped with fleur-de-lis. Plate 9.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1720
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: India
BODY OF WATER: Surat River
CONDITION: Good.
Very clean and bright. Scattered foxing, spots. Washed. Ample margins.
COLORING: Outline hand color.
ENGRAVER: Valentijn
SIZE: 14
" x
12 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 9
PRICE: $900
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