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[Dutch portolan chart of the eastern Dutch East Indies]

event1700

location_onIndonesia, East Timor

This colourful hand-drawn portolan (nautical) chart was designed to aid navigation. It features a rhumbline network (the web of interconnected lines), bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs, anchor points and written notes.

[Dutch portolan chart of the island of Madura]

eventc.1700

location_onIndonesia

Colourful hand-drawn portolan (nautical) navigation chart, featuring bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs, and anchor points. The coasts have pictorial representations of landmarks (trees, houses, mountains). Orientated with south at the top.

[Dutch Portolan chart of the Java Sea]

eventc.1700

location_onIndonesia

Hand-drawn portolan (nautical) chart, featuring a rhumbline network (the web of interconnected lines), bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs, elevations (side views of landmark mountains), and names of coastal settlements, all to aid navigation.

Le Détroit de Malacca: dressé sur les memoires des plus savans Voyageurs modernes

eventc.1700-1799

location_onMalaysia, Indonesia, Singapore

This 18th century map was designed to aid navigation through the Strait of Malacca between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Shoals, reefs and islands are marked, and the numbers printed on the strait record sea depth (bathymetry).

[Portolan chart of the Gulf of Siam]

event1697

location_onThailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia

A brightly-coloured hand-drawn map of the Gulf of Siam, made for a ship’s captain. The elaborate compass roses are the centre of a rhumbline network, a web of lines to aid navigation. Bathymetry (sea depth), islands, shoals and reefs are also marked.

[Zuid-Chinese Zee]

event1686

location_onIndonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam

Early navigation map of the South China Sea. The web of lines is a rhumbline network, while the numbers indicate sea depth (bathymetry), both used to aid navigation. A route around the Gulf of Thailand is marked with text and the dates 1643 and 1644.

Insvlarvm Bandanensivm: novißima delineatio

eventc.1680-1709

location_onIndonesia

A navigation map of the Banda Islands marked with bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and anchor points. On the island of Goenonghapy (Banda Api), a volcano erupts (‘api’ means ‘fire’ in Indonesian), and there is a military fort (‘Campa Nga’) on Nera.

[Portolan chart of the South China Sea]

event1679

location_onMalaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam

A brightly-coloured hand-drawn map of the South China Sea. The compass is at the centre of a rhumbline network, a web of lines to aid navigation. Bathymetry (sea depth), islands, anchor points, shoals and reefs are also marked.

[Map of the East Indies]

event1666

location_onVietnam, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, East Timor, Cambodia, Brunei

This mid-17th century map of Southeast Asia has a maritime focus, with shoals and reefs, and the coastal areas marked in great detail, while the interiors remain mostly blank. The Great Wall of China can be seen at the top of the map.

[Philippine Islands]

event1665

location_onPhilippines

A map of the northern Philippine islands with a rhumbline network, a web of lines to aid navigation. Bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs are marked, reinforcing the maritime theme. The compass rose points left, indicating north’s direction.

Straat Sincapura

eventc.1650

location_onSingapore, Indonesia

Hand-drawn map of the Singapore Strait, with Singapore above (green coastline) and the Riau Archipelago below. Bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs are marked. Two mountains at the eastern end of the strait are shown in profile as landmarks.

Mar di India

event1644

location_onBrunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Vietnam

This mid-17th century map of Southeast Asia is from Isaac Commelin’s book describing the voyages of the Dutch East India Company ‘Begin ende voortgangh…’. There is an inset map of the island of Botton (Buton Island, southeast of Celebes (Sulawesi)).

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