MALABAR, 17th century as mapped by Europeans

Its really interesting to see older maps and through which we will realize the depths of Indian history. Proper boundaries and borders of Indian subcontinent was mapped not before the 1860s and so before that, the European geographers would assume the physical geography and political boundaries based on what they saw and observe. The lines sketched inside weren't exactly boundaries of provinces or states, but just an assumption that a certain territory would have its limits within these imaginary lines. It was mostly based on where a kingship would end and where other would begin, based on the number of villages and farmlands.

Although Vasco da Gama is credited with discovering the first sea-route to India via Africa, it was Pêro da Covilhã who was dispatched 10 years ago in 1489 who navigated through a sea-route via Iran and landed at Calicut (Kozhikode) from where he went back via Zanzibar and Somalia. But as the Europeans arrived, they saw a complex administrative system of various clans and kingdoms and started mapping them with names they could understand in whatever capacity they had. While some names were Europeanized for the ease of pronunciation, others had a totally different set of naming parameters.

Early maps were mostly in Latin hence certain spellings are hard to decipher. But while comparing to many other maps, certain derivations could be made out. Also when the Portuguese arrived to Malabar (the first point of contact) in bulk, there was also an incoming of Dutch traders as well. The first Dutch factory was set up at Kaniyakulam, spelled as Calecoulan, in 1644. The English arrived quite late, in 1662 and set up their factory at Porakad (spelled as Porca). And thus the European mapping took an advance and names such as Cananor (Kannur), Moutigué, Cottagan, Tecancutes (Thekkumkur), Coulan (Kollam), Tanor (Tanur), Malleens, Coetschien or Cochim (Kochi), Turubulle etc. started coming up. As and when time passed by, the spellings and pronunciations of these places improved with better navigation and exploration.

Malabar was explored (or rather exploited) for pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, coir, ginger and calicoes. Even though Malabar was divided into two Princely States of Cochin and Travancore, in 1780s and 90s, British had set their territories at Calicut (Kozhikode), Porca (Porakad), Calecoulan (Kanyakulam), Coulan or Quilon (Kollam), Cannanore (Kannur) and Cranganore (Kodungallur) which they retained till 1947. When the Portuguese had arrived, they had noted down Malabar as a 'Sea Province on the East of Bisnagar (Vijayanagar) and had kingdoms of Badara, Bipur, Chambais, Curucan, Curiga, Mangate, Montigue, Panur and Tanor'. Note that all these names are around Kozhikode, the first point of their landings. They also mentioned that kingdoms of Travancor, Calecoulon, Batacala, Changanor, Cota, Marte, Muterte, Panhapel, Porca, Punhali and Trivalar are all controlled by Naques (Naiks) and the chief among them is Calecute or Calicut. They had mentioned the supreme monarch as Samorim (or Zamorins or Samoothiri).

The European mapping of India tells us a lot about their misconceptions, images, perceptions and views about India. Going further back 3 centuries, in Hereford Mappa Mundi (considered the largest medieval age map created, in 1300s), some mythical and fancy creatures were to be believed existing in India. Creatures such as Blemmyes (headless men), Anthropophagus (cannibals), Sciapods (one-legged giant-footed men) etc. were believed to be existing in India since none of them had ever set their foot beyond a certain point in the country. And hence it was important for the outside world to arrive to Indian subcontinent to burst their mythical bubbles and have a normal image of the country.

Below here is a map of Malabar dating 1652 by Nicolas Sanson, considered as 'father of French cartography'.