(Mis?)spellings

Using these initial observations, it’s helpful to zoom into Bombay itself, the city at fascination here. Many names float around it: Salsett, Versovah, Carinja, Badlap, amongst others, are all seen nearby. An initial look at this begs some questions: what do these words mean? Are these spellings that Indian natives would use, or might they be an English version of these words? Are these places still in existence today, and are they still called the same? 

Therefore, a closer look into these places today provided major insight. Salsett, spelled “Salsette" today, refers to an island on which Mumbai rests on, and is today one of the most densely populated islands in the world. Versova—now “Versovah”—is actually just an upscale neighborhood in Mumbai today. The “Carinja” on the map is actually referring to “Karanja,” a city that neighbors Mumbai. And finally, Badlap refers to “Badlapur” today, which is another state in Maharashtra.

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/HUM54/files/original/c4831f15cae523a93c852c607f9e1b53.png

Here we see Bombay with some of its neighboring lands. It's essential to dive into the use of spelling here as a method used by Arrowsmith to view India from a British lens.

Since Arrowsmith's map is not great at scale, it's helpful to look at these various places on a map today. Thus, refer to the Google MyMaps below for their relative distances. This also helps provide some scale to the historical map in question.

Most interestingly, though, is once again this issue of spelling that is different from the spellings used today.  This certainly rings true for Bombay, now called Mumbai. The spellings used by Arrowsmith render little literature or usage on Google Ngrams today. Considering that spelling is a major historical tool that might reflect cultural imperalism, this sheds light into how British-influenced this map is, and what Arrowsmith’s larger intentions might have been. This was a map made by an Englishman, for the British, and his use of spellings is a classic example of anglicizing their conquered land. 

However, to actually understand whether or not this was actually an Anglicized version of various spellings, it is helpful to have a look at other maps of India that were published around the same time. Below is a map from 1857, so roughly nearly around the same time:

However, to actually understand whether or not this was actually an Anglicized version of various spellings, it is helpful to have a look at other maps of India that were published around the same time. Below is a map from 1857, so roughly nearly around the same time:

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/HUM54/files/original/eb747f32f01e4e0c24e7dd0edf15eb5a.jpg

This is another map of India from around the same time, for comparison with the Arrowsmith one. 

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/HUM54/files/original/eb747f32f01e4e0c24e7dd0edf15eb5a.jpg

This is another map of India from around the same time, for comparison with the Arrowsmith one. 

A closer look into Bombay is very revealing, as it has different spellings of the names we see in Arrowsmith’s map:

A closer look into Bombay is very revealing, as it has different spellings of the names we see in Arrowsmith’s map:

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/HUM54/files/original/26fb0ef35b364f98f48a6b1dd9b609f4.png

A zoom in and around Bombay allows us to compare spellings with the Arrowsmith map, thereby allowing to see the Anglicism of the original map in question. 

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/HUM54/files/original/26fb0ef35b364f98f48a6b1dd9b609f4.png

A zoom in and around Bombay allows us to compare spellings with the Arrowsmith map, thereby allowing to see the Anglicism of the original map in question. 

Salsette, as it is called today, is spelled the same way in this 1857 map, while Arrowsmith’s map had it referred to as “Salsett.” While the other aforementioned names are not present here, this is already helpful insight that Arrowsmith was using English spellings for the colonized lands.

Salsette, as it is called today, is spelled the same way in this 1857 map, while Arrowsmith’s map had it referred to as “Salsett.” While the other aforementioned names are not present here, this is already helpful insight that Arrowsmith was using English spellings for the colonized lands.