The Hidden Portuguese Elements: Military Defense
This map belongs to a collection in which most of the maps feature towns with forts and fortresses. Its title is “Map of the Fortress of Mumbai,” which hints at Mumbai's turbulent military past. Leading up to 1534 (when the Portuguese officially arrived at Mumbai), the Portuguese had a tenuous presence in the region. Between 1529 and 1532, the Portuguese newcomers (Nuno daCunha, James de Silveira, and others) were often engaged in military conflicts with local rulers (in particular, the King of Gujarat) (2). Ultimately the Portuguese triumphed, winning rights to build on the nearby island of Diu and town of Bassein.
The rocky path that the Portuguese took to gaining control of Mumbai undoubtedly led them to create military defense structures in order to safeguard their newly acquired assets. This most likely also led to their militaristic representation of the city in map form – perhaps to prove to their enemies that they would put up a good fight, or to prove to people back home that they were succeeding in conquest.
In The Agency of Mapping, James Corner writes:
Map devices such as frame, scale, orientation, projection, indexing, and naming reveal artificial geographies that remain unavailable to human eyes (215)
Corner suggests that there are a variety of ways in which mapmakers can transform reality when depicting it on a map. They often present alternative versions of what truly exists. The devices that he lists are worthy of examination as they can help reveal the true intent of the mapmaker. In the case of this map, there is indeed an artificial geography: that of military defense.
If we look at the framing of the map, it becomes clear that these maps are heavily focused on defense structures. In reality, there is more to Mumbai than just a fortress. However, the map paints a picture of a town that is defined by its military infrastructure. There are two fortresses that are disproportionately large relative to the houses and trees.
Moreover, it we look at the naming, most of the labels exist near the military features. There are some small areas that are also labeled, though they have smaller and less legible labels.
The scale of the map is also inaccurate, as can be seen in comparisons between these two annotated images. Although the mountain that I labeled with #7 corresponds in both maps, the rolling hills to the left of label #7 do not exist in the Google Maps terrain view. Moreover, the rolling hills continue to the south, near label #4, when indeed there are also no hills in the Google Maps terrain view. This suggests that the mapmakers were not focused on the accuracy of the depictions of nature, rather they were intent on depicting only the military defense elements.