Introduction

Maps allow us an insight into the past, as viewed by the cartographer. In this way, every map we see is a projection of the cartographer that includes their perception of the socio-political dynamic of the area they are mapping.

‘Maps work by serving interests’[1]

With the rise of Empire and colony, maps thus become treasure troves that physically display the influence of an Empire, and the most prominent hubs that comprise a nation’s influence in other areas of the world.

 This map, showing ‘Southern India, including the presidencies of Bombay and Madras’, is particularly useful as we see the representation of Bombay alongside other major Indian cities under the early British rule. It is possible to identify details on the map that offer a more detailed explanation as to what was occurring in Bombay at the time, and consequently, we can better understand the role of the cartographer and the messages they were propagating. The map we examine here shows us, in its iconography, the seal of the East India Company, a ‘dominant military, political, and economic power in India’[2], as well as the presidency of Bombay, which ‘by the end of the 1700s [it] was “The Gateway to India”’[3]. These two aspects reveal much about Bombay, and the cartographer’s intentions, which therefore require further investigation.