The Husk of India

A close-up of the Indian subcontinent on Ataide and Teixeira's 1630 map. The subcontinent is dominated by Portuguese ports.

A further close-up of the Southern extent of India and Sri Lanka show just how much of the land area is filled up by port and city names. There is no detail of what is contained within the coasts.

de Gama first arrived in India in 1498 and before long the Portuguese were exerting significant control over the subcontinent (1). Starting with the annexation of Goa in 1510 (1), the Portuguese traders and navy began to colonize India in an effort to tap into its rich monetary potential. Ataide and Teixeira’s map from a little more than a century after the Portuguese first arrived in India shows just how many major ports were established along the Indian coast. The western coast of India, radiating outward from Goa, shows a particularly strong Portuguese influence.

In fact, when we zoom in on the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka, it is very interesting to note that the names of the ports take up essentially all of the space on land. We see highly detailed depictions of coastlines and a thorough understanding of shallow straits which could be dangerous for a fleet to sail through, but there seems to be no knowledge of what is contained within the shorelines beyond the ports. Clearly the Portuguese were far too concerned with the coasts to pay even the slightest attention to the rest of India.

One absence which stands out as particularly salient in Ataide’s depiction of the subcontinent is the complete absence of the most important river in Indian history, the Ganges (2). The holy Ganges River flows from the Himalayas, not pictured, past New Delhi, also not pictured, and empties into a delta in Northeast India. Because the majority of the Ganges’ course is well inland we see no trace of one of India’s most storied and important landmarks, although we do see that the Ganges delta is well-mapped and detailed.

The coasts around Bombaim show a remarkable knowledge of surrounding shoals, islands, and fords. The Portuguese knowledge of the coasts was extensive.

Zooming in on the Indian western coast even more we can see just how granular Ataide was with his knowledge of shorelines. On the coasts near Mumbai, known to the Portuguese as Bombaim, we clearly see the seven islands that make up the port city, as well as nearby channels and other minor islands. The Portuguese, as a seafaring nation, paid no attention to inner India and essentially treated the nation as a husk composed only of shores. As far as they were concerned, their littoral reality was supreme over the reality of the vibrant and storied culture which existed on the subcontinent before the arrival of Europeans.