Antique maps missing from Asiatic Society

From the vaults of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai founded in 1804, maps circa 18th Century – priceless, irreplaceable, hand-drawn and colourful original prints – have been disappearing.

Almost nothing remains of the entire set of maps that date back to 1803-04: they depict the expanse of Mumbai (then Bombay) in great detail when the first revenue survey was carried out. Called the Dickinson survey, close to 350 rolls had every part of the city drawn – its street plan, forts, old tanks, buildings. The 200-year-old guardian of these maps has no clue how they slipped through its fingers. And in what doesn’t seem to be an admirable reflection of Asiatic Society’s efforts to preserve these records, another set of antique rolls last catalogued in 1975 is short of 150 maps. These included admiralty charts of various parts of the world, some drawn by the Portuguese who were considered prolific cartographers.

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