A Map of the Countries Round Surat and Bombay

1759

Copper engraving on paper

Print size: 7.5 x 9.5 in (19 x 24 cm)
Sheet size: 8.25 x 10.75 in (21 x 27.5 cm)
Folded: 8.25 x 4.25 in (21 x 10.5 cm)

Kitchin’s 1759 regional map of Surat and Bombay - a precise and unusually early British delineation of the Western Indian littoral at the dawn of East India Company ascendancy

This finely engraved 1759 map by the British cartographer Thomas Kitchin, titled A Map of the Countries Round Surat and Bombay, represents one of the earliest focused cartographic treatments of the Western Indian coastline produced for an English readership. The map highlights the principal towns, ports and settlements surrounding the strategically crucial centres of Surat and Bombay, both of which were pivotal to the expanding commercial and military power of the East India Company in the mid-eighteenth century.

Kitchin’s work stands out for its precision. The map records the principal rivers, coastal alignments, fortifications and inland routes, marking the major administrative divisions and political boundaries as understood by British intelligence during the Seven Years’ War period. It offers a sharply observed depiction of the Konkan coast, extending north and south of Bombay, and includes the wider hinterland that connected these port cities to the Deccan interior.

The map’s importance lies in its timing. In 1759, Bombay was only beginning its ascent as the Company’s pre-eminent western base, while Surat - historically dominant - was entering a period of decline. Kitchin, who served as Hydrographer to the King, captured this transitional moment with the clarity and economy characteristic of his engraved output. His maps were widely disseminated through London atlases and political histories, and they shaped British perceptions of India at a time when the Company’s influence was rapidly shifting from trade to territorial power.

The engraving is executed with Kitchin’s characteristic precision: clean coastline delineation, evenly spaced lettering, and carefully engraved linework capturing both the riverine structure and the inland relief. The sheet would have served contemporary readers as a practical geographic key to military affairs, maritime navigation, and political intelligence regarding Britain’s growing commitments in Western India.

Well-preserved impressions of this map are increasingly uncommon, and examples with clear plate definition offer significant appeal for collectors of Bombay history material, East India Company cartography, and mid-eighteenth-century British mappings of India.

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