The Southern Countries of India From Madrass to Cape Comorin Describing the Routes of the Armies Commanded by Colonels Fullerton and Humberston, During the Campaigns of 1782, 1783, & 1784

Circa 1784

Later hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

A two-sheet map of southern India printed from two copperplates on two sheets of paper that displays the routes taken by the British armies under the command of Colonels Fullerton and Humberston in the 1782–1784 campaigns.

Left side: This map has the watermark of a crowned bird, wings spread, standing on branch with two twigs [similar to Heawood 196 but clearer]; countermark: MONTGOLFIER and 8 and 7
33.5 x 19.6 in (85.1 x 49.8 cm) (neatline)
34.2 x 19.9 in (86.9 x 50.7 cm) (image)
[cropped] x 52.5 cm (platemark)
34.5 x 21.6 in (87.8 x 55.1 cm) (sheet)
With mount: 41.5 x 26.7 in (105.5 x 68 cm)

At top right, in cartouche representing a rectangle of material pinned to the map. An explanation at bottom left reads: a key to the symbols for forts, villages, pagodas and those roads which had been measured with a gunter's chain, and a key to the colours denoting the British and French possessions and the routes for the separate years.

Right side: This map has the watermark of a crowned bird facing right, wings spread, standing on branch with two twigs [similar to Heawood 196 but clearer]; countermark: MONTGOLFIER and 8 and 9
33.3 x 19.6 in (84.8 x 49.8 cm) (neatline)
34 x 19.9 in (86.6 x 50.7 cm) (image)
cropped (platemark)
34.7 x 21.1 in (88.2 x 53.8 cm) (sheet)
With mount: 41.5 x 26.7 in (105.5 x 68 cm)

This amazing and extremely rare detailed folding wall map shows the battleground of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, which pitted the forces of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan of Mysore against the British East India Company's soldiers.

In Indian history, the Second Anglo-Mysore War is regarded as being extremely significant. At the Treaty of Mangalore, the British East India Company in Madras was given the command by London to make peace with Tipu Sultan, marking the final instance in which an Indian potentate could impose conditions on the British. There were ultimately four Anglo-Mysore Wars, and they had a significant impact on the histories of England, India, and the Napoleonic Wars.

The map in the present lot was released in order to provide context for the British East India Company's operations between 1780 and 1784 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. In 1791, it was printed for William Faden and offered for sale at his location. Faden was a very successful map maker who capitalised on the public's curiosity about events in the remote corners of the newly emerging British Empire. Given that the Third Anglo-Mysore War was raging at the time this map was released, it is highly likely that he also capitalised on the zeitgeist.

The surveys conducted by Captain Wersebe, Col. Kelly, and their staff served as the basis for the map. The principal British commanders' march routes of Col. Humberston, Col. Fullerton, and Sir Eyre Coote's columns during the Second Anglo-Mysore War are depicted on the map. Known as Coote Bahadur (Coote the Brave) by his sepoy troops, Sir Eyre Coote was a charismatic officer and lieutenant general in the British East India Company Forces. With a keen strategic sense, he understood that the Anglo-Mysore Wars pitted the French against their principal Carnatic ally, the Kingdom of Mysore, just as much as they did the French. In three different battles in 1781 - the Battle of Porto Novo, the Battle of Polillur, and the Battle of Sholinghur - he decisively defeated Hyder Ali. The first was the most important; with only 8,000 soldiers, the British defeated a forty-thousand-strong Mysore army. Regretfully, the 56-year-old's health deteriorated during a very difficult campaign in 1782, and he passed away in Calcutta in 1783. Paradoxically, he barely outlived his formidable foe, Hyder Ali, by a single year. Cancer had claimed Ali's life in 1782.

This work will be shipped unframed.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each lot.