1762 Jonas Hanway Map of the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea

This is an example of John Gibson's rare map of the Caspian region, engraved in 1753 to accompany Jonas Hanway's account of his journey from Russia to Persia. It represents one of the first and best detailed, maps of the region based on firsthand exploration. The map combines details of Hanway's own journey with reconnaissance from the 1740 journey of British merchant George Thompson, that of Martin Kyck van Mierop, a cloth merchant who traveled the region in 1746, and an abortive 1746 Russian embassy to Persia on behalf of the Tsarina Elizabeth Petrovna. The map shows the area around the Caspian Sea and northern Iran, as well as parts of modern-day Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Iranian Borders after Nadir Shah

Thus, the map shows the northern frontier of Iran as it was known to European travelers in the 1740s, up to and following the death of Nader Shah Afshar (1688 - 1747). One of the most powerful rulers in Iranian History, Nader Shah was assassinated in Quchan in the province of Khorasan (northwest of Mashhad, here spelled Mesched). Quchan is not named, but labeled 'Here Nadir Shah was kill'd.' As a result of Nader Shah's death, the empire shattered and the Uzbek Dominion of Khiva and the Kingdom of Bokhara regained their independence. The map further includes excellent detail for the kingdoms of Astrakhan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on the western shore of the Caspian.

Traveler's Tracks

The cartographer includes several explorers' tracks, in order to support Hanway's text. These include Thompson's voyage along the west coast of the Aral Sea to the Dominion of Khiva; the 1742 van Mierop journey from Casbin to Mashhad; and the 1746 Russian embassy from Astrakhan south along the west coast of the Caspian via Derbend, Baku, and Reshd. Hanway's own journey, taken from Astrakhan to Astrabad by water, is also marked.

The Aral Sea

This is one of the first maps to detail, with any precision, the Aral Sea: then a massive endorheic lake, now an infamous desert. The bed of the semi-legendary River Oxus, once thought to connect the Caspian with the Aral, is also shown. The map's detail extends to cities, towns, caravansaries, fortifications and even tent-cities. Marshy ground, hills and mountains are shown pictorially. In addition to the mortuary note regarding Nadir Shah, the map includes other descriptive detail: 'This Tract of Land is little frequented but by Roving Turkumans' and, 'Mountains in which the Persians pretend are Gold Mines.'

Elegantly Presented

Gibson's map is beautifully engraved and embellished with a fine compass rose. It includes an attractive pictorial cartouche, featuring a mountainous scene with Turkic soldiers on foot and horseback, a slain soldier with a broken spear on the ground before them. Battle can just be seen in the background.

Publication History and Census

The map was engraved by John Gibson in 1753 for inclusion in Jonas Hanway's An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea. We are aware of three editions of the work; this example appeared in the third. It is distinguishable from the early editions only by the typeset pagination in the upper border. We see eight examples of the complete work in institutional collections. We see only one example of this map catalogued in OCLC, in the 1753 issue, at the Bibliotheque National de France.