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Mapping Asia: Cartographic Encounters Between East and West pp 265–278Cite as

A Disastrous Project: C. P. Keller and the Fortification (Plans) of Bimilipatnam

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography ((ICA))

Abstract

Leiden University Libraries has two remarkable fortification plans in its collections. They depict the village of Bimilipatnam under VOC rule. After a ransack by plundering Maratha troops in 1754, the local Mughal-regent allowed the Dutch to construct a stronghold in the village. VOC-authorities commissioned military engineer Coenraad Pieter Keller to survey the plot of land allocated to them and deliver plans and a proposal how this fortification could be constructed. The eventual fort was poorly constructed and collapsed two times. Keller was scapegoated by his superiors. He did not let the allegations pass and defended himself at Batavia. His written apologia has been preserved and provides unique insights in the career of a hybrid mapmaker in colonial service. By careful archival research we can reconstruct the context in which the plans were produced, interpreted by their intended audience and circulated until it was acquired by Leiden University Libraries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To be found in: ID-ANRI_K66a_NL, inv. nr. 1043, fol. 204. For the consultation of the VOC archives in Jakarta, see: Balk (2007). For the consultation of the VOC archives in The Hague, see: Meilink-Roelofsz et al. (1992).

  2. 2.

    The two maps have the following descriptions and signatures: Plaan van het dorp Bimelepatnam en ’SEComps. Loge (COLLBN 002-09-034) and ’t Geprojecteerde fort te Bimlipatam (COLLBN 002-12-040). They are available as scans via http://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl. Last accessed 10 Dec 2017.

  3. 3.

    Especially historian Kees Zandvliet explored the manuscript fortification plans in his studies, but his main focus is on seventeenth century developments. See: Zandvliet (1998, 2002). Concerning the eighteenth century historian Erik Odegard has very recently published an interesting contribution: Odegard (2017). An architectural survey of overseas Dutch heritage is provided in: Temminck Groll (2002). Lastly, the publication of a series of VOC manuscript maps should be mentioned. Between 2006 and 2010 in seven separate volumes, following geographical lines, the complete known cartographic legacy of the VOC was reproduced in a bilingual publication: van Diessen (2006–2010).

  4. 4.

    Among many others, map historian Günter Schilder has for many decades devoted himself to the study of VOC navigational sea charts. For a fairly recent overview of vellum charts, see: Schilder and Kok (2010).

  5. 5.

    Archivist P.A. Leupe in 1867 published the catalogue Buitenlandse Kaarten, finishing a project for the National Archives of the Netherlands in which the maps of the former VOC and WIC were seperated from the archives. A decision which made sense in the late nineteenth century, but regretted nowadays. Mainly because the context between map and original report is broken, and only with painstakingly archival research can be reconstructed.

  6. 6.

    For an introduction in the history of the Dutch East India Company, see: Gaastra (2012). For an overview of the Dutch trade at the Coromandel Coast, see: Arasaratnam (1976).

  7. 7.

    The fortification concepts made by military engineer Vauban (1633–1707) would dominate the education of military engineers for nearly the complete eighteenth century. His principles were imprinted in the mind of every young student of warfare. So, it does not surprise that Keller at least pays lip service to the famous French marshal and engineer.

  8. 8.

    NL-HaNA, VOC, 1.04.17, inv.nr. 353.

  9. 9.

    ID-ANRI_K66a_NL, inv. nr. 1046, fol. 433.

  10. 10.

    NL-HaNA, VOC, 1.04.02, inv.nr. 3197, fol. 481–495.

  11. 11.

    NL-HaNA, VOC, 1.04.17, inv.nr. 353.

  12. 12.

    NL-HaNA, VOC, 1.04.02, inv.nr. 6011.

  13. 13.

    NL-HaNA, VOC, 1.10.03, inv.nr. 87, I, fol. 53.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leiden University Libraries, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Jeroen Bos

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  1. Jeroen Bos
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Correspondence to Jeroen Bos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Libraries, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Martijn Storms

  2. Department of History, University of Macau, Macau, China

    Mario Cams

  3. Department of History, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

    Imre Josef Demhardt

  4. University Library, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Ferjan Ormeling

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Bos, J. (2019). A Disastrous Project: C. P. Keller and the Fortification (Plans) of Bimilipatnam. In: Storms, M., Cams, M., Demhardt, I., Ormeling, F. (eds) Mapping Asia: Cartographic Encounters Between East and West. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90406-1_15

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