Undecima Asiae tabula

Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer, geographer, and humanist scholar whose work helped reshape European understanding of the world during the early sixteenth century. Educated at the University of Freiburg, he later joined the humanist circle known as the Gymnasium Vosagense at Saint-Dié in Lorraine. There, working with Matthias Ringmann and other scholars, he produced a series of influential geographical publications, including the 1507 wall map that first applied the name America to the newly recognised western continent.

Published by Johann Schott in Strasbourg in 1513, Waldseemüller’s edition of Ptolemy's Geographia combined twenty-seven maps based on Ptolemy’s second-century geography with twenty modern maps incorporating information from recent Portuguese and Spanish exploration. It was the first printed edition of Ptolemy to include a substantial supplement of modern maps alongside the traditional Ptolemaic series, and a second edition was issued in 1520 using the same woodblocks. This map, Undecima Asiae tabula, is the eleventh Ptolemaic map of Asia. It presents the world east of the Ganges according to Ptolemy’s second-century geography. It depicts India extra Gangem, or India beyond the Ganges, and the region of Sinae, bounded by the Ganges to the west, Scythia and Serica to the north, the Sinae to the east, and the Indian Ocean to the south. A large peninsula, Aurea Chersonesus or Golden Peninsula, extends beyond the equator.

The map preserves a vivid classical geography of mountains, marvels, and rich eastern lands. North of Aurea Chersonesus lies Meandrus mons, one of Ptolemy’s major mountain ranges in India extra Gangem, alongside Bepyruss, Damasi, and Semanthini. At the foot of the Meandrus mons, the region of Cirradia is marked, famous in Ptolemy’s account for producing the finest cinnamon. South of Cirradia, two regions rich in precious metals are depicted: Aurea regio (Kingdom of Gold) and Argentea regio (Kingdom of Silver). In the Indian Ocean, Waldseemüller includes islands drawn from Ptolemy’s text and populated with marvels. In the Sinus Gangeticus, or Bay of Bengal, the island of Bazacata is described as rich in shellfish and inhabited by the naked Agmatae. Farther south-east the Maniolae islands are said to attract ships with iron nails and to be inhabited by anthropophagi, or man-eaters. Other island groups, including the Barussae, Sindae, and Sabadicae, are also associated with cannibal peoples. Farther east in the Magnus Sinus, or Great Gulf, Labadius is described as fertile and rich in gold, while the nearby Satyrorum islands were believed to be inhabited by people with tails.

Within the collection, this map is closely connected with Waldseemüller’s modern map of the same region, Tabula moderna Indiae (63). Together the two maps form one of the most revealing contrasts in the 1513 Geography. While Undecima Asiae tabula preserves the second-century geographical framework of Claudius Ptolemy, complete with classical place names, mountain systems, and legendary peoples, Tabula moderna Indiae incorporates knowledge derived from Portuguese voyages around Africa and into the Indian Ocean. Viewed together, they illustrate the transition from classical geographical authority to the new cartography of the Age of Discovery.