Process maping history. The first half of the XVIIth century

Beginning of the part The second half of the XVIIth century The fisrt half of the XVIIIth century The second half of the XVIIIth century The first half of the XIXth century The second half of the XIXth century Beginning of the XXth century Title of Hondius' map

Jodocus Hondius' map The "Atlas" of the famous flamish scientist Gerard Merkator (1512-1594) was reprinted in Amsterdam in 1606. This publication, prepared by Jodocus Hondius, carried a new additional map, that wasn't presented in the previous publication in the "Atlas": the territory of the North Eurasia from Moscow, the White and the Blak Sea in the west to Korea and the coast of Alaska in the east was marked on the map, ehtitled "Tartaria" The southern border of the draught lay between 30Ï and 40Ï n.l., the northern - across the Arctic Ocean.The author of the map, according to the data in the additional supplement, was Jodocus Hondius. The scientists believe, that the basis of Hondius' draught were the maps of the Antonio Jenkinson (1562) and Gerard Merkator (1595), published in Europa in the second half of the XVIth century . Hondius marked the Ob just from its mouth to the flowing into the Ocean, while it is drawn not correctly in the Low reaches, than in the Middle and in the Upper reaches. The Ob takes its birth from the China Lake(Kitai lacus). In the south a nameless river (may be the Ob?), where the city Taskent is situated, flows into the lake. And here Jenkinson's confusion can be seen, who identified the China Lake with in the Upper Ob with the Aral Sea, and the river flowing into this lake from the south with the Sur-Daria. But Hondius was very carefull about the supposition, marking Taskent on the bank of the southern river, though non naming the river Sur-Daria. The Irtish (Irtisch flu) is shown as a left tributary of the Ob, which took its birth in the Riphey (Ripheus) Mountains (Ural). The Ob at the place from the China Lake to the mouth of the Irtish first flew in the mountains (Imaus mons, Siebi mons), then in the plane, though from the south and the west the Tapuri Mountains and The Alani Mountains are attached to it. Despite the considerable mistakes the peculiarities of the relief, noticed by Hondius, are quite identifical with the geografical realias. In our opinion the mountiain ridge Imaus, streched from the southern desert to the Polar region, coincides with the Mongolian and Mountainous Alta, the Sajan and the Jenissey Ridge. The mountainous ridge Siebi may be identified with the Salair Ridge and the Kuznetsk Alatow; the spurs of the Mining Altai may be seen in the Tapuri, and the Alani Mountains may be identified with the Kazakh Hills. Judging this treatment of the map the present-day Altai Territory coincides with that part of the Ob, where it flows from the moutains to the West-Siberian plane. Here Hondius marked 2 towns, one of which is nameless and the other is called Cambalich. Lower along the river Grustin is marked. This legendary towns were first marked on the map of Sigizmund Gerberstein, published in 1549. The historians are very carefull about such data, since there is no proofs of this and their disposal.

Title of Hondius' map

Heinrich Hondius' map On the whole, europian maps of the Siberia, published in the first half of the XVIIth century, repeated the contents of the maps of Merkator and Hondius. Some slight changes might be added due to the geografical literature of that time. As an illustration one of the maps, published on the "Atlas" of Johann Jansonia in Amsterdam, may be presented. It is a copy of "Tartaria", published by Heinrich Hondius in 1633.The hydrosystem and the all the names of this draught are almost identifical with those on the map of Hondius (1606). The comparison of this two maps can lead to the conclusion, that some of the names can't be found on the map of 1633, at the same time new names are introduced. The river that flows into the Ghina Lake, where the city Taskent is situated, as on the map by Jenkinson, is called Sur-Daria. In the Upper Ob, between Grustin and Combalich the name Kithaisko is placed. The northern part of the Tapuri Mountains is marked as Anarei monts, and the name of the Alani Mountains desappeared. Instead of kalmiks (kalmucki tartari) kazakhs (kasakki tartari) are mentioned. On the whole, the changes, made in 1633, less coincided with the geografical realias, thus making the trustworthiness of the map less reliable.