Von den Ländern Asie. Calikuth.

Title

Von den Ländern Asie. Calikuth.

Illustration of the Calicut idol with German description. The reverse side shows a pepper plant from Calcutta. Sebastian Münster adopted the text from Ludovico de Varthema's book from 1515 and had the image redrawn, including it in the 'Cosmography,' Book 5, Chapter 82, for the people of Calicut. The images and their interpretations have a long tradition; they have been passed down independently from book to book without being verified on site.

ca. 1588

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Kolkata is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region.