Tabula Asiae IX

Title

Tabula Asiae IX

Map shows Pakistan with the river Indus, Afgansitan and partly Iran.

ca. 1550

Artist

Ptolemy/Münster Sebastian (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a prominent Renaissance cosmographer. His Cosmographia, published in 1544 with 24 double-page maps based on research from around 1528, was continuously expanded. It was the first widely accessible scientific description of the world in German, combining knowledge from history, geography, astronomy, and natural sciences. The work remained popular for a long time and was published in many editions and languages until 1650. Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100–160 AD) was a Greek mathematician, geographer, and astronomer. His works on astronomy, geography, and astrology were long considered standard references. He described the Earth as the center of the universe (Centrum Mundi) and established the basis for latitude measurement. His Geographia included the known world and the hypothesis of Terra Australis. Ptolemy provided written instructions for mapmaking but made only rough sketches himself; later maps were created under his name.

Historical Description

Around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC The Aryans from Central Asia invaded Pakistan. They shaped Vedic culture and Hinduism. Today's Pakistani territory already came into contact with Islam in the early 8th century when the Arabs conquered the Indus Valley under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim in 712. For centuries the border between the Islamic world and the Indian culture was east of the Indus. The Punjab initially remained outside the Muslim sphere of influence. It was only around 1000 that the Turkish Ghaznavid dynasty extended its empire to the whole of Pakistan and parts of northern India. Until the beginning of the 19th century, Pakistan was part of various Islamic empires, including those of the Persian Ghurids (12th and 13th centuries), the North Indian Delhi Sultans (13th and 14th centuries) and Mughals (16th to 18th centuries) ) and the Afghan Durrani dynasty (18th and 19th centuries).