1831 Norie Map of the Andaman Islands, South Burma, and Thailand West Coast

An extremely scarce 1831 nautical chart or maritime map by J. W. Noire depicting the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands as well as parts of modern-day Burma (Pegu) and Thailand (Tanasserim). Oriented to the East, Norie's map covers from Ramree Island and Sandoway (today a popular resort known as Nagapali Beach, Myanmar), then south east around Pegu and past Rangoon (Yangon), then along the Myanmar and Thai coastline as far south as Ko Tarutao (Trotto), in modern day south Thailand. The map includes the large Thai coastal city of and island of Phuket, then known as Junkseylon Island.

Andaman and Nicobar

The foci of this map, as the title suggests, are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Andaman Islands were well known even in antiquity. Though Ptolemy may have mentioned them under a different name, they were definitely referred to by 9th century Arab geographers. In the 10 century the Persian navigator Buzurg ibn Shahriyar of Ramhormuz refers to them in his narrative Ajaib al-Hind (The wonders of India). Shahriyar describes the inhabitants of Great Andaman as fierce cannibals - a reputation they would maintain will into the late 19th century. Marco Polo also refers to the Andamans where, in one of his more whimsical and memorable passages, he describes the inhabitants as having heads like dogs.

Mapping the Aandamans

Alhtough first mapped in some detail in the late 1780s by British naval commanders, the Andaman Islands remained in relatively obscurity well into the early 19th century. The British founded several minor colonies on the island including the penal colonies of Port Chatham and Port Cornwallis. These initial forays into settling the islands were general failures due to high instances of disease and an exceptionally fierce indigenous population. In 1824, shortly after Norie issued the 1817 first edition of this map, the Andaman Islands attained greater significance. Port Cornwallis, on the northwestern coast of Great Andaman, was chosen as a staging point for British fleets transporting troops to Pegu to fight in the First Burmese War. During this period the British reconnoitered the coastline, an effort that yielded a wealth of new information which no doubt found its way on to this 1831 updated version of the chart. Even so, the archipelago was hazardous to navigate and throughout the 1830s and 1840s was the site of countless shipwrecks. The survivors of these shipwrecks were rarely seen again - victims of vicious indigenous anthropophagi.

Blueback Charts

Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to warp unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page, and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer. The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, including Americans Edmund March Blunt and George Eldridge, as well as Scandinavian, French, German, Russian, and Spanish chartmakers. Blueback charts remained popular until the late 19th century, when government subsidized organizations like the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office and the United States Coast Survey, began issuing their own superior charts on high quality paper that did not require reinforcement.