1827 Vandermaelen map of Western Iran

This is the 1827 Vandermaelen map of northwestern Iran. This is the first large-scale atlas map to focus on this region, and the first to be executed in lithography.

A Closer Look

At the bottom right is the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, and the city of Bandar Mahshahr (Mashoor). The Karun River (Karoun) also appears. The city of Ahwaz is shown - noted here to be in ruins, because the city was devastated in the 14th century during Mongol invasions. By the 19th century, barely a village remained amongst the ruins of its once-great sugarcane plantations. Indeed, the map is sufficiently well-informed that many recognizable places can be found. Shooshtar (Shuster), Khorramabad, and other Iranian cities appear in the west. The map reaches as far north as the Alborz mountains, just north of Tehran, which is also labeled. Isfahan appears centrally, with the note of its population of 200,000. The map extends eastward to include much of the desert beyond Yezd. Somewhat confusingly to modern eyes, the western portion of the map is labeled 'Irak Adjemy,' enclosing both Tehran and Isfahan well to the east of what we now consider Iraq. In this case, it is not a contradiction: Irak Adjemy was a northwestern province of Persia at the time.

First Map

The map's detail - drawn from the first-hand exploration of John Macdonald Kinneir on behalf of the British East India Company - would not be improved upon until the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838 - 1842). Kinneir's travels in Persia were brought on with the explicit intent of understanding what the British viewed as the borderland between British interests in India, and the encroachments of the Russian empire.

The Great Game

'The Great Game' was a diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires over Afghanistan and other territories in Central and Southern Asia. The conflict, rooted in long-standing animosity between Russia and Britain, revolved around Afghanistan, which, while lacking significant resources of its own, was strategically situated. For its part, Russia feared Britain was making commercial and military inroads into Central Asia, an area long within the sphere of influence of St. Petersburg. Britain, conversely, feared Russia making gains in India, 'the jewel in the crown' of British Asia. The escalating tensions led to several wars and proxy wars: The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 - 1842), the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845 - 1846), the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848 - 1849), and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 - 1880), along with the Russian annexations of Khiva, Bukhara, and Kokand. Then as now, Afghanistan proved a grinding stone upon which the world's great empires diminished themselves, none achieving a definitive victory despite committing staggering resources. The Great Game 'ended' on September 10, 1895, with the signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission Protocols, which stabilized the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire - but well into the 20th century, the British were well aware the conflict remained. Regarding the attitude of Afghans to the British and to the Russians, the general assumption of the British was that 'Some will fight for us, some against us, but all will fight.'

Publication History

This map appeared in the second part, 'Asie,' of Vandermaelen's Atlas universel de géographie physique, politique, statistique et minéralogique. The atlas was produced in one edition in 1827; only 810 complete sets were sold. The full set of six volumes appears in eleven institutional collections in OCLC; the 2nd volume alone is listed in 12. This separate map does not appear physically in any listing in OCLC.