1763 Bellin Map of Mauritius

This is a 1763 Jacques-Nicolas Bellin map of Mauritius. It was issued near the peak of French colonial power, before the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Mauritius is here represented as the darling of French colonial power in the Indian Ocean. Not only was Isle de France a critical stopping point on the East India Trade (and not just for the French), under management of the French East India Company, it was also a highly productive agrarian colony.

A Closer Look

Mauritius, then Isle de France, is an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. Despite being framed as a nautical chart, this map offers better inland than maritime detail. We note topography, river courses, and even individual farm grants. Coastal points, river mouths, small islands, and other landmarks are noted along the coast. An inset in the lower left focuses on Port Louis, an important stopping point on the East India trade routes. A second inset, in the upper right, presents a coastal profile view from five or six leagues south-southeast of Port Louis. Such profiles played an important role in navigation, allowing mariners to recognize distant shorelines.

Mauritius or Isle de France as a French Colony

From 1715 - 1810, Mauritius (Isle de France) was controlled by the French East India Company. During the French period, Port Louis developed into a major port, warehousing, and commercial center. The French East India Company gave land grants to colonists, soldiers, and workers which promoted the development of private farm enterprise, as grantees were required to cultivate their land for at least three years. One-tenth of each farm's production was returned to the French East India Company. In a bid to make the farms more profitable, each grantee was given twenty slaves. This alone dramatically increased the slave trade to Isle de France, with the number of slaves quadrupling between 1735 and 1740. The efforts were successful and Isle de France's production helped make France the largest European maritime trading power by the 1780s, with exports totaling £25 million, compared with Great Britain's £20 million. French dominance of Mauritius ended in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars, when Britain captured the island.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, engraved by P. A. Rameau, and published by the Dépôt des Cartes de la Marine in 1763. We note five examples cataloged in OCLC which are part of the collections at the University of Michigan, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden, the Universitätsbibliothek Bern, and the Biblioteca Nacional de España. It is rarely offered on the private market.