Old maps offer glimpse of Indonesia history

Ida Indawati Khouw, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of years ago, a map was more prized than either gold or silver for European sailors. Maps were needed to navigate ships so that they could reach their destination, often newly discovered lands, which were later to become their colonies.

In Spain and Portugal -- two countries that initiated European exploration during the 16th century -- losing a map meant death, while possessing it meant pride.

What kind of maps were these? Unlike modern maps, the maps created between the 15th and 18th century were beautiful artworks.

A map didn't only show islands but was also full of colorful illustrations including strange creatures, beautiful angels and elegant frames.

It was alongside such beautiful pictures that Indonesia started to appear on the world map.

Curious to see old maps? Well, just visit the National Museum on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta. There is the Peta Indonesia dari Masa ke Masa (Maps of Indonesia over time) exhibition being held throughout the whole of December. On display are 75 maps, some original, some reproductions. Only a few of them are modern.

Seeing the collection is like witnessing the process of the "growing" Indonesian archipelago before it reached its current form.

The starting point of the exhibition is the small T-O map, a black-and-white round map dated to 1472 with a diameter of 6.5 centimeters. It is believed to be the first printed map of the world.

It is called the T-O map because the world is divided into three regions by a T shape, with Asia -- located in the northern part -- as the biggest continent occupying half of the world. Europe is located in the southern part on the left side and Africa is on the right. The three regions are encircled by an O- shaped sea.

It was not long before the Indonesian archipelago began to appear on the world map. The name Java Major (Java Island) and Java Minor (Sumatra Island) first appeared on a map made by Francesco Rossellini between 1492 and 1493.

Collector of old maps Heru Sajuto said the terms Java Major and Java Minor were created by Marco Polo as he considered them the biggest islands in the world. "He assumed that Java was connected with the land below, Australia," Heru said.

Polo's story of his journey to Asia in the 12th century and the book of Claudius Ptolemy, the Greek expert on geography -- Geographia written in 150 A.D. -- provided the basics for 15th century's cartographers when mapping the world.

It is interesting to see that cartographer Laurent Fries (c. 1490-1532) included an illustration of cannibalism when graphing the island of Java on the Indiae Orientalis map. Indiae Orientalis is probably the oldest map to describe Indonesia in specific terms.

However, the names given to the archipelago are not the same as they are today. For example: Halmahera island was called Giololo, Kalimantan was called Porne while Timor was Timos.

Inaccuracies are also found on many of the maps. On a map made in 1565, Irian is described as a small island located in the Philippines archipelago, while the island of Java is drawn much larger than its actual size.

A more accurate and detailed map of Indonesia was made by Dutch cartographer Jan Huygen van Lindschoten. He acquired his knowledge after stealing a map in Goa -- a transit city in India for Portuguese ships during their journey to Indonesia -- after years of working at a Portuguese convent there.

Heru said that one of the most beautiful maps of Indonesia was the Insulindae Orientalis Praecipuae Inquibus Moluccae (1606).

"It shows Indonesia in its complete form and accurately, along with illustrations of battles between Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch ships around the Indonesian archipelago," he added.