Territory of Calcutta. MDCCLVII

1757 (plate date); published 1763

Copper engraving on paper

Print size: 9 x 16 in (22.8 x 40.8 cm)
Sheet size: 10.75 x 17 in (27.2 x 43 cm)

Territory of Calcutta, 1757—A Rare Fortification-Era Plan of Colonial Bengal

This rare engraved plan of Calcutta presents one of the most authoritative contemporary visual records of the city during the pivotal years of East India Company expansion in Bengal. Engraved by Thomas Kitchin and published in Robert Orme's A History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan (London: John Nourse, 1763), the map documents Calcutta’s fortified perimeter, street network, garden compounds, civic structures, and the strategic alignment of the settlement along the Hooghly River.

Executed with precise linear engraving and a disciplined cartographic aesthetic, the plan reflects mid-eighteenth-century British military and administrative priorities: defensive works are clearly articulated, urban blocks are systematically organised, and the surrounding landscape is rendered to contextualise both security and supply routes. The keyed legend identifies principal sites, reinforcing the map’s function as both a geographic document and a strategic instrument.

Beyond its technical quality, the map carries exceptional historical resonance. It records Calcutta at a decisive moment in the consolidation of British power in India, shortly after the conflicts that reshaped Company authority in Bengal. As an original copper-plate impression — confirmed by the presence of a true platemark — this example represents a scarce survival of an important colonial urban plan, combining documentary value, visual clarity, and strong appeal to collectors of Indian, British imperial, and early modern cartographic material.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at NO RESERVE

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