Abstract
Historical cartography is an important source of data on the early periods of exploration of the Himalayan natural environment. The chapter provides an overview of the development of Himalayan mapping.
Twenty facsimiles and old maps have been analysed in detail. The Greeks plotted the Himalaya as a barrier of mountains designated as Imaus mons or Emodi montes.
Medieval circular maps also present a string or waves of mountains. Greek names were adopted among others by the Dutch, and the cartographer A.
Ortelius added the name Dalanger. An entirely new image of the high mountains was presented by J.
B. d'Anville in 1733 on his map of Tibet where he made a detailed description of the Himalayan peaks. His work was an inspiration for other representatives of French, German and Austrian cartography for their work on maps of Asia or India.
In 1788, J. Rennell marked the mountains as Himmaleh on his map of India.
Since the 19th century, the Himalaya has been depicted by hachures. The mountain peaks were measured remotely across the borders and marked with Roman numerals.
In 1802, geodetic research and triangulation of the Indian Peninsula began. Special maps of the Himalaya were published in the German atlases of L.
J. Grimm and H.
K. W.
Berghaus. In the second half of the 19th century, Peak XV was named Mount Everest.
Triangulation was completed in 1863 by J. T.
Walker whose two maps from 1873 and 1881 are presented in the chapter. The summary table provides an overview of other available cartographic representations of India and Southeast Asia.