Antique Siamese Maps New Discoveries of Aged Treasures

In 1995, 17 antique Siamese maps ended up discovered in the
Grand Palace. Ironically, the men and women who located these unusual previous
maps weren't even seeking for them. On a search for old court
textiles for an exhibition, officials stumbled on some cotton
sheets with elaborate markings in a cupboard in the Princess
Abhantri Paja Mansion, royal residence of a daughter of King
Rama V.

The cotton sheets turned out to be antique Siamese maps. The
discovery of these maps began a quest for their origin and
goal that was to previous virtually 10 a long time. The officials
presented the maps to the Crown Princess who tasked
Santanee Phasuk, a geography teacher at Chitralada College to
embark on this mission.

In 1997, Santanee went on a royally sponsored doctorate in
cartography to research on these maps at the College of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Jointly with Professor Philip Scott, Head of the Geography
Department in the very same university, Dr Santanee researched

and analyzed the aged maps, which coated Burma, Thailand
Indochina and China.

Traits of the outdated maps

The previous maps are hand drawn and hand painted on large
cotton sheets with names composed in Thai script. The maps
consist of topography maps with the terrain features
painstakingly marked, coastal maps and even a chart of a
battle prepare!

Muang Tawai (Tavoy, Myanmar) is the most significant map on display,
at four x five m displaying the western border province of Kanchanaburi,
River Kwai and Three Pagoda Pass, the classic invasion
routes of Burma into outdated Siam. The location was the scene of
regular battles for the duration of the Siamese-Burmese Wars in the reign
of King Rama I.

Saiburi (Alor Setar, Kedah) is the only exhibit that's not an
real map but a in depth chart of a battle strategy to capture a
coastal fort in what is now Peninsula Malaysia. It was the
battle prepare of the Siamese expeditionary force to set down a
Muslim revolt in southern provinces.

The chart denotes facts of enemy cannon and forces,

deployment of Siamese ships and forces, the assault prepare,
which includes the assault and scaling parties for the walls. The
chart even data the final result of the battle and casualties.
The name of rebel leader on the chart matched that of a rebel
leader in the course of the reign of King Rama III.

Khemen Nai Ni (Cambodia) covers well-known Angkor Wat and
Tonle Sap, the lake that drains and fills throughout the dry and
rainy seasons. The positions of Angkor Wat and other temples
and Tonle Sap with all its tributaries are plainly marked in
detail.

The area covers the Cambodian provinces of Battambang and
Siem Reap around which several wars were fought. These
territories were in dispute correct up till the 1940s.

Of the 5 antique Siamese maps, Muang Jin (China) is the
most interesting. The 2x4 m piece addresses the complete shoreline
from Thailand to southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all
the way to Japan and Korea, such as the northern tip of
Luzon, Philippines. The shoreline has been accurately mapped
with specifics of all the coastal inlets.

Muang Kwantung (Guangzhou, China) is a city map of old
Canton, displaying the Pearl River delta, location of factories
and buildings in the city.

Function of antique Siamese maps

The topography maps on border areas with Burma and
Cambodia, standard foes, have been obviously for military
purposes, the military routes and terrain features mapped by
military commanders in the course of campaigns to assert territorial
statements or suzerainty.

Trade with China, the key buying and selling companion then, needed
navigation charts mapped by ship captains and surveyors
hugging the coast to China on a thirty -40 day spherical trip.

Accuracy of outdated maps - path, distance and location

Military routes and distances had been generally correct as these
had been physically traversed. Locations of terrain characteristics,
mountains, jungles and rivers ended up also correct.

The scale of these antique Siamese maps was in comparison with
contemporary maps the directional error was 1 degree, quite a
mapping feat provided the technological innovation of individuals days.

Period of antique Siamese maps

The interval of these maps was decided by a by way of
detailed analysis of the hand-written Thai script, the
consonants, vowels, tone marks utilised then and the writing
types.

The use of obsolete consonants, the cursive composing type and
predominance of the initial two tonal seems in the Thai
language indicate that the period of these outdated maps throughout the
reigns of the first a few Chakri kings i.e. about the late 18th
the early 19th centuries.

This scarce assortment of antique Siamese maps is exceptional as
there are very couple of maps of these places just before the early 19th
century. The assortment is kept in the private library of the
Crown Princess.

On unique occasions they are put on public display. A public exhibition of antique Siamese maps was held at the Jim Thompson House from February - March 2006 when 5 of the 17 maps ended up shown.

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