Southern Tibet : vol.7 / Page 106 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0106	Southern Tibet : vol.7

The mountains north of India are mentioned under the name of Ima in a letter
from the R. P. VENANTIUS BOUCHET dated Pondisherry, April 1st, 1719, in which
it is said:
Diese gantze Landschafft Ost-Indien herwärts des Ganges wird durch das Gebürg
Gat von der Comorinische Spitz an biss zu dem Berg Ima in zwey Theil entschieden.
Obwohl aber Ptolomaeus denselben Imao nennet und andere Geographi ihm andere Nahmen
geben; so heisst er doch sowol bey denen Indianern in ihrer heutigen Sprach, als auch in
ihren alten Büchern Ima, mit Versicherung dass in solchem der Fluss Ganges entspringe.¹
In the same letter the source of the Indus is placed either in Kashmir or in
Ima, Himalaya:
Wo der Fluss Indus eigentlich entspringe ist noch nicht ausgemacht: etliche Indianer
setzen dessen Ursprung in der Landschafft Caschemir, andere aber in dem Berg Ima. Der
Ganges ist ohne Widerrede der grösste Fluss in gantze Asien.
We now come to the famous work of ABUL GHÂZI BAHÂDUR, the manuscript
of which was bought by some of the Swedish officers who were prisoners at Tobolsk, from
a merchant of Bokhara and who had it translated into Russian and other languages.²
Of the two maps illustrating this work, the editor gives the following information
in his Preface, p. XIX:
To illustrate his observations the better, the Editor has prefixe'd two Maps to the
Tatar History: The first shews the State of Tatary in the time of Zingiz Khân, with the
situations of the several Tribes of the Turkish Nation; the other is a Representation of it
as it is at present; both of them are curious in their Kind, and have several Improvements
former Maps want.
Amongst other things he says that the Country of Khowârazm has undergone
»a thorow Reformation; Turkestân has got into its right Place; in short, the whole
puts on a new Face, and is represented in a Form very different from what it bears
in other Maps».
But the editor admits the maps are defective in some respects.
The first of the two maps mentioned in the quoted passage, is represented in
Vol. I as Pl. XLIV from the French edition of Leyde, 1726, and the second as
Pl. XLIII. In the English edition the first one has the title: A Map of the Northern
Asia as it was about the time of the Grand Invasion of the Tatars into the
Southern parts of Asia under the Conduct of Zingis Chan; adapted to the
Genealogicall History of the Tatars. The second is called: A New Map of the
Northern Asia drawn from the most Authentick Observations.
They are interesting in so far as they call the mountains north of Caschemir
Mus Tag and Imaus Mons, which may be said to be the first appearance of the

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Citation Information

OCR Text

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books