|
The Piri
Reis Map of 1513 is one of the most beautiful,
interesting, important, and mysterious maps to have
survived from the Age of Discovery. Yet for all its
importance, it is one of the least understood maps of
this momentous and remarkable period in the history of
cartography. The map is the surviving left-hand portion
of a larger world map.
The top edge displays evidence of another section of
parchment above, which would have depicted Great Britain,
Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. The extant
fragment measures about 89 centimeters high by 64
centimeters wide. The central section and right–hand (or
eastern) portion of the world map are missing.
Piri tells us in his map inscriptions that among the
maps he used to construct his world map there were
Portuguese maps. Several contemporary Portuguese maps
have been used to reconstruct a suggestion of what the
whole Piri Reis map looked like. The complete world map
probably measured about 140 centimeters high by 165
centimeters wide. It is fortunate that the surviving
portion is of the newly discovered regions in the
Western Hemisphere, not only because it contains a copy
of a map by Christopher Columbus, but also because it
documents some of the era’s evolving geographical
conceptions of America. The map follows in the tradition
of portolan charts, mariners’s sea charts of the Black,
Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic coasts
of Europe.
In response to European geographical expansion, portolan
– style maps were expanded beyond the traditional
European regions to include depictions of the entire
world. The graphical symbols, colors, and illustrations
of Piri’s map are typical of portolan – style charts.
Like other portolan charts of the time, the Piri Reis
map exhibits a network of rhumb lines radiating from a
circular pattern of wind roses or compass roses, five of
which can be seen on the extant fragment. The central
rose was in northeast Africa, a common motif.
The map includes 117 place – names. Most are typical of
portolan charts and easily identifiable, particularly
those found in Europe, Africa, South America, and the
Atlantic Islands (both real and imaginary).
The map also includes thirty descriptive inscriptions.
All but one is in the Ottoman – Turkish language. The
exception is in Arabic and identifies the mapmaker as
Piri Reis and dates the map to the spring of 1513. Other
inscriptions give information about the people, animals,
mineral wealth, and curiosities of the New World. One of
the inscriptions identifies the sources used by Piri
Reis: eight maps of Ptolemy, four contemporary
Portuguese maps, an Arabic map of Southern Asia, and a
map by Columbus for parts of the New World.
The depiction of the New World, based upon a Columbus
Map, and the depiction of land at the south of the
Atlantic Ocean, have elicited the most interest. Piri’s
map appears to include in his depiction of a southern
land the commonly held belief in a southern continent,
accepted by geographers since the time of the ancient
Greeks. A southern continent had to exist in order to
balance the globe with the other landmasses in the
Northern Hemisphere Piri’s inscriptions on his southern
land indicate that his compilation included reports from
Portuguese voyaging along the east coast of South
America.
The Piri Reis map is typical of most other world maps of
the Sixteenth Century, which depict a southern continent
with inscriptions describing South America. The
depiction of South America is rather typical for its
time as seen in the delineation of the east coast, the
northeast coast, and the mouth of the Amazon.
The place-names along the east coast of South America
are typical of all maps since the Portuguese first
explored the coast after its discovery in 1500. Now, we
do not have any difficulty seeing the outline of Europe,
Africa, and the coast of South America on this surviving
portion of the map.
But, what is this jumbled bunch of lands and islands up
here in the northwest corner? Let’s see if we can sort
this out and figure out what was being represented here.
The islands of Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles are
fairly easily discernible on the Piri Reis Map when we
compare the delineation with other contemporary maps.
The name inscribed on Puerto Rico – Sanjuwano bastido –
is San Juan Bautista, the name Columbus bestowed upon
the island when he discovered it during his Second
Voyage. Stretching eastward from the northeast corner of
Puerto Rico on the Piri Reis Map is a string of small,
unnamed islands that are identified from their shape,
size, location, configuration, and orientation as the
present-day Virgin Islands.
There is also, however, a cluster of twelve islands
located immediately to the northeast of the unnamed
Virgin Islands, which, according to the inscription next
to them, are called Undiziverjine, which is Italian for
"Eleven Virgins,” derived, no doubt, from Columbus’s
name for these islands, which was “Eleven – Thousand
Virgins.” The duplication of the Virgin Islands, once in
their correct form and location, but unnamed, and again
immediately to their northeast as a conventionally drawn
cluster of islands, provides an important clue as to how
Piri Reis extracted and reconciled the information from
the two – dozen source maps he used. We will look at
this compilation process a little later.
The Lesser Antilles on the Piri Reis map are easily
identified by the shapes, orientations, and place names
of the islands. Some of these island place names
preserve native Carib island names recorded in early
Sixteenth Century documents.
According to Piri Reis, he used a map by Columbus for
part of the depiction of the western regions or the New
World. An analysis of the depiction of Hispaniola, the
Bahamas, and Cuba indicates that this is probably
correct. The depiction of Hispaniola on the map does not
at first glance appear to resemble the true shape of
Hispaniola. It can be identified, however, by the place
names inscribed upon it: Espanya, Navidad, and the
little island of Alto Vela; by the delineation of its
coast; and by an understanding of what Columbus believed
about Hispaniola.
One inscription, is Elcezire Izle despanya. This is a
combination of the Arabic word for “island” and the
Spanish “isla de españia,” that is, "Spanish Island".
When Columbus discovered this island on the First Voyage
he gave it the name “La Isla Española,” meaning "the
Spanish Island," subsequently Latinized to “Hispaniola.”
The other name inscribed on the island is Paksin Vidad.
This name is undoubtedly Navidad, the name of the first
settlement founded in the New World by Columbus on the
north coast of Hispaniola and which occurs on only a few
other maps.
The shape and orientation of Hispaniola on the Piri Reis
map is strikingly similar to the depiction of the island
of Cipango on maps of the fifteenth and Sixteenth
centuries. Cipango was Marco Polo’s name for the islands
of Japan, and it was one of the goals sought by Columbus
on his first voyage. Columbus and his contemporaries
believed that Cipango was rectangular, with its main
axis oriented north to south. Many maps contemporary
with Columbus and Piri Reis show Cipango with this shape
and orientation. Columbus states that when he discovered
the island of Hispaniola during his first voyage, he
thought he had found Cipango.
The belief regarding the identity of Hispaniola as
Cipango persisted into the Sixteenth Century. A note on
the Johann Ruysch map of 1508, for instance, states:
"....that what the Spaniards call Spagnola is really
Cipango ..." Oronce Fine, on his printed cordiform world
map of 1534, labeled Hispaniola as Zipango, i.e., Japan,
as did other cartographers who followed him. By turning
the island of Hispaniola on the Piri Reis Map 90 degrees
counter–clockwise so that its orientation matches the
island in reality rather than Columbus’s conception of
Cipango, we can see the coastlines visited and mapped by
Columbus. This is most apparent in the matching
coastlines from Bahía de Samaná to Cabo Falso. The
distinctive large bight on the south coast that includes
Bahía de Ocoa is well defined.
Notice that the west coast of Hispaniola and the Gulf of
Gonave are missing from the Piri Reis depiction of
Hispaniola. This may support Piri Reis's assertion of
the Columbian origin of the source map for this region
because these western shores of Hispaniola were the only
ones never seen by Columbus.
The various inlets, bays, capes, and promontories of the
northern, eastern, and southern coastlines of Hispaniola,
as seen by Columbus on his first and second voyages, are
preserved in the depiction of Hispaniola on the Piri
Reis Map.
More than merely a depiction of Cipango, this island on
the Piri Reis Map is actually “Hispaniola–as–Cipango”
copied from Columbus's map of his voyages and
discoveries in the West Indies. The delineation of
Hispaniola on the Piri Reis Map is Columbus's
delineation. Surrounding Hispaniola on the Piri Reis Map
are several named islands, some of which can be
identified with Columbus.
Birbinish, the name of an island off the south coast of
Hispaniola on the Piri Reis Map, is obviously bir binish,
Turkish for "long cloak," a translation apparently made
by Piri Reis of the island name Alto Velo, Spanish for "high
cloak," "high veil,” or "high sail.” Alto Velo, the sail–like
rock island off the southernmost point of Hispaniola,
was discovered and named by Columbus during his Second
Voyage.
Barbura was one of the names used by the Spanish for the
islands and shoals of the Turks Bank immediately north
of Hispaniola and this place–name is recorded on the
Piri Reis Map.
The Island of Cuba is depicted as part of the mainland
on the Piri Reis Map, in accordance with the opinion of
Columbus, who believed that Cuba was a great cape of
Asia. During the First Voyage he identified Cuba as the
mainland of China, even sending an emissary into the
interior with a letter from Ferdinand and Isabela to the
Grand Khan.
Columbus’s contemporaries — Paolo Toscanelli, Henricus
Martellus, Francesco Rosselli, and Martin Behaim —
depicted the same view of the Asian mainland on their
maps, made between 1474 and 1492.
The Piri Reis Map follows the ideas of Columbus in
depicting Cuba as a great cape of the mainland with a
coastline that trends north and south. During his Second
and Fourth Voyages Columbus continued to identify Cuba
as the mainland of Asia. Piri’s place-names on the
mainland and on the islands offshore all result from
Columbus’s second voyage and clearly identify the land
as Cuba. Istonasia appears to be the Spanish "Esta en
Asia" that is, "This is in Asia" appropriate words to be
found on the map so near to Cuba, which Columbus
believed to be the most eastern part of mainland Asia.
Porta Ghande is Puerto Grande, Columbus's name for
modern Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, discovered on his Second
Voyage. The Piri Reis Map is the only map that has this
Columbian place-name.
The name Kaw Punta Orofay, i.e., Cabo Punta Ornofay, or,
"Cape Point Ornofay," is the region on the south coast
of Cuba called Ornofay by the natives Columbus found
there, also on his Second Voyage. Or, perhaps, Kaw is
Cuba. This name, Ornofay, as with Puerta Grande, is a
place-name linked directly to Columbus, and the Piri
Reis Map is the only map to have it.
One of the islands on the map just off the coast of Cuba
is named Santa Marya. This must be the island on the
south coast of Cuba named, Santa Maria by Columbus
during the Second Voyage. The prominent cape pointing
towards Hispaniola undoubtedly is present-day Cabo Maisi
at the eastern end of Cuba.
The region to the north of the cape is that coast on the
north side of Cuba explored by Columbus on the First
Voyage, and, the region to the south being the south
coast of Cuba he explored on the Second Voyage. Columbus
described the north coast of Cuba as mainland extending
northwards. He described the south coast of Cuba as
extending first westward, from a great cape, and then
southward. The Piri Reis Map follows these descriptions,
illustrating Cuba as a mainland with a coastline that
tends north and south.
The Piri Reis Map, in the region of Central America or
Panama, also has the name Antilia. Piri tells us in his
inscriptions that Antilia is the name of the new lands
found by Columbus to the west. This is the origin of the
Antilles name for the islands in the West Indies. Here’s
the Central American place-names. On the section of this
mainland to the south, which connects with South
America, is a picture of a castle or fortress with an
inscription beside it. This inscription is the Arabic
Qal'at feridat, which means "Castle Precious Pearl."
This is a translation by Piri Reis of “Castello
Berrucca,” derived from the place-name Veragua and
indicates that the source map used by Piri Reis for this
section of the map is from after 1504 when Columbus
sailed along Panama and picked up the native name
Veragua.
The double Virgin Islands (indicating two different
source maps were used by Piri Reis in this region) and
Qal'at feridat (copied by Piri Reis from a map made
after 1504, maybe of Italianorigin) form the two ends of
a boundary. This boundary is between the regions to the
south (Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Central
America, and South America), copied by Piri Reis from
one or more maps of between 1504 and 1513 that probably
included Portuguese maps (as Piri Reis indicates in one
of his inscriptions) and possibly Italian copies of
Portuguese maps and the regions to the north (the
Bahamas, Hispaniola, and Cuba), copied by Piri Reis from
a map likely to be the one he claimed was made by
Columbus.
Veragua would not be on any map, Columbian or otherwise,
anytime before 1504. And it is unlikely that the double
Virgin Islands would be on a map made by Columbus. The
indication is that the region north of the
Veragua–Virgin Island boundary line is from the
Columbian source map, possibly made in 1495 or 1496 by
Columbus or under his direction. It appears that in his
map compilation process in the Caribbean region Piri
Reis grafted the Columbian source map of about 1495 or
1496 onto a Portuguese or Italian base map.
The Columbian conception of the transatlantic lands and
the Toscanelli–Martellus–Behaim conception of the East
Asian coast are combined with the geography of the West
Indies and the Caribbean to produce the configurations
of the Piri Reis Map configurations that are copied from
Columbus's map.
The Piri Reis Map of 1513 and most other maps of the
first two decades of the Sixteenth Century depict the
results of the attempts at combining the reported
geography of the new lands with the differing
conceptions of East Asia envisioned by Ptolemy, Marco
Polo, Toscanelli, Martellus, Columbus, and the
Portuguese. Many of the map’s unique features support
statements by Piri Reis that he copied a map by
Columbus. I suggest the Columbian source map used by
Piri Reis for his depiction of the Caribbean might have
looked something like this. What appears to be a
confused jumble in the northwest section of the map
conforms to Columbus’s geographical ideas, particularly
those of Hispaniola shaped like Cipango and Cuba shaped
as the Asian mainland. If one reads the writings of
Columbus and constructs a map of the lands and islands
he discovered based upon the ideas of Columbus that is,
that these lands and islands were the Asian mainland and
offshore islands and Cipango, as envisioned by Columbus
and his contemporaries then one constructs a map of this
general configuration.
The most significant aspect of the map is its connection
to Christopher Columbus. The Piri Reis map displays the
earliest, most primitive, and most rudimentary
cartography of the West Indies, particularly of
Hispaniola and Cuba, a primitiveness that indicates that
the earliest of all cartographic records of the
discoveries in the New World — a map made by Columbus,
or made under his supervision, around 1495 or 1496 — is
preserved in the Piri Reis map.
|
