Luxury Indian Ocean LUXURY INDIAN OCEAN #7 EDITION 2018 | Page 33

DÉCOUVERTES
by the African coast in the East and connected to Asia. This huge
error, due to the limited means of the time, was inscribed on various
maps until the Middle Ages, when the Ocean was described as
a series of gulfs serving as a vast commercial centre trading with
India. It is the Arabs who then opened the Ocean on the East.
As from the Renaissance period, the representation of the Indian
Ocean became closer to reality. In the 16th century, the Chinese,
who called it the “occidental sea” combined their knowledge with
that of occidental navigators so as to make a better sense of the
mysterious Indian Ocean that was still viewed as a land of legends
and myths about the precious goods that arrived in Europe through
enigmatic itineraries...
When we take a closer look at the world maps from the 16 th century,
we do not only see the records from the discoveries; we also get a
better insight into the purpose and aspirations of their authors. They
have become works of art which depict the somewhat fictitious stories
told by navigators, mixed with reality and put together to create a
master painting.
The ancient maps of the Indian Ocean were far from today’s modern
maps. They showed nonexistent islands, fantastic monsters and
imaginary obstacles. We can say that portolan charts were illustrations
of sailors’ tales rather than actual navigation tools.
It is only in the 18 th century that maps start evolving towards more
precise and thorough versions, thanks to some inventions like the
octant and the sextant that made it easier to collect data. They then
became tools for the transmission of scientific knowledge.
Map designers
We remember the names of those who have marked history:
Christopher Columbus, Magellan… These explorers have risked
EDITION #7
their lives by overcoming oceans and jotting down their discoveries
on useful maps, for the sake of the Great Discoveries. Jean baptiste
D’Après de Mannevillette, a French navigator, also became famous for
the creation of a map atlas from 1730 to 1772, Le Neptune Oriental
(or Routier général des côtes des Indes orientales et de la Chine). His
work enabled him to amend the latitudes of various reference points
on the route to China through the use of advance precision tools.
There are two schools of thought among map designers: the “pilots”
– most of the time boorish and illiterate, who drew basic portolan
charts to help them get from one port to the other – and the
“cosmologists” who were more rigorous, but often seen by the pilots as
men who could not survive on a ship. Legend has it that Christopher
Columbus knew the theories of the cosmologists, and was a very agile
pilot. Maybe this was the secret to his success!
It took designers centuries to draw a territory as vast as the Indian
Ocean. What seems obvious to us today took several maps, designed
and amended by various explorers who were looking to shed light on
the mysterious ocean. This evolution was slowed down by the fact that
the first maps showed depictions of the impressions and knowledge
of their authors, while at the same time spreading their point of view
as well as political, religious or social messages. They were, hence,
often in contradiction with each other.
Today, the historical and romanced masterpieces of explorers have
been replaced by precise digital maps, leaving no room for doubts
and myths. The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service,
that thoroughly transcribes the marine environment and predicts its
evolution with the help of satellites, sensors and radars, has taken over
the job of explorers. Nevertheless, the ocean can still play tricks on us,
despite the reliability of the data we now have, hence keeping some of
its deepest mysteries alive.
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