Antique Plan of the city of Colombo by Baldaeus (1672)

Description: Antique map titled 'Columbo.' Bird's-eye plan of the important port city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, during the period of Dutch occupation. The countryside is filled with elephants, cattle, and farmland, and the sea is embellished with ships, two of which are engaged in battle. This map originates from 'Naauwkeurige Beschryvinge van Malabar en Choromandel…en het machtige Eyland Ceylon (..)' by Philippus Baldaeus.

Artists and Engravers: Father Philippus Baldaeus, Baelde or Philip Balde (October 1632, Delft - 1672, Geervliet) was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna, Ceylon with an invading Dutch force during 17th Century. As the first European he documented the life, language and culture of Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It is a great historical record, similar to Mahawamsa, and it was immediately published in Dutch and German (with many beautiful plates).