When did Singapore become an island? Part I

On the earliest printed maps that feature Singapore, there is no indication that cartographers realized that it is an island. In fact, Singapore was usually depicted as a cape. The map (Fig. 1) below is an example. The map India Tercera Nova Tabula is from the Venetian mapmaker Giacomo Gastaldi's edition of Ptolemy's Geographia. It features Southeast Asia, with the Malay peninsula appearing near the middle of the map. 

Name: India Tercera Nova Tabula (from Gastaldi's edition of Ptolemy's Geographia)

Year: 1548

Mapmaker/publisher: Giacomo Gastaldi

Type: Copper Engraving

Figure 1. India Tercera Nova Tabula. Picture source link.

Fig. 2 is a close up look near the middle of the map, where the Malay peninsula is.

Figure 2.. 

Near the bottom right of the map in Fig. 2, one can read C. Cincapula. Cincapula no doubt denotes Singapura, while the C. denotes 'Capo' or cape in italian.

This map is also of interest, as it is the second earliest printed map to feature a variant of the Singapore toponym [1].

There are also examples of many other maps where Singapore is presented as a cape, such as...
 

Name: India Terza Ostro Tavola (from Vol. 1 of Ramusio's Delle Navigation  Viaggi) 
Year: 1554
Mapmaker/publisher: Giacomo Gastaldi and Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Type: Woodcut

Figure 3. Terza Ostro Tavola by Giovanni Ramusio. Picture source link.

In this map by Ramusio, the orientation is south-north instead of the more usual north-south. This map is notable for being one of the first maps to feature the Philippines. But that is not what we are interested in here. What we are interested in here, the Malay peninsula, is this 'leg' like feature on the right of the figure, jutting upwards. Figure 4 is a close up view of the tip of the peninsula. At the extreme tip and you will see C. de cimcapula. Again, we have Singapore as a cape in this map. 

What is more intriguing is that right beside C. de cimcapula, there is an island. Is Ramusio trying to depict the the island of Singapore? 

Figure 4. Close up view of the tip of 

Probably not. Firstly, the island is way too big to be Singapore island. Secondly, Muar is written on the island, not Cimcapula.  

If it was just this one map, it could easily be attributed to this cartographer's imagination. However, it turns out that there are too many maps that have this 'too-big-to-be-Singapore' island feature to consign it to simply an 'artist's impression'.

According to NUS historian Peter Borschberg, this feature appeared as early as 1537 [2]. This feature persisted and appeared on maps published as late as 1623 [3].

Here are some examples of important and famous maps that have this 'too-big-to-be-Singapore' island feature.

Figure 5. This is a close up look of the map of Southeast Asia from Jan Huygen van Linschoten's Itinerario. the North-south axis of map is along the horizontal direction. This is the English version dated to 1598. Picture source link

Name: Nova tabula insularum Iavae, Sumatrae, Borneonis et aliarum Malaccam usque, delineata in insula Iava, ubi ad vivum designantur vada et brevia scopulique interjacentes descripta (from  Part II of Theodore de Bry's Petits Voyage)

Year: 1598

Mapmaker: Willem Lodewycksz

Type: Copper Engraving

Figure 6. Willem Lodewycksz's  Nova tabula insularum Iavae, Sumatrae, Borneonis...etc... The above map is part of the collection of the National Library of Singapore. See source link.

So, if this feature does not represent Singapore island, then what does it represent? 

That will be the question that we will try to answer in a future blog entry.

References

[1] T. Suarez, Early Mapping of Southeast Asia (Periplus, Singapore, 1999). p. 104 

[2] P. Borschberg, 'Singapura in Early Modern Cartography: A Sea of Challenges' in Visualising Space: Maps of Singapore and the Region (National  Library Board, Singapore, 2015) 

[3] P. Wheatley, The Golden Khersonese (University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1961). p. 165.