This map, by Sadiq Isfahani, was published in Jaunpur in 1647, when India was ruled by the Mughal Empire. It is part of the Atlas of the Inhabited Quadrant, along with 33 other maps detailing each of the regions. The only existing copy is kept at the British Library.

The Mongol Empire of India existed between 1526 and 1858. At its peak, it occupied the present-day territories of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as parts of Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and even eastern Iran. This atlas is one of the few cartographic works that remain from this period.

The idea of an ‘inhabited quadrant’ refers to the northern part of the eastern hemisphere, a region that contained (and still contains) most of the world's population. The map is clearly influenced by Greek and Islamic cartography, with the presence of meridians and parallels. The resemblance to the Ptolemy's world map.

The map is oriented with south at the top. Not many regions are labelled on the map in black, so the presence of the Canary Islands (at the top right) and the importance of the Caspian Sea (the only lake on the map) stand out. Europe, on this map, corresponds to the large island at the bottom right.

The last interesting detail is the reference to the seven climates, also inherited from Greek and Islamic geographical tradition, labelled in red on the right-hand side. The seven climates were latitudinal bands with which the Greeks divided the earth into different regions according to their habitability.

Sources

• Map of the “Inhabited Quarter”