Fantastically detailed map of the northwestern state of Sikhim and the Nepalese Frontier, centring on the third highest mountain in the world, Kangchenjunga ("Kunchinjinga").



This map showing extensive knowledge of the topography of the region, illustrates the route made Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker made in 1848-49 during his exploration and study of northern Sikkim and eastern Nepal. Hooker (1817-1911) was a British botanist and one of Charles Darwin's closest friends. He set off to explore the Himalayas for three years in 1847, where he became the first European to collect plant specimens and bring them back to the United Kingdom - he is best remembered for bringing rhododendrons to English gardens.



The map details the areas permanently covered in snow with blue colouring, and has icons to mark monasteries (cross) and points at which trigonometrical measurements have been taken (triangle).



This map credits survey data from British Army Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh (1810-78) who at the time, and until 1861, was Surveyor General of India. Waugh was working with the Great Trigonometrical Survey (1802-1871), a mission to accurately map the entire Indian subcontinent, under the control of and for the British East India Company. He had established one of the first correct longitudinal measurements and named the peak Mount Everest after his professional predecessor, Sir George Everest (1790-1866).



Original hand colour. [IC2715]