[INDIA AND PAKISTAN] – LE VASSOULT, ‘Eléve du Genie’ [possibly Pierre Antoine (1748-1795)]. Carte reduite de la province d’Adjemir dans l’Indostan. [Sold with:] – Carte reduite de la province de Tatta dans l’Indostan Par ordre de … Commandant de...

[INDIA AND PAKISTAN] – LE VASSOULT, ‘Eléve du Genie’ [possibly Pierre Antoine (1748-1795)]. Carte reduite de la province d’Adjemir dans l’Indostan. [Sold with:] – Carte reduite de la province de Tatta dans l’Indostan Par ordre de … Commandant de Etablissments Français dans le Bengale, 1771-1772.

Rare French 18th-century manuscript maps of Rajastan and Gujarat. The former is centred on Ajmer, while the latter extends westwards into modern-day Pakistan covering the city of Thatta and the Indus delta. There is the tantalizing prospect that the cartographer of these maps was Pierre Antoine Le Vassoult, lover of Begum Samru (c.1753-1836), the only Catholic ruler in India, and one of the wealthiest women in history. Of Kasmiri descent, Begum Samru was reputedly a dancing girl who married a western mercenary, Walter Reinhardt Sombre of Luxembourg, who was operating in India. When Sombre died in 1778, the Begum took command of her late husband’s mercenary forces, personally leading them in battle. In about 1793, she met Le Vassoult. However, her troops mutinied when the rumour spread that she had married him, the result of which led to Le Vassoult’s suicide. Later, after reaching an accommodation with the British, the Begum would become extremely powerful and rich, ruling over a large area from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh. Precious little is known of Le Vassoult himself, although he appears to have been born in Lorient in Brittany, before serving in the artillery in French India. Since the artillery required engineers, it is certainly possible that the ‘Eléve du Genie’ is Le Vassoult in his early twenties working as a young cartographer.

Two manuscript maps, watercolour and ink on two folded double-page sheets, west oriented to top, illustrated with forests, rivers and settlements, with many toponyms, within ink border, 645 x 928mm and 595 x 960 (sheets).

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