On August 22, we hosted From The Vault — Street Imperialism: Cities at the Onset of Colonization.

A city plan is a window into a city’s culture and ways of life.

Unfortunately, most historic urban maps that have made their way into modern collections were created by European and American cartographers and primarily depict cities designed or strongly influenced by the European practices. This leaves many peoples, cities, and cultures cartographically underrepresented.

This From the Vault map collections showing highlights maps in our collections that depict global, pre-industrial cities that were founded by non-European cultures.

Sebastian Münster, Il Cvscho citta principale della provincia del Perv (1572)

Once the capital of the Inca Empire, Cusco was conquered by the Spanish Empire in 1534, and became capital of the province of Peru. Although its contemporary culture is heavily influenced by its Spanish background, Cusco retains its Inca ancestry. Notice the grid layout of the city—a deliberate choice by Inca planners, inherited by the Spanish administration. A Dutch cartographer made this map only a few decades after the conquest, so the indigenous culture was still prominently visible throughout Cusco. At this time, many denizens of Cusco would have remembered the large terraced cathedral on the left of the map as an Incan temple and palace.

Carl Crow, [Illustrated historical map of Shanghai] (1935)

This map was designed by advertising executive Carl Crow to attract English-speaking visitors into Shanghai, back then one of the world’s largest cities. China was an independent republic, but was dependent on Western powers such as the United States and Britain. Crow’s map depicts a neighborhood known as the “International Settlement,” its location within the city shown on the bottom left. In many ways, Shanghai’s European residents were the city’s ‘elite.’ They enjoyed special privileges, not afforded to the Chinese residents. For instance, the “Public Garden” in the center of the map, was infamously closed to Chinese visitors, restricted to white patrons only.

United States. Adjutant-General’s Office. Military Information Division, Military map of the isle of Luzon (1900)

This map of the Philippine island of Luzon was made by the U.S. Military during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The city of Manila, on the right, was the capital of the Spanish colony of the Philippines, and one of the most important trade cities in southeast Asia. The predominant ethnic group in Manila were the criollo, island-born people of mixed Spanish and indigenous Tagalog descent. They were considered of lower status than the landowning descendants of Spanish nobility. Shortly before the United States took over the Philippines, the city became a battleground for the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule. Consider how the separation of the city by rivers and canals may have literally split the elites from the creole masses.

François Levernay, Plan de l’isthme de Suez, de Port-Said, Ismailia et Suez pour servir d’annexe au guide général d’Egypte (1868)

The Suez Canal was one of the most ambitious projects of the 19th century, a connection between the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Egypt was then ruled by the Khedive Isma’il Pasha, who sold the rights for construction to a French company. The three cities depicted on the top of the map were all company towns, built specifically to house tens of thousands of laborers, many of whom were forced to work by French authorities. The conditions were very poor, with thousands of workers dying from diseases like cholera. A year after this map was published, the port of Ismailia held a lavish opening ceremony for the canal, attended by the rulers and ambassadors of many European countries.

Map of Jerusalem : reduced from the Ordnance Survey ; Smyrna ; the Maltese Islands [ca. 1880–1889]

European Christians, Muslims, and Jews have all lived in Jerusalem for centuries due to the city’s sacred status in all three faiths. This map was made by a British agency in the late 19th century. The British Empire, like many other European nations, was interested in exercising influence over the holy city, particularly to secure rights for Christians. The city plan labels the areas of various religious communities, which were generally concentrated around their respective shrines. An Orthodox Christian compound outside city walls, labelled here “Russian Property,” was built under pressure from the Russian Empire.

Muneyasu Kageyama, Tsukiji hatchōbori nihonbashi minami no kuni (1859)

Unlike every other map in this collection, this plan of a Tokyo neighborhood was not made by, or for, Europeans. In the mid-19th century, Japan placed severe restrictions on foreign visitors, only opening to Western merchants by 1856. Tokyo, then called Edo, was home to much of Japan’s feudal nobility, such as the hatamoto clans and daimyo lords. Their residences are labelled here with clan names and insignias. Maps like this one were typically not very scale-accurate, and were intended to guide travelers through the maze-like streets of one of the world’s largest cities. Like modern travel guide maps, this map could be folded and carried in one’s pocket for ease of use.

A map of Cyprus reduced from the coast survey by Captn. Graves; Alexandria (Egypt); map of Jerusalem reduced from the Ordnance Survey [ca. 1877]

This British-made map depicts the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Due to its ancient and longstanding history, Alexandria was particularly fascinating to Europeans. This fascination only grew when a little-known young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Alexandria from its Ottoman rulers. On this map, Napoleon’s old fort is labeled in the city center. Although Alexandria ultimately returned to Ottoman control, it was heavily influenced by European powers, and fell into British hands in 1882. The streets, hotels, military installations, and geographic features present a mix of English, French, and Arabic names that speak to the ethnic divisions within Alexandria.

Prussia (Germany). Landesaufnahme. Kartogr. Abteilung, Peking (1903)

Beijing, also known as “Peking” in 1903, was the capital of China during the Qing Dynasty. European powers forced the Qing emperors to operate within the highly destructive opium trade and required China to open its cities to European merchants and missionaries. In Beijing, foreigners were restricted to a special area known as the “Legation Quarter,” located just below the Imperial Palace in the middle of the map. Much of the city was ethnically segregated, both inside and outside the Legation Quarter, with German cartographers labelling large areas of the city as “Manchu,” “Chinese,” or “Tatar.” Three years before this map was made, the Legation Quarter was put to siege by the “Boxers,” Chinese rebels against European authority. The walled military-like layout of the quarter made it possible for the Europeans to hold out against the Boxers.

Abraham Ortelius, La Florida [1574?]

This map was made in the 16th century by Abraham Ortelius, a Dutch cartographer working within the Spanish Empire. Drafted less than a century after Christopher Columbus’ voyage, “La Florida” is a map of regions in the Americas under Spanish influence. This included not only Florida, but also the former Inca Empire and parts of Mexico. Rivers dominate the landscape on this map, as they were crucial information for travel and commerce. Many European maps made in this time portrayed the Americas as “wild” and “untamed,” with the first recognized cities being built by new settlers. Ortelius’ map, however, shows the rivers to be surrounded by towns, the majority of which were indigenous in origin.