Rennell's famous map of the Ganges Delta, the largest river delta in the world, now in the modern Indian province of West Bengal and Bangladesh.

James Rennell was a naval officer who entered the service of the British East India Company in 1763 as a surveyor. From 1764 until 1777, Rennell travelled and surveyed mainly the region of Bengal, gaining the title of Surveyor General of Bengal during that time. He also suffered several attacks by hostile groups as well as bouts of malaria during that time.

After his retirement, mainly on medical grounds in 1777, he returned to London and spent the rest of his life, until 1830, compiling, editing, researching and publishing maps of Indian geography. One of his last functions, in his 88th year of life, was becoming one of the founder members of the Royal Geographical Society.

This map is attempting to record the enormously complicated Ganges Delta, an ecological wonder to this day. It shows the confluences of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Calligonga, now the Kaliganga River.

The map also shows some of the major settlements present in the Delta, chief among them being Dacca or modern Dhaka as well as Rajanagur or modern Rajnagar and Chandpour or Chandpur.

This example is a variant, with English text and nomenclature but with a small caption on the lower right corner stating "copied at Berlin by G.C. Glasbach 1785."
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