Highly important map of Oman and the Emirates based on the
surveys of Wellsted, the first European to conduct a modern survey of the
region.

James Raymond Wellsted was an officer in the Indian Navy and already a veteran of the most thorough survey of the Red Sea under Captain Robert Moresby before he undertook the first modern European survey of the region of Oman.

After his exploits in the Red Sea, Wellsted was assigned to Captain Stafford B. Haines in 1833. Together with the crew of the brig Palinurus, they would conduct the first scientific survey of the southern coast of Arabia. This was a long exercise as the brig carefully edged along the coast recording previously unknown shoals, rocks and other marine hazards. In 1835, Haines and Wellsted asked permission from the Sultan of Muscat to conduct surveys in the interior of his territory, especially in relation to the location of ancient Arabian cities. The relationship between the British Empire and the Empire of Oman was very cordial and permission was quickly granted. Wellsted and a fellow officer, Lieut. Francis Whitelock, travelled deeply into the desert, reaching the border of the Rub-al-Khali or the Great Empty, before returning to the coast. Their journey was unprecedented for modern Europeans and they returned with extraordinary detail about the local people, the names of settlements as well as very thorough descriptions of the topography and landscape.

Wellsted travelled to London in 1837, where he wrote an article for the Royal Geographical Society which included this folding map of Oman illustrating his and Whitelock’s routes compiled from his notes. The map shows the extreme eastern section of the Arabian Peninsula or in modern terms, Oman and the northern United Arab Emirates. Wellsted and Whitelock spent most of their time travelling and recording the interior and coast of modern Oman, with the map showing multiple tribal names, settlements, and topographical features such as oasis and wadis. There is less detail in the region of the Emirates although Whitelock travelled overland between Shinas ( “Schinas”) and Sharja. Probably due to local access, there is more detail in the Emirati coast to the Indian Ocean than the Emirati Gulf coast. This area is labelled “The Pirate Coast” but does make very early references to Dubai (“Debai”) Sharjah (“Sharja”) and Ajman (“Aymaun”). It is very likely that Wellsted would have had access to the survey of George Barnes Brucks, another officer of the Indian Navy, who had spent many years compiling the definitive marine survey of the Gulf up to that time.

Finally, a beautiful, panoramic vignette of the desert, together with an oasis with a prominent palm tree in the foreground adorns the lower left of the map. [MEAST4747]