Well I found your agent if Byzantium nap from the first map page and I thought I would try my luck
Map Thread XIX
- Thread starter water123
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Doesn't have sense to have a province named Bizen here; Bizen, Bitchuu and Bingo were named that way because of their position in relation to the capital("Anterior (Ki)bi", "Middle (Ki)bi" and "Posterior (Ki)bi", respectively). I think here, it would simply be named Kibi.
SpudNutimus
Banned
When the first ships were sent on the perilous voyage into the great ocean to the west, few men returned from the perils of the open sea. Of those that left, only one ship returned, her chief reporting that a great storm had pulled the others under the sea, and telling tales of a great river which flowed through the water. Yet, amidst the air of failure which polluted the court, the great mansa, Abu Bakr II, remained determined.
By the year 710, or 1311 according to the European calendar, he had assembled the grandest fleet in the history of the empire. With hundreds upon hundreds of galleys, each bearing up to a hundred men and filled to the brim with gold, he set off beyond the horizon, leaving his son Musa as regent. Soon, he had sighted the great river his chief had told him of, the Baduroo.
When the mansa returned from his voyage nearly three years later, his fleet was laden with treasures and tales beyond their wildest dreams. Though he had not found the edge of the Earth as he had hoped, he had found a land of wealth and magnificence beyond compare. Their ships bore exotic gold and silver, flora and fauna of wild beauty, and slaves of an odd disposition who spoke a peculiar dialect that none could understand.
One hundred years after the initial voyage, the Mali Empire remains the wealthiest and most powerful state in the known world. While the gold and salt trades had already made Mali rich beyond fathomability, with the famous Hajj of Abu Bakr and scholarly wealth of Timbuktu putting the empire on the global stage, this New World had allowed the empire opulence nearly beyond that of mortal men.
The overseas provinces of Baduroo and Koyuban have brought with them new trade routes as well. While the cities of Baduroo hold nearly 200,000 souls, largely of native and mixed-race origin, its existence has been kept a closely guarded secret from the traders of Europe who buy its treasures.
As vast quantities of slaves are brought from neighboring African kingdoms to the back-breaking sugar plantations of Koyuban, the valuable sugar born by this blood is shipped to the cities of Baduroo, where it is traded for native gold within the thick jungles inland. This gold and silver is then brought back to the coasts of Jolof, where it is melted down and passed off as yet another product of the gold mines in Bambouk and Boure. However, whispers of the true origins of this gold have begun to spread, and rumors of ships with broad sails and fair-skinned crews have spread along the coasts of the colonies.
By the year 710, or 1311 according to the European calendar, he had assembled the grandest fleet in the history of the empire. With hundreds upon hundreds of galleys, each bearing up to a hundred men and filled to the brim with gold, he set off beyond the horizon, leaving his son Musa as regent. Soon, he had sighted the great river his chief had told him of, the Baduroo.
When the mansa returned from his voyage nearly three years later, his fleet was laden with treasures and tales beyond their wildest dreams. Though he had not found the edge of the Earth as he had hoped, he had found a land of wealth and magnificence beyond compare. Their ships bore exotic gold and silver, flora and fauna of wild beauty, and slaves of an odd disposition who spoke a peculiar dialect that none could understand.
One hundred years after the initial voyage, the Mali Empire remains the wealthiest and most powerful state in the known world. While the gold and salt trades had already made Mali rich beyond fathomability, with the famous Hajj of Abu Bakr and scholarly wealth of Timbuktu putting the empire on the global stage, this New World had allowed the empire opulence nearly beyond that of mortal men.
The overseas provinces of Baduroo and Koyuban have brought with them new trade routes as well. While the cities of Baduroo hold nearly 200,000 souls, largely of native and mixed-race origin, its existence has been kept a closely guarded secret from the traders of Europe who buy its treasures.
As vast quantities of slaves are brought from neighboring African kingdoms to the back-breaking sugar plantations of Koyuban, the valuable sugar born by this blood is shipped to the cities of Baduroo, where it is traded for native gold within the thick jungles inland. This gold and silver is then brought back to the coasts of Jolof, where it is melted down and passed off as yet another product of the gold mines in Bambouk and Boure. However, whispers of the true origins of this gold have begun to spread, and rumors of ships with broad sails and fair-skinned crews have spread along the coasts of the colonies.
I always enjoy your maps, even when I disagree with some of your creative choices, but on this one I've noticed a country named for a region it lacks. Your "Jallon" is entirely west of Fouta Jallon if I'm looking at the map correctly.When you're quarantined and you have to do something with so much free time.
That area was German IOTL, not British. Britain controlled southeastern New Guinea.
I put New Guinea, but meant Northeastern Borneo. I had New Guinea on my mind because I was going to expend my count argument to touch on the Germans having secured Northeasten New Guinea historically, despite some prior nominal anglophone pretensions there.
Map I've been making in quarantine of Revolutionary France, while my country is in lockdown. Playing around with different styles, and settled on this one. With most my maps, I aim to make my maps both legible and aesthetically pleasing. I think this style manages both, giving huge amounts of information regarding individual cities in France in 1789 without sacrificing topographical data and clear boundaries for both internal and external divisions.
EDIT: Once again, let me know if you have any feedback
Shaded relief from…
Jarvis A., H.I. Reuter, A. Nelson, E. Guevara, 2008, Hole-filled seamless SRTM data V4, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), available from http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org [Accessed March 2020]
Bathymetry from…
The GEBCO Grid, GEBCO Compilation Group (2019) GEBCO 2019 Grid (doi:10.5285/836f016a-33be-6ddc-e053-6c86abc0788e), available from https://www.gebco.net/. [Accessed March 2020]
GADM v3.6 © 2018 GADM, available from https://gadm.org/data.html [Accessed February 2020]
…used in part for determining approximate location of boundaries.
Rivers and Lakes from…
Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data, available from https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/ [Accessed February 2020]
Lakes in the Netherlands from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 110
Boundaries of France from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 111, 115
Boundaries of German, Swiss, and Italian states from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 132
Tax Offices from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 112
Parlements and Conseil Souverains from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 113
Episcopal and Archiepiscopal Sees from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 114
Detail of Northern and Eastern Frontiers from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 108-109
Programmes used…
Jarvis A., H.I. Reuter, A. Nelson, E. Guevara, 2008, Hole-filled seamless SRTM data V4, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), available from http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org [Accessed March 2020]
Bathymetry from…
The GEBCO Grid, GEBCO Compilation Group (2019) GEBCO 2019 Grid (doi:10.5285/836f016a-33be-6ddc-e053-6c86abc0788e), available from https://www.gebco.net/. [Accessed March 2020]
GADM v3.6 © 2018 GADM, available from https://gadm.org/data.html [Accessed February 2020]
…used in part for determining approximate location of boundaries.
Rivers and Lakes from…
Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data, available from https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/ [Accessed February 2020]
Lakes in the Netherlands from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 110
Boundaries of France from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 111, 115
Boundaries of German, Swiss, and Italian states from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 132
Tax Offices from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 112
Parlements and Conseil Souverains from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 113
Episcopal and Archiepiscopal Sees from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 114
Detail of Northern and Eastern Frontiers from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 108-109
Programmes used…
- QGIS (Reference, Generating TIFF and Hypsometric tint to import into Blender)
- Blender (Rendering Hillshade)
- Inkscape (Everything Else)
Okay, YES. I like everything about this - from the stronger African state in comparison to OTL, to the colonization of the New World by said state, to the fact that said state is in no way Christian. This is both a great concept and a great map.
Regarding the concept itself - I don't know how much gold there would be at the mouth of the Amazon in the early 14th century in terms of the what the natives had, but that is 100% a result of me, myself, not knowing anything about that, so I can't comment. Regarding the establishment of colonies with 200K plus people, you mention them being both native and non-native, and I am curious, what has been the impact of Old World diseases here? In a similar vein, and I notice that the map itself is set 100 years after initial contact and colonization, which seems to indicate that the Mali Empire is not actually going the OTL Spanish route of conquering everything and everyone. I think this make sense within the concept, since the New World has been kept hidden from Europe by the Mali Empire, and I think it make sense with the city population figures regarding my earlier question. A slower, more docile colonization would mean less death and more time to adapt to the Old World diseases by the New World peoples considering they aren't dealing with the threat of war and genocide. The write-up mentions that the Mali may be on the cusp of expanding their New World operations as of the date of the map, so that may change, but that only makes me excited for more content from this universe. Not sure if you plan on building on this concept or not, but I for one would be interested.
Regarding the map - I particularly love how they focus entirely on the Mali Empire and its colonies, even while showing the coasts surrounding the Mali holdings. This really maximizes the geographic art of the map, and I think they look beautiful! I also like that you used the Arabic writing style predominantly to showcase the Mali Empire's true writing scheme, while also adding in Latin translations, this helped me a lot!
Very well done, love this SpudNutimus! Like I said above, I would love to see more maps set in this world! I have two main questions - what is the etymology of Baduroo and Koyuban? (I'd ask about the etymology behind the various towns/cities, but that'd be a lot wouldn't it
)
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You can see my town! It's got to be worth a Love!
Map I've been making in quarantine of Revolutionary France, while my country is in lockdown. Playing around with different styles, and settled on this one. With most my maps, I aim to make my maps both legible and aesthetically pleasing. I think this style manages both, giving huge amounts of information regarding individual cities in France in 1789 without sacrificing topographical data and clear boundaries for both internal and external divisions.
EDIT: Once again, let me know if you have any feedback
Shaded relief from…
Jarvis A., H.I. Reuter, A. Nelson, E. Guevara, 2008, Hole-filled seamless SRTM data V4, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), available from http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org [Accessed March 2020]
Bathymetry from…
The GEBCO Grid, GEBCO Compilation Group (2019) GEBCO 2019 Grid (doi:10.5285/836f016a-33be-6ddc-e053-6c86abc0788e), available from https://www.gebco.net/. [Accessed March 2020]
GADM v3.6 © 2018 GADM, available from https://gadm.org/data.html [Accessed February 2020]
…used in part for determining approximate location of boundaries.
Rivers and Lakes from…
Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data, available from https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/ [Accessed February 2020]
Lakes in the Netherlands from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 110
Boundaries of France from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 111, 115
Boundaries of German, Swiss, and Italian states from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 132
Tax Offices from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 112
Parlements and Conseil Souverains from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 113
Episcopal and Archiepiscopal Sees from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 114
Detail of Northern and Eastern Frontiers from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 108-109
Programmes used…
- QGIS (Reference, Generating TIFF and Hypsometric tint to import into Blender)
- Blender (Rendering Hillshade)
- Inkscape (Everything Else)
Reminds me of how, when looking for old maps of Africa to see what Europeans knew of the interior back then, I saw a map showing Africa as well as Prussia, Neufchâtel, and the Principality of Orange. Almost a shame it is such a small area it can’t be shown as disputed on most maps on here. If you ever remake it, I might suggest just a few extra lines for Orange (if you find the exact borders back then, which I think might have been partially based on a moving river) or Monaco, which was a French vassal. Side note, thank you so much for the references you posted. I had been trying to remember the name for years of the Cambridge one, which I read much of the series for at university, but could never find again on their online catalogue n order to buy or find copies. Googling the name, and one of the pictures shows what looks to be the atlas portion of it that is, beyond a doubt, one of the best historical atlases I have found before. Time to see if I can find a version available online by some library or university.
Map I've been making in quarantine of Revolutionary France, while my country is in lockdown. Playing around with different styles, and settled on this one. With most my maps, I aim to make my maps both legible and aesthetically pleasing. I think this style manages both, giving huge amounts of information regarding individual cities in France in 1789 without sacrificing topographical data and clear boundaries for both internal and external divisions.
EDIT: Once again, let me know if you have any feedback
Shaded relief from…
Jarvis A., H.I. Reuter, A. Nelson, E. Guevara, 2008, Hole-filled seamless SRTM data V4, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), available from http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org [Accessed March 2020]
Bathymetry from…
The GEBCO Grid, GEBCO Compilation Group (2019) GEBCO 2019 Grid (doi:10.5285/836f016a-33be-6ddc-e053-6c86abc0788e), available from https://www.gebco.net/. [Accessed March 2020]
GADM v3.6 © 2018 GADM, available from https://gadm.org/data.html [Accessed February 2020]
…used in part for determining approximate location of boundaries.
Rivers and Lakes from…
Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data, available from https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/ [Accessed February 2020]
Lakes in the Netherlands from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 110
Boundaries of France from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 111, 115
Boundaries of German, Swiss, and Italian states from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 132
Tax Offices from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 112
Parlements and Conseil Souverains from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 113
Episcopal and Archiepiscopal Sees from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. p. 114
Detail of Northern and Eastern Frontiers from…
Darby, H. C. & Fullard, H., 1970. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume XIV Atlas. Cambridge University Press ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. pp. 108-109
Programmes used…
- QGIS (Reference, Generating TIFF and Hypsometric tint to import into Blender)
- Blender (Rendering Hillshade)
- Inkscape (Everything Else)
Ah thank you, i usually redraft a few of my larger scale projects so I’ll take that feedback into account. The Cambridge Atlas is fantastic, although out of date in some areas and inaccurate in others so I wouldn’t use it as your main source. I borrowed it from my universities library and I’ve found it to be a fantastic overview of European history especially, however
Look at where the Ghana Empire was and where Ghana is now, OTL.
Yeah, but that was post-colonial nostalgic calling back to former African greatness. However that doesn't matter: it does look to me, according to this map, that it might be a bit too far south and east, but it's not west of where it should be.
Napoleonic Flag of Italy? Also no Libya (you did say in Europe but included parts of Anatolia, so I don't think that Europe limit is a hard limit)?
I really like the provinces of the map? could i have the basmap?When you're quarantined and you have to do something with so much free time.
The basemap is the Q-BAM which you can find here. Most of the provinces or borders were taken from historical maps.
SpudNutimus
Banned
Thank you so much! This was actually just meant to be a one-off, but feel free to take on the idea yourself if you want to, I in no way want to monopolize it. Koyuban comes from "koyimaa bankoo" in Mandinka, meaning white land, while Baduroo comes from "baa duuroo" in Mandinka, meaning great river.Very well done, love this SpudNutimus! Like I said above, I would love to see more maps set in this world! I have two main questions - what is the etymology of Baduroo and Koyuban? (I'd ask about the etymology behind the various towns/cities, but that'd be a lot wouldn't it
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