This beautiful copperplate engraved map shows the area around the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, then the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. At the time of publication, the economically important region was contested between European powers (notably, the Dutch and Portuguese), Safavid Persians, and the Omani Empire. The port city of Gammeron, a place with an interesting etymological history, is today’s Bandar Abbas in Iran. The map was created by Pieter van der Aa and published in Paris in 1727 as part of his Voyages Très-curieux et très-renommez faits en Moscovie, Tartarie et Perse (Very Curious and Renowned Voyages made in Muscovy, Tartary and Persia).
