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The illustration on this map highlights the wealth of the Asian trade routes, with merchants wearing colourful and elaborate robes presenting valuable treasures to a royal figure. A monkey, tortoise and camel emphasise the 'exoticism' of Asia.

An early 18th century map of the Indian Ocean, illustrated with a drawing of Asian merchants riding an elephant and using a camel to transport their goods. Other men use bows and arrows to hunt ostriches. Ships are also shown sailing on the ocean.

This early 17th century map of Southeast Asia is beautifully decorated with images of wild animals, including camels, a rhinoceros and various birds and fish. There is also a large decorative compass rose.

The cartouche on this colourful early 18th century map of Southeast Asia is decorated with a wreath, pearls, textiles and an exotic bird. The scale is in German, Spanish, French, Italian and English miles.

Hand-drawn portolan (nautical) chart, featuring a rhumbline network (the web of interconnected lines), bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and reefs, and names of coastal settlements, all to aid navigation. With a colourful compass rose.

An 18th century map of the Netherlands, with an inset map of Southeast Asia highlighting the trade of the Dutch and their colonies. Within the inset is a drawing of the port of Batavia (Jakarta) with sailing ships in the harbour and mountains behind.

Unusually, on this map of Asia, the place name Campa is used to label a large part of mainland Southeast Asia. In fact, Campa (more often Champa) was a smaller kingdom on the southeast coast of the mainland (part of modern Vietnam).

This map shows the empires, kingdoms and states of Southeast Asia. Its decorative cartouche features drawings of two women—one with a cornucopia and one with a censer (incense burner)—elephant heads, and a French coat of arms. Nine scales are shown.

This colourful map of Asia has an elaborate cartouche decorated with Asian merchants and their goods, including a censer (incense burner), jewels and fruits. They are surrounded by Asian animals, a man riding a camel, and two Japanese samurai.

This colourful map of Asia has an elaborate cartouche decorated with Asian merchants and their goods, including a censer (incense burner), jewels and fruits. They are surrounded by Asian animals, a man riding a camel, and two Japanese samurai.

The illustration on this map highlights the wealth of the Asian trade routes, with merchants wearing elaborate robes presenting valuable treasures to a royal figure. A monkey, tortoise and camel emphasise the 'exoticism' of Asia.

A map of the Java Sea between Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The web of lines is a rhumbline network, used to aid navigation. The cartouche and scale are decorated with paintings of Asian people and mythical creatures including cherubs.