Two Maps of Central Asia of the First Half of 18th Century: New Sources on the Historical Ethno-geography of Central Asia

Historical maps and globes made in Europe and Russia in 16th ? 18th centuries are important sources for research of ethno-political history of Central Asia during that period. This book includes detailed description and discussion of two historical maps of Central Asia made in the first half of 18th century, where the terms ?Uzbek?, ?Uzbekia? or ?Uzbekistan? are used to mean Central Asia as synonyms of the term ?Turkistan?. The first map named ?New Map of the Caspian Sea and the Usbek Country? (Tabula Nova de Mare Caspium et Usbekorum region) made in 1728 by Abraham Maas (active 1700 ? 1735), a Dutch mapmaker at the Russian court in Saint-Petersburg where he worked in the Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences. It was published by Johann Peter van Ghelen (1673 ? 1754) in atlas of Homann Heirs in 1735 in Nuremberg. The second map named ?The Map of the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea? (Tabula Maris Caspii et Maris Aral) made in 1730 by Basilio Batatzis, a Greek traveler from Constantinopol, was published by John Senex, mapmaker of the Royal Geographic Society in 1732 in London. Medieval maps made in Western Europe testify that modern name "Uzbekistan" had historical roots.