A large chart with six inset maps printed on one sheet by the Jesuit Joseph Tiefentaller in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The map is in French and in Persian.

Figure I is the entire course of the Ganges and Ghahara Rivers is a European-style map produced by Tiefenthaler based upon his own travels and quadrant surveys as well as on the indigenous cartography he collected along the way. Four of the five smaller maps presented are Tiefenthaler’s copies of Indian maps given to or provided for him. The stylistic difference between these and the central European style map is clear, especially regarding the rendering of direction, bodies of water, and topography.
Figure II locates the source of the Ganges at the Gangotri Glacier, Gaumukah, known as the “Cow’s Mouth” due to its strong resemblance to the open mouth of a cow.
Fig III shows the Lake of Mansarovar (Mansaroar), the supposed source of the Karnali or Ghaghara River. It is unlikely that Tiefenthaler actually ever say Mansarovar as this lake is located high on the Tibetan Plateau which, during this historic period, was closed to foreigners.
Fig IV shows the sources around the volcano of Doulou Bassandar.

Fig V shows the Ganghara River as it runs through the Himalayan Mountains.

Figure VI depicts earlier misconceptions regarding the source of the Ganges as suggested by P. Souciet in his 1729 four volume work Observations, Mathematical, Astronomical, Geographica, Chronological, and Physical .

Fig VI depicts the earlier mistakes regarding the source of the Ganges River. Tiefentaller was an Austrian, who became a Jesuit, and moved to Spain in 1740, then from Portugal to Goa in 1742, and finally to Agra in India. To work at the Jesuit college there.

The Persian text is claimed to have come from reliable local sources, they were then (loosely) translated into French in a table in the top left corner of the chart.

The map is drawn from the manuscripts of Joseph Tieffentaller, a Jesuit missionary and one of the earliest European geographers to write about India. Tieffentaller was a fine scholar with an unusual talent for languages, as evidenced in this map that includes numerous notation in Persian script in each of the maps Tiefenthaler claims to have copied from indigenous sources.

One of the most striking elements of this map is the inclusion of Pesian text in each of the maps Tiefenthaler claims to have copied from indigenous sources. These text blocks are vaguely transliterated and translated into French in a table in the upper left quadrant.

Most of the cartographic work that led to this map was completed by Tiefenthaler in India. Tiefenthaler, near the end of his life, forwarded it to his friend and fellow orientalist Anquetil-Duperron, living at the time in Paris. Duperron, a noted orientalist, compiled Tiefenthaler’s research and sketches into this important independently issued map. Though significant in its time this map is little known by modern cartographic historians who, when discussing the mapping of India, tend to focus on the later work of Rennell.

Reference: Gole, 1983: 102 2.1; Sommervogel, Vol VIII, column 21 & 22; Edney p 133.