This plan of Madras (or Chennai) was published in Raspe's Schauplatz des Gegenwaertigen Kriegs, which contained over 150 maps and battle plans relating to the worldwide theater of the Seven Years' War. In 1744, the first English colonial settlement in India, Fort St. George, was founded. The fortress would eventually evolve into the city of Chennai. The French sieged the city and its surroundings in 1746, but the British regained control through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). From December 1758 until February 1759, the French besieged the city and fortress once again under the command of Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally. The British were able to hold them off with an impressive display of firepower, putting a significant dent in France's India strategy. Raspe's plan details the fortifications, with a key in the title cartouche at bottom right identifying 13 sites of interest.

References: Phillips (Atlases) #2825; Shirley (BL Atlases) G.RASP-1a #124.

Condition: B+

On a watermarked sheet with some minor printer's ink residue and a small dampstain in an unengraved area at left.