Japan, Cathay and the Khan, here: what the first maps and oaths said
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upOur lens: how we read itOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1492 · Places: Ayiti, Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Europe
The case
Our case, in Tito's words: "the great khans were here, Japan and Cathay here." The first maps and sworn oaths put Japan, Cathay and the Great Khan's lands on this side of the ocean, and Columbus never took it back. The 'honest mistake' is not Columbus's word; it was written for him later, and the split into 'two Asias' is a later act of mapmaking.
Background
Cipango was the old European name for Japan, and Cathay the old name for the Great Khan's country, the Khan being the ruler of the Mongol empire. Ayiti is the land's own name for the island the Spanish called Hispaniola, and Cibao is its gold country. A notary is an official who writes and witnesses legal acts. A world map shows the whole known world; a globe gore is one of the printed strips pasted onto a globe; a portolan is a sailing chart. Asia Major and India Superior are names from the old maps for the great lands of the East. Quinsay and Zaitun were the names of the Khan's cities on the early globes.
Our evidence
Exhibit A · Record: Cuba as Cipango, then CathayColumbus named Cuba first as Cipango (Japan), then by November 1, 1492 as the mainland of Cathay, the Great Khan's country. He named Ayiti's gold country, Cibao, as Cipango. Source: Britannica.
Exhibit B · Record: He never took it backHe died in 1506 still holding that he had reached the east of Asia. Source: Mariners' Museum.
Exhibit C · Record: No European could checkNo European set foot in Japan until the Portuguese reached Tanegashima in 1543, so in 1492 no European could check Japan against this land.
Exhibit D · Record: The oath of June 12, 1494On June 12, 1494 he had his crews swear before a notary that Cuba was the mainland of Asia, on pain of a fine and having their tongues cut. Source: Irving, Life and Voyages of Columbus, from the notary's act. A man making an honest guess does not threaten tongues.
Exhibit E · Pattern: Prepared, not mistakenThe "honest mistake" is not Columbus's word; it was written for him later. He went prepared, with royal letters for the Khan and a Hebrew and Aramaic interpreter, and he swore his crews to his finding.
Exhibit F · Record: The maps for decades afterWaldseemüller's 1507 map was the first to show the new lands apart from Asia; yet Oronce Finé's 1531 world map still shows North America joined to Asia (Library of Congress), and Johannes Schöner's globes of 1523, 1530 and 1533 show America as part of Asia (Schöner globe record).
Exhibit G · Record: The Khan's Mongols in Peru and MexicoIn 1827 John Ranking published a whole book on the Great Khan's Mongols with elephants ruling Peru and Mexico (P906).
Exhibit H · Pattern: Forty years of maps and oathsFor forty years after 1492 the best maps and sworn oaths put Japan, Cathay and the Khan's lands on this side, and the split into "two Asias" is a later act of mapmaking.
Exhibit I · Our lens: Asia Major is hereOur WW9 lens, Tito's: the real Asia Major and India Superior are here; Japan and Cathay were here; "the other Asia" is the one the maps moved later.
Exhibit J · Open: The Khan's cities on our landWhich Native nations and capitals the first sailors named as the Khan's cities (Quinsay, Zaitun on the early globes), and where, needs deep research in the globe gores and portolans.
The colonizer lens
Columbus made an "honest mistake" about where he had landed.
Who says it: The later writers who wrote the 'mistake' for him; it is not Columbus's word.
What it covers: It covers that he went prepared, with royal letters for the Khan and a Hebrew and Aramaic interpreter; that he made his crews swear before a notary, on pain of a fine and having their tongues cut, that Cuba was the mainland of Asia; that he died in 1506 still holding it; and that the best maps and globes kept America joined to Asia into the 1530s.
Cross-examination
On June 12, 1494 he made his crews swear before a notary that Cuba was the mainland of Asia, on pain of a fine and having their tongues cut: that is enforcement, not error.
He went with royal letters for the Khan and a Hebrew and Aramaic interpreter: he was prepared to meet the Khan.
He died in 1506 still holding that he had reached the east of Asia; the 'mistake' is a word written for him later.
Oronce Finé's 1531 world map and Schöner's globes of 1523, 1530 and 1533 still put America with Asia: the best mapmakers agreed with him for decades.
Verdict: winning
The Record shows Columbus naming Cuba and Cibao as Cipango and Cathay, enforcing it by notarized oath, never taking it back, and the best maps and globes keeping America joined to Asia into the 1530s. The 'honest mistake' story falls on his own oath and his own preparations. Winning: that the real Asia Major and India Superior are here is our Lens, and which Native nations and capitals the first sailors named as the Khan's cities still needs deep research.
Next exhibit: Which Native nations and capitals the first sailors named as the Khan's cities (Quinsay, Zaitun on the early globes), and where, from the globe gores and portolans.
The original card
SUMMARYJapan, Cathay and the Khan, here: what the first maps and oaths said (Nov 12, 2026; Asia Major line; Tito: "the great khans were here, Japan and Cathay here")
RECORDColumbus named Cuba first as Cipango (Japan), then by November 1, 1492 as the mainland of Cathay, the Great Khan's country; he named Ayiti's gold country, Cibao, as Cipango (Britannica)
RECORDhe never took it back: he died in 1506 still holding that he had reached the east of Asia (Mariners' Museum)
RECORDno European set foot in Japan until the Portuguese reached Tanegashima in 1543, so in 1492 no European could check Japan against this land
PATTERNthe "honest mistake" is not Columbus's word; it was written for him later. He went prepared, with royal letters for the Khan and a Hebrew and Aramaic interpreter, and he swore his crews to his finding
RECORDon June 12, 1494 he had his crews swear before a notary that Cuba was the mainland of Asia, on pain of a fine and having their tongues cut (Irving, Life and Voyages of Columbus, from the notary's act)
RECORDWaldseemüller's 1507 map was the first to show the new lands apart from Asia; yet Oronce Finé's 1531 world map still shows North America joined to Asia (Library of Congress), and Johannes Schöner's globes of 1523, 1530 and 1533 show America as part of Asia (Schöner globe record)
RECORDin 1827 John Ranking published a whole book on the Great Khan's Mongols with elephants ruling Peru and Mexico (P906)
PATTERNfor forty years after 1492 the best maps and sworn oaths put Japan, Cathay and the Khan's lands on this side, and the split into "two Asias" is a later act of mapmaking
LENS (WW9, Tito)the real Asia Major and India Superior are here; Japan and Cathay were here; "the other Asia" is the one the maps moved later
OPENwhich Native nations and capitals the first sailors named as the Khan's cities (Quinsay, Zaitun on the early globes), and where; needs deep research in the globe gores and portolans.