Why did Christopher Columbus think he had sailed to Asia instead of America? What maps did he have at his disposal?


The reason behind Columbus' belief that he had reached Asia is depicted on a map of the Atlantic Ocean from 1474, created by Florentine mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli. This map was later included in a literary and historical atlas of America by Bartholomew in 1884, with light blue areas marking regions that were not originally present on the map.

Toscanelli served as an inspiration for Columbus, who received a letter from him on June 25, 1474. The letter was sent to canon Fernam Martins in Lisbon, who consulted Toscanelli on behalf of King Alfonso V about the possibility of reaching India through a western route.

The map clearly shows that Columbus was both inspired and misguided by Toscanelli's plan, which underestimated the Earth's circumference. This miscalculation led Columbus to believe that he had reached Japan instead of a completely new and unfamiliar continent lying between Europe and Asia.

Toscanelli's proposed plan involved sailing west along the equator to reach India and the wealthy countries of East Asia. The map that Toscanelli enclosed, which is now lost, included the western fringes of Europe and Africa, as well as the eastern fringes of Asia, with the Atlantic Ocean in between. However, Toscanelli mistakenly believed that the distance was only one-third of the Earth's circumference, far less than the actual distance.

In a letter, Toscanelli writes, among other things:

I have already spoken once before of a route across the sea to the land of spices, much shorter than that of the Portuguese across Guinea. That is why His Highness the King is now asking me for information on this subject, or rather for an explanation so clear that even people without any scientific background can understand that this path must exist. Although I know that it has its basis in the spherical shape of the earth, I have nevertheless, in order to make myself better understood and facilitate the project, decided to prove that such a route exists by means of a specially constructed sea chart. I am therefore sending his highness a map drawn by myself, on which I have marked the coasts and islands which can be used as points of departure when one undertakes such a journey and on this journey keeps a steady westerly course