Notes

ClementsMarkhampic.jpg
Written by Clements Markham in 1912​

Who is Sir Clements Robert Markham (1830-1916)? He was an English explorer and geographer. He was also the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society in England. He was Knighted in the Most Honorable Order of the Bath. He was sent to the Arctic with the Royal Navy and after being transferred to the India Office he was responsible for collecting cinchona plants in Peru and transplanting them in India where quinine could be extracted (used to treat malaria). He was also part of the Abyssinian expeditionary at the 1868 fall of Magdala. He also became president of the Hakluyt Society in 1890 where he translated many works for them. Mount Markham in Antarctica is named after him, as is the Markham River in Papua New Guinea. After his death, his family received tributes from King George for the debt England owed him for his life of study and research. Sounds like he is taken seriously.

The Book of Knowledge discusses kingdoms throughout the world. On page 45 in the chapter about China, Markham states that Catayo (China) is the end of the face of the earth in the line of Spain and it marches with the empire of Armalec (Almaliq, Xinjiang) to the west, with the Eastern Sea to the east, with the Montes Caspios to the north, which encircle Tartaria, the cities of Catayo which I knew are Solin, Godiana, Magodiana, Morrosia, Facolisia, Dardasan, Tordaor, Bocarda, Ascania, and Longauisa (footnote 1 says Montes Caspios are mountains of Central Asia including Himalayas, Altai, Mazanderan, and Caucasus Mountains). This empire is irrigated by three great rivers which rise in the Montes Caspios, and are led off into many parts. They call the largest of these rivers Magot for it rises near the castle Magot, which is one of the gates encircling Tartaria (footnote 2 says the Christian tradition was that the land of Gog and Magog was on the west side of the Caspian. The Arab geographers moved it to the far east and north. Marco Polo identified their country with that of the Huns. There are curious legends about Gog and Magog on the old portolani. Bianaca (1436) has it that Alexander imprisoned the Jews in their land).

This river Magot enters the green sea and the other two rivers go to the sea of Java. They call this Emperor Gosman Imperator Morrov and Grand Can, Lord of the East. His device is a gold flag and he has an imperial crown on his head, one hand a Turkish bow, in the other a golden apple.

On pg. 47, Clements writes that when he reaches the Montes Caspios of Magot that these mountains are of immeasurable height and surround Tartaria from sea to sea and there is only one very narrow pass. He says there is a castle built of magnet iron throughout for nature made it in this manner and it reaches the clouds. At its foot rises the river Magot. On the other side there’s another castle which is as high and built of the same stone, called Got. The castles are very high on the top so that ten thousand men can reside in each of them. Between the two are the Iron Gates which shut the entrance to Tartaria. Within these mountains all the land is plain without stones or trees and with a temperate climate and left to many flocks. It’s a hundred days journey long and 70 broad, all closed in by these Montes Caspios. To the east it is all bounded by the sea and also there are very great rocky dales.

Within this Tartaria there are countless tribes who do not observe any of the commandments of God, except that they do no evil to one to another. They are very confident and great fighters both on foot and on horseback, insomuch that Alexander was unable to conquer them or enter their country by the mountains for they shut and fastened these iron gates by placing great rocks against them and they were closed for a long time. Eventually they removed the obstruction, coming out and conquering a great part of the world themselves. For from that lineage came all those of the empire of Catayo. From that lineage also came those of the empires of Armalec, Arauia, and Mesopotamia, all the Persians, those of the empire of Sara, as well Turks and Tartars, Saracens, and Goths. Some of them turned to the law of Abraham and others turned Moors.

The wise men of Tartaria say that when 7,000 years of the era of Adam are completed, they’ll be lords of the whole face of the earth, and will make all peoples conform to their law and to their freedom. But certainly they observe no law whatsoever and keep no commandments to God except not doing evil one to another.

This enclosed Tartaria forms a fourth part of the whole earth. In the middle of this land there is a great lake which they called Tabasum Sea (footnote 1 states Gog and Magog are from Ezekiel 38 and Gog the chief prince of Mesheck and Tubal comes from his place out of the north parts). The people of this land are called Mogoles and the land is known as Mogolin, the land of Tagojar, the land of Got and Magot. With these mountains the empire of Catayo is bounded. I lived for some time in that castle of Magot because I saw and marvelous things every day.

On the north side Tartaria is bounded by the lands of Albizibi which are desert and uninhabited, though there are people in some places who are vile and eaters of raw flesh and fish. They have long faces like dogs, but they are white and do anything they see to do. They are called Sinofalos. I saw one of them in the city of Norgancio. In the index of this book, Tartaria or Mongolia share the same entry, stating no town for 65 days, tribes with flocks, only food of the people, milk, meat and a millet called monos (Phaseolus Mungo).

To summarize, we have Sir Clements Robert Markham stating that Catayo (China) is in a line with Spain (trade route? latitude? both?) and "marches" with the Armalec Empire (between Yining and Kazakhstan) to the West and the Eastern Sea (East China Sea) to the East and the Montes Caspios to the North, which consists of the Mazanderan, Altai, Himalayan, and Caucasus Mountains. The lands of Gog and Magog are said to be in this region which encircles Tartaria, meaning if they're west of the Caspian that should be referring to present-day Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey where Gog and Magog are located. They follow the Golden Rule and care not for "laws of man." They are a mix of all three Abrahamic religions. The empire is vast and as noted stretches from west of the Caspian to China. Goths are Tartars, as are Saracens, Moors, and those of the Armalec Empire. Armalec was important to Genghis Khan and he gave his granddaughter to marry Siknak Tekin, the ruler of Armalec. This empire was a Turkic cognate bordering present-day Kazakhstan, multi-ethnic, and embracing Islam under the rule of Tughluq Temur, Khan of Moghulistan, from 1351-1363. Nestorian Christians and Catholic missionaries were also present in Armalec.