These leaves from Book V of one of the earliest editions of Cosmographia (the Latin edition from the Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri, 1552) are devoted to Asia ("De terris Asiae maioris"), and more specifically to India. In his text, Münster clearly follows *Strabo*, relying heavily on his Geography (Book XV: On India).
Several comments are in order here. The term "Indian Caucasus" was commonly used for the Hindu Kush. Paropamisus is a mountain range in northwest Afghanistan, stretching from the Hindu Kush toward the Elburz Mountains in Iran. The Taurus mountain range lies in southern Turkey. However, the names "Taurus" and "Imaus" were used by Münster for the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. The text mentions the Indus and the Ganges rivers.
In the early summer of 27, Alexander left Bactria with a reinforced army under a reorganized command. If Plutarch's figure of 120,000 men has any reality, however, it must include all kinds of auxiliary services, together with muleteers, camel drivers, medical corps, peddlers, entertainers, women, and children; the fighting strength perhaps stood at about 35,000. Recrossing the Hindu Kush, probably by Bamian and the Ghorband Valley, Alexander divided his forces. Half the army with the baggage, with both cavalry commanders, was sent through the Khyber Pass, while he himself led the rest, together with his siege train, through the hills to the north.
Then come the creatures who live in "India beyond the Ganges" (which we now call Southeast Asia). In the medieval mappaemundi, lurking at the edges of the world were monstrous races. The text, here too following Pliny, contains the description of some of these species: the Cyclops (giants with one enormous eye in the middle of the forehead); the Blemmyai (they were headless and had their faces on their chests) [*another look at the Blemmyae*]; the Sciopods (although one-legged, they were very swift and used their single large feet as an umbrella to shade themselves from the sun). But, most importantly, there were the Cynocephali (Cynocephales, "Dog-heads"), one of the best-known monstrous races. They had the body of a man and the head of a dog. According to Pliny, they lived in the mountains of India and barked to communicate. They lived in caves, wore animal skins, hunted very succesfully, and used javelins, bows, and swords. Other sources that circulated in the middle ages picture the Cynocephali much more frighteningly, with enormous teeth and breathing fire. Several sources make them cannibals. All sources emphasize that they combine the natures of man and beast. [A closer look at the *monster races*.] The Pygmei seem to include creatures with long hanging ears that droop to the ground, who evoke the earlier *Panotii*. [An inventory of these and other monstrous creatures from the *Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493*.]
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