T III S 16 is a complete folio that contains vv. 9-16 of chap. 13 of The book of Zambasta (= Z), an Old Khotanese poem on Mahayana Buddhism commonly believed to have been composed not earlier than the seventh century. The very existence of T III S 16 shows that this is not the case, since this folio should be dated to the fifth or early sixth century on account of the Early Turkestan Brahmi type b used in it. Thus, Z is contemporary with, or even precedes, the oldest known Khotanese translations of Buddhist sūtras. An early composition date for Z is also suggested by the following: the text contains wrong spellings of Indian names best explained by postulating sources in Kharoṣṭhī script; the peculiar layout of the Z manuscripts in four columns recalls the arrangement of the Khotan manuscript of the Gāndhārī Dharmapada in Kharoṣṭhī script (1st-3rd century?); as an early indigenous Buddhist work, Z betrays composition techniques of Iranian descent such as its concentric structure (cf. the Avestan Yasna).

The manuscript T III S 16: its importance for the history of Khotanese literature / Maggi, Mauro. - STAMPA. - (2017), pp. 110-126.

The manuscript T III S 16: its importance for the history of Khotanese literature

MAGGI, Mauro
2017

Abstract

T III S 16 is a complete folio that contains vv. 9-16 of chap. 13 of The book of Zambasta (= Z), an Old Khotanese poem on Mahayana Buddhism commonly believed to have been composed not earlier than the seventh century. The very existence of T III S 16 shows that this is not the case, since this folio should be dated to the fifth or early sixth century on account of the Early Turkestan Brahmi type b used in it. Thus, Z is contemporary with, or even precedes, the oldest known Khotanese translations of Buddhist sūtras. An early composition date for Z is also suggested by the following: the text contains wrong spellings of Indian names best explained by postulating sources in Kharoṣṭhī script; the peculiar layout of the Z manuscripts in four columns recalls the arrangement of the Khotan manuscript of the Gāndhārī Dharmapada in Kharoṣṭhī script (1st-3rd century?); as an early indigenous Buddhist work, Z betrays composition techniques of Iranian descent such as its concentric structure (cf. the Avestan Yasna).
2017
The Silk Roads. 4: Silk Road culture: Languages, art, material culture, archaeology
9781138015500
9781138823303
Khotanese literature; Book of Zambasta; Khotanese language
02 Pubblicazione su volume::02a Capitolo o Articolo
The manuscript T III S 16: its importance for the history of Khotanese literature / Maggi, Mauro. - STAMPA. - (2017), pp. 110-126.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/950223
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