Ancient Buddhist scrolls from Gandhāra : the British Library Kharoṣṭhī fragments / Richard Salomon ; with contributions by Raymond Allchin and Mark Barnard ; foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Salomon, Richard, 1948-

Contributor:

Allchin, F. Raymond (Frank Raymond), 1923-2010

Barnard, Mark, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Manuscripts, Kharoṣṭhi--Pakistan--Gandhāra.

Manuscripts, Kharoṣṭhi.

Buddhist antiquities--Pakistan--Gandhāra.

Buddhist antiquities.

Sarvāstivādins--Pakistan--Gandhāra--History--Sources.

Sarvāstivādins.

Asia--Gandhara.

History.

British Library. Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books.

British Library.

Physical Description:

xx, 273 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [1999]

Summary:

As the Dead Sea scrolls have changed our understanding of Judaism and early Christianity, so a set of 29 scrolls recently acquired by the British Library promise to provide a window into a crucial phase of the history of Buddhism in India. The fragmentary birch bark scrolls, which were found inside one of a set of inscribed clay pots, are written in the Gandhari Prakrit language and in Kharosthi script. Dating from around the beginning of the Christian era, the scrolls are thought to be the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered.

The manuscripts and pots come from a region known in ancient times as Gandhara, corresponding to modern northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. At the peak of its influence, Gandhara was home to a series of wealthy and powerful dynasties and became one of the world's most important centers of Buddhism and the gateway through which Buddhism was transmitted from India to China and other parts of Asia. Gandhara was also a principal point of contact between India and the Western world. Despite abundant archeological evidence of Gandhara's thriving culture, until now there has been virtually no documentary evidence of its literary and religious canon.

This volume introduces a groundbreaking project to decipher and interpret the Gandharan texts. It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts and a survey of their contents, along with a preliminary evaluation of their significance. Also included are representative samples of texts and translations.

The British Library collection includes sutra texts and commentaries, scholastic treatises, verse compilations, avadanas and related texts, a stotra (hymn of praise to the Buddha), and a medical text.An important and surprising feature of the new manuscripts is the amount of unfamiliar material in them. Most of the approximately two dozen texts have so far not been identified with previously known texts in other Buddhist languages and traditions.

This discovery sheds new light on the regional character of early Indian Buddhist traditions, the process of the formation of standardized written canons, and the transmission of Buddhism into central and east Asia. Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhara will appeal to a broad audience with interests in Buddhism, comparative religion, and Asian languages.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Background: Gandhara and Gandharan Buddhism 3

1.1. Gandhara: Geographic Setting and Early History 3

1.2. Buddhism in Gandhara 5

1.3. Textual Sources and the Modern Academic Study of Buddhism 7

1.4. Previous Discoveries of Early Buddhist Manuscripts and Their Significance for the Study of Buddhism 8

1.5. The British Library Kharosthi Fragments and Gandharan Buddhism: A Preview of the Potential Significance of the New Discovery 9

Chapter 2 The Contents of the British Library Kharosthi Collection 15

2.1. General Description 15

2.2. Texts and Genres Represented in the Collection 22

2.3. Catalog of the Fragments 42

2.4. Summary of Original Scrolls or Scroll Sets 53

2.5. Summary of Scribal Hands 54

Chapter 3 Previous Discoveries of Kharosthi Manuscripts 57

3.1. Kharosthi Manuscripts Found in Chinese Central Asia 58

3.2. Kharosthi Manuscripts Found in Afghanistan 59

3.3. Kharosthi Manuscripts from Other Regions or of Unknown Origin 66

Chapter 4 Origin and Character of the Collection 69

4.1. Physical Evidence 69

4.2. Textual Evidence: The "Likhidago" Interlinear Notations 71

4.3. Archeological Parallels 77

4.4. A "Buddhist Genizah"? 81

4.5. Additional Comments on the Internment of Manuscripts and Birch Bark Texts 84

Chapter 5 Format, Material, and Construction of the Scrolls 87

5.1. The Large (Composite) Scrolls 87

5.2. Construction of the Smaller Texts 98

5.3. Observations on the Origin and Use of the Scroll Format 100

5.4. Scribal Materials and Techniques 106

Chapter 6 Paleographic and Linguistic Features of the Gandharan Scrolls 110

6.1. The Gandhari Language and the Kharosthi Script 110

6.2. Paleographic Features 114

6.3. Orthographic Features 120

6.4. Phonological Features 124

6.5. Morphology and Syntax 130

6.6. Lexicon 133

Chapter 7 The Date of the Manuscripts 141

7.1. Internal Evidence for Dating 141

7.2. Dating of the Pots and Their Inscriptions 151

Chapter 8 Preliminary Evaluation of the New Corpus 156

8.1. Observations on the Contents of the New Corpus 156

8.2. Sectarian Considerations: The Dharmaguptaka Connection 166

8.3. Conclusions: A New View of Buddhism in Gandhara 178

Appendix Inscribed Pots and Potsherds in the British Library Collection 183

1. Technical Description and Evaluation of the Pots and Potsherds / Raymond Allchin 183

2. Kharosthi Pot and Potsherd Inscriptions 187

3. The Inscribed Pots in the British Library Collection 191

4. The Inscribed Potsherds in the British Library Collection 225

5. Conclusions: The Functions of the Inscribed Pots 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-263) and index.

ISBN:

029597768X

0295977698

OCLC:

40113389