Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s4: 6. Niya (Central Asian) Kharoṣṭhī Document
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s4
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6. Niya (Central Asian) Kharoṣṭhī Document
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| Location | Niya, on the Niya River on the southern rim of the Takla Makan Desert, Minfeng County, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China |
| Script | Kharoṣṭhī (central Asian variety) |
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| Language | “Niya Prakrit,” i.e., the central Asian dialect of Gāndhārī (prose) |
| Type and format | Ink on wooden wedge under-tablet |
| Purpose | Gives an official order for an inquiry into a protest lodged by one Sucamma |
| Date | None given; ca. third century A.D. |
| References | A. M. Boyer, E. J. Rapson, and É. Senart, *Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions Discovered by Sir Aurel Stein*, part II, 240, no. 638, and plate XI; translation in T. Burrow, *A Translation of the Kharoṣṭhī Documents from Chinese Turkestan*, 133. |
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Text
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Obverse
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1. mahanuava maharaya lihati cojhbo kranaya ṣoṭhaṃga lýipeṣa ca
2. maṃtra deti [/*] ṣa ca ahuno iśa sucaṃma vimñaṽeti yatha edaṣa purva eka urina huati [/*] ahuno dui urina prochaṃti [/*] yahi eda kilamudr[e?] atra eśati praṭha atra samuha anada pro-
3. chidavo [/*] yatha edaṣa purva eka urina huati iṃthuami ahuno eka urina prochidavo [/*] eṣa navaǵa goṭha samña [/*] adhamēna rajadhaṃma na prochidavo [/*]
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Reverse
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1. sucaṃmaṣa urinaṣa
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Translation
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Obverse
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1. His Majesty the King writes to the Cojhbo Kranaya and the Ṣoṭhaṃga Lýipe,
2. he gives (them the following) instruction: Now there is this Sucaṃma, (who) announces that formerly he had one *urina*. Now they demand (of him) two *urina*. When this wedge tablet shall arrive there, immediately you must investigate this matter in person and carefully.
3. Just as formerly he had one *urina*, so now one *urina* is to be demanded (of him). He is newly designated a householder. The royal law must not be administered unlawfully.
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FIGURE 16. Niya (central Asian) Kharoṣṭhī document. From Boyer, Rapson, and Senart, *Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions* II, pl. XI; reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press.
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Reverse
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1. [Concerning] the *urina* of Sucaṃma.
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Notes
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Obverse line 2: *urina*: The meaning of the word is unknown. Perhaps connected with sheep (cf. Skt. *ūrṇa* ‘wool’)?