DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0177
source of a flourishing literary culture in Khotan. Moreover, the
introduction of the Brahmi script was not hindered by ortho-
graphical problems arising from the need to represent Iranian
phonemes not existing in Sanskrit and in the Prakrits. This prob-
lem had already been solved centuries ago by using ligatures for
them as ys- for the voiced sibilant /z/ (v. HINUBER 1980b:
121—27). The inscription from the Shatial Bridge, mentioned
above, is a recently discovered example of it.
However the transition from the Kharosthi to the Brahmi
script may have taken place, the development of the Brahmi in
Khotan is well documented from the fifth to about the tenth
century A.D. After Qadr Khan Yusuf conquered Khotan in
1006 A.D. (GROPP 1974: 37), the kingdom became Islamic,
and as a result the Arabic script was introduced. The Brahmi
type following the "Early Turkestan Brahmi" described above
is termed "Early South Turkestan Brahmi", for it is confined to
the southern route only. Many more mss. written in this type of
script are preserved in the collections than there are in the earlier
type. The best known ms. has the signature Or. 9609 of the
British Library. It contains 28 folios of the Suvarnabhasa, written
in regular Old Khotanese language. It is now being prepared
for publication by P.O. SKJAERVO. Its script may be char- P/. 207
acterized as being broader and less ornamented than that of
the preceding type. It shows the typical features of a script
written with a pen with a slanting tip: variation of thin and thick
lines. But the general appearance of the a^ytms is still somewhat
roundish and not as angular as in the later types. The
themselves do not differ much from those mss. written in the
"Early Turkestan Brahmi" type. The use of the Central Asian
and interchanges with the Indian forms as in the ms. discussed
before (PI. 205 r3 twice: fty^). The dots symbolizing the diacritic
sign -if are nearly round, not as drop-shaped or square as in the
later mss., and they are placed at a clearly marked distance from
each other. The use of the pen with a slanting tip allows us to
date tentatively the mss. written in this type of script to the end
of the sixth to the seventh century A.D., when this pen came
into use (SANDER 1983: 121).
The "Early South Turkestan Brahmi" is followed by the "South
Turkestan Brahmi" type, best represented by the so-called
115
introduction of the Brahmi script was not hindered by ortho-
graphical problems arising from the need to represent Iranian
phonemes not existing in Sanskrit and in the Prakrits. This prob-
lem had already been solved centuries ago by using ligatures for
them as ys- for the voiced sibilant /z/ (v. HINUBER 1980b:
121—27). The inscription from the Shatial Bridge, mentioned
above, is a recently discovered example of it.
However the transition from the Kharosthi to the Brahmi
script may have taken place, the development of the Brahmi in
Khotan is well documented from the fifth to about the tenth
century A.D. After Qadr Khan Yusuf conquered Khotan in
1006 A.D. (GROPP 1974: 37), the kingdom became Islamic,
and as a result the Arabic script was introduced. The Brahmi
type following the "Early Turkestan Brahmi" described above
is termed "Early South Turkestan Brahmi", for it is confined to
the southern route only. Many more mss. written in this type of
script are preserved in the collections than there are in the earlier
type. The best known ms. has the signature Or. 9609 of the
British Library. It contains 28 folios of the Suvarnabhasa, written
in regular Old Khotanese language. It is now being prepared
for publication by P.O. SKJAERVO. Its script may be char- P/. 207
acterized as being broader and less ornamented than that of
the preceding type. It shows the typical features of a script
written with a pen with a slanting tip: variation of thin and thick
lines. But the general appearance of the a^ytms is still somewhat
roundish and not as angular as in the later types. The
themselves do not differ much from those mss. written in the
"Early Turkestan Brahmi" type. The use of the Central Asian
and interchanges with the Indian forms as in the ms. discussed
before (PI. 205 r3 twice: fty^). The dots symbolizing the diacritic
sign -if are nearly round, not as drop-shaped or square as in the
later mss., and they are placed at a clearly marked distance from
each other. The use of the pen with a slanting tip allows us to
date tentatively the mss. written in this type of script to the end
of the sixth to the seventh century A.D., when this pen came
into use (SANDER 1983: 121).
The "Early South Turkestan Brahmi" is followed by the "South
Turkestan Brahmi" type, best represented by the so-called
115