DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36958#0223
NICHOLAS SIMS-WILLIAMS
THE SOGDIAN INSCRIPTIONS OF LADAKH*
The Sogdian inscriptions of Ladakh, on the western approaches to
Tibet, resemble those of the Upper Indus in being inscribed on
patinated boulders and in consisting almost entirely of personal
names. From their script, however, it is clear that they belong to
a much later date, perhaps to the ninth century. It is therefore
only to be expected that they should show evidence of changes in
the onomastics and religious beliefs of the Sogdians.
The existence of numerous inscriptions and rock carvings in the
area of Drangtse (Tankse), about 25 km west-north-west of the
Pangkong lake, was first noted in 1906 by the British missionary
F.E. SHAWE. His discovery was reported by A.H. FRANCKE
(1925), who drew attention in particular to one rock bearing,
amongst other inscriptions and drawings, a Sogdian inscription of
nine or ten lines together with several Nestorian crosses. FRAN-
CKB's article was illustrated by a photograph taken in 1911 by Se-
bastian SCHMITT, a medical missionary, which gives a general view
of this rock (FRANCKE 1925: PI II), incidentally including part of
another short Sogdian inscription (No 7 in the preliminary cata-
logue at the end of the present article). In the same volume as
FRANCKE's report a first decipherment of the main Sogdian in-
scription was attempted by F.W.K. MÜLLER (1925). This too was
illustrated by a photograph of SCHMiTT's (MÜLLER 1925: PI III),
showing the principal Sogdian inscription (No 2) as well as a large
* Revised version of a paper to be published in Russian in the proceedings of
the Franco-Soviet colloquium "Kul'tura drevnego i srednevekovogo Samarkan-
da i istoriceskie svjazi Sogda" held in Samarkand in September 1990. The pre-
sent text differs from the Russian version principally by the addition of the
photographs and catalogue of the inscriptions.
151
THE SOGDIAN INSCRIPTIONS OF LADAKH*
The Sogdian inscriptions of Ladakh, on the western approaches to
Tibet, resemble those of the Upper Indus in being inscribed on
patinated boulders and in consisting almost entirely of personal
names. From their script, however, it is clear that they belong to
a much later date, perhaps to the ninth century. It is therefore
only to be expected that they should show evidence of changes in
the onomastics and religious beliefs of the Sogdians.
The existence of numerous inscriptions and rock carvings in the
area of Drangtse (Tankse), about 25 km west-north-west of the
Pangkong lake, was first noted in 1906 by the British missionary
F.E. SHAWE. His discovery was reported by A.H. FRANCKE
(1925), who drew attention in particular to one rock bearing,
amongst other inscriptions and drawings, a Sogdian inscription of
nine or ten lines together with several Nestorian crosses. FRAN-
CKB's article was illustrated by a photograph taken in 1911 by Se-
bastian SCHMITT, a medical missionary, which gives a general view
of this rock (FRANCKE 1925: PI II), incidentally including part of
another short Sogdian inscription (No 7 in the preliminary cata-
logue at the end of the present article). In the same volume as
FRANCKE's report a first decipherment of the main Sogdian in-
scription was attempted by F.W.K. MÜLLER (1925). This too was
illustrated by a photograph of SCHMiTT's (MÜLLER 1925: PI III),
showing the principal Sogdian inscription (No 2) as well as a large
* Revised version of a paper to be published in Russian in the proceedings of
the Franco-Soviet colloquium "Kul'tura drevnego i srednevekovogo Samarkan-
da i istoriceskie svjazi Sogda" held in Samarkand in September 1990. The pre-
sent text differs from the Russian version principally by the addition of the
photographs and catalogue of the inscriptions.
151