Weber Manuscript

Last updated

The Weber Manuscript, also called Weber Manuscripts, is a collection of nine, possibly eleven, incomplete ancient Indian treatises written mostly in classical Sanskrit that were found buried within a Buddhist monument in northwestern China in late 19th-century. [1] [2] It is named after the Moravian missionary F. Weber who acquired the set from an Afghani merchant in Ladakh, and then forwarded it to the German Indologist and philologist Rudolf Hoernlé in Calcutta. The manuscripts consist of 76 page-leaves, written in Northwestern Gupta and Central Asian Nagari (Turkestanic Brahmi, slanting Gupta) scripts. [1] They were copied before the end of 7th-century, likely in the 5th-century [3] or the 6th–century. [1] The original texts that were copied to produce these manuscripts were likely considerably older Indian texts, at least one between 3rd-century BCE and pre-2nd-century CE. [1] The Weber Manuscript is notable for having been written on two types of paper – Central Asian and Nepalese, attesting to the spread of paper technology outside of interior China and its use for Indian religious texts by the 5th– or 6th-century. [3] [4] [5]

5th or 6th century Weber Manuscript 1, Nepalese Paper, early NW Gupta script, Sanskrit.jpg
5th or 6th century Weber Manuscript 5, Central Asian Paper, Central Asian Nagari (Turkestani Brahmi), Sanskrit.jpg
The Weber manuscripts (above) were, like the Bower manuscript, discovered near Kucha (Xinjiang China). Hoernle noted that these were a collection of 9 Sanskrit manuscript fragments on paper produced in 5th- to 6th-century CE in different parts of Asia. [4] [2] [5]

The Weber Manuscripts include fragments of: [1]

The scribes were likely Buddhist because the Weber Manuscript was discovered in the ruins of a Buddhist monastery, the treatises include verses that praise the Buddha though the predominant language isn't Pali, is either mostly accurate classical Sanskrit or occasionally a crude mix of Pali and Sanskrit. Even the Sanskrit dictionary includes a phrase ksatriyair Buddha-nirjitaih, or "Kshatriyas conquered by Buddha", which suggests that the author was probably Buddhist. [1] [2]

The Weber Manuscripts are currently preserved in the collections of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. [2]

Discovery

The Weber Manuscript was found in Kucha, China (red dot above), the same location as the Bower Manuscript. Location of Kuchar within Xinjiang (China).png
The Weber Manuscript was found in Kucha, China (red dot above), the same location as the Bower Manuscript.

Hoernle received the Weber Manuscript from Leh-based F. Weber in 1893. At that time, based on what he was told, he reported that the manuscript was discovered 60 miles south of Yarkand. [1] However, interviews and surveys conducted between 1893 and 1900, persuaded Hoernle that the Weber Manuscript came from Kucha, the same location as the Bower Manuscript. These were found by the same Muslim treasure hunters who were digging up Kucha area Buddhist ruins in late 19th-century. [3] These manuscript bundles were likely opened by the treasure hunters, carelessly examined, got jumbled as they put them back into separate parts to sell. They sought different buyers for each part. Two of the parts were bought in India and another by a buyer from Russia. [3] The India-based buyers forwarded them to Rudolf Hoernle, and these came to be called the Weber Manuscript and McCartney Manuscript. The Russian portion came to be called the Petrovski Manuscript and became a part of the Sanskrit manuscripts collection in Saint Petersburg. Some of the folio leaves of these various manuscripts are of the same treatise. [3] The Petrovski Manuscript – also referred to as Petrovsky Manuscript, St Petersburg Asiatic Museum catalog number SI P/33 – was studied by the Indologist Sergey Oldenburg in the 1890s and thereafter. He identified some parts as portions of some sutra and the start of the appendix. These were established by Fukita Takamichi in 1989 as parts of Nidanasutra and Nagaropomasutra (dharani). [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurel Stein</span> Hungarian-British archaeologist

Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (Hungarian: Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities.

Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka as well as the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism. Early in the language's history, it was written in the Brahmi script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jataka tales</span> Collection of traditional narratives of the previous lives of Buddha

The Jātakas are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is "one of the oldest classes of Buddhist literature." Some of these works are also considered great works of literature in their own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhist texts</span> Historic literature and religious texts of Buddhism

Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, found in Afghanistan and written in Gāndhārī, they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The first Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by Buddhist monastics, but were later written down and composed as manuscripts in various Indo-Aryan languages and collected into various Buddhist Canons. These were then translated into other languages such as Buddhist Chinese and Classical Tibetan as Buddhism spread outside of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kharosthi</span> Ancient script of Central and South Asia

The Kharosthi script, also spelled Kharoshthi and Kharoṣṭhī, was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various peoples in present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It was used in Central Asia as well. An abugida, it was introduced at least by the middle of the 3rd century BCE, possibly during the 4th century BCE, and remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE.

Augustus Frederic Rudolf Hoernlé CIE, also referred to as Rudolf Hoernle or A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, was a German Indologist and philologist. He is famous for his studies on the Bower Manuscript (1891), Weber Manuscript (1893) and other discoveries in northwestern China and Central Asia particularly in collaboration with Aurel Stein. Born in India to a Protestant missionary family from Germany, he completed his education in Switzerland, and studied Sanskrit in the United Kingdom. He returned to India, taught at leading universities there, and in the early 1890s published a series of seminal papers on ancient manuscripts, writing scripts and cultural exchange between India, China and Central Asia. His collection after 1895 became a victim of forgery by Islam Akhun and colleagues in Central Asia, a forgery revealed to him in 1899. He retired from the Indian office in 1899 and settled in Oxford, where he continued to work through the 1910s on archaeological discoveries in Central Asia and India. This is now referred to as the "Hoernle collection" at the British Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam Akhun</span> Con-man

Islam Akhun was a Uyghur con-man from Khotan who forged numerous manuscripts and printed documents and sold them as ancient Silk Road manuscripts. Since the accidental discovery of the Bower Manuscript in 1889 such texts had become much sought after. The imperial powers of the time sponsored archaeological expeditions to Central Asia, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bower Manuscript</span> Collection of Buddhist and Ayurvedic manuscripts found in northwestern China

The Bower Manuscript is a collection of seven fragmentary Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. treatises found buried in a Buddhist memorial stupa near Kucha, northwestern China. Written in early Gupta script on birch bark, it is variously dated in 5th to early 6th century. The Bower manuscript includes the oldest dated fragments of an Indian medical text, the Navanitaka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dharani</span>

Dharanis, also known as Parittas, are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Buddhist devotee, they constitute a major part of historic Buddhist literature. Many of these chants are in Sanskrit and Pali, written in scripts such as Siddhaṃ as well as transliterated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Sinhala, Thai and other regional scripts. They are similar to and reflect a continuity of the Vedic chants and mantras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pali literature</span> Oldest Buddhist texts in Middle Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian subcontinent

Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language. The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pāli Canon, the authoritative scriptures of Theravada school.

<i>Sutta Nipata</i> Buddhist scripture, sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pali Canon

The Sutta Nipāta is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.

<i>Dīpavaṃsa</i>

The Dīpavaṃsa is the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka. The chronicle is believed to be compiled from Atthakatha and other sources around the 3rd to 4th century CE. Together with the Mahāvaṃsa, it is the source of many accounts of the ancient history of Sri Lanka and India. Its importance resides not only as a source of history and legend but also as an important early work in Buddhist and Pali literature.

<i>Sushruta Samhita</i> Ancient Sanskrit medical text

The Sushruta Samhita is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subject to survive from the ancient world. The Compendium of Suśruta is one of the foundational texts of Ayurveda, alongside the Charaka-Saṃhitā, the Bheḷa-Saṃhitā, and the medical portions of the Bower Manuscript. It is one of the two foundational Hindu texts on the medical profession that have survived from ancient India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers</span>

Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers, was a British civil servant, and a Pali and Buddhist scholar. In later life, he served as the Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cundi (Buddhism)</span> Female deity in Vajrayana Buddhism

Cundī or Cundā, also known as Saptakoṭibuddhamatṛ, is a female bodhisattva and a manifestation of the Cundī Dhāraṇī prominently revered in East Asian Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

<i>Tripiṭaka</i> Buddhist canonical collection

Tipiṭaka or Tripiṭaka or තිපිටක, meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures.

<i>Ye Dharma Hetu</i> Phrase in Early Buddhist texts, used in devotion

In Buddhism, ye dharmā hetu, also referred to as the dependent origination dhāraṇī, is a dhāraṇī widely used in ancient times, and is often found carved on chaityas, images, or placed within chaityas. It is used in Sanskrit as well as Pali. It is found in Mahavagga section of Vinaya Pitaka of the Pali Canon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanskrit Buddhist literature</span> Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit

Sanskrit Buddhist literature refers to Buddhist texts composed either in classical Sanskrit, in a register that has been called "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit", or a mixture of these two. Several non-Mahāyāna Nikāyas appear to have kept their canons in Sanskrit, the most prominent being the Sarvāstivāda school. Many Mahāyāna Sūtras and śāstras also survive in Buddhistic Sanskrit or in standard Sanskrit.

Early Buddhist texts (EBTs), early Buddhist literature or early Buddhist discourses are parallel texts shared by the early Buddhist schools. The most widely studied EBT material are the first four Pali Nikayas, as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas. However, some scholars have also pointed out that some Vinaya material, like the Patimokkhas of the different Buddhist schools, as well as some material from the earliest Abhidharma texts could also be quite early.

The Paññāsa Jātaka, is a non-canonical collection of 50 stories of the Buddha's past lives, originating in mainland Southeast Asia. The stories were based on the style of the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā, but are not from the Pāli Canon itself. The stories outline the Buddha's biography and illustrate his acquisition of the perfections (pāramitā), with a strong focus on generosity (dāna).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 1–40. 1893.;
    A. F. Rudolf Hoernle (1897). Three further collections of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia (JASB, Vol LXVI, Part 1, Number 4). Asiatic Society of Bengal.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Claus Vogel (1979). A History of Indian Literature. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 309 with footnote. ISBN   978-3-447-02010-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1900). A Note on the British Collection of Central Asian Antiquities (Indian Antiquary, Volume 29). Archaeological Society of India. pp. 63–70.
  4. 1 2 Rudolf Hoernle, A. F. (1903). "Who was the Inventor of Rag-paper?". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Cambridge University Press. 35 (4): 663–684. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00031075. S2CID   162891467.
  5. 1 2 Jesper Trier (1972). Ancient Paper of Nepal: Results of Ethno-technological Field Work on Its Manufacture, Uses and History - with Technical Analyses of Bast, Paper and Manuscripts. Royal Library. pp. 93–94, 130–135. ISBN   978-87-00-49551-7.
  6. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 9–17. 1893.
  7. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 17–21. 1893.
  8. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 21–24. 1893.
  9. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 21–22. 1893.
  10. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 31–32. 1893.
  11. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 24–26. 1893.
  12. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 32–34. 1893.
  13. ↑ "The Weber MSS – Another collection of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1): 34–40. 1893.
  14. ↑ M. I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya (1999). "Sanskrit Manuscripts from the N.F. Petrovsky Collection in the St Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies". Manuscripta Orientalia. 5 (4): 38, context: 36–39.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.