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928
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[DECEMBER, 1906.
No. 15. The name Gyalba means vietor.'
No. 16. The name Bona-khromgo means the tall one.' Bona is probably the Dard word bono ; khro-mgo means 'anger-head.' No. 17. The name Zhanga-bar seems to mean "uncle fire-blaze' or 'rising fire-blaze.?
Notes on the English Translation. The most ancient of the inscriptions is probably No. 11. It may date from the time of independence, before the occupation of the fort by the Kings of Leh. The royal sound of the name
Gyal-khri may be due to its denoting that of a petty chief; as the chiefs of Kartse apparently were addressed as "Khri-rgyal."
At the time of the conquest of Western Tibet by the Lhasa dynasty, the castle of Alchi-mkbar Gog passed into the hands of the Kings of Leb, and their commanders had to protect the bridge with s garrison. In those days the time of the garrison seems to bave been less occupied with drill than with the erection of stúpas and chaityas for the spiritual welfare of the soldiers. The names of the commanders are not without interest, for there is a sound of real soldiers' names in them, and they have not as yet been replaced by ordinary Buddhist names. It is also of some importance that among the names we find two which are apparently Dard, and one or two which are Mon.
Paleographical Notes. Although the inscriptions are not of a great age, as we have to date the stong pon examples from about 1000 A. D. to 1400 A. D., they are of much palæographical interest, because the forms of the characters (vide Plates II. and III. attached) represented in them seem to be survivals of the time of the first shaping of the Tibetan Alphabet. Whilst the headed' alphabet of Tibet has remained stationary since c. 700 A. D., the unbeaded' (dbumed) alphabet has undergone great changes since it was employed by the commanders of Alchi-mkhar Gog. Forms of partioular interest are to be found in the reproductions of the following inscriptions in Plates II. and III.
No. 2. The subjoined under kh in the word khri bas the form of an ordinary r, whilst later on it was replaced by a stroke. The subjoined y in the syllable kyis is interesting on account of its vertical position. In course of time it became horizontal.
No. 5. The subjoined underneath the kh in the word khrom is attached to the stroke on the left instead of the right half of the letter.
No. 7. The letter ng is furnished with a head, but retains the form of the Dba-med ng.
No. 9. Here we find a new form of the 8, which prepares us for the change from the ancient H-like form, (as we find it, for instance, in No. 2 and No. 6), to the well-known form of the headed s, represented in No. 4, The e vowel-sign attached to the prefixed of the word rge is also worth noting. In all ancient inscriptions I have observed that this towel-siga is connected directly with the consonant, over which it is placed. Also the full, but perverted, form of the subjoined r in the word bris is interesting.
No. 10. Here we find the subjoined r in its original forma. The same can be observed in Nos. 13 and 14.
No. 16. Here the form of the a in the syllable om seems to be of great age. As I remarked in my article. On the Similarity of the Tibetan to the Kashgar Brahmi Alphabet' (M.A..B., 1905)) the Tibetan 'a seems to have been developed out of the Tibetan ya. The form found in this inscription speaks in favour of that theory. The word brogba (Dard) I read at first broaba, because the g in this word looks exactly like a Tibetan 'a. I believe, however, that this letter stands for a 9, which was either not quite completed, or the shape of which was still kept similar to that of the ancient Brahmi g.
