Indian Antiquary Vol 61

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 88

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ APRIL, 1932
In a carefully reasoned Article entitled "Where was the Saka language reduced to writing," Dr. Sten Konow puts forward arguments for thinking that it was in the Khotan region that the first attempts woro made to write the language. Ho indicates the linguistio evidence tending to show that, besides Sanskrit, the North-western Prakrit must have been known to and utilized by those Sakas who reduced the language to writing: "We cannot, therefore," he adds, "think of the country of the Western Ksatrapas." In the course of this paper the linguistie features of Saka, and particularly those which he is able to observe in document No. 661 of the Kharosthi documents from Turkestan, have been discussed in a very suggestive manner. Dr. Konow argues from the evidence available that the Brahmi characters were in use in Khotan as early as the ond of the second century A.D. and suggests that their introduction may have coincided roughly with that of Buddhism in the latter part of the first century B.C. It will be noticed that these views differ from those of Dr. F. W. Thomas (as expressed in Asia Major, II, 251 ff.).
Toung Pao, vol. XXVIII, Pta. 1-2 (1931).-Indian students will be interested to read the first paper in this issue by N. D. Mironov on the Nyayapraveía of Dignaga, the Sanskrit text of which he essays to edit and reconstruct from two manuscripts in the Doocan College, Poona, which contain Haribhadra's continuous coinmentary but only about one-fifth of the múla. The task of reconstructing the text from the pratikas of the commentary has been performed with the assistance of the Tibetan and Chinese versions, which have been compared word by word through the collaboration of Prof. S. Yamaguchi. The result of this collation has been, we are told, that "the overwhelming majority of instances clearly showed the identity of the work"; yet not a few passages are different, and it may be assumed that the Sanskrit text used by Haribhadra differed in some respects from that used by Hsuan-tsang and from that used by the Tibetan translators. As regards the identity of the author, specific reasons are noted for holding that Haribhadra at any rate regarded Dignåga as the author, thus supporting the Tibetan tradition.
Le Monde Oriental, vol. XXV, Fase. 1.3 (1931),
This festachrift volume (dedicated to Prof. K. V. Zetterstoen) opens with an article in German by Prof. Jarl Charpentier entitled "Indra : ein Versuch der Aufklärung," in which he deals with the origin of the name Indra. The etymology of this name seems to have exercised the minds of scholars from very early times, as Yaska gives some eleven deri. vations. Max Müller took Indra to be the Indian rain-god, and connected the name with the Sanskrit nau, arop, and other Sanskritists have accept- ed that view. Bergnigne thought it was most likely derived from the root indh, to 'burn,' as the bright, burning drop of the soma. Jacobi, on the other hand, made the novel and interesting suggestion
that the conjunct ndr appearing at times in later Sanskrit was formod from an earlier nr; and so Indra might possibly be explained as from an older in-ra. Kretschmer has pointed out that in the treaty between the Hittite king Subbiluliuma and the Mitani ruler Mattiuaza names of gods are men. tioned which have been identified with the Indian gods Varuna, Mitra, India and the Nâsatyas, tho first of which was called Aruna by the Mitani, and Uruwana by the Hittite. Kretschmer took this to be the god of the sea (arunas being the Hittite for * sea'), and the Hittite god Inar (Inaras, etc.) to be Indra. After an exhaustive survey of tho euggestions made by a number of scholars, Prof. Char. pentior comes to the conclusion that the gods of Boghaz-Köi are neither Indian, as Jacobi and Konow have thought, nor Indo-franian, es Edward Meyer believed, but simply ancient Iranian. In agreement with Dr. L. D. Barnett, he considers that Indra was originally a human being, who be. came deified as the great protagonist of the worrior (rajanya) class. He throws out & suggestion that Indra might be explained as from a onro, which would represent & thematic evolution from an athematic *ner, nr. In Greek (avip, uvopós), and in Armenian (air, arn) we find such forms with a prothetic vocal, a ; and that in indra we have the same stem with prothetic i cannot be described as ditficult from the phonetic point of view. The suggestion is made with every reserve, and the Professor even adds that "the riddle of Indra is unsolved." Perhaps it is insoluble in the present state of our knowledge.
Archeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, Band IV, Heft 1 (Oct. 1931).-This number of the Mitteilungen contains an article by Dr. Ernst Herzfeld of much value from an historical and geographical, if not from & philological, point of view entitled "Sekas. tan: Historical Researches on the Excavations at Koh-i-Khwaja" (in Sistân). In it & great mass of references to the Sakas and Sakastan culled from Chinese, frånian, classical and other sources has been collated and marshalled with a view to eluci. dating the nomenclature referring to the province and tracing the wanderings of the people who even. tually gave it their name. The article is divided into four sections: (1) Zranka and Sakastan, in which the various names are set forth and explained; (2) The Sakas up to the time of Alexander, based upon references in inscriptions, ancient texts, Herodotus, Hecatæus, etc.; (3) The Wandering of the Sakas, dealing with (a) the Chinese sources, their dates and value ; (b) the push that started them on their migration ; (c) their starting point, which is shown to have been Wu-sun, or Farghana ; (d) the region where their wanderings ended, which was ki-pin (Arachoala, or modern Sistan); (c) their en. counter with the Parthians (in Ariana); and finally
their settling down under Mithridates II. The identification of Wusun with Farghana end of Ki-pin with Arachosis is important, AB even in the