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0685 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 / Page 685 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CH. XXXIX TIBETAN OFFICE PAPERS '   447

difficulties which interpretation of them was likely to cause

thereafter, quite apart from the closely packed writing and

the very cursive script. Tibetan literature, while abound-

ing in canonical Buddhist texts and works of a devotional

nature, possesses exceedingly few specimens of early

secular writing. For the full elucidation of documents

such as the fort of Miran has yielded, philological acumen

is needed combined with intimate knowledge of the living

language and the ways of Tibet. The Rev. Dr. A. H.

Francke of the Moravian Mission, Leh, one of my former

collaborators and the recognized authority on the antiquities

of Western Tibet, is the scholar best suited for the task,

and to my great satisfaction he has agreed to undertake it.

But obligations arising from recent exploratory tours of

his own prevent him for months to come from making

a complete examination of my Tibetan records. In the

meantime I must content myself here with a brief summary

of such indications as emerge from his preliminary scrutiny

of some documents on paper and wood, and similar notes

kindly communicated to me by my friend, Dr. F. W.

Thomas, the learned Librarian of the India Office.

The information so far available leaves no doubt that the

great mass of the Tibetan records from Miran consists, as

suspected by me from the first, of miscellaneous ` office

papers,' reports, applications, etc., addressed mainly to the

officers commanding the Tibetan garrison. Topics of a

military interest seem to predominate, affording glimpses

of the disturbed condition of things in that region. Out

of the dozen and a half of documents so far translated in

extracts, six distinctly refer to encounters with hostile

troops. In one tablet addressed to the chief officer at

` Great Nob ' we hear of a convoy having been captured

and of troops being ordered to move against the attackers.

In another the ` council of the fort of Little Nob ' report

to ` the great Lord, the general officer' how, while they

were engaged in strengthening the defences, the enemy

made an attack, killing their families and destroying

certain supplies. There is a tablet from some small oasis

calling for quick assistance to defend the threatened

northern frontier and reporting disturbances in Western