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| 0456 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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tinguished from inscriptions) that have as yet come to light in
India proper. But from the first there was ample evidence
pointing to this chronological conclusion. The Kharoshthi writing
of the tablets and leather documents, as already stated, showed
close agreement in its palæographic features with the Kharoshthi
inscriptions of the Kushana kings, whose rule in North-Western
India undoubtedly falls mainly within the first two centuries of our
era. This testimony was fully supported by the fortunate discovery
in another ruin, N. VIII., of a unique tablet showing by the side
of Kharoshthi some lines of Brahmi characters which clearly display
the peculiarities of Brahmi writing of the Kushana period. The
evidence of the coins was equally eloquent, since the numerous
finds made during my stay included only Chinese copper pieces of
the Later Han Dynasty, whose reign came to a close in A.D. 220.
Finally there was in the use of wood as the only writing material,
apart from leather, another proof of considerable antiquity.
Though the use of paper is attested in Chinese Turkestan from at
least the fourth century A.D. onwards, yet I failed to discover even
the smallest scrap of paper among all the ruined houses and
ancient rubbish heaps.
But with all these indications at hand, I felt particularly
gratified when a recent discovery revealed the incontrovertible
chronological evidence for which I had always longed. It came
from one of the small pieces of wood inscribed with single lines of
Chinese characters, of which the excavation of N. XV. ultimately
yielded up over twoscore (for an illustration, see p. 316). Their
preliminary examination at Kashgar and in the British Museum
seemed to show that they contained brief orders, chiefly con-
cerning the movements of specified individuals who were to be
arrested or allowed to pass certain posts, etc. References to ancient
localities such as Kucha, Shen-shen, Su-le or Kashgar, and the
description of two persons as 'Ta-Yue-chi,' i.e., Indo-Scythians,
were points possessed of considerable historical interest. But it
was only when Dr. S. W. Bushell, the distinguished Sinologist, had
occasion to examine these Chinese tablets that one of them was
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