National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 |
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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
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