Written
Monuments
of the Orient

Volume 8, No. 2(16), 2022

ISSN 2410-0145

Issued twice a year

The entire issue as a *.PDF file

CONTENTS

Alice Crowther. A Manuscript Russian-Chinese-Manchu Dictionary (from before 1737) in T.S. Bayer’s Papers in Glasgow University Library. Part II: Notes on the Manchu and Chinese Lexica and the Transcription of Manchu — 3
This article is the second part of a two-part presentation of an anonymous Russian-Chinese-Manchu manuscript dictionary from before 1737 held in the papers of T.S. Bayer (1694–1738) in Glasgow University Library. It examines the annotations found on sixty of the dictionary’s 217 pages. These annotations use a mixture of Cyrillic and Latin script to give the pronunciation of the Chinese and Manchu entries. The article also discusses otherwise unattested Chinese and Manchu lexical entries found in the dictionary, and the use of popular variant character forms in the Chinese entries.
Key words: Manuscript dictionary, Manchu, T.S. Bayer, transcription, popular variant character forms

Artiom Mesheznikov. New Fragments of the Sanskrit Lotus Sūtra in the Serindia Manuscript Collection (IOM, RAS) — 36
The present work deals with the four previously unpublished fragments of the Sanskrit Lotus Sūtra kept in the Serindia Collection in the subcollection of N.F. Petrovsky under the call numbers SI 2098 (2 fragments), SI 3693, SI 3694. These fragments have some points in common considering the information about the codicological and paleographical features. The fragments present a remarkable similarity to each other in terms of material, type of script and ductus of the writing. It is estimated that the original complete folios of the manuscripts had 7 lines and the same presumable dimensions. On these grounds it is very probable that the four fragments belong to one and the same manuscript. Apart from this, the analysis of text makes it clear that the two fragments under the call number SI 2098 are the two almost conjoining parts of one and the same folio. The article includes transliteration and English translation of the fragments, their comparison with the corresponding text from the Kashgar manuscript of N.F. Petrovsky and with the text of the Kern & Nanjio edition. As a result of comparing the text of the fragments with the texts representing two currently known Sanskrit versions of the Lotus Sūtra (the Gilgit-Nepalese and the Central Asian) it becomes possible to assume that our fragments are closer to the Central Asian version. Fragments containing the texts of this version are of particular interest and utmost importance for the textual history of the Sanskrit Lotus Sūtra, because such texts represent the earlier stage of textual development of the Sūtra than the Sanskrit texts from Nepal and Gilgit that show more modern and remodeled variant.
Key words: Serindia Collection, Sanskrit manuscripts, Lotus Sūtra, Khotan, Nikolai F. Petrovsky

Safarali Shomakhmadov, Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Recent Insights into a Manuscript of Ornate Poetry from Toyoq: A new Fragment of Mātṛceṭa’s Varṇārhavarṇa — 58
The article continues a series of publications of the Sanskrit manuscript fragments written in the Proto-Śāradā script, kept in the Serindia Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The authors introduce into scientific circulation a fragment of the Varṇārhavarṇa, the work of the famous Buddhist thinker and poet Mātṛceṭa. The article provides the paleographic analysis of the manuscript fragment, as well as brief information about the author, his works, the Varṇārhavarṇa structure. The article provides transliteration and translation of the fragment.
Key words: Sanskrit manuscripts, Serindia, Turfan, Toyoq, Proto-Śāradā, Varṇārhavarṇa, stotra, Mātṛceṭa

Elena V. Tanonova. Dravidian Manuscripts as a Part of Indian Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of RAS — 71
This article is the first review of all manuscripts in the Dravidian languages kept in the IOM, RAS. The survey is incomplete, and many categories studied remain unidentified. Nevertheless, the survey provides verified information on the presence and number of the Dravidian manuscripts and forms a space for the future research. The article gives valuable information about the provenance of the manuscripts, their cataloguing and processing. This is the first time when the data relating to manuscripts in the Dravidian languages has been brought together. A brief description of all the manuscripts under consideration is given according to certain parameters, which allow an insight look on the peculiarities of the works, the collections, the authors and the languages.
Key words: Dravidian languages, dravidology, manuscript, collection, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Indian fund of IOM, RAS

Tatiana A. Pang. Nikolay Кaramzin’s Dedication to the Emperor Alexander I as a Preamble to the “History of Russian State” in Manchu and Chinese Translation by Zakhar Leontievsky — 96
The first official history of the Russian state “Istoriia gosudarstva Rossijskogo” (“History of Russian State”) was compiled by Nikolay Karamzin in 12 volumes (published in 1816–1828). The first eight volumes were printed in 1816–1818 and were most probably taken to Beijing by the members of the 10th Ecclesiastic mission (1820–1830). Among the students of that mission was Zakhar Leontievsky (1799–1874), who had spent ten years in Beijing and had perfectly mastered the Chinese and Manchu languages. During his stay in China, Leontievsky has translated into Chinese three volumes of Karamzin’s “History of Russian state”. Nowadays, the manuscript copies of this translation are kept in the Oriental collections in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Russian original by Karamzin begins with the Dedication to the Russian tzar Alexander I. Only the manuscript from the Oriental department of the Scientific library of the St. Petersburg state university has the Dedication translated into two languages — Manchu and Chinese. The comparison of the Russian original with the Manchu and Chinese versions shows that the translations turn to be Leontievsky’s interpretations of the original text written according to the rules of Chinese addresses to the throne. Additional translator’s comments were added to explain some episodes from the Russian history to the Chinese reader. Zakhar Leontievsky’s translation of the “History of Russian state” was the first introduction of Russian history to China.
Key words: Nikolay Karamzin, “History of Russian State”, dedication, Zakhar Leontievsky, Manchu translation, Chinese translation

Mark Kozintcev. The Letter of Tsar Peter I to Sultan Ahmed III on the Occasion of the End of the Northern War. Introduction, Translation from Ottoman-Turkish and Commentary — 124
The Treaty of Nystad signed between Russia and Sweden put an end to the prolonged Northern War (1700–1721). Russia gained an access to the Baltic Sea, acquired new territories and strengthened its international prestige. In a letter written on September 30 (October 11), 1721, Tsar Peter I informs the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III about Russian military and diplomatic success. Till nowadays, there is no information about the original letter, but its text has been preserved in translation into Ottoman-Turkish. The contents of the letter reflect the desire of the Russian Tsar, who had just finished a long war, to maintain good-neighborly relations with the Ottoman Empire. Being a source on the history of Russian-Turkish diplomatic relations, the letter is also an example of the Ottoman-Turkish language of the first half of the 18th c.
Key words: Great Northern War, Treaty of Nystad, Russia-Turkey relations, Russian-Turkish diplomatic correspondence, Ottoman manuscripts