In order to perform this task we will need to analyze the textual variants found in the versions of the inscriptions

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Paul Kent Andersen

Written and Oral Means of Transmitting the Rock Edicts of Aioka

One of our primary aims in the study of the ASokan inscriptions is to reconstruct the train of transmission from Asoka to the respective stone sites. In order to perform this task we will need to analyze the textual variants found in the versions of the inscriptions. Assuming that these variations represent deviations from an original text and hence are instances of "scribal error" in a wider sense, an in-depth investigation based upon a detailed classification of these

"errors" will enable us to draw numerous conclusions regarding the train of transmission for the single versions as well as the relationship which holds among the versions of a specific series. So, for example, if we were to find instances of "scribal error" due to the incorrect reproduction of an optic signal (i.e. confusions of "letters" or "slips of the pen"), these will indicate a written means of transformation. If, on the other hand, we were to find instances of "scribal error" due to the incorrect reproduction of an acoustic signal (i.e. confusion of

"sounds"), we can conclude an oral means of transmission. There are, of course, numerous other types of "scribal error" indicative of either a written or an oral means of transmission.

"Scribal errors" can furthermore be classified into unintentional errors such as confusion of

"letters" and "sounds", repetition and under certain circumstances omission, and intentional

errors such as corrections, replacements, additions, interpretations, and under certain

circumstances omission. For the most part, "scribal erors" introduced during a written means of transmission will corrupt the text resulting in an alteration of the original content/meaning of the text. "Scribal errors" introduced during an oral means of transmission, however, will tend to preserve the original content while altering the grammatical means of expression: here we find such variations as active vs. passive, personal (e.g. imperative) vs. impersonal construction (e.g. gerund), direct vs. indirect speech, etc. Intentional scribal errors will furthermore indicate a specific editorial phase during the train of transmission: 1 do not think that a scribe, whose job it was to merely copy a text by hand, would take it upon himself to alter or correct a royal decree; a high official, such as an Aryaputra or Kumara, on the other hand, who would be responsible for the distribution and publication of the inscriptions, would

do so. An investigation carried out on the Rock Edicts (REs) and the Minor Rock Edicts

(mres) reveals that for the most part there was a written means of transmission for the REs but an oral means for the mres.

Noboru Karashima

Change in Vijayanagar Rule in the Lower Kaveri Valley During the 15th and löth

Centuries as Seen in the Srirangam Inscriptions

Through examination of 256 Vijayanagar inscriptions which remain in the Srirangam temple

in South India, we can clarify the change which occurred in Vijayanagar rule over the lower Kaveri valley at the turn of the 16th century.

First, the inscriptions as a whole reveal the following three facts: 1) village/land grants made to the Srirangam temple by the kings or ministers, which are noticeable through the 14th and

15th centuries, almost disappeared in the 16th century, 2) nayakkattanams, clear cut

territories bestowed by the king on nayakas for their own management, appear in the

inscriptions only from the beginning of the 16th century, and 3) there emerged in the 16th

A. Wezler/E. Hammerschmidt (Hrsg.): Proceedings of the XXXII Intemational Congress for Asian and North African Studies, Hamburg, 25th-30th Augusl 1986 (ZDMG-Suppl. 9).

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century locally influential families whose donative activities are recorded in inscriptions over two or three generations, while donative activities in the 15th century inscriptions never extend over one generation. All the facts, combined together, seem to indicate decentrali¬

zation of the Vijayanagar govemment, though the kings remained as powerful as before or

rather increased their power during the first half of the 16th century.

Second, the above tendency is further ascertained through analysis of characterisfics of the mle over the region by two groups of Vijayanagar administrators, one in the 15th century and the other in the 16th century. While the three administrators who mied over the region in the 15th century show characteristics of high ranking officials who worked for the state, members

of a Brahmana family who mied the same area in the 16th century over three generafions

seem to have been deeply involved in local affairs for their own interest, though they

remained submissive to the king, who legitimafized their mle.

This change in the Vijayanagar mle in the 16th century is noticed also in the region north of the lower Kaveri valley, and if we see it together with the efforts made by nayakas to control local production in their own territories in the 16th century and after, we may be able to suggest the emergence of a feudal social formation in the middle part of Tamilnadu in South India during the 16th century.

The following two papers by the author, which deal with the nayaka mle in the region north of the lower Kaveri valley during the 15th and 16th centuries, are closely related to this

study. 1) "Nayaka Rule in North and South Arcot Districts in South India during the

Sixteenth Century," Acta Asiatica 48 (Japanese Studies in Later Medieval Indian Society), Tokyo, 1985, and 2) "Vijayanagar Rule and Nattavars in Vellar Valley in Tamilnadu during the 15th and 16th Centuries," The Memoirs ofthe Institute ofOrierual Culture, The University of Tokyo, No. 101, 1986.

Richard Salomon

Translation and Interpretation ofthe Senavarma Inscription

The Buddhist relic dedication inscription of a hitherto unknown King Senavarma of Odi,

written in Kharosthi script and "Gändhäri" or northwest Prakrit on a gold leaf found inside

a miniature stüpa of uncertain provenance (but probably from Swat) has been previously

published by Bailey (JRAS 1980) and Fussman (befeo 71, 1982). The present paper offers

some further suggestions for re-interpreting this difficult and important document. In

particular, the value of comparisons with related documents is stressed: (1) Buddhist canonical texts; (2) other Kharosthi inscriptions; and (3) other non-epigraphical Kharosthi/Gändhäri

documents, i.e. (a) the GändhM Dharmapada and (b) the Kharosthi documents from Chinese

Central Asia. Examples:

(1) The phrase matapita dukaracara in line 8d of the new inscription can be clarified by

stock expressions in the Buddhist canon such as duskarakärakau hi bhiksavah putrasya mätäpitarau (Divyävadäna 51.20).

(2) The word avyamahatiireaZ-tiiraa (lines lOd, 13c), previously interpreted as avi ya

mahanirea = api ca mahäniraya can be shown by comparison with other Kharosthi

inscriptions (Wardak vase, line 3, aviyanarag(r)aparyata) and canonical texts (e.g.

A. Wezler/E. Hammerschmidt (Hrsg.): Proceedings of the XXXII Intemational Congress for Asian and North African Studies, Hamburg, 25th-30lh Augu.st 1986 (ZDMG-Suppl. 9).

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Saddharmapundarika 354.8, yävad avicim mahänirayam) to be equivalent to Sanskrit avicimahäniraya.

(3a) Savasamgharana ksaye in line 6c is clarified by Dharmapada 10c, sagharana ksaya

narva = sarnskäränäm ksayarn jhätvä.

(3b) The previously unclear verb form haksati (line 12c) is clarified by the common

hachari of the Central Asian documents as a future/quasi-optative alternating with

siy ari (= syät) and bhavisyati.

In this way, many (though by no means all) of the problems in interpreting the Senavarma inscription can be clarified, and further research along these lines should continue to clarify the obscurities of this and similar epigraphie documents.

(The complete version of this paj)er has been published in IIJ 26, 261-293.)

Oskar von Hinüber

Recent Epigraphical Discoveries in North Pakistan

An enlarged version of this short survey is to be published by the Academy at Heidelberg.

For Bibliographical reference see the abstract of "Thalpan: A Buddhist Site in North

Pakistan", p 163 in this volume.

Saddhamangala Karunaratne

The Earliest Script of Sri Lanka

The earliest inscriptions of Sri Lanka are written in what is known as the Brähmi script. This

script was also used by Emperor Asoka of India in the middle of the 3rd century B.C. in

most of his inscriptions. Emperor Asoka sent a team of Buddhist monks to Sri Lanka to

introduce Buddhism to this country. The earliest inscriptions of Sri Lanka record dedication of caves to Buddhist monks as places of shelter. They were inscribed after the introduction

of Buddhism. Therefore the obvious conclusion was that the Buddhist missionaries brought

their script to Sri Lanka. This view had been widely accepted and gained currency during the period in which the inscriptions were studied.

Now let us look at the Asokan Brähmi or Mauryan Brähmi script:

H ■. ^ > z.

+ Lu

d ck E ^' ^

c G cä» ^

A o > ^ ^

\j (3 O n' >i

J ti 6

A- \j Sj

Vr I*

A. Wezler/E. Hammerschmidt (Hrsg.): Proceedings of the XXXII International Congress for Asian and North African Studies, Hamburg, 25th-30lh August 1986 (ZDMG-Suppl. 9).

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The earliest Brähmi script of Sri Lanka is as follows:

H .1. ^ >

4- 1 Lu

a ct, H

c G r»

X o f> o

\j b a fc>

^ t3 cb

b- -J'

If we examine the two scripts closely, we can see that although they are similar, there are

also significant differences. In the vowel system Asokan Brähmi has .'- while Sri Lankan

Brähmi has This is found in the Brähmi inscriptions of South India as well. But in the

later inscriptions of Sri Lanka of about the 1st century A.D. •!• goes out of vogue and an

evolved form of .'- takes its place. This shows that the Asokan Brähmi has influenced the Sri Lankan script in due course and ousted the eariier form.

A feature peculiar to the Sri Lankan Brähmi is the absence of the form for ja and the use of the aspirate V for both aspirate and unaspirate. This is unique in the Sri Lankan script and

is not known in any other script of India. In about the first century B.C. E form is

introduced and we have the regular use of ja and jha.

The earliest Sri Lankan Brähmi also has the exclusive use of palatal ia. A and no other

sibilants are found. The sa cb is introduced in the 1st century B.C. as the Mauryan variety gains ground.

A form of la iJ. found in the South Indian Brähmi is also used in the earliest script of Sri Lanka. Another significant feature is that the direction of writing in some of the earliest inscriptions is from right to left. In most of these inscriptions the letters are also reversed.

The conclusion which can be drawn from these instances is that Sri Lankan Brähmi is not

identical with any other known Brähmi script of India. It had been used in Sri Lanka long

before the missionaries came in the 3rd century B.C. Perhaps the original Brähmi script was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Aryan settlers who came to this Island in the 6th century B.C.

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Omar Farouk Shaek Ahmad Bajunid

TTie Political Integration of the Muslims in Burma and Thailand A Cross- National Analysis

Historically, geographically and culturally Burma shares some of Thailand's peculiar traits, however, in the more recent times, the impact of colonial rule in Burma on the one hand, and Thailand's continued political independence on the other, and their consequential adoption of different political methods and strategies in meeting the challenges of the tasks of nation-

building in the post-Second World War period have contributed to make these states

economically, ideologically and politically distinctive from each other. Both Burma and

Thailand, as modem nation-states are multi-ethnic in character although this seems much

more so in the case of the former. Both countries are Buddhist and have attempted at one

point of time or other to use Buddhism as a unifying religio-cultural force but Buddhism has almost invariably been overshadowed by political and ideological considerations in these two

states. In Burma, Buddhism has been used to legitimize the Marxist-Leninist ideology with

the conceptualization of the Burmese Way to Socialism. In Thailand, the development of

constitutional politics has ushered in an unresolved tussle between the proponents of liberal

democracy on the one hand and the advocates of bureaucratic and in particular military

hegemony on the other. Both these states have a substantial and significant Muslim minority

population which has had to grapple with difficult problems of readjustments following the

abovementioned developments.

This paper seeks to depict the role of the Muslims in the modem polities of Burma and

Thailand within a comparative framework. The current status of the Muslims in present-day

Burma is first described and the heterogeneity of the Muslim community highlighted. The

evolution of the community from the traditional period through to the post-colonial era in the case of Burma and from the traditional through to the constitutional period in the context of

Thailand is assessed. It is argued that in the traditional period the Muslims co-existed

harmoniously with their Buddhist counterparts in Burma and Thailand, for the most part.

Colonial mle in Burma created gulfs between the Muslims and the Burmans in particular. In

the case of Thailand, the modemization of its polity as a consequence of the impact of

colonialism in the region began to sow the seeds of political trouble. The role of extemal variables both in Burma and Thailand has threatened to internationalize the political problems of the Muslim minorities in both these states much to their chagrin.

The dislocation of liberal democracy in Burma affected the Muslims severely. The isolationist

measures undertaken by the military leaders of Burma and the espousal of socialist goals

translated in Buddhist terms became unnerving for the majority of the Muslims, particularly

those who cherished a strong Indian identity and conservative Islamic way of life. But for

those who had envisioned the need for greater rapport with Burmese national aspirations

having recognized the irreversibilty of their membership in the new Burmese polity, the

process of readjustments was attempted. Inevitably the inward-looking Muslims became

threatened by this new development and intra-communal schisms began to develop making

the Muslim minority within Burma a dynamic group in its own right.

Unlike Burma, Thailand's political evolution in the constitutional era has been more gradual and consistent. In view of the absence of the colonial experience, the attempt to introduce

liberal democracy has had to contend with the inner forces of Thai political culture which

A. Wezler/E. Hammerschmidt (Hrsg.): Proceedings of the XXXII Intemational Congress for Asian and Nonh African Studies, Hamburg, 25th-30ih August 1986 (ZDMG-SuppI. 9).