Gandhari language
Encyclopedia
Gāndhārī was a north-western prakrit
spoken in Gāndhāra
. Like all prakrits, it is thus descended from either Vedic Sanskrit
or a closely related language. Gāndhārī was written in the script. Scholars believe that the language featured elements from the languages native to the area (pre-Indo-European
population), as well as Dardic
and East-Iranian ethnic languages, which are related to the Indo-Aryan
family to which all prakrits belong.
scroll of a Buddhist
text, the Dhammapada
, discovered at Kohmāri Mazār near Hotan in Xinjiang
in 1893 CE. Recently, a large number of fragmentary manuscripts of Buddhist texts were discovered eastern Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. These include,
Buddhist Pure Land sūtras were brought from the Gandhara region to China
as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan
bhikkhu
Lokakṣema
began translating the first Buddhist sūtras into Chinese. The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from Gāndhārī. It is also known that manuscripts in the Kharoṣṭhī script existed in China during this period.
Some scholars believe that the importance of Gāndhārī in Central Asia is out of proportion with the relatively small number of surviving documents which have been discovered so far.
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
spoken in Gāndhāra
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
. Like all prakrits, it is thus descended from either Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit is an old Indo-Aryan language. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language...
or a closely related language. Gāndhārī was written in the script. Scholars believe that the language featured elements from the languages native to the area (pre-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...
population), as well as Dardic
Dardic languages
The Dardic languages are a sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan, and the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir...
and East-Iranian ethnic languages, which are related to the Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
family to which all prakrits belong.
Buddhist manuscripts in Gāndhāri
Until the recent discoveries, the only Gāndhāri manuscript available to the scholars was a birch barkBirch bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus Betula.The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which made it a valuable building, crafting, and writing material, since pre-historic times...
scroll of a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
text, the Dhammapada
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon....
, discovered at Kohmāri Mazār near Hotan in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
in 1893 CE. Recently, a large number of fragmentary manuscripts of Buddhist texts were discovered eastern Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. These include,
- 29 fragments of birch-bark scrolls of British Library collection consisting of parts of the Dhammapada, AnavataptaAnavataptaAnavatapta is the lake lying at the center of the world, according to an ancient Buddhist cosmological view. The name Anavatapta means "heat-free"; the waters of the lake were thought to be able to soothe the fires that torment beings...
gāthā, the Rhinoceros SutraRhinoceros SutraThe Rhinoceros Sutra is a very early Buddhist text advocating the merit of solitary asceticism for pursuing enlightenment .-Origins:The Rhinoceros Sutra has long been identified, along with the and...
, SangitiparyayaSangitiparyayaSangitiparyaya or Samgiti-paryaya-sastra is one of the seven Sarvastivada Abhidharma Buddhist scriptures. It was composed by Mahakausthila or Sariputra . The Chinese recension was translated by Xuanzang: T26, No...
and a collection of sutras from the Anguttara NikayaAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism... - 129 fragments of palm leaf folios of Schøyen collection, 27 fragments of palm-leaf folios of Hirayama collection and 18 fragments of palm leaf folios of Hayashidera collection consisting of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana SutraMahayana Mahaparinirvana SutraThe Nirvana Sutra or ' ; ; ).) is one of the major sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. It shares its title with another well-known Buddhist scripture, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali Canon but is quite different in form and content...
and the Bhadrakalpikā sutra - 24 birch-bark scrolls of Senior collection consists of mostly different sutras and the Anavatapta gāthā
- 8 fragments of a single birch-bark scroll and 2 small fragments of another scroll of University of Washington collection consisting of probably an AbhidharmaAbhidharmaAbhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications...
text or other scholastic commentaries.
Translations from Gāndhāri
MahayanaMahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhist Pure Land sūtras were brought from the Gandhara region to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...
bhikkhu
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
Lokakṣema
Lokaksema
Lokakṣema , born around 147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana sutras into the Chinese language and as such was an important figure in Buddhism in China. The name Lokakṣema means 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit.-Origins:Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity...
began translating the first Buddhist sūtras into Chinese. The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from Gāndhārī. It is also known that manuscripts in the Kharoṣṭhī script existed in China during this period.
Some scholars believe that the importance of Gāndhārī in Central Asia is out of proportion with the relatively small number of surviving documents which have been discovered so far.